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Sheldon

Great Pictures Stars :) the one of the Sheldon Picture House and the bus stop is one of my favourites because it brings back many memories for me.... a school friend of mine used to live in the house showing (at least I think it was that one) by the bus stop and I used to go there to play ....and my brother and I spent many a happy Saturday morning going to the matinees. I pass by there most days but it all looks very different now.
 
Yes definately great photos, bringing back so many memories. But I must ask, photo of Sheldon Church - am I right in thinking there was a Scout Hut (298th Birmingham Troop) just behind the church (any photo?)? Also, re the photo of The Sheldon Cinema - two points, "The Bon Bon", tucked in at the right hand side of the cinema - out of sight. Second, re the cottage behind the bus stop - were not there 2 (or maybe even 3) cottages, belonging to the Police? And behind them, in Lyndon Road, a telephone exchange?What I would love to see, if anyone has any, are photos of the shops just beyond the cinema, set back from Coventry Road. That is where we did our day-to-day shopping (and the shops a few hudred metres further up Lyndon Road). And does anyone remember the weekly home visits from the "Barrows" rep? I even recall his name (the chap who covered the Lyndon Road area) - it was Mr Nutt!
 
Hi old Brummie
I can answer part of your question. Yes i believe there was a scout hut and also there is a hall just to the right of the Church which they held jumble sales and i think air force cadets used it.
Regarding the shops just beyond the cinema. Behind those shops was a firm called Browns and also Bailey's, they did road work and laid large gas mains. Just across the road and up a bit there was the pub and Burgess and garfield garage, which lay in the center of the road. Her are a few more photos of Sheldon.



Here is one of my old school


Image16Sheldon_Heath_Compprehensive_school~0.jpg








Here is one looking out from St Giles Church.

Image16_The_lychgate_1925_at_St_Giles_Church_Sheldon.jpg






The radleys looking towards St Giles Church

Image10_Church_Rd_Sheldon.jpg










The Smithy Church Rd Sheldon

Image97E0_The_Smithy_Church_Rd_Sheldon_1967.jpg






The radleys and Sheldon heath Rd

Image25_Sheldon_Heath_Road_and_the_Radleys.jpg





Regards Stars
 
Yes definately great photos, bringing back so many memories. But I must ask, photo of Sheldon Church - am I right in thinking there was a Scout Hut (298th Birmingham Troop) just behind the church (any photo?)? Also, re the photo of The Sheldon Cinema - two points, "The Bon Bon", tucked in at the right hand side of the cinema - out of sight. Second, re the cottage behind the bus stop - were not there 2 (or maybe even 3) cottages, belonging to the Police? And behind them, in Lyndon Road, a telephone exchange?What I would love to see, if anyone has any, are photos of the shops just beyond the cinema, set back from Coventry Road. That is where we did our day-to-day shopping (and the shops a few hudred metres further up Lyndon Road). And does anyone remember the weekly home visits from the "Barrows" rep? I even recall his name (the chap who covered the Lyndon Road area) - it was Mr Nutt!

Hi OldBrummie, with regard to The Bon Bon and another discussion on that area you may be interested in this thread https://forum.birminghamhistory.co.uk/showthread.php?t=36171&highlight=cabin

a
nd yes there was more than one Police House...I think there were 3.
Behind them was The Sheldon Exchange which housed the Strowger telephony equipment for the whole of the Sheldon area, 742/743, and across the road was the Directory Assistance Exchange (The 100/192/152/154 numbers). The Police houses were purchased by the GPO and knocked down and a new building was erected adjoining the old Strowger Exchange to cope with the growth in the Sheldon Exchange Area.
My old Doctors surgery of Freeman and Robinson was by the D A Exchange, that is now a Guest House.
I havent come across any photos of the shops by The Bon Bon as yet, but you would not be able to do your daily shop in those shops now as there are no grocery shops, you would be ok for take-aways, eating out, carpets, stained glass, motor cycles/repairs and getting your car washed these days. When the cinema was knocked down it was replaced by a supermarket (Presto) which obviously would have killed off the smaller shops trade.
The Wagon and Horses Pub and the petrol station in the middle of the carriageway have gone and Aldi has a store there now.
 
Greetings "Stars" and Hi Lindyloo.
Many thanks for the photos and the 'history'.
It doesn't take much to jog a memory or two and you've both done that for me.
Home was Lyndon Road so that and the near Coventry Road was my territory.
Lindyloo, my doc was Dr Washington and then Freeman and sometimes Robinson.
I can still visualise the surgery waiting room and those dreadfull old settees. I'd like a quid for every time I've been in there.

Talking of the shops just up from the cinema, there was a fabulous Fish and Chip Shop which we frequented on Friday nights.
I can almost taste the chips, wrapped traditionally in newspaper. How times have changed.

'Stars', I also remember those businesses behind the shops but what I recall was the machinery in there for repair.
As a kid, I was amazed by the size of the "tipper trucks" they had in there.

It's been a long time since I was in Sheldon and I'm sure I would find it hard to recognise the place now.

One last memory for now, the old "British Restaurant" on the left, just up from the Coventry Road. Just after the war we
enjoyed many a meal there on a Friday night.

Thanks to you both. OldBrummie.
 
Hi Stars
Great photo's I travelled on the 166 bus as a child and the lady boarding appears to be my gran
with my mother behind her, used to live in Fallindale Rd. Also went to Sheldon school at this period
and the radleys shops so thanks for posting them and keep them coming.


Cheers Woofy
 
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Hi Woofy
I used to live on the radleys and also went to Sheldon heath Comp and Elms farm.
Like you i used the 166 or the 165. What a turn up if that's your gran and mom. The bus stop they are at
is just by Ragnel Ave.

all the best Stars
 
Hi OldBrummie,
You're welcome on my part too.

I back tracked to a post you made earlier in this thread and you mentioned where on Lyndon Road you were. I was curious about your mention of the Dairy/Cereal Crop Farm and The Rover Soccer ground, because as a child on my way to Daylesford Infant School, whereby I would pass opposite to your house, neither of those places were still standing. I have checked maps for 1938 and 1954/5 and the '38 one shows what I believe to be the farm and then the '54 one shows Daylesford Road in its place and also Colesbourne Road (where I grew up). I had never really thought about Daylesford Road not being there, but obviously that area was developed a lot later than the surrounding area. Do you know roughly when Daylesford Road was laid down please ?
The Infant School must have been built after 54/55 but before 61, but I notice Lyndon School is on the '54 map. I know that the playing fields of Lyndon School and beyond to the backs of the houses in Ulleries Road and further up Lyndon Road were known as the cornfields, so the name presumably originated from the farm land era. We didnt move into Colesbourne until about 1961 (prior to that we lived with my Nan in Wells Green Road)
Your mention of The British Restaurant is also intriguing, I had never heard of it before now, could you tell me in more detail where that was please. I have seen a photograph of a Cafe called Sheldona which I thought might have been the one you referred to but the description says it was close to the Wheatsheaf Hotel, so that can't be it. (I would like to know where that was too :encouragement: if you know) and can I be nosey and ask when you left the area ?

I don't recall Doc Washington but I do remember having the Polio medicine on a sugar lump there !! and also Dr's Freeman and Robinson calling out to the house to see my brother, who had several bouts of "Croup" and Mom having to sit him under a Clothes Horse Tent with the kettle steaming into it !! Would 'elf and safety allow that now ??
On the other thread that I gave the link for, the chippy was named as The Seagull.
 
Stars, hello.
Your picture of Sheldon Heath School is good to see, especially as I reluctantly left the school at the time it was taken, 1959. I'd had a very enjoyable two years plus two terms there but my family moved to Kent where I finished my school days at a boys only school & missed the girls every day!
At Sheldon, there was only one year ahead of me because the school was brand new. In fact, the builders were still on site. Photographs can be deceptive but it seems that the upper & lower school buildings were much closer than I remember.
Sometimes we went a short walk to some playing fields for football or rugby & I seem to think we walked past the little parade of shops you've put up, the picture that includes a "Maypole" shop.
At 66 years of age, like all of us on this splendid website, I'm very nostalgic, especially about my childhood & school days. So, thanks for helping me to relive some very good Sheldon memories. An old fogies school reunion would be nice!
Be well.
David.
 
Hi Lindyloo.
By the sound of things, I started in Sheldon well before you and I can fill in some of the information on the area I knew. In fact I moved into 279 Lyndon Road a few days after coming into the world on 28th Feb 1940. I don't remember the war but can remember the Air Raid Shelters which dotted the road, particularly up by the Lyndon Road/Coverdale Road/Barn Lane shops. Opposite us and slightly to the left was a laneway that lead to the Rover Sports Field. It was sited right where the first "Council House" was built. The playing field was where "Campden Green" is and in the far right corner there was an Anti-Aircraft Gun Emplacement and a couple of tethered Barrage Balloons. From the Rover site all the way up to the shops and all the way back to Ulleries Road was farm land with corn fields backing onto the shops and houses on Lyndon Road. On the (present) right hand corner of Daylesford and Lyndon Roads were the milking sheds. Bombs dropped within 150 - 200 yards of our house, leaving three major craters which eventually filled with water and spawned lots of aquatic wildlife. Our house was hit by shrapnel. That is as close as I came to the "action". I can remember Daylesford Road being constructed and of course the Council Housing. And if I am correct, the foundation of the road was made up with layers of old house bricks, laid in a sort of herringbone pattern. I also remember (though not the date) Lyndon School being built. From my bedroom window we watched as concrete was poured into the main halls foundations at night under lights. I had connections with the school as Dad was one of the members of the first Board Of Govenors, and the Deputy Headmaster, Vernon Clark, was a family friend.
At the end of the war, the government set up a series of "British Resaurants" to create a sort of "Community Gathering and Eating Place. Ours was located on the Coventry Road side of Melton Avenue in Lyndon Road. Another was located in Digbeth, near the Midland Red Bus Depot.
I think the Sheldona Cafe was on the Coventry Road diagonally across from The Weatsheaf Pub. And yes, the "Chippy" was The Seagull.
When did I leave the area? I did an engineering apprenticeship at Wilmot Breeden and at the end of my time (1963) there was no job for me. I headed for Southampton and boarded the "SS Fairsky" and travelled on the last but one convoy through the Suez Canal before the Egyption Troubles, bound for Australia. And now, well into retirement I spend my time reminicing and searching out my family history.
Hope all this helps.

Best wishes, OldBrummie.

Oh, another point that might help. The houses in that area of Lyndon Road were built in about early 1937. Dad took out the first lease on 279 but sub-let for 24 months, moving in in 1939.
 
Snogging in the back of the Sheldon and the Tivoli with my bird! Happy Happy days. Mom Dad my best mates Mom Dad walked down from Moat lane to the St Bernards Grange every night. John Crump OldBrit. Parker, Co USA
 
hi OB..would this be one of your cinemas...

lyn

sheldoncinema.jpg
 
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Hi OldBrummie,
Thank you so much for your wonderful reply :) It gives me a much better understanding of how the area that I grew up in developed, better than looking at a map could.
and yes you are right, there are 18 years between us.. I can only imagine how awful those war days must have been and thank goodness those bombs weren't closer !! I will be telling a friend of mine from my teenage years, about your description of the pre Campden Road days because he lived there and will be very interested in what you have told me. I have vague recollections of those herringbone patterns from when there were various holes dug in the roads. My sons attended Lyndon but despite only living round the corner, I didn't, I had to get two buses to Blossomfield Road because I passed my 11+. My Mom used to work in the newsagents at the end of the block on Lyndon Road, but I will have to check the year she started, she later worked in the precinct at the Wheatsheaf which I am guessing was roughly where the Sheldona had stood. I don't recall ever seeing any photos of The British Restaurants but I will be keeping my eyes open.
You have been left a long time then OldBrummie, have you ever been back ? We share the same interests, especially in the family tree area and I have distant family in Australia.
It has helped a great deal, Thanks again. I'm off to work now, roughly in the area of the old Tan House Farm..

Best Wishes to you to, Lindyloo

Incidentally, our old Milkman lived a few doors up from 279.
 
Snogging in the back of the Sheldon and the Tivoli with my bird! Happy Happy days. Mom Dad my best mates Mom Dad walked down from Moat lane to the St Bernards Grange every night. John Crump OldBrit. Parker, Co USA

Hi OldBrit, I spent many a happy thursday evening in the Grange with my Mom at the Free and Easy's in the late 70's !!
 
Hi Again Lindyloo.
You know you've opened a can of worms don't you. The memories are flooding back. Let me try and recall the shops (and I'm talking late 40's early 50's). Standing in the middle of Lyndon Road and looking towards Barn Lane. On the right - (from Coverdale) Stallybrass Chemist Hardings Bakery Peckmore Sweet Shop and Hardware Shop (2) Wakemans Butcher Greens Mensware (I think) Fred Luckett Bicycle Shop Pollocks General Grocers Shop then first house a Doctors Surgery - Dr Ackerman I think. Now across the road right on the corner was an Air-Raid Shelter then Jones the Newsagent & Tobacconist Pinfolds Double Grocery Shop Greens Drapery Paynes Shoe Repairs and last, Garners Fruit and Veg. There were also 2 large Air-Raid Shelters each side of the road in front of the shops. Next to Garners were the fields. Every 5th of November, Garners put on a huge Bonfire & Fireworks Display for the whole neighbourhood. I can't recall the date, but sometine in the 50's, the Co-op built a store and off-licence on the land next to Garners. Further down the 2 Police Cottages and of course later, between them, the infants school.

As I recall, the Milkman's name was Jack. When I first knew him, he operated with a horse and cart and I recall once, up near Chapel Fields School (my school), his horse bolted - but that's another story. Later, he was supplied an Electric Milk Float and I often rode around with him. I can still remember when his house was built.
This reminds me of Home Deliveries - Milk, Bread, Mr Green on a Friday in his small blue van selling fresh vegetables door to door. His Market Garden was on the Coventry Road out towards the Airport. Also door to door, "Tizer" and also Mitchell & Butlers. And who could forget the "Bin Men". You didn't have to put your own bin out, they came into your side entry and collected it and even brought it back when emptied. Oh happy days.


Have I been back? Yes, probably half a dozen times. Primarily because I worked in the airline industry and got concessions.


But that will do for now. Hope it is all interesting as I personally believe we should not forget the past. That is why Family History is important to me.

OldBrummie.
 
Hi OldBrummie,
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, Christmas Preparations are taking over at the moment !!
I am pleased to have opened that can of worms, because your memories are wonderful to read :) Thank you so much for all the information you have given, I will be making note of it all.
I had a saturday job at that newsagents and my Mom worked there as I said, I think it was for Mr Eager first of all and then Parkers took over, they also had the shop in the precinct at The Wheatsheaf. My first proper job after leaving school was at that Coop, I worked there for a couple of months until a position I had been waiting for came up at a Home and Hospital in Sherbourne Road, Acocks Green. My sister-in-law lived in one of the council houses that were built between the Police Cottages and the entrance to the infant school.
I'm not sure if the Jack the milkman was the same chap that delivered our milk because I knew him as Dennis, he lived in the house that has the white wooden railing type feature in the porchway. Perhaps he was Jacks son ?

I imagine you have seen many changes on your visits back here.
It is all extremely interesting OldBrummie, thanks again for sharing your memories with me.

Lindylou
 
Hi Jukebox
Enjoying the photo's, thanks for sharing them with us. We used climb into lych gate
and throw confetti over the people who just got married as they walked under. We earned a
few bob that way.

Stars
 
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