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My billesley

R

Robert Harrison

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                    MY BILLESLEY


I WAS BROUGHT UP IN A PLACE CALLED BILLESLEY,
A DISTRICT OF BIRMINGHAM'S SOUTH EAST.
REHOUSED FROM THE SLUMS TO NEW BILLESLEY,
AND TO BREATH ITS FRESH AIR WAS A FEAST.

WE THRILLED AT OUR NEW SURROUNDINGS AT BILLESLEY,
AT HAVING LEFT GRIME AND SQUALLOR BEHIND.
AND WE LOVED OUR NEW HOUSE BUILT AT BILLESLEY,
BUT HOW TO FURNISH IT WAS FOR DAYS ON MOM'S MIND.

CHINNBROOK ROAD WAS LINED WITH TREES OUT AT BILLESLEY,
AND GAS LAMPS AT NIGHT LIT THE SCENE.
WHAT A GRAND LIFE WE WOULD LEAD LIVING AT BILLESLEY,
THE MOST DESIREABLE PLACE WE HAD EVER BEEN.

WE SOON FOUND FAST FRIENDS WHO LIVED AT BILLESLEY,
FRIENDS WHO WERE LOYAL AND OF THE VERY BEST.
WHO WERE PROUD TO BE PART OF THEIR BILLESLEY,
AND THEY TAUGHT US TO PLAY GAMES FULL OF ZEST.

WE DANCED AT THE COMMUNITY HALL BUILT AT BILLESLEY,
TO RECORDS PLAYING BIG DANCE BANDS OF THE DAY.
AND I MET, COURTED AND MARRIED MY WIFE AT BILLESLEY,
AT THE HOLY CROSS CHURCH JUST OVER THE WAY.

IT HAS BEEN MANY YEARS SINCE I HAVE SEEN MY BILLESLEY,
BUT MY THOUGHTS ARE STILL OF THE HOME
THAT TOOK ME FROM THE SLUMS TO DEAR BILLESLEY,
TO RAMAIN IN MY HEART THOUGH I HAVE ROAMED.

IN AUSTRALIA HAVE I SETTLE FAR FROM MY BILLESLEY,
WITH ITS DESOLATION, OFT CALLED "NEVER NEVER".
AND I ASK MYSELF, WILL TIME AND DISTANCE DIM FAIR BILLESLEY,
MY REPY IS NO NEVER, NOT EVER.
 
Re: POETRY

Another lovely poem..........reading like its truely written from the heart
 
Hi Robert.
Love your poem, sadly the area has gone downhill from then, we have problems with gangs of youths calling themselves the "B13" gang who fight the "B14" gang and spray graffiti everywhere. Even Holy Cross Church is not immune from them, i'm sure if you stood still they would spray you!
Here are a couple of weddings at Holy Cross Church, my parents and my wedding.
Also a picture of the old hut...
Pete
(If you have a picture of your wedding we collect them and display them at the church, we try to get ,the couple,the cake & the group pics)
 
Robert, I really enjoyed your poem. It hit home with me as my grandparents moved to Billesley from a Court in Clifton Road, Aston, in the mid-1920s. They had always lived in the Courts around Aston and I am sure that it would have been just as you describe - Billesley would have been a breath of fresh air to the family. My mother often told me of buttoning up her boots and walking across Billesley Common to school at the Institute. My family lived in Bromwall Road, so were not far from yours. The last time I visited was quite a few years ago now, and the Common is mostly built up now.

Judy
 
My Dad or was it my late Fil used to hide and watch early aeroplanes taking off from the Common presumably around the First World War?
 
My Dad or was it my late Fil used to hide and watch early aeroplanes taking off from the Common presumably around the First World War?

Just after WW1 I think, My father told me he had he's first flight from there around that time. More research needed wonder if the pilots name was Kinkler ??. May have been my old boss Alan Cobham. After WW2 lived on Yardley Wood Road in the Pre - Fab's by the park.
 
Hi Wendy.
Our old vicar left and the new one came from London so didn't know about the area so we thought that asking people to supply pics of their weddings at the church would give it some history, at the moment we have about 12 weddings spanning 1945-----2002
Pete
 
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