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Growing Up In Brum - Roy Blakey Inspired.

I lived in Witton Street, opposite Garrison Lane Park, until I was 16. I didn't appreciate how lucky we were to have that green space just over the road. From photos I see that the park is now a bit posher!

maria
Maria,

I lived in Gordon St until i was 13 and have fond memories of the fairs that came to the park!
I read that it was known as Itchycoo Park but I never knew it as that in the late 60s.

Lynn.
 
Maria,

I lived in Gordon St until i was 13 and have fond memories of the fairs that came to the park!
I read that it was known as Itchycoo Park but I never knew it as that in the late 60s.

Lynn.

I remember the fairs, Lynn. I used to have picnics in the park with my sister sometimes.
I had a friend in one of the maisonettes in Gordon Street.

Maria
 
I remember the fairs, Lynn. I used to have picnics in the park with my sister sometimes.
I had a friend in one of the maisonettes in Gordon Street.

Maria
We were at no 42. The maisonettes always seemed very old to me but I think at one time there were terraced houses there that were bombed during the war. There was still a row of terraces at the Garrison Lane end of the street.
lynn.
 
We were at no 42. The maisonettes always seemed very old to me but I think at one time there were terraced houses there that were bombed during the war. There was still a row of terraces at the Garrison Lane end of the street.
lynn.

My mother lived in Gordon Street before the war, and their house was bombed - must have been one of the houses you mention. I didn't realise the maisonettes replaced them.

Maria
 
Hopscotch, a game played many times.
I now live in Lincolnshire, and on occasions spend a day in the MUSEUM OF LINCOLNSHIRE LIFE, in the City OF Lincoln.
In one of the large display areas they have, someone has chalked a hopscotch game on the floor.
If you stand back and watch, you would be surprised at how many folk, mainly the more elderly, show a look of glee on their face, and then proceed to play the game.
I usually have a chat with them, and their memories just flood out.
That actually reminds me of something my husband and I did the other Saturday.

We were walking our dog round Victoria Park in Smethwick, My husband's playground as a child and teenager and I spent time hanging round there when I went out with a lad whose house backed onto the park.

anyway the council have painted a hopscotch square on one of the paths and we looked at it, at each other, and both tried to play hopscotch again. It was good fun and made these two fifty somethings smile.
 
One of my nearest recreation grounds was at the corner of Reddings Lane and Formans Road. Not sure whether that comes under Sparkhill or Tyseley. There was certainly a see-saw and also swings. The roundabout was a bit simpler than in your sketch. It was like a big flat wheel just off the ground with 6 or more handles joining up at the centre pivot. You had to hold onto a handle and then run as fast as you could before jumping on the roundabout. There were always some boys that could run faster and then it could be difficult to get on and off the roundabout. Dave.
It was my nearest playground too. I used to live at the bottom end of Reddings Lane nearest the Warwick Rd. I was a bit of a wimp though with the roundabout ....
 
You know what we no longer have in family's, all those friends of the family, neighbors, and so on, who became Uncles, and Aunts to us kids in the 40's and 50's , we always had an Uncle Bob or Aunt eddie, who were next door neighbors in reality. we had loads of them. Paul
 
I believe the Italians have a similar arrangement, Maurice, haven't spoken for a while, hope all's well in Crete, my very close friend, Greg Davos, a distinguished Greek Scientist, has landed a plum government job in Crete, and has invited me over when this pestilence has gone, hope I could meet you if I go. Regards Paul
 
That would be great, Paul, providing it is not at the western end of the island! We have no trains and anything beyond Heraklion involves a change of bus. If your friend is a scientist he'll most likely be employed by either Heraklion University or Hospital or Rethymnon University as there is not a great deal of industry on the island. We have four provinces on the island and at the moment we are not allowed to travel between provinces without a substantiated reason, i.e. job or medical.

We're still OK, but there has been an outbreak of Covid at a nursery school in Aghios Nikolas, about 15 minutes drive away, involving three teachers, 20 toddlers and 27 other adults, so the province of Lasithi has been made a red zone with a curfew from 6:00pm to 5:00am from tomorrow onwards. So far our village is clear and has always been, but I haven't left the village for several weeks now as I have no need. Please keep me posted, but I don't think that there will be much international travel for quite a while yet.

Maurice :cool:
 
I remember from my childhood, that society was a lot more accommodating and kinder, where in the main, good manners were used by mostly everybody. So much so that in my junior school they were in the educational curriculum, and a Kindness costs nothing", sticker on every door of the school". It seems outlawed today you have to be careful holding a door for somebody, and if you do, hardly anyone says thank you. I remember being on a tram as a child, and everyone who got on said "Morning all, and when they got off, "Ta rah a bit". I remember even "Teddy Boys", holding a pram for a mom to get on or off a bus, or helping an elderly person the same, they may very well have belted their peers at the Lacarno of a Saturday night, but they had been bought up to show some regard to the people I have mentioned, seems to have nearly all disappeared now, though in saying that during this pandemic , I have seen much kindness, sometimes. Paul
 
I lived, well we lived, in Reddings Lane, down the Warwick Road end from about 1960, our house was on the opposite side to the schools, Yardley and Formans Road, and we backed onto the YGS playing fields. Saw many changes in that street over the forty years plus that I lived there. A great place for kids to grow up. I don't recognise Tyseley whenever I pass through it these days, everything has gone or is changing.
 
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