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Police Horses

Hi Dyan

yes I know Ian, they all called him Ike, don't know why though. Anyway the last horse he had to 458 Victory aka Bernie who I think is still alive and living in Wales. Ian retired I think not long after the department closed in 1999, I remember the musical rides well - I went to a couple not long after I started work there and was brimming with pride knowing the hardwork they put into it. Saw Ian at a reunion 4 years ago and may see him again in 2011 at the next one all being well.

Hope your move goes well

Pagan
 
Stables at Park Lane are now the new shooting range, Tally Ho is now the driving school, Chance Ave is now a property store as is West Brom I think, such as waste of a valuable resource along with the divers, but they called it progress, oh well:rolleyes:
 
Well Pagan if you do see Ike (Ian) remind him he has a cousin in NZ!!!!! Sort of lost contact with the family when the two "dads" then the "mums" died. Oh well thats life I suppose will see if I can find a picture of him at about aged 4 in "knitted" swim trunks!!!! at Weston or Bognor when we went on holiday with Gran and Pop - he was the only boy and we girls gave him hell.

Dyan
 
They were, my Father was in the mounted Police and I have a very wide photo of (I think "D" Div) taken at Dukes st with all the Horses all lined up
 
hi my family had a stables somewhere near Duke street, on the corner, owned by H.H.Whittall I don't suppose you re-call this, we are having problems tracing it, (hackney carriage)
 
A very impressive sight the mounted division. I remember seeing them Policing at the Villa Ground several times, the animals were huge and so well trained to be calm in a noisy stadium. There are still signs of the mounted division around if you know where to look. Ladywood Police station still has the metal rings on a rear wall where horses were tied up. I have no doubt there are similar things at other older police station dotted around the west midlands. There is still a small amount of equipment which once belonged to the mounted division at the police museum at Sparkhill police station.
 
Steve R.
I can remember just before the war I was taken to the Villa ground by our next door neighbour, Mr Hammond, to see Villa playing Arsenal, he was also a mounted policeman, we lived in a police house in Eastfield Road Bordesley Green and dad was on duty at the ground that day. They used to walk, mounted, round the outer track at half time and of course he knew where we were and he stopped and asked us if we were ok as there was a hell of a crowd there. That was the first time I think I realized that he was a mounted police man, And I felt very proud. Many times he used to drop in for a cup of tea if he was patroling the area, The photo I have of him with the whole of the "D" Div is 4-6" wide and there are only two horses on the picture. although I have another photo with 28 horses. He joined the division when it was formed in the early twenties, the photo was taken in 1928, there is also one motor bic with sidecar. I will have to count up as there were a lot of Sergents.

Dave
 
Dave
They sound great photographs I wander if the Police museum has a copy?. We are always looking to scan old pictures to add to the collection and to the internet site when it is finished and goes on line hopefully later this year.
 
Steve, I am not sure the museum is open as the policeman who use to be the curator?? retired some years ago. I will stand correcting but I think he was retired and did it as a sideline. I went there many years ago and I did see a copy of the "D" Div from Duke St hanging on the wall there, I also got a full copy of my fathers service covering the 25 years he was in.
I see you are a new person on the forum, Welcome, there is plenty for you to spend all night on.
Have you any connections with the police force?

Dave
 
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Steve, I will see if I can devise some means of taking a photo of the 4-6" picture and putting on the thread if only in short sections, I have scanned the whole width of the photo and for the life of me I cannot see the join, I cannot see how they took that width witout either of the horses moving, why there only Mr Hammond and my farther on horse back and not the other twenty six I don't know,

Dave
 
I have managed to get a few pictures of Police horses to show


Horse (2).jpg

Probably easy for someone to identify the location in Aston according to the information I have been given.

Picture Courtesy of West Midlands Police Museum

Steve R
 
cracking photo there steve...the pub is the golden cross at the junction of lichfield road running across and rocky lane aston...the building is still there although no longer as a pub...cant be certain but that could be the tubes factory on the left in rocky lane..my aunt worked there..someone will know for certain about that

lyn
 
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Lyn

Thank you

I have been given a few but struggling to load them but will get them on eventually.

Steve R
 
There is a caption with this picture stating the horses were on their way to a football match.

Horse 3.jpg

Any ideas?? I think Aston Villa as there is a claret and blue scarf being held by one of the supporters. Does anybody recognise the buildings??

Steve R

Picture Courtesy of West Midlands Police Museum
 

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another good one steve cant help you with the exact location but it must be close to the aston villa ground..i think that that supporter is not holding his scarf..its most likely tucked through the loops in his jeans and the guy behind the police horse has most likely got his scarf tied around his wrist as its nearly on the floor...this was how we wore our scarfs round about the middle 70s early 80s

lyn
 
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HI STEVE ;
YES THE FIRST SHOWING IS AT ASTON CROSS WITH SIX HORSE COMING ON TO LICHFIELD RD FROM ROCKY LANE
AND THE ANSEWER BEING SIX HORSES WAS EITHER ON THE WAY BACK TO THE STABLES OF VICTORIA RD POLICE STATION WHERE THEY KEPT
HORSES AND BEEN SOME WHERE ELSE OR THEY HAVE COME FROM DUKE STREET GOING TO THE MATCH OF VILLA
WHICH YEARS AGO THEY WAS ATTENDING IN THOSE YEARS EVERY WEEK THEY HAD SCORES OF POLICE ON HORSE BACK IN THOSE DAYS
AND YES TO ASTONESS LYN IT WAS THE GOLDEN CROSS PUB AND THE AJOING BUILDING YOU SEEN ON THE LEFT WAS OF TUBES LIMITED
i LIVED AROUND THE CORNER FDROM IT AND ALSO WORKED THERE FOR YEARS ALONG WITH OUR FELLO MEMBER bAZZ M WE WORKED SIDE BY SIDE
AT THAT TUBES PRIOR TO THAT IT WAS HERCULES CYCLES LIMITED WHERE THEY MADE POLICE CYCLES ; BIKE DARK GREEN IN COLOUR AND WITH THE STEEL BAR HAND BRAKES AND A DYNOMO ON THE BACK WHEEL TO GIVE THE LAMP ON YTHE FRONT OF THE BIKE ITS LIGHTING AS WELL AS THE REAR LIGHT AS FAR AS I AM AWARE THE GOLDEN CROSS CLOSED DOWN AND WAS SOLD TO A MR OCCONNOR WHOM OWNS LOTTS OF PUBS AROUND BRUM AND THE COUNTRY NOW AND HE RENAMED IT ORIELLYS BUT I DO BELEIVE ITS NONE EXCISTANCE NOW OF ANY TRADING AS A PUB
AND MY FATHER WILLIAM [ BILL ] RAN THAT PUB FOR MANY YEARS HE STARTED AS YOUNG LAD AT 14 YEARS OLD AND I BELEIVED IT WAS A FAMILY OF DODDS THAT OWNED IT AND MY FTHER DONE ALL THE LOCAL PUBS AROUND ON THAT ASTON CROSS FOR DONKEYS YEARS DOING ALL THERE RELIEFS
FPOR ALL THE FOUR OR FIVE PUBS AROND THE CROSS ITS SELF HE DIED IN 1958 AGED 42 YEARS OLD HE ALSO WORKED FOR CHARLES HARRIS ON LODGE RD THE FLAT WITH ANOTHER MEMBER OF THE FORUM SYLVIA BEST WISHES ASTONIAN;;
 
I have been trying for the last hour to find a way of getting a photo of the police horses on this thread, if it does not appear i give up

Dave.
 
No luck, I notice that I am not the only one to suffer this problem, you would think in this modern age it could be made simple.

Dave
 
Another picture of the mounted division from the Birmingham/West Midlands Police

horse4.jpg

There wasn't a caption with this picture and I don't know if they are on their way out or have just returned or where it was taken.

Courtesy of West Midlands Police Museum

Steve R
 
Eddie 14

Keep trying to get them on mate, three days of trying to get these last 3 pictures on but got there eventually.

I will try and get more picture of the mounted division.

Steve R
 
Steve, I am very cut up about this, as you say three days, in all it must be 4 hours for me. Why is there no instructions?, several other members have the same problem and it puts them off trying.
Come on committee, help the old ones out.

Dave
 
hi eddie although there is more than one way of uploading photos to the forum there are instuctions under the tutorial section of the forum but just for you try this...this is my way of doing it.....good luck let us know if you have cracked it...

lyn

click on GO ADVANCED and type in your message
scroll down to MANAGE ATTACHMENTS
click on ADD FILE
click on SELECT FILE
choose the photo you want to post and left click to highlight it
click on OPEN
click on UPLOAD.. wait for your photo to upload..your photo will appear at the left hand bottom corner when it has uploaded
click on SUBMIT REPLY photo should now appear with your message..
 
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These are the complement of Duke Street way back in the 1920-30 era. My dad is fifth from the right.
 

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Eddie

Great photo makes you feel proud to be a brummie i wonder if these officers were ex cavalry as they all seem to have campaign medals or were they awarded for service one wonders !

Phil
 
#57, looks about 1920's/30's, as most police forces were made up of ex service personnel with 1or2, slashed peaks looks like most ex cavalrymen.paul
 
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