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Growing Up In Brum - Roy Blakey Inspired.

OVER THE GARDEN FENCE. Whispers to protect the Children.
( But the kids were already ahead of the game ).
The kids had met up and were all playing in one of the back gardens. A couple of the Moms had come out and had started talking to one another ' over the garden fence '. This was of little interest to the children ( the kids thoughts were that in general the grown ups tended to go on about nothing anyway).
UNTIL
The Moms conversation suddenly dropped to a whisper and now they were mouthing to one another with no sound coming out at all and what was those furtive glances all about.
NOW THE KIDS WERE INTERESTED.
Into ' covert ' mode, using all their skills at Lip reading, translating body language and using their acute hearing the kids began to piece together this part of the Moms communication with one another.
JOB DONE. Hardly worth the bother. The kids had known about this information three days ago from the other kids on the street grapevine.
Waste no more time. Get back to the business of the Game they were playing.
 
A definite not to miss gathering of the family Children. ( Sunday evenings, the 1930's ).
There wasn't a great many radio programmes available that were deliberately aimed at the Children during this period, but there was one that seemed to entice us kids and became a must on a Sunday night.
" WE ARE THE OVALTINEYS "
Here we had a broadcast that was specifically arranged for the Children of the family. The programme would always open with the title song " We are the Ovaltineys " and then would offer little take part in competitions and activities. It provided a Club like membership and offered a Club badge and a Code book ( which you needed to ' crack ' the secret codes on the broadcast).
On a Sunday night we definitely had no problems cutting short our street games in order to get home and get settled in for this one.
 
LIGHT THE BULLET.
There was a period, probably around 1940 - 1950 ish, that the Bullet Cigarette Lighter became a favourite ' Foreigner '
( term used to describe a personal, and sometimes slightly illegal piece of work carried out during working hours at the workplace ).
These Cigarette Lighters were created from ' spent ' bullet and small Cannon Shell casings. There were many of these lighters to be seen around Brum, some self made, some made for, but they were pretty popular and fashionable at the time. Not particularly sleek to look at, but effective in use.
Just another little example of that lovely " Make or Mend " attitude of the time.
 
Dad was given a lighter made from two old pennies, I don't know what happened to it but he was worried about it being defaced coins which was/is illegal. I've never seen a bullet lighter though.
rosie.
 
" UP TOWN " another nice adventure.
Being brought up in Kingstanding in its early years had a certain degree of a Rural feel to it, an occassional visit with Mom and Dad to Brum City Centre was a change and an exciting experience.
We would start off by catching a ' 29 ' bus at Kingstanding and if we were lucky we would get seats on the top deck so that we could a better ' view out ' on the journey.
On this occasion when we arrived at the city we went straight to Lewis's, I remember thinking ( This has got to be one of the biggest shops in the world, Posh too ). We went on then down to the " Bull Ring " and on the way there we were looking up at a great tall building that sold chairs, tables, sofas and things like that ( must be nearly as tall as them buildings in America ). Could have stayed down the Bull Ring all day ( There was everything going on, so much to see).
Mom went off to do a bit of shopping so Dad took us to see the trains at New Steet Railway Station. We walked across the bridge at the station and we could look down on all the platforms and see the trains coming, or going, or just waiting to load up with passengers. There were so many people down there getting on or getting off the trains. We could hear the guards blowing their whistles but best of all was the smell of the smoke coming from the ' engines '. On the other side of the station there was lots of cars and lorries coming to or going from the station.
We then went up some roads to see the Town Hall and the Council House. ( Boy, the Town Hall was just like some of the Greek Temples we'd seen in the picture books at school ).
We met up with Mom by Snow Hill Station, she'd got some sandwiches for us, so we sat for quite a while on a bench by a big church and ate our sandwiches. While we were there we were looking at one of the nearby roads that had lots of bus stops, one after the other, and the buses were coming and going non-stop ( never seen so many buses before ).
We eventually walked rond the corner and waited for a bus to take us back home ( this was outside another big shop called ' Greys ").
What a great time we had and what a lot we'd seen. I was already looking forward to our next time up here but I was also looking forward to getting back to our own patch, it wa always good there too.
 
During WW2, whilst at school in Blackwell, and a member of the church choir, we were taken out for the day by Mr Edward Grey, the owner of Greys, in his car, and treated to a picnic. I shall always remember that big black car, and the gas converter on the roof that gave the car its fuel. Eddie
 
001.JPGThis is BOMB shaped cig lighter that my Dad had in things left over whe he passed on (God Bless Him) Its real small alloy and I cant see any makers name. John Crump Parker. Colorado USA
 
Found this on a ' search ' and I think it more or less shows the type of Bullet Cigarette Lighter concoction mentioned on Post#484 of this thread.image.jpg
 
image.jpgBLUEBELLS FOR MOM.
This is a little story that probably spans the experience of many generations of children.
( another little lesson on the learning curve ).
On this particular day our little group of kids decided that we would adventure from our base in Kingstanding and go and explore Barr Beacon. We made our way up to the Queslett Road and then up Beacon Road.
As we walked this country lane we came upon a small copse to the side of the road which had a spectacular spread of flowering wild Bluebells. It seemed only natural to move amongst them and pick a few to take home.
Picking done and each of us holding a little bunch of Bluebells in our hands on we went to the Beacon. We climbed the little hill and explored the sights to be seen from the top. Had a bit of a run around ( still clutching our little bundles of
Bluebells ). Had a lovely time.
Eventually we decided to make our way back home and started the return journey. As we were making our way back we we're increasingly becoming aware that our little bunches of flowers were not surviving too well.
By the time we got home and stood before our Moms ( to present them with our flower gifts ) the presentation was in tatters. All we were offering was a handful of limp and sagging mush
Okay then, we had learnt our lesson that Bluebell picking didn't work. So for our future offerings we would stick to Willow Tree Stalks that we occassionally brought back, for the Moms, from Sutton Park and grew lovely in a jar of water
Sketch : Bluebells for Mom.
 
I'M A BUS DRIVER TODAY.
(Making a Bus trip with Mom ).
Waiting in the queue at the Bus terminus. Here's the Bus coming. Smashing, got the seats right behind the drivers cabin.
If I stand up I can see right into his cab. The bus driver has just climbed up on the front of the bus and turned the handle that changes the bus route sign and he's now taking out his key and clocking his start journey time. He's climbing back into his cab and settling himself in. He presses a button and I can feel the engine start up. The conductor rings the bell and I see the driver look at his mirrors to check that he is clear to pull away. He puts his hand out of his little side window and signals that he is moving out. I watch his hands as he steers the bus round the bends and the traffic islands.I watch him constantly looking into his mirrors and giving his hand signals. I can feel the ' thump ' as he changes his gears.
This has got to be the best job in the world.
Yep,I'm definitely going to be a Bus Driver when I grow up.
Mom taps me on the back and tells me that the next stop is ours and we need to get ready to get off the bus.
Heck, wish the journey had been a lot longer.
Still, perhaps we can get the same seats when we come back.
 
From a brummie war-time kid.
I would just like to add my own thanks and tribute today, in rememberance to Winston Churchill. The man that in the early years of WW2, when things were not looking too good, gave everyone that extra strength and determination that got us through in the end. Good Bloke.
 
Roy, As a fellow Brummie wartime kid, I agree with you.

I have no political preference when I say that I cannot imagine any of todays bunch of politicians inspiring anyone. Eddie
 
norfolk brummie said:
Roy, As a fellow Brummie wartime kid, I agree with you.

I have no political preference when I say that I cannot imagine any of todays bunch of politicians inspiring anyone. Eddie
Click to expand...

I was born in 42 so my part in the downfall of hitler was minimal.:-} I do think it strange though that Churchill was voted out of office in the first post war election.?
 
I was one of the hundreds of squaddies that lined the route of Churchill's funeral.
I can't believe that on the day I was a just-turned 24-year-old with a one year old son.

I wonder if anyone else on this site was there, I bet Paul Stacey was !
 
image.jpgA morning with Dad.
Period : Pre-war.
I was out in the street one Sunday morning, playing with my friends and I heard Dad calling to me from the bottom of our entry. I ran over to see what he was calling me for. He told me that he was going down Perry Barr to get some wood for the Chicken House that he was building ( in our back garden ) and that I could go with him if I wanted.
No second thoughts. I loved going out with Dad.
I shouted over to my pals that I was going somewhere with Dad and that I would see them later.
Dad got his bike out and we set off for a Farmhouse that was being pulled down, the Farmhouse and buildings were located near the end of the Aldridge Road near to the College Road, Perry Barr.
Dad chose the ' back route ' because whenever he could he was giving me a ride on the cross bar of his bike.
We arrived at this Farmhouse and could see much of the building had already been demolished so we started to sort through all the wood pieces that were up for sale. Dad eventually collected the pieces that he wanted and then paid for them.
We had to find some bits of rope to tie our purchases onto the bike. We started back for home with Dad pushing his bike and its load and I walking by his side.
As we walked back Dad told me how he intended to build the Chicken House and how many Chickens and Eggs we might eventually get. He also told me some stories about when he was a boy. I told him about my friends and where we went on our adventures, We talked all the way back.
This Man to Man talk was really good stuff.
IT WAS ONE OF THOSE SPECIAL TIMES.
Sketch : A chance to talk.
 
A SCIVE OFF. ( but rubber stamped by the teachers ).
Around 1944.
The schools classroom windows had been ' cross taped ' to prevent shattering during air raids but all the bottom rows of the windows had been fully covered with stuck on paper ( this served as a good anti-shatter protection but I suspect it was also used to block the outside view and hence the distraction for any seated pupils in the classroom).
Anyway, the teachers eventually decided that the bland looking bottom windows needed some sort of ' dressing up ".
So, a couple of us kids ( Jeff and myself ) were ' succonded ' to paint and crayon images and scenes on everyone of these papered windows. ( No objection from us when we heard the deal ).
The only lessons that we had to attend and be part of would be Mathematics, English and Science, the rest we were excused from.
We had four classrooms to complete and this ' cushy ' job lasted for about a month.
Yeah, we had to put up with a few wishful and envious looks from our school chums as they did their lessons, but that's life innit.
 
Made another day out for the family. ( 1984 - 1995).
What shall we do this Sunday ? How about we have a ride up to Brum Airport and go watch the Aeroplanes coming and going and if the weathers good we can drive over the road and have a picnic on Elmdon Heath. A good break for Mom and Dad and a definate thumbs up from the kids.
A bonus during this period was, whilst at the Airport, there was a free ride facility for transporting people from the Airport down to the Birmingham International Railway station ( including the NEC ) and back again.
This was done on a ' Maglev ' transporter ( Magnetic levitation on a set of guide rails ). Might as well try it whilst we're here.
The Dads seemed to find this form of transport interesting enough but for the ' kids ' it was super fun.
AND THEY STILL HAD THE PICNIC TO COME.
You could always tell it had been a good day out when you heard the words " Can we do that again Dad ? " from the back seat of the car.
Photo: The Airport Maglev transporter.image.jpg
 
Recalling some of the ' hiccups' of early TV and Sound Cinema films.
Early available Television came to our homes, we were able to view such things as drama plays, variety stage shows, discussion programmes and many other picture and sound features.
Rehearsals completed, stage set, sound equipment and cameras in position. Red light on.
It was a " one off ", one chance only event. LIVE TELEVISION.
The older generation will remember some of the TV mishaps that would occur during a live sending out.
During a play drama the cameras would ' pick up ' ( at the top of the screen ) the sound microphone on the end of of the sound boom and it sometimes took a fair while before the operators were informed that their shots needed to be re-adjusted.
Typical mishaps occurred with the scenery, such as a door, in a room shot, opening on its own and then the sight of a stage hand ( on his hands and knees ) trying to shut it whilst being as invisible as possible.
Stage-set doors and furniture draws not operating ' on cue '. Stage ' props ' not operating on cue ( the cigarette lighter failing to operate on cue ) the actors having to pretend to light up and go through the actions of having a smoke.
The actor forgetting his ' lines ' and a period of ad-libbing had to be accomplished trying to bring the plot back on course.
The stage lighting partly failing on occassions ( the actors carrying on as though nothing had happened).
Then there was the ' picture house '.
Some of the little hiccups some years ago would be:
The break down in the 'continuity ' of the picture showing. Sometime into the film the screen would fill up with flashes of circles and crosses and the picture and sound was suddenly lost ( Stacks of whistling from the audience in order to let the projector operator up in the gods know that something had gone wrong ).
With some of the older sound films the synchronization of the persons on screen sound voice would not be matching the movements of their lips ( more whistling from the audience).
Occassionally the projector operator would get his film rolls in the wrong order and the story being shown on screen would become out of phase ( eventually when it became obvious that the story on screen was going wrong then more whistles from the audience).
It might seem a bit amateurish now but at the time these entertainment offerings of home TV and the local picture houses
were highly popular and to some degree these little hiccups seemed to be perfectly acceptable side effects and they certainly had their funny side.
 
DIG FOR HISTORY.
A Brummie that tells about Brum for the Brummies.
Read him, listen to him, watch him and you see a man that obviously loves his city.
Good luck in the future mate.
Sketch : History Man.image.jpg
 
image.jpg" Yeah, this ones good enough to take home ".
In this period, and up our end, there didn't appear to be much attention paid by parents regarding their children's 'academic' achievements at school ( so long as their kids didn't get into too much trouble at school the Moms and Dads seemed to deem this as hunky-dory).
There was very little ' homework ' sent out and as far as I can remember no Parent / Teacher meet up occassions either.
The kids seemed to be under very little scholarship achievement pressure. " School was School "and after that fresh air games and adventures, with their friends, we're the other half of the day.
But never the less the kids did their best at school and their in- school efforts were usually marked ' Out of Ten '.
A ' Ten out of Ten' would get a little star or ' VG ' marked up on that particular piece of class work as a reward and sometimes the teacher would invite the pupil to take it home for Mom or Dad to see , if they so wished.
Now, for a kid, if you could achieve a couple or more of these over the year, take them home, show them to Mom and Dad, it seemed to keep them happy.
Everybody happy. Job done, all clear to go out and play.
Photo : A ' writing' lesson done. One of my rare 10 out 10 markings. So I took it home. Poor old Mom and Dad, I bet that they struggled to understand the story written. I know I did.
 
Hi All.

I went to Grammar School (Waverley) and had plenty of homework. Most of my pals in the street went to the local secondary school (Marlborough Road) and had no home work. I was very jealous when I had to stay in doing my homework when they were out in the street playing football and polly on the mopstick etc.

Old Boy
 
" BOTTLED OUT ".
Somewhere around the 1940's.
It was all about that business between the difference of ' from the ground looking up' and ' from up there looking back down'.
The adventure started with a group of us kids, in Sutton Park, finding ourselves in the area of the Fair Ground over by the Crystal Palace and the town gate.
It was the winter period. The Fair Ground closed for the season. Very little fair ground equipment left. What was left that caught our attention was the ' Big Dipper ' and the ' Minature Railway '.
The Big Dipper. Group con- flab. " Do you think we could climb up that "
The Minature Railway. Group con-flab. " We've found one carriage on the line, shall we try and give it a push and see if we can get it moving ".
No Park keepers to be seen. We had to give it a go on both counts.
The Big Dipper first, over the fence and onto the lowest part of the ride. Walk / climbing on the side rail platforms, we gradually progressed round and ever higher on the Dipper run. Our intention was to reach the highest point on ' the run' but looking down now from the height we were at, it was getting a bit ' hairy '. There was a bit of puffing and blowing going on and we were getting slower and slower on the climb and then one of the group came up with a very acceptable comment. " We'd have a problem getting down from here in time you know, if one of the parkies comes along ".
Heck, thank goodness for that.
About turn and down we came. Back to the Minature railway carriage we went. Yeah, we got it moving along the rails and we took it in turns to give each other a few short rides.
The Big Dipper didn't look so high from down here again. Could have got to the top you know, but we had to think about getting caught by one of the Park Keepers.
THE TRUTH WAS , WE BOTTLED OUT DIDN'T WE.
 
image.jpg" GET YOUR SPOONS OUT FRANK, YOU ARE ON ".
The Family House party.
What a time this was for us kids. Uncles, Aunties and Cousins all coming over to our house for a party get to- gether.
Mom spending the afternoon preparing sandwiches. Dad clearing the living room of unessarsary pieces of furniture to make room for everyone.
The families started to arrive, late afternoon and straight away we ' cousins ' got stuck in with our stories to one another and to make things even better we were all going to be able to stay up late to-night.
Us kids started to help take the sandwiches and the drinks round. The kitchen became the Men's area ( keeping the Beer happy they told us ). The Ladies were in the living room ( having a catch up chin-wag ).
Later the rugs were rolled up and a little space cleared in front of the Piano.
This was the part I used to find extra special.
Uncle Bob would take his Harmonica out of his pocket, Mom would get seated at the Piano and Uncle Frank would get his
' Spoons ' out and they would begin to play for us all sorts of tunes.
I guess the quality of performance was not quite up to the " Joe Loss " or the " Victor Sylvester " level but it was sure good enough for a good old ' sing song ' and ' a bit of a knees up '.
Eventually the guests started to leave and finally the party was over.
The final end of day words from Mom and Dad would be something like :
Dad ( to us kids ) : " Come on then you kids. Off to bed now, you've had a late night and a lovely party ".
Dad ( to Mom ) : " I think that all went okay Eth ".
Mom ( to Dad ) : " Everyone loved it. I think we're all tired out now, we'll leave the rest of the washing up and the tidying up untill to-morrow morning if that's okay with you George ".
Dad ( to us all ) : " Okay everyone. Off to bed then. I'll let the cat in and lock up. Let's get some sleep ".
REALLY GREAT, JUST COULDN'T WAIT FOR OUR NEXT PARTY.
Sketch : The Band.
 
Hi! Roy. Thats exactly how it was at our house on Esher Rd in Kingstanding. My Uncle Alf played the spoons and he showed me how to do it. Here in the USA my wife and I used to go to a dance at the Legion hall every saturday night and I used to play the spoons when everyone was dancing and the people just loved it, especially with spanish tunes. Thanks for the memories, it was a long time ago.
Have a great day, WallyB.
 
SWOON TIME FOR THE MOMS. ( 1948 ish ).
It was only natural for us kids to occassionally check our Moms state of mood or emotions ( I mean, it was no good asking Mom for a favour if you judged she was in a temper or agitated about something ).
There was this Radio programme our Mom used to listen to, without fail , whenever it was on. There she would be, sat comfortably, cup of tea by the side, the radio turned up and no one allowed to disturb her listening. Then that dreamy look would edge into her eyes. A bit confusing for me at the time ( I mean, it was only a bloke singing songs).
Checked with my mates on this one and they practically all said that they saw the same with their own Moms too whenever this this bloke came on the radio.
The guy on the radio sang sort of ' mushy ' songs with titles like " In a shady nook, by a babbling brook ", " Red roses for a blue lady " and " Powder your face with sunshine ".
Donald Peers was his name and he was, it appeared , the heart throb of the Nations Moms.
Fair doos, but us kids couldn't quite make it out at the time.
Mind you, the straight after programme time would be a good time to approach Mom for that favour.
 
Roy,

There were two singers that our mothers 'swooned' over. Quite right, Donald Peers was one, with his own programme, and the other was Steve Conway, who died when still quite young. Anne Shelton was also very popular around that time.

My mother loved them all.

Eddie
 
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