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Gosta Green Through Duddeston
- Thread starter GER22VAN
- Start date
Gosta Green.
I remember that there was a 'Horses' water trough on Gosta Green, because there were quite a few horses in those days delivering Bread, Milk, ect. We always bought Bradford's Bread but I can always remember seeing Hawley's bread being delivered by horse and cart to a little shop half way along Francis Street between Willis Street and Henry Street. The Delicia I went a few times to watch wrestling, before that it was a picture house before my time, after wrestling it was a TV studio.
By the way in the centre of the square they used to have a very small market just one or two pitches.
I remember that there was a 'Horses' water trough on Gosta Green, because there were quite a few horses in those days delivering Bread, Milk, ect. We always bought Bradford's Bread but I can always remember seeing Hawley's bread being delivered by horse and cart to a little shop half way along Francis Street between Willis Street and Henry Street. The Delicia I went a few times to watch wrestling, before that it was a picture house before my time, after wrestling it was a TV studio.
By the way in the centre of the square they used to have a very small market just one or two pitches.
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Heneage Street.
pmc1947.(Phil ) Sorry did not mean to ignore your posts. The photo you posted of Heneage Street, I cannot remember too well I am sorry to say. Hope someone can refresh my memories on exactly what part of Heneage Street it was, I don't doubt for one minute that it is part of Heneage Street, I think those new blocks have been built and have since been pulled down.
That corner shop has me puzzled with the type of houses along side it.
pmc1947.(Phil ) Sorry did not mean to ignore your posts. The photo you posted of Heneage Street, I cannot remember too well I am sorry to say. Hope someone can refresh my memories on exactly what part of Heneage Street it was, I don't doubt for one minute that it is part of Heneage Street, I think those new blocks have been built and have since been pulled down.
That corner shop has me puzzled with the type of houses along side it.
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Phil
Gone, but not forgotten.
GER22VAN, Thats strange because I have a problem relating to its location as well, I thought it could possibly be its junction with Little Hall Rd just past its junction with Francis St.
I do know that sometimes the original photographers make mistakes when they caption these photo's. I've removed the photo until I can check it out.
Even Carl Chinn makes a mistake in one of his books I read recently. He states that in a photo taken from the corner of my old street Francis St that the Church tower in the distance is St James's, when it obviously St Matthews, so even the best make mistakes. By the way the photo is taken in Willis St as you will no doubt realise.
See the attached photo and you will see what I mean.
Phil
I do know that sometimes the original photographers make mistakes when they caption these photo's. I've removed the photo until I can check it out.
Even Carl Chinn makes a mistake in one of his books I read recently. He states that in a photo taken from the corner of my old street Francis St that the Church tower in the distance is St James's, when it obviously St Matthews, so even the best make mistakes. By the way the photo is taken in Willis St as you will no doubt realise.
See the attached photo and you will see what I mean.
Phil
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Willis Street.
pcm1947.Phil. How do you do it? another cracking photograph as they say.
that corner shop was the "Tuck " shop for sweets when we went to the Ashted Picture House on a Saturday morning. There was a far better "Tuck" shop across the road from the ashted in Willis Street that sold nothing else but sweets but you could not just go and buy as much as you liked because everything was on ration.
pcm1947.Phil. How do you do it? another cracking photograph as they say.
that corner shop was the "Tuck " shop for sweets when we went to the Ashted Picture House on a Saturday morning. There was a far better "Tuck" shop across the road from the ashted in Willis Street that sold nothing else but sweets but you could not just go and buy as much as you liked because everything was on ration.
Willis Street.
pmc1947. I would date that photograph early to mid 1940's by the brick and concrete covers built over the tops of the cellar openings. That is certainly Saint Matthews church in the distance .
Notice those bricked up windows, I think it may have been something to do with the window tax, they were bricked up to avoid paying window tax but this ended in 1851 so those buildings date before 1851 and could most probably be found on the 1841 Census.
pmc1947. I would date that photograph early to mid 1940's by the brick and concrete covers built over the tops of the cellar openings. That is certainly Saint Matthews church in the distance .
Notice those bricked up windows, I think it may have been something to do with the window tax, they were bricked up to avoid paying window tax but this ended in 1851 so those buildings date before 1851 and could most probably be found on the 1841 Census.
mw0njm.
A Brummie Dude
RE saltley dock
Most of the barges belonged i remember on the cut there belonged to TS ELEMENT.we played on them along the stretch saltley to cuckkoo rd.The lock keeper who lived in the cottage op the power station was a nasty piece of work, if he got you he throw you in the cut, pete
Most of the barges belonged i remember on the cut there belonged to TS ELEMENT.we played on them along the stretch saltley to cuckkoo rd.The lock keeper who lived in the cottage op the power station was a nasty piece of work, if he got you he throw you in the cut, pete
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Phil
Gone, but not forgotten.
GER22VAN
Enrnie can you have a look at this picture, I know its Great Francis St, taken in the late fifties to early sixties, but is that Duddeston Mill Rd on the right I can't quite make the road sign out and I'm afraid my memory is not as good as it used to be.
pmc1947 (Phil)
Enrnie can you have a look at this picture, I know its Great Francis St, taken in the late fifties to early sixties, but is that Duddeston Mill Rd on the right I can't quite make the road sign out and I'm afraid my memory is not as good as it used to be.
pmc1947 (Phil)
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pcm1947. Yes I would say Great Francis Street ( you can see the curve in the road, the middle name on the street sign certainly looks like " Mill "
What I mean to say is that its Great Francis Street to the left and Duddeston Mill Road to the right.
A check of the Trade Directories will establish the shop name on the corner, it looks as if it reads as
A.D. ingram.
What I mean to say is that its Great Francis Street to the left and Duddeston Mill Road to the right.
A check of the Trade Directories will establish the shop name on the corner, it looks as if it reads as
A.D. ingram.
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Heneage Street.
pmc1947. Phil I really do thank you for the Kelly's listing. I don't know what to think as the Kelly's list 214, Atkins Wm Shopkeeper
215 Haycock Mrs Eliz Greengrocer
216 Limb Mrs Amy Shopkeeper
To look at the photo it just seems that there is a private dwelling house which seems to be between them,
I was pleased to see the factory listed for my other post, funny how I did not know the name but remembered as soon as I read it , yes it was a corkscrew factory. The list fits with the photograph, many thanks to you Phil.
May I add that although it looks like a front entrance to the end shop, it really was a side entrance to the shop from the entry that ran to the back of the premises.
pmc1947. Phil I really do thank you for the Kelly's listing. I don't know what to think as the Kelly's list 214, Atkins Wm Shopkeeper
215 Haycock Mrs Eliz Greengrocer
216 Limb Mrs Amy Shopkeeper
To look at the photo it just seems that there is a private dwelling house which seems to be between them,
I was pleased to see the factory listed for my other post, funny how I did not know the name but remembered as soon as I read it , yes it was a corkscrew factory. The list fits with the photograph, many thanks to you Phil.
May I add that although it looks like a front entrance to the end shop, it really was a side entrance to the shop from the entry that ran to the back of the premises.
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Phil
Gone, but not forgotten.
Henage St
GER22VAN,
All I can remember about Henage St was, I had a mate who lived up a back terrace on the other side of the road behind a shop between Henry St and Willis St.
Ernie do you remember the old black patch park at the top of Francis St, the one with the roundabout and swings. If you can place that do you remember the old junkyard that was next door and the old chap who lived on the premasis. I once bought an old bakalite 9 inch television from him for about 5 bob.
It was of course black & white only and could only receive BBC. I think it worked for about 5 years. I wish I go go back and buy some of the junk he had then, it would be worth a fortune now,
Phil
GER22VAN,
All I can remember about Henage St was, I had a mate who lived up a back terrace on the other side of the road behind a shop between Henry St and Willis St.
Ernie do you remember the old black patch park at the top of Francis St, the one with the roundabout and swings. If you can place that do you remember the old junkyard that was next door and the old chap who lived on the premasis. I once bought an old bakalite 9 inch television from him for about 5 bob.
It was of course black & white only and could only receive BBC. I think it worked for about 5 years. I wish I go go back and buy some of the junk he had then, it would be worth a fortune now,
Phil
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pmc1947. I can vaguely remember a small shop along that side of the street and the only other shop was Gill's the Chemist at the corner of Willis Street.
What you call Old Black Patch Park was that at the corner of Windsor Street?
I only seem to remember waste ground but if its the right place they could have transformed it into a play area, just seem to think there was a scrap yard close by. If only we could go back to see.
Jean. As far as the Coop Goes, I only knew the one in Vauxhall Road where I used to collect Horse droppings off the road.
What you call Old Black Patch Park was that at the corner of Windsor Street?
I only seem to remember waste ground but if its the right place they could have transformed it into a play area, just seem to think there was a scrap yard close by. If only we could go back to see.
Jean. As far as the Coop Goes, I only knew the one in Vauxhall Road where I used to collect Horse droppings off the road.
Anyone know anything of Hallam, Sleigh and Cheston? A small firm at the corner of Bagot Street and Newtown Row. A canal ran at the back of it and the firms tradmark was " Widney ". They made such things as Window Frame edges, Seat adjusters, Ash trays for the rear of coach seats, brake links and the alloy hinghes on the flaps of the spare wheel covers on the old Bedford vans to name but a few. They had heavy power press shop, hand press shop, drilling shop,polishing shop and spot welders shop next to it, plating shop and a small canteen.
There was a Millwright who repaired any broken belts as a lot of machines were belt driven. I almost forgot the lathe section and the warehouse where the goods were bagged or parceled for dispatch.
There was a Millwright who repaired any broken belts as a lot of machines were belt driven. I almost forgot the lathe section and the warehouse where the goods were bagged or parceled for dispatch.
My memories
(A trip down memory lane)
Born on the 6th October 1938 at 77 Dudley Road Birmingham (believed to be the address of the Maternity Hospital) my home address was at 5 back of 34 Coleman Street which was my Grandfather’s house, although it was a slum back-to-back house it was home for my Grandfather, Grandmother, my Mum and me. My Mums occupation at the time was a Cycle Works Machinist at the Hercules Cycle Works in Rocky Lane, Aston, Birmingham. My Grandfather sadly died in November of the following year with believed to be cancer of the stomach.
My first early recollections are the wooden “pens” outside the house, and this was where Granddad kept his pigeons some years before. The fronts of the “pens” were missing but the roof and the sides were still there and the walls at the rear were whitewashed, the structure formed an L shape and the small “pen” at the end was home for the wringer (clothes mangle)
The roofs of the houses were of grey slate and the condition of the brickwork was very bad condition, the guttering around the roofs were made of zinc and the down pipe was also zinc fell short of reaching the ground by almost one and a half feet. Windows were of the wood frame sash type, top and bottom could slide up or down whichever was the case, this was achieved by the fact that the frame held two cast iron counter balance weights each side on the inside attached by cords on each side of the top and also the bottom window, one each side of the top sliding window and one each side of the bottom sliding window. The glass in the windows was not of perfect quality, and this gave a distorted view of buildings or other objects outside. A catch was fitted to the centre of the lower window to lock them and prevent them being opened from the outside. Being sliding windows there was always a gap between them in the centre and this was solve by paper or rag inserted as a draught excluder, at the bottom the door would also be its own draught excluder in the form of a length of rag.
Now the yard (13 court) was paved with blue engineering bricks and a gully about three feet from the doorsteps of the three houses at the bottom of the yard ran to a “suff “ (small drain) which was just before the first of the three houses at the bottom of the yard. The yard consisted of a Brewus (wash house) this had been used in the past for washing clothes, as it had a “copper” (this being a large bowl supported on brick walls about three feet high) built underneath the “copper” was a small opening for a fire to be lit to heat the water by either wood, coke or coal depending on how long a washday it would be, it also had a round wooden cover with a handle grip in the centre of it to place over the “copper”. The copper on occasions would be used for all manner of things (a neighbour in the yard used to go catching the crabs) and used to bring them home and boil them in the copper. There was also a shallow ceramic glazed sink supported on two dwarf single brick walls with a cold water tap fitted to the wall at the back but still allowing the sink to be positioned in front of the metal framed window arched at the top, part of which pivoted in the centre to open it. The Brewus would also have been used for storing washday items such as a scrubbing board, a small oval galvanised bath with handles hung on the back of the wooden door, a dolly and tub (dolly being a stout stick with a T shaped handle and at the base a round piece of wood about ¾ to 1 inch thick fitted with three of four stout wooden pegs) This was plunged into the clothes that lay soaking in the water and was then agitated by the T handle at the top which was gripped and twisted side to side. “ Rinso” washing powder and blocks of “Lifeboy” soap would be used on wash-days.
[FONT="]Built next to the Brewus were four toilets, shared by the two front houses, the two behind them at the top of the yard and also the three houses at the bottom of the yard which included Gran’s and Auntie Amy’s next door, they were very draughty and cold with a nail in the wall on which hung squares of newspaper (what was toilet tissue? come to that what’s a toilet?) The lavatory was a high-level tank system, operated by a pull chain to flush. Also the lavatory may have be the place for the “Harpic” and “Domestos”. The cloths pegs were two halves of wood shaped and held with a metal band or what was known as a “Dolly” peg made from one solid piece of wood (the term “Dolly” may have come from the fact that this type of peg was sometimes used to make small dolly’s by marking or painting a face on the top and making a small bonnet and dress pinned or glued to the peg) very simple idea that must have brought lots of happiness to those children of poorer families all those years ago. [/FONT]
(A trip down memory lane)
Born on the 6th October 1938 at 77 Dudley Road Birmingham (believed to be the address of the Maternity Hospital) my home address was at 5 back of 34 Coleman Street which was my Grandfather’s house, although it was a slum back-to-back house it was home for my Grandfather, Grandmother, my Mum and me. My Mums occupation at the time was a Cycle Works Machinist at the Hercules Cycle Works in Rocky Lane, Aston, Birmingham. My Grandfather sadly died in November of the following year with believed to be cancer of the stomach.
My first early recollections are the wooden “pens” outside the house, and this was where Granddad kept his pigeons some years before. The fronts of the “pens” were missing but the roof and the sides were still there and the walls at the rear were whitewashed, the structure formed an L shape and the small “pen” at the end was home for the wringer (clothes mangle)
The roofs of the houses were of grey slate and the condition of the brickwork was very bad condition, the guttering around the roofs were made of zinc and the down pipe was also zinc fell short of reaching the ground by almost one and a half feet. Windows were of the wood frame sash type, top and bottom could slide up or down whichever was the case, this was achieved by the fact that the frame held two cast iron counter balance weights each side on the inside attached by cords on each side of the top and also the bottom window, one each side of the top sliding window and one each side of the bottom sliding window. The glass in the windows was not of perfect quality, and this gave a distorted view of buildings or other objects outside. A catch was fitted to the centre of the lower window to lock them and prevent them being opened from the outside. Being sliding windows there was always a gap between them in the centre and this was solve by paper or rag inserted as a draught excluder, at the bottom the door would also be its own draught excluder in the form of a length of rag.
Now the yard (13 court) was paved with blue engineering bricks and a gully about three feet from the doorsteps of the three houses at the bottom of the yard ran to a “suff “ (small drain) which was just before the first of the three houses at the bottom of the yard. The yard consisted of a Brewus (wash house) this had been used in the past for washing clothes, as it had a “copper” (this being a large bowl supported on brick walls about three feet high) built underneath the “copper” was a small opening for a fire to be lit to heat the water by either wood, coke or coal depending on how long a washday it would be, it also had a round wooden cover with a handle grip in the centre of it to place over the “copper”. The copper on occasions would be used for all manner of things (a neighbour in the yard used to go catching the crabs) and used to bring them home and boil them in the copper. There was also a shallow ceramic glazed sink supported on two dwarf single brick walls with a cold water tap fitted to the wall at the back but still allowing the sink to be positioned in front of the metal framed window arched at the top, part of which pivoted in the centre to open it. The Brewus would also have been used for storing washday items such as a scrubbing board, a small oval galvanised bath with handles hung on the back of the wooden door, a dolly and tub (dolly being a stout stick with a T shaped handle and at the base a round piece of wood about ¾ to 1 inch thick fitted with three of four stout wooden pegs) This was plunged into the clothes that lay soaking in the water and was then agitated by the T handle at the top which was gripped and twisted side to side. “ Rinso” washing powder and blocks of “Lifeboy” soap would be used on wash-days.
[FONT="]Built next to the Brewus were four toilets, shared by the two front houses, the two behind them at the top of the yard and also the three houses at the bottom of the yard which included Gran’s and Auntie Amy’s next door, they were very draughty and cold with a nail in the wall on which hung squares of newspaper (what was toilet tissue? come to that what’s a toilet?) The lavatory was a high-level tank system, operated by a pull chain to flush. Also the lavatory may have be the place for the “Harpic” and “Domestos”. The cloths pegs were two halves of wood shaped and held with a metal band or what was known as a “Dolly” peg made from one solid piece of wood (the term “Dolly” may have come from the fact that this type of peg was sometimes used to make small dolly’s by marking or painting a face on the top and making a small bonnet and dress pinned or glued to the peg) very simple idea that must have brought lots of happiness to those children of poorer families all those years ago. [/FONT]
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sylviasayers
master brummie
I loved the advertisements on the outside of the unknown shop, as you say so typical of the time. The other picture shows what was previously the Delicia Picture House, later to hold boxing and wrestling nights. My dad and uncles used to love to watch the boxing.
you have written so well of your childhood, I can picture it.
you have written so well of your childhood, I can picture it.
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My memories part 2 (A trip down memory lane)
There was a man with a contraption he used to peddle ( to move it from place to place he had to push it.) he made a fairly large grindstone spin in a trough of water and commenced sharpening scissors, knives or other implements brought to him. His pitch was outside the Old Nelson pub in Great Lister Street. Occasionally a man would appear selling roasted chestnuts or hot baked potatoes, giving the metal baking trays in his oven a shake to get them to roll over so as to bake as evenly as possible, this at the same time spreading the irresistible aroma, these were then served up in a cone shaped paper bag which hung at the side and were torn off each time a new bag was required. With that pinch of salt from the little oblong box with the flap lid at the side of his cart such a lovely treat (more so on a cold winters night) A sack of potatoes stood on the floor and also coke for oven. The “Entry” to the yard was via a tunnel which was through the buildings at the front through to the back yard just wide enough for two people to pass each other sideways on, some yards or courts did not have houses that were as a front row so the entrance to these yards were an openings from the pavement, court numbers were displayed on a cast iron plate which was fixed above the entry leading through to the yard at the rear of the front houses.
Gran’s house had the living room and pantry downstairs, two bedrooms upstairs one being a very small box room above the pantry (even three storey houses did not have much more space other than a small underground cellar below the living room used for the storage of coke, coal, wood or any other chosen items, this room was cold musty damp sort of a place with hardly any daylight except the little that filtered through from the cellar grating to the outside, usually with rounded ceilings and whitewashed from top to bottom to make use of the little amount of light that did get there.)
All the rooms in the house would have had whitewashed ceilings and dropped ceiling (about 18 inches from the top of the wall) to a narrow paper border that ran around the entire room, this was to give a neat finish to where the wall paper reached up to the dropped ceiling, if wallpaper was not used such as in the pantry or scullery then the walls would have been painted with distemper.
The living room had a cast iron fireplace which was cleaned with black lead applied and polished with a brush which gave it a silvery grey lustre on the black shiny surface, but as the fire was lit and over a few days started giving out its smoke on occasions, the polished surface began to turn into a mat black colour, every trace of the shine gone until the next time the black lead and brush came out. Sometimes the iron flap at the front of the fire grate was lowered was lowered and this gave the addition of a small shelf on which a kettle could be placed keeping the water hot to make that eagerly awaited pot of tea.
There was a bar which pivoted at the back of the fire grate witch allowed the bar to swing over the fire, this being ideal for the cooking pot (oval cast iron with handles and a lid) to be hung above the fire, many a rabbit stew or bones from the butchers to make a stew was done this way over this type of fire grate.
The oven at the side of the fire grate was used for baking of potatoes, rice puddings, bread puddings, (real favourites) chestnuts around Christmas time, and the front of the fire served for toasting bread or piklets. Another pudding that Gran used to make for me was a suet pudding with sultanas in (also know as spotted dick). Christmas time at Gran's was a small real Christmas tree with whatever we could find to put on, and paper chains I made as trimmings, an apple and orange and nuts in my stocking. It was a lot of work keeping the fire in and cleaning the ashes first thing in the morning but oh for a lovely fire in the middle of winter. Sometimes the coal was not as good as at other times, many times the coal contained bates which would explode and send a shower of sparks out of the fire so had to keep a check that they did not set anything on fire, if it did l soon had to “dowght” it, easy to see the duff coal by the way it had burned, but then l suppose there were different grades that were sold. If the fire was difficult to get burning well then a draw-tin was used, this was metal shaped to cover the top half of the fire so it allowed the air to be drawn through the front so giving the fire more air and oxygen, just a few minutes and it was roaring away but there was always the worry that you would set the chimney on fire.
The fireplace had a mantelpiece above it, this was a shelf that was decorated with a piece of velvet about 6 inches wide around the edge with a fancy border and tassels along the lower edge, on the shelf itself would be kept anything of choice (photo’s, ceramics, vases, miniature ornaments, figurines) and possibly a mirror or framed picture above the mantelpiece.
Gran had two decorative matching vases (one at each end of the shelf) with a small ceramic clock (which did not work) in the centre, a small silver cat, a small bone carving of a chinaman with a monkey on his shoulder, two small oval brass vases with handles and a small brass pot with Stratford on Avon crest on its lid.
The built in cupboards next to the fire grate were from the floor to the ceiling, the lower cupboard about three feet high was where the gas meter was situated, those penny in the slot type. I used to love to be there when the gasman called to empty the meter, he counted all the pennies out in piles on the table (twelve in each pile) and when he had finished he would give back a small refund from the vast amount of wealth that was on display, he could soon spot any foreign coins which may have happened to somehow found their way into the meter, even Irish pennies were detected and they were the same size as the English ones. The cupboards above had two long doors up to the ceiling, stored on the top shelf there were candles along with the gas mantles in their separate little card boxes. These gas mantles flared up just for a short moment when they were new and lit for the first time, after that “be careful they are so fragile”, it was so easy for a hole to appear in the side and if that happened then the brightness would be lost, this is why when the gas was turned on (by means of two pull chains, pull one down and the gas came on, pull the other chain and it turned the gas off) you had to be so careful as not to touch the mantle when lighting it with a match. The middle cupboard were stacked three tin boxes, one round tin “Roses Chocolates” and two square tins which l believe had held biscuits at one time, these were used for storing receipts, policies (life insurance) also copies of Birth and Marriage Certificates, Remembrance Cards, and Photographs. The lower cupboard held the plates, cups and saucers, sugar bowl and jug to name some of them.
A square oblong wooden table with turned legs was in the centre of the room, there was always a table cloth spread over the top of it, the table had a drawer in the centre of one of the longer sides that stored the knives, forks, and spoons, and possibly a bottle opener. Milk bottles had crown tops as well as some pop bottles, others had a ceramic stopper and rubber washer fitted which was opened or closed by a strong wire clamping device which was permanently fixed to the bottle, l believe these were mainly Tizer pop bottles, others had the ceramic and rubber washer that screwed into the bottle neck. Beer and pop bottles had a deposit paid on them when they were purchased and this was refunded when the empty bottle was returned, deposit was usually 2d.
The “Pantry” as it was referred to (otherwise know as scullery), was a small oblong room with a shallow ceramic glazed sink on the end wall under the very small window, with a cold water tap fitted on the wall below the small window, the sink was supported by two low single brick piers between which was stored any cleaning materials, brushes and other things of choice. On the dividing wall to the living room this was the gas cooker stood, above this a shelf fixed to the wall that contained an assortment of baking tins and pots used in cooking. Still in the pantry across the opening (there was no door fitted to this opening) there was another opening which was the “Coal Hole” self explained located under the stairs. Part of the floor had began to subside opposite where the gas cooker stood, which was why the wall on the outside of the end house was shored up with wooden beams which made a support frame, this in effect giving an extra number of years to the life of house. As houses became condemned as uninhabitable they had a yellow + cross-painted on the door post and these houses were later demolished.
. The houses were built pre 1841 so l suppose it is not surprising that they made for a depressing view, but still some sadness to see them all disappear although at the time it seemed to be the opposite feelings
Gran also had a wireless (Radio), which was a Cossor by make and was powered by a large high-tension battery as they were know, approximately ten inches square (these cost 18 shillings or 18/- and lasted on average about six months, the next was a small oblong battery know as a grid vice battery, and the final part of the power supply was an accumulator which was a battery with a thick glass clear casing which lasted about a week and was replaced at the shop with a fully charged one, the other two were not rechargeable. The favourite wireless programs at the time were Itma, Rays a laugh, Beyond our Ken, Round the Horn, Have a go, (this was a quiz show with Wilfred Pickles, Mable at the table and Violet Carson on the piano and Barney who used to bang the gong if any of the contestants got the question wrong, it was a very popular program.) Billy Cotton’s Band Show, Victor Sylvester, Much Binding In The Marsh, Workers Playtime to name but a few. A comic that was out at this time was called radio fun with some of the favourite stars of radio also, one called Film Fun of favourite film stars of comedy.
A small oblong peg rug lay on the floor in front of the fireplace, this was lovely to partly cover the foot square red quarry tiles which were broken and uneven and always seemed to be so cold. The peg rug was a piece of Hessian sacking that had strips of old material from worn out clothes, or blankets threaded though one way then the other, tied in a knot and cut to size. Having enough odd strips of material would allow fancy colourful patterns to be created, but most of the time it would be just having enough material to finish the rug even if they were drab colours.
The bedrooms that were upstairs consisted of the large bedroom that had a small fireplace in it with a cast iron surround and narrow cast iron shelf above it, this was also cleaned with black lead and was used in really cold winters or when anyone was ill. Usually the hot embers were taken from the fire downstairs to give a good start for a fire upstairs on a cold winters night. The smaller box bedroom was immediately above the pantry downstairs. These two bedrooms would be lit either by a gas mantle at a gas point on the wall or a night light which was a small oil lamp with a glass globe, the most common used was the candlestick holder with its ordinary candle, small chubby candles were also used as night lights.
[FONT="]I used to go out and Gran would say, “Be good” somehow to be forgotten or not fully understood in those far off days as I disappeared in the distance. At the top of the entry was the footpath and the “orseroad”, of which at the end was a big name plate that said Coleman Street, now Street was a posh name for “Orseroad so it should be Coleman Orseroad. The footpath was made up of the same dreary blue bricks that l had left behind in the yard, the road was surfaced with tarmac under which lay the old cobble stones of years past, some streets still had their cobble stone surface (I used to hate to see those poor horses pulling heavy loads trying to get a foothold on those slippery cobble stones whether in the wet or dry and whether going up hill or down hill.[/FONT]
I was going to add more to this but it seems to have got jumbled a bit so if anyone reading it sees this please post and let me know.
I shall try to sort it tomorrow, it was not meant to be published but if its ok I shall continue to put it on the Webring.
There was a man with a contraption he used to peddle ( to move it from place to place he had to push it.) he made a fairly large grindstone spin in a trough of water and commenced sharpening scissors, knives or other implements brought to him. His pitch was outside the Old Nelson pub in Great Lister Street. Occasionally a man would appear selling roasted chestnuts or hot baked potatoes, giving the metal baking trays in his oven a shake to get them to roll over so as to bake as evenly as possible, this at the same time spreading the irresistible aroma, these were then served up in a cone shaped paper bag which hung at the side and were torn off each time a new bag was required. With that pinch of salt from the little oblong box with the flap lid at the side of his cart such a lovely treat (more so on a cold winters night) A sack of potatoes stood on the floor and also coke for oven. The “Entry” to the yard was via a tunnel which was through the buildings at the front through to the back yard just wide enough for two people to pass each other sideways on, some yards or courts did not have houses that were as a front row so the entrance to these yards were an openings from the pavement, court numbers were displayed on a cast iron plate which was fixed above the entry leading through to the yard at the rear of the front houses.
Gran’s house had the living room and pantry downstairs, two bedrooms upstairs one being a very small box room above the pantry (even three storey houses did not have much more space other than a small underground cellar below the living room used for the storage of coke, coal, wood or any other chosen items, this room was cold musty damp sort of a place with hardly any daylight except the little that filtered through from the cellar grating to the outside, usually with rounded ceilings and whitewashed from top to bottom to make use of the little amount of light that did get there.)
All the rooms in the house would have had whitewashed ceilings and dropped ceiling (about 18 inches from the top of the wall) to a narrow paper border that ran around the entire room, this was to give a neat finish to where the wall paper reached up to the dropped ceiling, if wallpaper was not used such as in the pantry or scullery then the walls would have been painted with distemper.
The living room had a cast iron fireplace which was cleaned with black lead applied and polished with a brush which gave it a silvery grey lustre on the black shiny surface, but as the fire was lit and over a few days started giving out its smoke on occasions, the polished surface began to turn into a mat black colour, every trace of the shine gone until the next time the black lead and brush came out. Sometimes the iron flap at the front of the fire grate was lowered was lowered and this gave the addition of a small shelf on which a kettle could be placed keeping the water hot to make that eagerly awaited pot of tea.
There was a bar which pivoted at the back of the fire grate witch allowed the bar to swing over the fire, this being ideal for the cooking pot (oval cast iron with handles and a lid) to be hung above the fire, many a rabbit stew or bones from the butchers to make a stew was done this way over this type of fire grate.
The oven at the side of the fire grate was used for baking of potatoes, rice puddings, bread puddings, (real favourites) chestnuts around Christmas time, and the front of the fire served for toasting bread or piklets. Another pudding that Gran used to make for me was a suet pudding with sultanas in (also know as spotted dick). Christmas time at Gran's was a small real Christmas tree with whatever we could find to put on, and paper chains I made as trimmings, an apple and orange and nuts in my stocking. It was a lot of work keeping the fire in and cleaning the ashes first thing in the morning but oh for a lovely fire in the middle of winter. Sometimes the coal was not as good as at other times, many times the coal contained bates which would explode and send a shower of sparks out of the fire so had to keep a check that they did not set anything on fire, if it did l soon had to “dowght” it, easy to see the duff coal by the way it had burned, but then l suppose there were different grades that were sold. If the fire was difficult to get burning well then a draw-tin was used, this was metal shaped to cover the top half of the fire so it allowed the air to be drawn through the front so giving the fire more air and oxygen, just a few minutes and it was roaring away but there was always the worry that you would set the chimney on fire.
The fireplace had a mantelpiece above it, this was a shelf that was decorated with a piece of velvet about 6 inches wide around the edge with a fancy border and tassels along the lower edge, on the shelf itself would be kept anything of choice (photo’s, ceramics, vases, miniature ornaments, figurines) and possibly a mirror or framed picture above the mantelpiece.
Gran had two decorative matching vases (one at each end of the shelf) with a small ceramic clock (which did not work) in the centre, a small silver cat, a small bone carving of a chinaman with a monkey on his shoulder, two small oval brass vases with handles and a small brass pot with Stratford on Avon crest on its lid.
The built in cupboards next to the fire grate were from the floor to the ceiling, the lower cupboard about three feet high was where the gas meter was situated, those penny in the slot type. I used to love to be there when the gasman called to empty the meter, he counted all the pennies out in piles on the table (twelve in each pile) and when he had finished he would give back a small refund from the vast amount of wealth that was on display, he could soon spot any foreign coins which may have happened to somehow found their way into the meter, even Irish pennies were detected and they were the same size as the English ones. The cupboards above had two long doors up to the ceiling, stored on the top shelf there were candles along with the gas mantles in their separate little card boxes. These gas mantles flared up just for a short moment when they were new and lit for the first time, after that “be careful they are so fragile”, it was so easy for a hole to appear in the side and if that happened then the brightness would be lost, this is why when the gas was turned on (by means of two pull chains, pull one down and the gas came on, pull the other chain and it turned the gas off) you had to be so careful as not to touch the mantle when lighting it with a match. The middle cupboard were stacked three tin boxes, one round tin “Roses Chocolates” and two square tins which l believe had held biscuits at one time, these were used for storing receipts, policies (life insurance) also copies of Birth and Marriage Certificates, Remembrance Cards, and Photographs. The lower cupboard held the plates, cups and saucers, sugar bowl and jug to name some of them.
A square oblong wooden table with turned legs was in the centre of the room, there was always a table cloth spread over the top of it, the table had a drawer in the centre of one of the longer sides that stored the knives, forks, and spoons, and possibly a bottle opener. Milk bottles had crown tops as well as some pop bottles, others had a ceramic stopper and rubber washer fitted which was opened or closed by a strong wire clamping device which was permanently fixed to the bottle, l believe these were mainly Tizer pop bottles, others had the ceramic and rubber washer that screwed into the bottle neck. Beer and pop bottles had a deposit paid on them when they were purchased and this was refunded when the empty bottle was returned, deposit was usually 2d.
The “Pantry” as it was referred to (otherwise know as scullery), was a small oblong room with a shallow ceramic glazed sink on the end wall under the very small window, with a cold water tap fitted on the wall below the small window, the sink was supported by two low single brick piers between which was stored any cleaning materials, brushes and other things of choice. On the dividing wall to the living room this was the gas cooker stood, above this a shelf fixed to the wall that contained an assortment of baking tins and pots used in cooking. Still in the pantry across the opening (there was no door fitted to this opening) there was another opening which was the “Coal Hole” self explained located under the stairs. Part of the floor had began to subside opposite where the gas cooker stood, which was why the wall on the outside of the end house was shored up with wooden beams which made a support frame, this in effect giving an extra number of years to the life of house. As houses became condemned as uninhabitable they had a yellow + cross-painted on the door post and these houses were later demolished.
. The houses were built pre 1841 so l suppose it is not surprising that they made for a depressing view, but still some sadness to see them all disappear although at the time it seemed to be the opposite feelings
Gran also had a wireless (Radio), which was a Cossor by make and was powered by a large high-tension battery as they were know, approximately ten inches square (these cost 18 shillings or 18/- and lasted on average about six months, the next was a small oblong battery know as a grid vice battery, and the final part of the power supply was an accumulator which was a battery with a thick glass clear casing which lasted about a week and was replaced at the shop with a fully charged one, the other two were not rechargeable. The favourite wireless programs at the time were Itma, Rays a laugh, Beyond our Ken, Round the Horn, Have a go, (this was a quiz show with Wilfred Pickles, Mable at the table and Violet Carson on the piano and Barney who used to bang the gong if any of the contestants got the question wrong, it was a very popular program.) Billy Cotton’s Band Show, Victor Sylvester, Much Binding In The Marsh, Workers Playtime to name but a few. A comic that was out at this time was called radio fun with some of the favourite stars of radio also, one called Film Fun of favourite film stars of comedy.
A small oblong peg rug lay on the floor in front of the fireplace, this was lovely to partly cover the foot square red quarry tiles which were broken and uneven and always seemed to be so cold. The peg rug was a piece of Hessian sacking that had strips of old material from worn out clothes, or blankets threaded though one way then the other, tied in a knot and cut to size. Having enough odd strips of material would allow fancy colourful patterns to be created, but most of the time it would be just having enough material to finish the rug even if they were drab colours.
The bedrooms that were upstairs consisted of the large bedroom that had a small fireplace in it with a cast iron surround and narrow cast iron shelf above it, this was also cleaned with black lead and was used in really cold winters or when anyone was ill. Usually the hot embers were taken from the fire downstairs to give a good start for a fire upstairs on a cold winters night. The smaller box bedroom was immediately above the pantry downstairs. These two bedrooms would be lit either by a gas mantle at a gas point on the wall or a night light which was a small oil lamp with a glass globe, the most common used was the candlestick holder with its ordinary candle, small chubby candles were also used as night lights.
[FONT="]I used to go out and Gran would say, “Be good” somehow to be forgotten or not fully understood in those far off days as I disappeared in the distance. At the top of the entry was the footpath and the “orseroad”, of which at the end was a big name plate that said Coleman Street, now Street was a posh name for “Orseroad so it should be Coleman Orseroad. The footpath was made up of the same dreary blue bricks that l had left behind in the yard, the road was surfaced with tarmac under which lay the old cobble stones of years past, some streets still had their cobble stone surface (I used to hate to see those poor horses pulling heavy loads trying to get a foothold on those slippery cobble stones whether in the wet or dry and whether going up hill or down hill.[/FONT]
I was going to add more to this but it seems to have got jumbled a bit so if anyone reading it sees this please post and let me know.
I shall try to sort it tomorrow, it was not meant to be published but if its ok I shall continue to put it on the Webring.
Last edited by a moderator:
jennyann
Gone but not forgotten. R.I.P.
I visited many houses of my friends and some relatives decades ago just like the one you describe Gervan22. The downstairs fireplace set up was carried over to homes built later on also. My Mother's house (still standing) in Brantley Road Witton had a fireplace set up very similar in the kitchen/parlour. My friend Janet who lived in Tame Road had a very similar set-up in her house in the early l950's but in the scullery they had had a bath fitted which was covered over by boards.
Thanks for posting the outline of those early homes GerVan22. A very interesting read with so many familiar references.
Thanks for posting the outline of those early homes GerVan22. A very interesting read with so many familiar references.
Phil. There were thousands like us all over the country, I had read somewhere
was it "Hope In Shadow Land" by T.J.Bass ? ( He was Reverend at Saint Lawrence Church in Dartmouth Street.)
To get back to the point that Adam Street in the early 1900's was the poorest street in the country. I guess the surrounding streets were not much better and was it any different 50 years on?
Jennyann. I don,t wish to show any disrespect to anyone either now or in the past. I read and have seen empty jam jars used to drink the tea out of and that was in the 1940s 50's I really only wanted to have memories about my boyhood and not too much about others. I hope I am permitted to say this that the houses that seem to come very close to the back to backs still existed in either HavelockRoad or Phillimore Road Saltley a few years ago.
As I say no disrespect meant to anyone.
was it "Hope In Shadow Land" by T.J.Bass ? ( He was Reverend at Saint Lawrence Church in Dartmouth Street.)
To get back to the point that Adam Street in the early 1900's was the poorest street in the country. I guess the surrounding streets were not much better and was it any different 50 years on?
Jennyann. I don,t wish to show any disrespect to anyone either now or in the past. I read and have seen empty jam jars used to drink the tea out of and that was in the 1940s 50's I really only wanted to have memories about my boyhood and not too much about others. I hope I am permitted to say this that the houses that seem to come very close to the back to backs still existed in either HavelockRoad or Phillimore Road Saltley a few years ago.
As I say no disrespect meant to anyone.
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Alf
Gone but not forgotten. R.I.P.
No disrespect felt Ernie, but I remember Jam Jars being used by some families and I even tried them to see what it was like, even learned from Mom at that time that you should always put a Spoon in a Glass container so that it would no crack with the hot liquid
Ps Sorry Ernie I thought you was a Milkman dam, dam:rofl::na::go:
Ps Sorry Ernie I thought you was a Milkman dam, dam:rofl::na::go:
Alf. I have never tried drinking from a jam jar, those times were hard and more for some than others. I think it would have been far better to drink from a jam jar than one of those horrible enamel mugs.
As for the milkman, the nearest I got was to fetch coke from the gas works in my cart. That was a fish box mounted on a set of old pram wheels.
I painted the cart bright red with my name in big white letters but I still did not get many contracts for hauling coke.
As for the milkman, the nearest I got was to fetch coke from the gas works in my cart. That was a fish box mounted on a set of old pram wheels.
I painted the cart bright red with my name in big white letters but I still did not get many contracts for hauling coke.
