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Paynes shoe repairs
- Thread starter SRWALW
- Start date
earlgary
master brummie
Hi Foxglove, Thank you for replying to my question. I think I can safetly say that we are talking about the same John Edward Payne,I was only young when my grandmother married him in 1950, and when you are young you don't really pay any attention as to what is going on around you. My grandmother died in 1958 and I don't remember what happened to him after that time. I am pleased to have found that what I thought I remembered
about him being related to the Paynes shoe repairers family was true.
about him being related to the Paynes shoe repairers family was true.
ROCK N ROLL FOR EVER
New Member
I used to work at the Vicaridge Road Kings Heath shop in 1959 & lost my right eye working there with a cobblers knife they then moved me to the factory in Mosley & I worked in the factory/warehouse on the leather presses & I then lost my thumb & smashed up another finger,They then they started up spraying shoes in differnt colours & put me in a garden shed with no extraction fan & I started coughing up black rubbish off my lungs,so I left there & went to live in devon.H.H.Paynes did not have a very good safety record for its workers my pay was £1.10 shillings for a 48 hours 15/16 years old at the time,Another girl was scalpped on a machine at one off there shops in Birmingham,The only good thing I got out of Paynes I meet my First wife there who worked at The Cotteridge shop & was moved to the warehouse & I had 24 years off marriage with her till she passed away.I did sue Paynes & got a settlement for there neglet for there safety rules
ROCK N ROLL FOR EVER
New Member
Sorry I made a mistake on my weekly pay it should have been £2.10s per week not as stated in my previous posting of £1.10s
I am sorry to hear that you time with Paynes was fraught with accidents, but sadly unlike today health and safety in the work place was not madatory. My grandfather W.R.Payne (uncle Harry's brother) did not escape injury, even manegment had ther fair share of accidents, so you where not alone.
I was agasted to read you only earned £2.10 shillings a week, so I have just looked up the weekly wages and profit shares, unfortunately I can only put my hands on the years 1946-1947 which is not really any help. Interestingly in 1946 the National Wages Council fixed the minimum weekly rate for the Boot and Shoe
Repairing Trade at £6.4s.6p.
I hope you don't think I am being presumptuous but would you mind telling me the year you sued Paynes, it's just that I can't find any thing in the records.
Regards val ( nee Payne)
ROCK N ROLL FOR EVER
New Member
Hello Val.rember was 15/16 years old & paynes did employ a lot off youngsters in those days,so I would not have been paid the full rates,I started proceedings in 1960/1 & in 1964 was awarded £1,100.which was enough to buy a 3 bedroom terraced house in those days, My wife Carol was working in the Cotteridge shop before being moved to the warehouse in Mosley her wages at the time was £2.00 per 48 hr per week,Somwere in the house is the legal documents to the case am still looking for them,but I do have a photo of the press that had my thumb & finger away,the manager at the vicarge shop was a bloke called Len Williams & the other cobbler that worked there was called Reg & the lady that worked in the shop was called Trudi,another bit off information for you all the shoes that where not collected from the shops where sent to warehouse & then given to the male & female prisioners but the majnagement would not give or sell to there employees please remember the above picture is over 50 years old & you had to put your hands underneath the press to hold the sole cutter.Wish you all the Best on your research.DaveHi Dave.
Thank you for the photo very interesting, I can see how accidents would happen and for the information re your Legal case against Paynes.
1914 uncle Harry was called up to join the army and refused to attest under the Derby Scheme on religious grounds, at his Tribunal he lost his case, and later his Appeal also. His war years where spent in Norton Barracks, Wormwood Scrubs and finally Dartmore Prison.
I can't condone his actions, but can understand why he gave the shoe's to prisoners.
Regards Val.
Thank you for the photo very interesting, I can see how accidents would happen and for the information re your Legal case against Paynes.
1914 uncle Harry was called up to join the army and refused to attest under the Derby Scheme on religious grounds, at his Tribunal he lost his case, and later his Appeal also. His war years where spent in Norton Barracks, Wormwood Scrubs and finally Dartmore Prison.
I can't condone his actions, but can understand why he gave the shoe's to prisoners.
Regards Val.
I just came across this thread, several years after your first posting. My Grandfather was Albert Plant, who worked with Harry Payne and is the man in the photograph in the book to which several other contributors have referred. He is merely "an employee" in the book, but in fact I think he and Harry were good mates in the early years and worked closely together, sharing a pacificist/egalitarian philosophy which perhaps got rather lost as the firm became more hierarchical and Harry Payne became more of a boss.
ROCK N ROLL FOR EVER
New Member
Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you I dont remember Albert plant I worked there from 1958 to 1961
maggs
master brummie
I remember when we all wore stilleto shoes, and the heels were always giving problems, getting stuck down crevices and cobbles, which were still in our street in the eary seventies. Paynes on Icknield St were always the shop I took mine to and they were so competent and reliable for repairs.
barry boustead
New Member
Hi i am new to this site and found it quite interesting reading about the Paynes story.
My older brother and i both used to work at the shop in mere green. The sign above was Paynes shoe repairs
but at the time of when we worked there it was under new ownership by a company called allied shoe repairs (still keeping the Paynes sign above)
and was then taken over by Mister Minit a Belgium company
The shop brings back lots of memories especially for me as i ended up marrying the girl that lived above the shop.
She lived there with her family as her father was a shop fitter and the company rented the flat upstairs to them.
The manager at the time was a chap called Alan Lamb,not sure if he is still about he lived in the sheldon area of Birmingham
be nice to get in touch with him if anyone can help.
both my older and younger brother are still cobblers
and work in The Erdington Wilton Market
thanks
Barry:unconscious:
My older brother and i both used to work at the shop in mere green. The sign above was Paynes shoe repairs
but at the time of when we worked there it was under new ownership by a company called allied shoe repairs (still keeping the Paynes sign above)
and was then taken over by Mister Minit a Belgium company
The shop brings back lots of memories especially for me as i ended up marrying the girl that lived above the shop.
She lived there with her family as her father was a shop fitter and the company rented the flat upstairs to them.
The manager at the time was a chap called Alan Lamb,not sure if he is still about he lived in the sheldon area of Birmingham
be nice to get in touch with him if anyone can help.
both my older and younger brother are still cobblers
and work in The Erdington Wilton Market
thanks
Barry:unconscious:
angela burley
master brummie
Hi,sorry i don't know anyone who worked at Paynes but I do remember going into the Addison Road shop in the mid 50s with my mum so she could get her stockings repaired. Can anyone coroborate this memory or was I imagining it, we were pretty poor at the time.Angela
We used to go to Payne's Shoe Repairs in Ladypool Rd. (The Lane) Sparkbrook. In about 1950 I bought a leather powder horn at the market at Bewdley. It was made for a hunter in the early 1700's, it has a hunting scene on it with a brass device which gives a large or small charge of powder for a muzzle loader.
It needed a bit of stitching repaired and as a 13 year old I took it to Payne's where I was told there machine would only give a rough job and they prefer that I took it to someone with the right skills. I didn't appreciate it as a genuine antique and only wanted to be able to charge the Old Brown Bess musket I had and a beautiful !8th Cent fowling piece I had.
It was reluctantly repaired and it really was a rough job, but only cost me a few coppers.
I have the Powder Horn and an18th Cent a side saddle stirrup on the lounge room mantle piece down here in Oz and I so regret that I insisted on that repair. We live and learn (Or do we?)
It needed a bit of stitching repaired and as a 13 year old I took it to Payne's where I was told there machine would only give a rough job and they prefer that I took it to someone with the right skills. I didn't appreciate it as a genuine antique and only wanted to be able to charge the Old Brown Bess musket I had and a beautiful !8th Cent fowling piece I had.
It was reluctantly repaired and it really was a rough job, but only cost me a few coppers.
I have the Powder Horn and an18th Cent a side saddle stirrup on the lounge room mantle piece down here in Oz and I so regret that I insisted on that repair. We live and learn (Or do we?)
Hi maggs
Yes we used to go to the one on ickneild street regular because my dear old friend terry Evans used to work there
Always came home more often than not with black on his face for some reason or not he was there for years and he lived in Springfield street Ladywood just up the road and around the corner from our house in king Edwards road just up from the library next one just passed Dr traicys of ingle by street
It was good around that area in those fifths years,, best wishes. Alan,,, astonian,,,,
Yes we used to go to the one on ickneild street regular because my dear old friend terry Evans used to work there
Always came home more often than not with black on his face for some reason or not he was there for years and he lived in Springfield street Ladywood just up the road and around the corner from our house in king Edwards road just up from the library next one just passed Dr traicys of ingle by street
It was good around that area in those fifths years,, best wishes. Alan,,, astonian,,,,
maggs
master brummie
Hello Alan,
I thought you might know the Paynes in Icknield St. I was always taking my stilleto shoes in there to have the heels tidied up. The old street I lived in at that time had cobbles, and they were deadly for my shoes. You are right about the black dirty face of the chap working in there, I think they used a lot of paint to cover scuffs on shoes, perhaps that's what it was. I used to walk almost the length of Springfield St to go to Camden St school every day. I used to go to Dr Treacy for my sins, a story there. My friends parents ran the Ingleby for a while. Can't find Ingleby St anymore. They were good years and times Alan. We have all moved on, but the memories stay.
I thought you might know the Paynes in Icknield St. I was always taking my stilleto shoes in there to have the heels tidied up. The old street I lived in at that time had cobbles, and they were deadly for my shoes. You are right about the black dirty face of the chap working in there, I think they used a lot of paint to cover scuffs on shoes, perhaps that's what it was. I used to walk almost the length of Springfield St to go to Camden St school every day. I used to go to Dr Treacy for my sins, a story there. My friends parents ran the Ingleby for a while. Can't find Ingleby St anymore. They were good years and times Alan. We have all moved on, but the memories stay.
Radiorails
master brummie
Paynes had many branches in Birmingham, the following thread gives a lot of detail.
https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/paynes-shoe-repairs.31424/
I haven't seen the photo here before - but who knows, there is a lot to see here, but it has a lot of interest. Ells's truck is, I believe, a Fordson with a West Bromwich registration.
Also notable is the Midland Red parcels collection sign.
https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/paynes-shoe-repairs.31424/
I haven't seen the photo here before - but who knows, there is a lot to see here, but it has a lot of interest. Ells's truck is, I believe, a Fordson with a West Bromwich registration.
Also notable is the Midland Red parcels collection sign.
Carol Rushton
proper brummie kid
I wondering if they had anything to do with the Paynes shoes shop on the Walsall road Scott Arms in Great Barr.
And wondered if you were connected to this branch or if so any photos available to see.. Many thanks Suzie'
And wondered if you were connected to this branch or if so any photos available to see.. Many thanks Suzie'
Hello rollymosuzie,
My Wife has been researching her family tree for some time now & it would appear that Paynes bought out another firm of Boot & Shoe repairers by the name of Angus Macdonald of Balsall Heath in Birmingham somewhere between 1918 -1920, have you any info that may assist us in our search?
Regards,
Lozellian
Alexander Rawlins
knowlegable brummie
Hi there
This is a pic of John Mead outside his shoe repair shop at 7 Edward Road, Balsall Heath, in 1906/07. Mead's was acquired by Paynes in, I think, 1943.
John Mead was my GG uncle. In the picture with him are his eldest daughter, Bertha Eliza Mead, and his father, George Adolf Alexander Mead, who was German and was born in Hannover.
This is a pic of John Mead outside his shoe repair shop at 7 Edward Road, Balsall Heath, in 1906/07. Mead's was acquired by Paynes in, I think, 1943.
John Mead was my GG uncle. In the picture with him are his eldest daughter, Bertha Eliza Mead, and his father, George Adolf Alexander Mead, who was German and was born in Hannover.
Attachments
donthechain
New Member
I have only just found this website. Harry H.Payne was my grandfather, so W.R. Payne was great-uncle Bill. I only met him a few times and only in the context of work as he continued to manage the shop in Selly Oak after he sold the business to my grandfather. I can comment on a lot of the posts since from an early age I ised to vosot the shops with my father "Mr.Jack" and later I worked for the firm, often driving a delivery van but when I was in my teens I had a saturday job in shops in the Kings Heath area and Stirchley.
1. I can remember Ron Dutton at Mere Green
2. For a long time the mobile shop was based at Cannock, in a car park, until we got permanent premises
3. Barrowman - I'm sure your name is Barry do you remeber me?
4. Josie Parker - I knew ousin Waveney a little better. She was a professional artist. I inherited two of her paintings. One I gave to the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, where it is in the permanent collection. The other one hangs in my front room.
5. Ken R. Harold Burnett was my uncle, having married my father's sister, Annie. I rember the house at 83 wake Green Road well as it was just down the road from our family home.
6. Earl Gary. I worked at Addison Road shop and I think I met John Edward Payne. He wasn't related to us. It was an amusing coincidence, though.
7. Sarah P. - Many fond memroies of Albert Plant. He was a really nice chap with a smiling face. He married Joyce Snape, who was our only female "Contact Man".
There is lots more I could write but this will do for the moment.
donthechain
New Member
Hello Lozellian,
I've checked with my brother, Robert, and neither of us can remember a shop in Prince of Wales Lane. The nearest one that I know of was at the bottom of Haunch Lane. When we were little our mother would take us to Swanshurst Park and sometimes to Trittiford Park, where we could paddle in the River Cole but we never walked as far as P.o.W. Lane.
Some years ago my brother and I tried to compile a spreadsheet listing all the shops. All the shops were given a one- or two-letter code, so the first shop in Longmore Street was A, then Bearwood, B etc, then to Z, AA-AZ, BA-BZ, CA-CZ etc. Anyone remember this?
I've checked with my brother, Robert, and neither of us can remember a shop in Prince of Wales Lane. The nearest one that I know of was at the bottom of Haunch Lane. When we were little our mother would take us to Swanshurst Park and sometimes to Trittiford Park, where we could paddle in the River Cole but we never walked as far as P.o.W. Lane.
Some years ago my brother and I tried to compile a spreadsheet listing all the shops. All the shops were given a one- or two-letter code, so the first shop in Longmore Street was A, then Bearwood, B etc, then to Z, AA-AZ, BA-BZ, CA-CZ etc. Anyone remember this?
farmerdave
master brummie
There was a Payne's shoe repair shop on the Stratford Road near the Mermaid. This photograph is shown in Malcolm Keeley's superb book on "Birmingham Buses: Route by Route 1925-1975". Payne's is pictured far left and was taken in July 1963. The buses are travelling away from town. Dave.
Hi postie,
Thanks for that, all I can add to this line of enquiry is that I was always told that my Wife's Grandad (William MacDonald) owned a Boot & Shoe repair business in Prince of Wales Lane, Warstock & was bought out by Harry Payne if that helps.
Lozellian.
Hello rollymosuzie,
The name I posted is incorrect it should have read "William MacDonald" & not Angus. We've been doing so much research into the family history over the last few months I reckon confusion must have set in lol.
Lozellian.
Hi, my father worked for them. He managed their shop at Lynton Square Perry Barr Birmingham and we lived above their shop at 307 Walsall Road Perry Barr.
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