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Percy Moseley Fruit & Veg

Percy Moseley in 1945 lived 2 doors away from where I was born, at 10, Lease Lane, off Edgbaston Street, with his wife Flo and children, the youngest was Sammy, Shirley, Joan and there was another son but I cant remember his name. It might have been Maurice!! This was 50 odd years ago!!!

Percy was a real character and even as a child I can remember my parents talking about the things he got up to, all his children worked with him on the 'barrow' . Percy would be up early morning, straight down to Smithfield Market only 50 yards away from Lease Lane, buy the goods to sell, get them set up for sale, then go to an early 'lunch' whilst the 'kids' ran the 'business' he was rather fond of a drink as most market people were in those days after the war.

He always wore his black trilby hat and a cravat ( called a 'daff' by the market people) a military striped one very smart and when he was at work he always wore a white 'Cow Gown' with the collar turned up for some reason, this was his trade mark, he was known by everyone in the market, traders and customers.

After the war Percy always said you could sell anything in the Bull Ring and he was right, with soldiers returning home, people no longer fearing air raids or war and ships now bringing fresh food the Bull Ring was a 'goldmine' for the traders.

I can remember one day Percy 'came up the lane' with a goat on a piece of string, I had never seen a goat before and Percy was keen to show it off the all the local kids, it was a really stroppy animal and tried to head butt anyone in range. Percy said he was going to fatten it up and have it for his Sunday lunch!! he kept it on the bomb peck next to his house for a couple of days and went on to sell it to a man he met in a pub, as was the way in those days!!!

His daughter Shirley Moseley was a dancer in London and when she visited home she would always had a chat with my mother, Shirley as I remember her was very tall and slim well dressed and she wore black fishnet stockings with a seam at the back, very 1940's and very heavy make-up and she also wore a beauty spot on her cheek, I dont think I have seen anyone else wear one since. She looked very much like a 'show girl'.

Shirley married and had a son named Mark Smith who followed on in the family tradition and he has had a stall in the Bull Ring for many years, I believe.

In 1953, Lease Lane was subject to Slum clearance and all the residents were moved out and this broke up a nice little community where doors were never locked and everyone knew everyone else, these people had all gone through the the bombing and war together and now they were allocated houses in various parts of the City, until I read the newspaper article I never knew where Percy had moved to, although I would see him and the family in the Bull Ring.

I have attached 2 photos taken by Phylis Nicklin, the first shows Percy Moseleys 'barrow' on the slope in the Bull Ring the lady serving on the right with red hair is Joan Moseley the eldest daughter and the blond haired man on the left is Sammy Moseley his son. No sign of Percy!!!

The second photo was a marvellous surprise when I found it, again by Phylis Nicklin, this is of my mother and father Jim and Beatie Evans, my mother was always known in the market as Beatie Thorley, she was a flower seller in the Bull Ring all her life, even after she retired she went there most days just to see the old faces and have a chat, it was her life.

My father had served the 8th Army in North Africa, then with the 93rd Company, RASC, Airborne Division and was at Arnhem then Norway, on being demobbed he worked in the Bull Ring market with my mother until his death in1965.

This photo was taken on 12th September 1959, the clock on St Martins says it is ten minutes past five and my father has only one last bunch of flowers to sell, after a long day on her feet my mother is taking a rest sitting on an apple box.

I dont know who the lady selling flowers standing next to her is, can anyone name her?

Behind them is a man on a dumper truck showing that the 'old' Bull Ring redevelopment had just begun and Nelson's Statue is encased in scaffolding and about to be moved prior to work beginning on the 'new' Bull Ring, the end of an Era!!

This is a great photo looking down the Bull Ring towards Spicel Street and Jamaica Row with Smithfield Market behind St Martins Church, Woolworths is just visible on the right, all of which was my playground as a child.


Smiler
Remember Nan ( Flo ) counting the takings. Every a notes put down, 1 we shoved under her armpit. X
3 for Percy
1 for Flo. Lol.
 
Percy Moseley in 1945 lived 2 doors away from where I was born, at 10, Lease Lane, off Edgbaston Street, with his wife Flo and children, the youngest was Sammy, Shirley, Joan and there was another son but I cant remember his name. It might have been Maurice!! This was 50 odd years ago!!!

Percy was a real character and even as a child I can remember my parents talking about the things he got up to, all his children worked with him on the 'barrow' . Percy would be up early morning, straight down to Smithfield Market only 50 yards away from Lease Lane, buy the goods to sell, get them set up for sale, then go to an early 'lunch' whilst the 'kids' ran the 'business' he was rather fond of a drink as most market people were in those days after the war.

He always wore his black trilby hat and a cravat ( called a 'daff' by the market people) a military striped one very smart and when he was at work he always wore a white 'Cow Gown' with the collar turned up for some reason, this was his trade mark, he was known by everyone in the market, traders and customers.

After the war Percy always said you could sell anything in the Bull Ring and he was right, with soldiers returning home, people no longer fearing air raids or war and ships now bringing fresh food the Bull Ring was a 'goldmine' for the traders.

I can remember one day Percy 'came up the lane' with a goat on a piece of string, I had never seen a goat before and Percy was keen to show it off the all the local kids, it was a really stroppy animal and tried to head butt anyone in range. Percy said he was going to fatten it up and have it for his Sunday lunch!! he kept it on the bomb peck next to his house for a couple of days and went on to sell it to a man he met in a pub, as was the way in those days!!!

His daughter Shirley Moseley was a dancer in London and when she visited home she would always had a chat with my mother, Shirley as I remember her was very tall and slim well dressed and she wore black fishnet stockings with a seam at the back, very 1940's and very heavy make-up and she also wore a beauty spot on her cheek, I dont think I have seen anyone else wear one since. She looked very much like a 'show girl'.

Shirley married and had a son named Mark Smith who followed on in the family tradition and he has had a stall in the Bull Ring for many years, I believe.

In 1953, Lease Lane was subject to Slum clearance and all the residents were moved out and this broke up a nice little community where doors were never locked and everyone knew everyone else, these people had all gone through the the bombing and war together and now they were allocated houses in various parts of the City, until I read the newspaper article I never knew where Percy had moved to, although I would see him and the family in the Bull Ring.

I have attached 2 photos taken by Phylis Nicklin, the first shows Percy Moseleys 'barrow' on the slope in the Bull Ring the lady serving on the right with red hair is Joan Moseley the eldest daughter and the blond haired man on the left is Sammy Moseley his son. No sign of Percy!!!

The second photo was a marvellous surprise when I found it, again by Phylis Nicklin, this is of my mother and father Jim and Beatie Evans, my mother was always known in the market as Beatie Thorley, she was a flower seller in the Bull Ring all her life, even after she retired she went there most days just to see the old faces and have a chat, it was her life.

My father had served the 8th Army in North Africa, then with the 93rd Company, RASC, Airborne Division and was at Arnhem then Norway, on being demobbed he worked in the Bull Ring market with my mother until his death in1965.

This photo was taken on 12th September 1959, the clock on St Martins says it is ten minutes past five and my father has only one last bunch of flowers to sell, after a long day on her feet my mother is taking a rest sitting on an apple box.

I dont know who the lady selling flowers standing next to her is, can anyone name her?

Behind them is a man on a dumper truck showing that the 'old' Bull Ring redevelopment had just begun and Nelson's Statue is encased in scaffolding and about to be moved prior to work beginning on the 'new' Bull Ring, the end of an Era!!

This is a great photo looking down the Bull Ring towards Spicel Street and Jamaica Row with Smithfield Market behind St Martins Church, Woolworths is just visible on the right, all of which was my playground as a child.


Smiler
 
This thread has some lovely background about the family and the business. Exactly the sort of info we love to see and hear about. Thanks all for posting. Viv.
 
This is an amazing thread. I was talking to my dad yesterday about the history of the family and he was talking about his uncle Percy. My dad is David Moseley, son of Sid (Percy's brother). I'm not sure whether my dad has ever seen the news article or the pictures Toni has posted so thank you all.
 
Welcome avmoz. Glad you and your dad have found it interesting. And of course if there’s anything else you wish to add, please do so. Viv.
 
Hi I used to work for iris and her daughter Denise in the bullring market does anybody know if iris is still with us and how Denise husband Trevor is
 
This is an amazing thread. I was talking to my dad yesterday about the history of the family and he was talking about his uncle Percy. My dad is David Moseley, son of Sid (Percy's brother). I'm not sure whether my dad has ever seen the news article or the pictures Toni has posted so thank you all.
hiya, we are related.
 
Great to read these stories, I am looking for some help my Great Grandfather was also a trader at the Bull Ring making wreaths and i think his brothers may have sold fruit & veg. Would anyone be able to help me find out more. His name was George Harris nickname “bogey Harris”??
 
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