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Knowle Road Sparkhill

meldrew

Brummie babby
Any memories of family, friends, neighbors, who lived in Knowle Road Sparkhill?

I was born at 153 in 1938, and my mother also born in same house in 1914 [Hilda Eagles nee Howse], friends included John and Ann Mullins next door at 155, Dicky Amot, Arnold and Barbara Saunders, Kenny Mulhall, Raymond Green, Tony Mason, Cedric Chisholm, John and Neville Birch, Twins Jackie and Josie, and the the Jacksons that owned the scrapyard on the corner of Stratford Road.
 
My great grandparents Arthur and Louisa Grimshaw lived in Knowle Road. Louisa died in 1949, but three of her children lived on there until the last one died in the 1980s.
 
Yes I remember the Grimshaws well, I was born at 153, and bought 126 in 1963 when I was married, moved out in 1968, but my mother lived there until 2004.

A great community in those days,
 
I didn't realise that Knowle Road had its own thread otherwise I would have replied earlier. Accordingly, I'm going to add a couple of items that, if you dig deep enough, you may find elsewhere on the Forum. My family moved from Aston to number 215, a bomb damaged house that had been made safe, in early 1941. I started at College Road Infants School in the September of that year.

I clearly remember some of the names that Meldrew mentions, including two of my playmates, Dicky Amott and John Birch. Dicky had an elder brother John, who was heavily into motor bikes and speedway, and last time we corresponded a few years ago, he was living in Bermuda, whilst Dicky was in Weymouth. Kenny Mulhall - was he the blonde, curly-haired kid living next door to Ronnie Bridgewater? I remember less clearly the names Saunders, Mason & Chisholm, but can add a few new names - Margaret Holmes at 203, the Turners at 201, and further down (towards Formans Road) Pat Fisher, Cherry Ritter, and a couple of doors from the Birch family, young Reggie ???. On the opposite corner to the scrapyard was the chemists, and more or less opposite Mrs Carter's hucksters shop, Dorothy White. Next door to us were the Wilkinsons and opposite "old gell Price", who was for ever putting out our bonfires on the bombsite!

Courtesy of the BARRA site and the Birmingham Mail, here are the sad results of the bombing on 17 October 1940. Centre rear is the Springfield Ballroom and to the left of that, the Springfield Cinema, now Grand Occasions and a furniture retailer respectively.

Maurice

KnowleRoadCasualties.jpg
knowle-road-sparkhill-287091716.jpg
 
My great grandparents Arthur and Louisa Grimshaw lived in Knowle Road. Louisa died in 1949, but three of her children lived on there until the last one died in the 1980s.


Any memories of family, friends, neighbors, who lived in Knowle Road Sparkhill?

I was born at 153 in 1938, and my mother also born in same house in 1914 [Hilda Eagles nee Howse], friends included John and Ann Mullins next door at 155, Dicky Amot, Arnold and Barbara Saunders, Kenny Mulhall, Raymond Green, Tony Mason, Cedric Chisholm, John and Neville Birch, Twins Jackie and Josie, and the the Jacksons that owned the scrapyard on the corner of Stratford Road.
Hi all I’m with my 87year old auntie Sylvia she lived on knowle road with her family during the 1940s to around 1957 they were the Griffiths family . they lived at number 78 Frank the dad worked on the buses and trams for many years. Annie Griffiths she did a bit of unqualified midwifery when called upon in knowle road. They had two children Sheila and Sylvia. they’re aunty and uncle Agnes and Harry Lilly lived at number 1 Knowle road which was a sweet and tobacco shop until after the war when they sold general household food and hardware. Harry and another pal Harry Howle used to do some entertaining in clubs and weddings. Sylvia can remember the Turners But only young Dennis who married Marjorie and lived in Knowle road for a few years . The Bennett family who had at least 3 children. The Swans at number 90 their daughter pam moved to Leicester and ended up in Oadby but are both now in a care home.The Stait’s at number 80.The Miles family on the opposite side. She has great memories playing at sarehole mill when Mr Andrews owned it.
 
Hello Marie,

Welcome to the Forum. Sorry, but I can't add much to my post #4 other than that Ronnie Bridgewater passed away in, I think, 2014. John Amott in Bermuda was still going strong in 2016, but his younger brother Dickie and their mother Gladys passed away a few years ago.

Number 78 was well over halfway to Foremans Road and outside my knowledge.

Maurice :cool:
 
One of my dad's photos shows a lady with Knowle Road on the reverse.
My gt grandmother lived in 33 Knowle Road in 1901, whether this is her I do not know.
Maybe someone recognises the house if it's still there?
 

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Scrumper,

The houses are all still there (or were 5 years ago) and number 33 is on the north side a short distance from Formans Road end. Apart from the houses built to replace the five destoryed in WW2 in post #4, they all look much alike and were built in the first decade of the 20th Century, as were those in the parallel Solihull Road, on land originally owned by the Earl of Malmesbury.

EDIT: Here's number 33 in 2019 from Google StreetView. It's had a new roof, had the chimney stack removed, and the bay window has been widened by about 50%. The roof was slated originally as was the bay, but otherwise not much else has changed.

Maurice :cool:

33 Knowle Road 2019.jpg
 
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Maurice
My mother was born in Knowle Rd. in 1912 at, I think, number 124. My grandfather was Wilfrid Bright, grandmother Rosa (who I never met) children Gladys, Violet (my mother) Ralph, Harry & Nell.
Wilfrid lived there until his death in 1966.
My father lived in Nanson Rd off the Stratford Rd, a bit further along towards the city & they were married at the Congregational Church at the end of Knowle Rd in 1936.
 
Sajohn,

That's about halfway down on the south side, but not a name known to me. I think there's a separate thread for the Congregational Church, which is still there but no longer a church. I'm in a hurry this morning & will try and dig out the link later on.

Maurice :cool:
 
Sajohn,

That's about halfway down on the south side, but not a name known to me. I think there's a separate thread for the Congregational Church, which is still there but no longer a church. I'm in a hurry this morning & will try and dig out the link later on.

Maurice :cool:
1580630526677.png:grinning:
 
Hi all I’m with my 87year old auntie Sylvia she lived on knowle road with her family during the 1940s to around 1957 they were the Griffiths family . they lived at number 78 Frank the dad worked on the buses and trams for many years. Annie Griffiths she did a bit of unqualified midwifery when called upon in knowle road. They had two children Sheila and Sylvia. they’re aunty and uncle Agnes and Harry Lilly lived at number 1 Knowle road which was a sweet and tobacco shop until after the war when they sold general household food and hardware. Harry and another pal Harry Howle used to do some entertaining in clubs and weddings. Sylvia can remember the Turners But only young Dennis who married Marjorie and lived in Knowle road for a few years . The Bennett family who had at least 3 children. The Swans at number 90 their daughter pam moved to Leicester and ended up in Oadby but are both now in a care home.The Stait’s at number 80.The Miles family on the opposite side. She has great memories playing at sarehole mill when Mr Andrews owned it.
Hi Marie,
I'm interested in your Auntie's connection with 1 Knowle Road. I wondered if you knew how long Agnes and Harry Lilly lived there? My great grandparents (Ernest and Annie Laurie Langley) had the shop at 1 Knowle from circa 1915 to sometime in the 1930s when they moved to Shirley. I'm just trying to find out when it was they made the move and thought that possibly the Lilly's took over from the Langleys (I don't even know if they owned it or just rented)?
 
DTaylor,

Welcome to the Forum. Marie hasn't logged into the Forum for almost a year now and only made that one post. If the shop was also living premises, the names will appear in the Electoral Roll. Not every year is online and it is not free, but the site is here:- https://www.midlandshistoricaldata.org/

Maurice :cool:
 
Ancestry has 1930 and 1935 online. The Langleys are there in 1930 but had gone by 1935. In 1935 it was Mary Slater with William and Ada Whittingham.
 
Oh wow it’s so nice to see all these memories I am a bit younger then some of you I was born in 1988 and Knowle road is where I lived and my dad still lives there now number 64. But I have good memories of this road there use to be a shop at the bottom of the road by Forman’s road and there was a little old lady who lived at number 68 called Lilly . She had a sewing machine in her window and I think years before that her house might of been a shop she was close friends with a lady called Bridget . Growing up as a kid was always fun kids playing outside and we use to go to the river Cole aswell . How times have changed .
 
Hello Charlene,

Welcome to the Forum. I can't help with that end of Knowle Road and my knowledge from my childhood days extended as far as Cherry Ritter on the Solihull Road side going from the Stratford Road end. Even then there are a few people that end that I didn't know. But as you say, it was lots of fun with bikes, hopscotch and all the other childhood games plus. of course, the River Cole, though the allotments are not longer open to everyone as they were in my younger day. I don't think there's anyone now living there from my time, though a lady did contact me a few years ago that lived in my old house at no. 215 20 years after we had left. Enjoy the Forum - there's a Search function in the top right of every page. Feel free to explore. :) There are several threads about the River Cole by the way.

Maurice :cool:
 
Aww thank you for replying . The allotments where not open when we was kids either but a few of the children use to make a den in an old shed that was no longer used at the back of our house haha it was the allotments that no one owned anymore . I remember people use to pick raspberry’s along the river Cole . It’s not the same there now full of bushes and seems dirty with litter . I will look for the river Cole forum. Do u ever remember the bear pub on thorn hill road it was there for years the last Irish pub standing on Stratford road but it closed down a few years ago . I remember there use to be a blue fish and chip shop on formans road and Victoria wines and Maggies the hairdresser and a butcher all of them have now gone
 
Charlene,

I should have pointed out that I left Brum and moved to Dorset in 1961 and moved to Crete in 2005. So my knowledge of pubs is pretty scant! I was more familiar with that area of the Cole that backs onto Sarehole Road and where we had a rope from a tree just above the weir (or waterfall as we knew it), so we could swing out over the river. Then a bit further upstream on the south bank there used to be a little dump used by a lens manufacturer in Sarehole Road. So we were always looking for magnifying glasses!

Back to the allotments, a friend's father had an allotment so we could legally be there and it went down to the river. We would try damming the river, not very successfully. Then there were the old claypits at Greet - they got filled in in the 1960s - and we would catch newts there in the pools at the bottom of the pit. And then get told off when we got home for having our shoes covered in clay. We also used to paddle in the shallower parts of the Cole and in the ford at what was then Green Lane (now Road) - lots of lovely green waterweed underfoot, now all gone.

And of course, the bombsite next door was a great playground, building dens from a housebricks and bits of corrugated iron left on the site. Then there was what was the Springfield Cinema, which has been used as a succession of furniture shops in recent years and last time I looked on Google was empty. It was used to store sugar during the war and locked, but enterprising souls would break the lock and we'd have free sugar until the powers that be replaced the lock.

At the end of Knowle Road on Stratford Road they built lots of pre-fabs after the war. The Congregational Church became an Asian restaurant in more recent years, but mysteriously caught fire in the middle of the night two or three years ago. But we had oodles of fun, just as I hope you will exploring the threads on this forum.

Maurice :cool:
 
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