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Mapledene Junior & Infants School

Does anyone remember "Playschool". No, not the television programme, but a scheme that operated during the school holidays at Mapledene School. Twice weekly, Mondays and Thursdays I recall, the school would open up in the evenings, possibly between the hours of about 6pm and 8 pm. and manned, I presume, by volunteer staff possibly teachers or social/youth workers.
In the summertime we played individually with the equipment provided such as stilts, bamboo hoops and a variety of other games and sporting equipment. We played team games such as cricket for the boys and skittleball for the girls. Then sometimes we played mixed girls/boys games such as rounders or Red Rover.
When the nights were darker, late Autumn , Winter and early Spring we used the classrooms and the school hall which doubled as a gym. We painted, made models or filled scrapbooks with a variety of ephemera. We played games in the gym and on one occasion the "teacher", a guy named Mr Sampson whom I hero worshipped, brought in some boxing gloves and the boys were paired off to have a go at each other. I was even in those days tall for my age and surprisingly paired with a much smaller lad named Howard Thomas. What a little bantam he turned out to be! Despite my height and reach advantage he came at me like a whirlwind. Neither of us had any boxing technique and despite me landing a lucky punch on his nose which started bleeding, he got in a few telling blows and the bout was declared a draw. I think I was lucky to get that!
We had some great times there and it wasn't just for the pupils of Mapledene School. There were girls and boys who attended other Junior schools such as Stanville Rd., Elms Farm, St.Thomas More and Blakenhale.
 
Does anyone remember "Playschool". No, not the television programme, but a scheme that operated during the school holidays at Mapledene School. Twice weekly, Mondays and Thursdays I recall, the school would open up in the evenings, possibly between the hours of about 6pm and 8 pm. and manned, I presume, by volunteer staff possibly teachers or social/youth workers.
In the summertime we played individually with the equipment provided such as stilts, bamboo hoops and a variety of other games and sporting equipment. We played team games such as cricket for the boys and skittleball for the girls. Then sometimes we played mixed girls/boys games such as rounders or Red Rover.
When the nights were darker, late Autumn , Winter and early Spring we used the classrooms and the school hall which doubled as a gym. We painted, made models or filled scrapbooks with a variety of ephemera. We played games in the gym and on one occasion the "teacher", a guy named Mr Sampson whom I hero worshipped, brought in some boxing gloves and the boys were paired off to have a go at each other. I was even in those days tall for my age and surprisingly paired with a much smaller lad named Howard Thomas. What a little bantam he turned out to be! Despite my height and reach advantage he came at me like a whirlwind. Neither of us had any boxing technique and despite me landing a lucky punch on his nose which started bleeding, he got in a few telling blows and the bout was declared a draw. I think I was lucky to get that!
We had some great times there and it wasn't just for the pupils of Mapledene School. There were girls and boys who attended other Junior schools such as Stanville Rd., Elms Farm, St.Thomas More and Blakenhale.
I only remember going in the summer and we called it play centre
 
I still can't remember Tip & Mitten even from the infants.
I will always associate Mr Wimpory with his bicycle and strangely enough I came across him several times in locations miles away from Sheldon. Dad once took us in his old Morris 8 for a day trip to Bourton on the Water and I met Mr Wimpory there and on another occasion in Stratford Upon Avon, both times with his trusty bike.
I was working at a branch of one of the big four high street banks in 1985 and Mr Wimpory came into the branch..An elderly,frail looking man he was then not the sometimes volatile ,quite scary individual he was when I was in his class.I introduced myself but he was a confused person then so I didn’t Persue the conversation ..
 
Fans of BBC Four's Spiral think he has been re-born as Judge Roban! Personally I found him an enthusiastic and inspiring teacher.
 
Mapledene Infants
In the late fifties one of our local haunts was The jungle. It was actually a piece of a very long, overgrown garden which had been fenced off and could only be accessed from the gulley in which we played.
jungle.jpg
The Jungle? (How did some people manage to gain a bit of gulley?)
 
View attachment 138662
The Jungle? (How did some people manage to gain a bit of gulley?)
Always made me wonder too! As kids we found it most infuriating.If you look on the opposite side there are two, side by side. The first one going down the hill contained a garage and a Aviary. The one nextdoor contained an entrance to a concrete bunker!
I remember us once distracting the one owner of the aviary to show us his budgies while the rest of the gang filed down one of the gardens to get access to the street lol
 
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Miss Green's class of 1954:
Back Row L-R: ?, James Shaw, Molly Parkin, ?, Rosamund, Sylvia, ?, Peggy Mole, Margaret Thornborough, ?, Edith Lowe, ?, Arthur Edwards.
Standing Row L-R: Susan Banks, Elizabeth Day, Brian Johnson, Vivian Haddock, ?, Paul Field, ?, ? Elizabeth White, ?, Eve Edwards, Stanley.
Sitting Row L-R: Howard Thomas, David Hughes, ?, 'Twiny 1', 'Twiny 2', ?, Miss Green, ?, ?, Jill Burrows, ?, Christine Blake, Pauline Evans.
Floor Row L-R: ?, ?, Ivor James, James Madden, ?, ?,?, Donald Cornock.

Margaret Thornborough had a twin brother so he must be there too. Pauline Evans went around with the twins and she called them Twiny 1 & 2. Vivian Haddock had an older sister Pearl and they were children of the Haddock family that had a business on Old Lode Lane, just before where Mahoney's is now, (behind them, on Coventry Road was Parson's timber yard). Elizabeth White was a butcher's daughter (Aston's(?)) on Arden Oak Road.

Earlier I mentioned pictures in the Juniors' dining hall, perhaps one was one of van Gogh's pictures of the Langlois bridge at Arles?

Something that I never noticed in 1954 were the gas lights either side of the doors. At the 50th anniversary I noticed them then in various places, (without shades). Someone said that Mapledene was designed to be a refuge centre in times of emergency and had gas lighting in case the electricity supply failed.
View attachment 129698
Have this picture at home, I'm Margaret Bennett and standing behind Miss Green. I think the girl two to the left of me is Jean Rogers and the little chap at the end of my row could be David Gray. Didn't realise we could have once been so young!! Thank you for posting this
 
Have this picture at home, I'm Margaret Bennett and standing behind Miss Green. I think the girl two to the left of me is Jean Rogers and the little chap at the end of my row could be David Gray. Didn't realise we could have once been so young!! Thank you for posting this
Hi Margj welcome to the forum. I remember you and your family very well as we lived in the same road. Didn't we meet at the last Silvermere reunion? I was there with my sister Carol who spent the night catching up with your sister Barbara. I have to say I didn't recognise you in the photo but now you've pointed it out then it's obvious. I'm not so sure that the lad on the end is David Gray but you could be right.
Best wishes,
Jim
 
Hi Margj welcome to the forum. I remember you and your family very well as we lived in the same road. Didn't we meet at the last Silvermere reunion? I was there with my sister Carol who spent the night catching up with your sister Barbara. I have to say I didn't recognise you in the photo but now you've pointed it out then it's obvious. I'm not so sure that the lad on the end is David Gray but you could be right.
Best wishes,
Jim
Yes of course now you explain. You have always been Jimmy to Barbara and me, so when you signed off as Jim it threw me. I remember you and Carol at that Silvermere reunion. Can't believe all those years have past by since we were all at Mapledene and then Silvermere.
 
I have no idea, and to be honest I don't remember this at all. What an arrogant poem, "Margaret is glad for she knows quite well there's a prize to be had" I hope I grew out of that pretty quickly.
You did win a form 4/2 prize though and were a vice-captain of St Andrew's!
 
Yes of course now you explain. You have always been Jimmy to Barbara and me, so when you signed off as Jim it threw me. I remember you and Carol at that Silvermere reunion. Can't believe all those years have past by since we were all at Mapledene and then Silvermere.
Yes I've morphed into my Grandad! When my grandfather was alive there were 3 of us named James. My grandad was Jim,
My Dad was Jimmy and I was little Jimmy!
By looking at your forum name you have turned into your Mum who, if I remember correctly was known as Marj together with your Dad Fred. I can also remember your Grandad and Grandma who lived in the flats opposite our house. It all seems so long ago doesn't it?
 
Yes I've morphed into my Grandad! When my grandfather was alive there were 3 of us named James. My grandad was Jim,
My Dad was Jimmy and I was little Jimmy!
By looking at your forum name you have turned into your Mum who, if I remember correctly was known as Marj together with your Dad Fred. I can also remember your Grandad and Grandma who lived in the flats opposite our house. It all seems so long ago doesn't it?
Yes that was mum and dad, Marge and Fred. The couple who lived in the flats opposite you were my great aunt and uncle, my Nan and grandad lived in Acocks Green. My dad's cousin Elsie lived in the six story flats opposite our house. She would come across to ours on a Saturday morning to hang her washing out and would sometimes still be there when the washing dried, after drinking many cups of tea and chatting to mum. I remember Carol coming to ours with Barbara and playing schools, hospitals or house in the back shed. We also used to go across the park and jump over the brook, go to the dell and swing across on a rope that was there. Such a long time ago...anything up to sixty years whoa, frightening!!
 
Came across this today on an auction site.
birmingham schools football 1.jpg birmingham schools football 2.jpg

The second player listed for Birmingham schools is a lad named Trevor Glynn, who, although attending Sheldon Heath Comp. at the time of the match, used to go to Mapledene and lived in Greenvale Avenue.
 
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