Marston Green & Tile Cross

[waverlee]

It all seems so peaceful and calm doesn't it? I wonder if those feelings will ever come back?

Thats exactly how I remember those times.Nobody seemed to be rushing around like mad,things were slow and sure.Yes it was peaceful.Will it come back? Sadly,I don't think it will by itself,like years ago but I believe we can and should,make our own "old days"whenever and wherever we can.
LET'S DO IT !
Tojo.

 

[welder]

No, I lived in Marston Green but had an Uncle, Aunt and three cousins who lived in Gressel Lane and I was a frequent visitor there. Oh, since I made my last comment I've tried the food in the carvery and can commend it!

Ian

 

[Old Dave]

This is where the War Memorial is now. c1910

Yep! It is the old gravel pit where The Garden of Memory is now. The Church building aat the top is the original St Leonards I went to Sunday School there in 1949. It was an Anglican Sunday School and was run by Mrs Barnet who lived in Bickenhill Road. I believe her family were the Francis Barnet motorbike family but am a bit vague there.

 

[Old Dave]

This image shows a number of members of the Marston Green Home Guard unit, probably taken between 1942 and 1944. The interest in it is probably less the foreground (except for that tiny minority of Forum members who are interested in such things!) but, as is often the case, the background.

The building in the background is Chapel House Farm, situated near to the Marston Green railway station. It later became the clubhouse for the Marston Green Golf Club before being buried under extensions to Birmingham Airport in the 1970s. Look carefully and you will see behind an open window a couple surveying the scene below them.

It isn't clear when the farmhouse ceased to be a farm and became a golf club. A nine hole course was laid out in 1938 and it was a further 10 years before the final nine appeared. And so the people in the window could either be the farmer and his wife; or whoever it was who looked after the place as it transformed itself into a golf club. What seems to be established is that a Mr. and Mrs Harry Monkhouse lived in the house, at least in the immediate post-war era: Harry Monkhouse was the head greenkeeper and his wife looked after the clubhouse catering. But whether that was the couple hovering in the background.....

If anyone has any knowledge of Marston Green in the 1940s and can add anything to what we know about the house and its function, that would be very welcome.

Chris

(Sources: private collection and staffshomeguard; websites of Solihull Council and golfsmissinglinks)

View attachment 119225 View attachment 119226

The tall guy at the back looks like John Musson ( my Dad)

 

[Old Dave]

Marston Green - Station Road. Sorry, no date. Viv.

View attachment 118666

That would hsve been in the

 

[Old Dave]

I seem to recall tales of a murder in the bluebell woods, Marston Green- Chemsley around late 50s or early 60s, seemed to remember it putting me off going there.
Am I correct, or is my imagination and memory playing up.

I seem to recall tales of a murder in the bluebell woods, Marston Green- Chemsley around late 50s or early 60s, seemed to remember it putting me off going there.
Am I correct, or is my imagination and memory playing up.

Not to my knowledge. We farmed the land there in those days and would hhave known anout it for sure.

 

[Wendy Dallaway]

Hello everyone, I attended Tile Cross Primary School from about 1965 to early 70's when I went to Sir Wilfrid Martineau. I became an avid photographer from about the mid 70's until now. I took many photos of Marston Green around the back of the airport which I scanned in a couple of years back. I lived in Shrewley Crescent so I have a number of photo's from around there also. Not enough, sadly. I probably have the only known photos of Tile Cross Primary school in existence. I read in the Evening Mail they were knocking it down and I took my camera around. Sadly, I only got some 20 photos and my regret is that I didn't take 120. Oh well. Anyway, if anyone has any interest, I can pop these on a Google drive. Anyway, it was nice to hear some of these stories. All the best, Gary Walton

Hi Gary are the photos of tile cross primary still available my whole family went there in the 60’s

 

[Lumpammer]

Hi, Gary. Why not post all your photos here?

 

[waverlee]

Are there any oldsters who remember Tile Cross in yhe 40s,50s and 60s ? I lived at Bennetts Well farm opposite the original White Hart pub,at the junction of Tile Cross Road,Cooks Lane and Gressel Lane.
Tojo.

 

[gary_m_walton]

Are there any oldsters who remember Tile Cross in yhe 40s,50s and 60s ? I lived at Bennetts Well farm opposite the original White Hart pub,at the junction of Tile Cross Road,Cooks Lane and Gressel Lane.
Tojo.

Are there any oldsters who remember Tile Cross in yhe 40s,50s and 60s ? I lived at Bennetts Well farm opposite the original White Hart pub,at the junction of Tile Cross Road,Cooks Lane and Gressel Lane.
Tojo.

Hi Gary are the photos of tile cross primary still available my whole family went there in the 60’s

Hi Wendy, nice to hear from you. Well, I did post all of the pictures back in the day for all of us to enjoy. For reasons outside of my control, they disappeared. Sorry about that. However, I started my own Facebook group specifically for Tile Cross Primary School (and related areas) so that these images and memories would not be lost. These included my pictures of the school plus others from my private collection. If interested, check out https://www.facebook.com/groups/1356366431603287

You will enjoy it, I think. All the best, Gary

PS Hopefully it is okay to post this link?

 

[Old Dave]

Are there any oldsters who remember Tile Cross in yhe 40s,50s and 60s ? I lived at Bennetts Well farm opposite the original White Hart pub,at the junction of Tile Cross Road,Cooks Lane and Gressel Lane.
Tojo.

yeah' I remember it. What do you want to know? My Family farmed Bennets Wel!. Unfortunately Great Gandad ( He was the Grandy in Grandys Croft) could not contemplate buying the land when it came up for sale so the family had to move out to farm Gorse Farm in Coleshill Road, Marston Gteen.

 

[waverlee]

How do,old Dave.My dad took over Bennetts Well farm from Jack Davis in 1939/40.Jack Davis had dairy cows and he used to deliver fresh milk(in a churn) locally.However,pasteurisation was coming into effect so the milk round ceased and my dad took over growing crops and keeping pigs.
I lived there until I went into army national service in 1953.
Tojo.

 

[PeterN]

My Dad and his Brother were brought up in the Cottage Homes.

Any photos or memory's of the Homes from ca. 1920 would be very helpful.

 

[Wartimegal]

I lived in Tile Cross and was married at St Peters Church in 1960. I remember playing in Chemsley wood when it was a wood. Many days on a rope, swinging over the small brook which ran through the woods with my friends. We collected bluebells which then was allowed. We played on the building site where the flats on the tall flats were being built, until along came a policeman and made us leave and explained the danger. We had local bobby,s then. I worked in the offices at the BSA in Mackadown Lane & also the chemist shop in Bridsland Rd. My parents lived in Tile Cross in the same house in Mulwych Road until they passed away in their 90s. They moved there in the 50s when the houses were still being built. It really was like living in the country . We had moved from Lozells.

 

[Chocs]

Hello everyone, I attended Tile Cross Primary School from about 1965 to early 70's when I went to Sir Wilfrid Martineau. I became an avid photographer from about the mid 70's until now. I took many photos of Marston Green around the back of the airport which I scanned in a couple of years back. I lived in Shrewley Crescent so I have a number of photo's from around there also. Not enough, sadly. I probably have the only known photos of Tile Cross Primary school in existence. I read in the Evening Mail they were knocking it down and I took my camera around. Sadly, I only got some 20 photos and my regret is that I didn't take 120. Oh well. Anyway, if anyone has any interest, I can pop these on a Google drive. Anyway, it was nice to hear some of these stories. All the best, Gary Walton

That would hsve been in the

Probably late 1940s early 50s

 

[waverlee]

Anyone remember Bennetts Well Farm,Tile Cross ?
Opposite the White Hart (the old one ).
I lived there from 1945 until about 1963,excluding army service 53--55.
I remember Mr Harrard at the mansion down Gressel Lane.He had a fierce reputation for chasing,shooting and eating naughty trespassing boys but I don't think he was really a bad old buffer.
Happy days.
Tojo.