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Rag And Bone Man Ragman Tatters

Some great pics on this thread and nice to know that they were still busy into the tower block age.

Likewise, Viv, I remember it being dug out and levelled but I've no idea what happened to it. And were the removals done on a contractual basis? Perhaps that was part of the contract if it was. I'm sure it wasn't a neighbour that dug it out. Anybody know?

Maurice
 
Hi Maurice. We had our Anderson until at least the late 1950s. If it was taken away by a contractor under a special scheme I'd have expected it to have been taken away before that time. That's what made me wonder if the rag and bone man took ours. It was horribly rusted by that time too. Viv.
 
Viv,

Ours had gone before we moved to Kings Heath in 1950 and I thought that was long overdue. Surprised ours wasn't rusted to hell as it was two feet deep in water under the duckboards. The outside had about a foot of soil on top and covered with a plant that had silvery leaves and masses of white flowers. No idea what it's called and I haven't seen it growing outside the Midlands.

Maurice
 
We lived on The Broadway, Witton, and had a rag-and-bone cart most weeks. There were two of them, an older chap who never spoke and who my mother said had been gassed in the war (that is, the First World War) and a younger man who may or may not have been the older man's son. Sometimes they had balloons for the kids, but usually not. What happened to our Anderson Shelter I can't remember, but at some time in the 1960's my dad replaced the old hinge-down bath in the kitchen with a modern upstairs bathroom (which he paid for himself, even though our house was rented...those were the days!) and the old bath had to be got rid of. By then the horse and cart had given way to an ancient lorry, and the old bloke was no longer seen. However, the younger of the pair was still doing the rounds, and I have this memory of him struggling down the entry with our old bath on his back and swearing all the way. It took him and several of the local kids to hoist the bath onto the lorry, and taken away. I never found out where their yard was.

These days, about three or four times a week, we have the Diddicoys along our road, and I have to say that they provide a very welcome - and free - service. Anything with metal in it, they will take away for nothing - washing machines, old fridges, clapped out bikes, bits of cars, you name it. From what I hear most of them are East Europeans, and good luck to them.

G
 
i dont believe it carolina..apart from a great pic of the rag and bone man i have been searching for years of a shot of that section of icknield st because it surely shows on the right the posts that were joined by heavy chain link...we used to swing them back and forth when we went past...

thank you..thats another one off me hit list..:)

lyn
 
absolutely pen...a childhood memory bought back in a flash.. also good to know i did not imagine it:D think i spy the no 8 bus stop as well..
 
Are the chains those that had big spikes in them (like out of torture chambers) that were supposed to stop us sitting on them.
Never put us off as we sat between them but they put you a bit off balance.
Cheers Tim.
 
yes those are they tim...god we were tough brummies wernt we...nothing put us off ..if our mom knew half of what we got up to:eek:

lyn
 
I remember the rag & bone man from my childhood in Copeley Street, Aston, we were given a couple of day old or very young chicks, all lovely and yellow, my mother would put them in a cardboard box with a bit of old blanket inside to keep them warm near the fire, sad to say they never lived beyond a couple of days.
 
Astoness said:
i dont believe it carolina..apart from a great pic of the rag and bone man i have been searching for years of a shot of that section of icknield st because it surely shows on the right the posts that were joined by heavy chain link...we used to swing them back and forth when we went past...

thank you..thats another one off me hit list..:)

lyn
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Gosh Lyn who would have thought it how one items leads to another. Yes I remember those chains as well.
 
sylviasayers said:
I remember the rag & bone man from my childhood in Copeley Street, Aston, we were given a couple of day old or very young chicks, all lovely and yellow, my mother would put them in a cardboard box with a bit of old blanket inside to keep them warm near the fire, sad to say they never lived beyond a couple of days.
Click to expand...
Indeed. That was much the same for the baby chicks sold in the Bull Ring for 4d. (2p for youngsters :D)
 
Why didn't they survive long? And how come the rag and bone man gave them away? Viv.
 
Viv,

We used to rear baby chicks with a reasonable success rate, but I think that sheer shock and changing temperatures played a big part in the high death rate. Having said that, my mother would buy the day old chicks from an address in The Smallholder and they would be shipped in a stout cardboad box by rail. Yes, we had proper railways in those days! We had very few that were dead on arrival and most went on to lay eggs Two large chicken runs took up most of our Knowle Road garden once the aforementioned Anderson shelter had been removed. Of course, my brother & I gave them all names, and it was part of our growing up.

Maurice
 
Astoness said:
hi folks thought we could have a new thread going to post photos of the good old rag and bone man...i am sure most of us remember them..will kick off with these 2 that new member gord has sent me..think it was gord who took them but i will confirm that...dated 1963View attachment 114329View attachment 114330 ...look forward to seeing other photos members may have

taken in grange road aston..

lyn
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Lyn at a very early age living in Springfield St before we moved to William St , the r&b man was in the street . I can't remember what my Mother gave me to give to him , but my mother wasn't very pleased what he gave me packet of contraceptives and I'm not joking. Mother being livid went up the entry to him gave him a right ear bashing and threatened to call the police . Do you know I remembered the instance , but I didn't know what he gave me , until mom told me when I was about 15.
 
Astoness said:
i dont believe it carolina..apart from a great pic of the rag and bone man i have been searching for years of a shot of that section of icknield st because it surely shows on the right the posts that were joined by heavy chain link...we used to swing them back and forth when we went past...

thank you..thats another one off me hit list..:)

lyn
Click to expand...

Lyn can you explain where this part of Icknield St was , anywhere near Bulpitts ?
 
Remember in about 1957 giving a load of old clothes to a rag and bone man which Mum had thrown out. She was shocked and annoyed when I returned with a handful of farthings he had dumped on me, because they had ceased to be legal tender. Took advantage of a young child.
Mum gave me the equivalent in legal pennies.
 
i aint got no pictures but i can tell ou there was two taters abone living on heath street and one in clark street and his horse and cart is on another thread i will not name them
 
Kevkonk said:
The Council has recently found 18 different Scrap Collectors from the Black Country who have been using trumpets and sound recordings of 'Old Iron' illegal to use I think. The area they congregate at currently is Sutton ,Erdington and surrounding, disturbing the Sunday morning sleep in, and at weekdays.
Were scrapmen the same as ragandbone men in 60's?
I recall the fish, but of course it would not be allowed to happen now regarding cruelty, not sure about fairs having fish for prizes.
I found Astoness photo's interesting in the fact that one of those guys could have collected in our Nechells street in the 60's, it's amazing,
Click to expand...
My great grandad was the rag and bone man 'Raggy Allen' operating out of Garrison Lane. Billy was the name of his horse, according to mum. They later expanded into metals. A second marriage split the family but my grandma Rose Dagnan (nee Allen) ran the small shop in Bordesley Green Road, next to the boy's school. Did the shop have a name? Would love to see a picture of Raggy Allen.
 
Onceabrummie said:
My great grandad was the rag and bone man 'Raggy Allen' operating out of Garrison Lane. Billy was the name of his horse, according to mum. They later expanded into metals. A second marriage split the family but my grandma Rose Dagnan (nee Allen) ran the small shop in Bordesley Green Road, next to the boy's school. Did the shop have a name? Would love to see a picture of Raggy Allen.
Click to expand...
Let me know if you ever find a picture, as I’d love to know more as a fellow Allen!
 
Hi,
We had a local rag and bone man in the 1950s in Stechford.
His call was "Bring it here, - Rag Bone".
Kind regards
Dave
 
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