JohnJames
master brummie
My mum and dad came to Birmingham in 1953 from Ireland with nothing. They lived in a cold water room before managing to rent a small flat in a house with better facilities. Eventually they bought a house in Mansel Rd Small Heath. From then on they prospered. My Dad's dream was to live in Solihull. He and my mum managed it just before he retired, albeit on the Sheldon end of Solihull on Melton Avenue. By then he was driving a Rover, his dream car. For me growing up close to the A45/Coventry Rd corridor, Solihull seemed to be the ultimate goal of prosperous living . Kicking a ball around Small Heath Park in the 1960s, some of our mates would dissappear to Sheldon or Solihull, never to be seen again. It seemed like Brum was a patchwork of villages at that time. I left home before my parents made it to Solihull but despite living in many parts of the world since then, I always remember my Dad referring to Birmingham as "the golden place of opportunity". I wonder do any other members have similar stories?