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Sheldon

My wife Maureen Broadhurst was born in berryfield Sheldon in 1940 and remembers Italian prisoners of war working in the area a plane crash at the airport and her play mates were the Riley's, the bounes and norma tarrant. Maureen lived at 67 and went to silvermere and mapledean school her aunty named woods lived in parkdale road. Is there anybody out there who remembers her or the area?
 
Hi aggie2347
i cannot say i recall your wife nor or any of the other names , but i would like to asked you
is there any possibility that your wife is in anyway a relative to the older generation of the one time broadhurst family
whom was well known for there bussines of steel stock holders in aston brook street aston way back in the forty,s and
fiftys and up until the early sixties , i know they left the aston brook street way back in the fifties and moved to rocky
lane aston oppersite tubes limited this would be a big family of broadhurst,s
if so i know one of the very older of the family possible there father moved out to wootton wawon best wishes astonian;;
 
My wife Maureen Broadhurst was born in berryfield Sheldon in 1940 ?
I remember the area well, but I lived a couple of miles away and went to Blakenhale School, but we played sports against Mapledean. My second cousin was born in 1940 and lived nearby in Dovercourt Rd. and he went to Mapledean. His surname was Bishop.
 
Hi Astonian, yes my wife is related to Broadhurst's who started out in the scrap metal business it was her grandfather's brothers who started the business they asked him to join them but he thought it was too risky as he had a job at the BSA and a family to feed. Bad decision? Aggie
 
HI AGGIE;
Many thanks for coming back to me on this one ; i had a good feeling she was as i knew some of them very well
going back years and with there history yes indeed i think so i would agree ;
and they went european as well world wide great friends with the old kirbys older generation; i will not mentionion there name thou and the hines
and with the hines family of aston whom i knew very well; once again aggie and to your wife best wishes , Astonian;; ALAN; ;;;
 
Many thanks for your welcoming words.

I have obtained and am currently researching Victor Skipp's 'Discovering' collection, amongst others. I was born in 82' and lived in Sheldon most of my life it has changed somewhat from how I remember it and before that simply amazes me, his works are treasures of the past of our olde Sheldon village how wonderful that work was done by him and the group. The local library received a call last year advising that the 'diagram' slides and such like that are mentioned but not included in the prints of the Discovering Sheldon book, were found, in Norwich in a SKIP! Ironic? Sad too, I would like to somehow get involved in enlivening the history again. I have been mentioning his work on a new facebook page Sheldon Community History (SCH) if anyone wants to join and post any info please do. I also have a website pending some work sheldonch.co.uk ... i made a start so I would carry on see it through :)

Lucy
 
once the website is built I would be very interested. I lived in Sheldon until 1973, attended Cockshut Hill, Blakenhale and the Comp. Went to Garretts Green College. Lots of memories. My last visit was 1996.
 
SHELDON
This thread has inspired me to send my first post! As a lad from Cotteridge/Kings Norton, in 1956 I was unaware of far-flung districts such as Sheldon but all that changed when I was told my Secondary education was to be at the brand new SHELDON HEATH COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL. I was one of its most undistinguished pupils for nearly 3 years (at which time we moved to Kent) from Summer 1956 to Spring 1959. At that time, this wonderful school had only been open for one year & the builders were still on site. After the cosy atmosphere of Bournville Primary, this ultra modern "big" school was a revelation by contrast & I was really very happy, despite long bus rides each day. Anyone else got memories of this school for the same time period? Pity there's not an Old Girls & Boys Society for the school, or is there?
David.
 
I lived in Goldthorne Avenue (No. 37) from 1935 to 1939, moved from Aston so my Dad could be near his work. He worked for Bryant's the builders who had the contract to build the then Eldom airport, now Birmingham International. When it was finished we moved to Shirley just before the war started
 
So many good things have disappeared from Sheldon. I was visiting a few weeks ago. There used to be a general stores/sweetie shop at the Cov Road end of Barrows Lane - it's a private house now. At the junction of Wagon Lane and the New Cov Road used to stand a rather grand, private house with a lot of statuary - now bland offices.

Shame on those that allowed the Wagon & Horses to disappear. There was a public house on that site long before the one that was recently burnt down and demolished.

The Sheldon Cinema is a Tescos. Many a happy and rowdy Saturday matinee took place there. And right next door another sweetie shop, the Bon Bon. A speciality of theirs was frozen Jubblys which, once the orange was sucked out, used to make great ammunition at the matinee. Until they were (unsurprisingly) banned.
 
So many good things have disappeared from Sheldon. I was visiting a few weeks ago. There used to be a general stores/sweetie shop at the Cov Road end of Barrows Lane - it's a private house now. At the junction of Wagon Lane and the New Cov Road used to stand a rather grand, private house with a lot of statuary - now bland offices.

Shame on those that allowed the Wagon & Horses to disappear. There was a public house on that site long before the one that was recently burnt down and demolished.

The Sheldon Cinema is a Tescos. Many a happy and rowdy Saturday matinee took place there. And right next door another sweetie shop, the Bon Bon. A speciality of theirs was frozen Jubblys which, once the orange was sucked out, used to make great ammunition at the matinee. Until they were (unsurprisingly) banned.
Hi, I remember the sweet shop at the Coventry rd end of barrows Lane, my father used to get off the 58 or 60 bus after work and buy sweets for me and my sisters. We lived in Common Lane and sometimes would scooter up to meet him there was an old derelict house nearer the Coventry rd past the sweet shop we always called it the haunted house haha.
 
Honeybournes Shop.jpg
Does anyone remember the model railway that used to be at the back of the houses on Horse Shoes Lane.

It was accessed either through someones back garden or via a narrow gulley and into a field behind the houses.

I'm not sure what gauge it would have been but the track was raised off the ground and you sat astride the stock.

I wonder whatever happened to it, would be about 1955 or thereabouts....

I lived at 2158 Coventry Road, my parents owned the shop 'Honeybournes General Stores', I remember the railway in the field at the bottom of our garden
with the railway track but I never went on the trains. We left Birmingham in 1953 and I believe the trains were still operating then. I was very surprised to see your post -
I had been watching a TV programme about old railways and the Sheldon miniature trains came to mind. I looked to the Internet to see if I could find a link but found one to this
website and by coincidence came across your comments!
 
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Hi, I remember the sweet shop at the Coventry rd end of barrows Lane, my father used to get off the 58 or 60 bus after work and buy sweets for me and my sisters. We lived in Common Lane and sometimes would scooter up to meet him there was an old derelict house nearer the Coventry rd past the sweet shop we always called it the haunted house haha.
I lived at 2158 Coventry Road which was the Post office until the late 40s when it was replaced by a new Branch Office in a large rank of shops further along the Coventry Road on the Boundary side of Sheaf Lane. The Post Office became Honeybourne's general Store until 1953. I remember a derelict house near a garage on the corner of Sheaf lane and Coventry Road opposite the Wheatsheaf Pub. Wheatsheaf Sheldon.jpg sheldon0005.jpg sheldon0002.jpg

The Post Office at 2158 Coventry Road with the Three Horse Shoes Pub in the distance. The Wheatsheaf was about the same distance in the other direction on the other side of the road. These pictures must be of the same pre-war period. In 1953 The Three Horse Shoes did not look very different, it is now a characterless modern building. In 1953 the Post Office was Honeybourne's Stores but the bungalow next door was demolished and Fellow's Radio and TV shop was where the next door bungalow appears. The next shop along, which was where the house appears was Payne's shoe repairers.
 
I lived at 2158 Coventry Road which was the Post office until the late 40s when it was replaced by a new Branch Office in a large rank of shops further along the Coventry Road on the Boundary side of Sheaf Lane. The Post Office became Honeybourne's general Store until 1953. I remember a derelict house near a garage on the corner of Sheaf lane and Coventry Road opposite the Wheatsheaf Pub. View attachment 109174 View attachment 109175 View attachment 109176

The Post Office at 2158 Coventry Road with the Three Horse Shoes Pub in the distance. The Wheatsheaf was about the same distance in the other direction on the other side of the road. These pictures must be of the same pre-war period. In 1953 The Three Horse Shoes did not look very different, it is now a characterless modern building. In 1953 the Post Office was Honeybourne's Stores but the bungalow next door was demolished and Fellow's Radio and TV shop was where the next door bungalow appears. The next shop along, which was where the house appears was Payne's shoe repairers.

Hi oldsheldonian, Thank you so much for posting your wonderful pictures !! especially the last two which I have not seen before. I have always wondered what the Coventry Road looked like before the precinct was built, and your last photo helps tremendously.
I wonder if you could help with a problem I am trying to solve regarding your photo of the Three Horseshoes please... I have for a long time, been trying to work out where the Sheldona Cafe and The Ship Tearooms were. I thought that the Sheldona was possibly by the Wheatsheaf Hotel/Pub and that the Ship was on the corner of Horseshoes Lane, opposite the Three Horseshoes Pub.. but in a discussion on another site, I was told that it was the Sheldona that was by the Horseshoes. The buildings in your photo don't really look like the Sheldona, which had a lighthouse on top of a flat roof ... have you any ideas on this please ?? I have seen a picture of the Ship Tearooms, but can't find it at the moment unfortunately.
 
Hi Lindyloo, I have been looking at an old thread in Place Related Enquiries and found some interesting entries back in 2011. I can't remember either cafe but have asked my cousin if she can. When were the cafes around?. I left in 1953 and at that time Honeybournes stores was the same as the photo. Towards Sheaf lane there were shops , Fellow's Radio and TV, Payne's shoe repairer, a greengrocer, HG Turners seed merchant (photo on the Birmingham forum)

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=pictures+of+Sheldon+birmingham+Coventry+road+in+1950's&biw=1760&bih=862&tbm=isch&imgil=tSWpJoDZZgb73M%3A%3BDzY0Hr1JpnEhEM%3Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.birminghamforum.co.uk%252Findex.php%253Ftopic%25253D3081.88&source=iu&pf=m&fir=tSWpJoDZZgb73M%3A%2CDzY0Hr1JpnEhEM%2C_&usg=__t-M6xf2VEguHO2Giyq7NGTI9RNU=&ved=0ahUKEwjR0aaOo6DQAhVKL8AKHWhgCzsQyjcINA&ei=1H8lWNGXJMregAbowK3YAw#imgrc=tSWpJoDZZgb73M:

then some houses,then Francis's Store, a Butchers (Dewhurst's?) others maybe then a derelict House and a Gararge on the corner of Sheaf Lane. Towards Horse Shoes lane there were houses, then Baker's coal yard and the Midland bank in a Wooden Hut, then houses, some allotments and then the Three Horse shoes. There may be bits missing!! Opposite side of Coventry road was just derelict land which was a wonderful playground to re enact Roy Rogers and Hopalong Cassidy films on the way back from the Sheldon Cinema (think it was One and Threepence upstairs back balcony!) The only cafes I remember were the British Restaurant in Small Heath Park (I went to Waverley GS) and going to Lyons in town as a treat.

The shop opposite the Wheatsheaf was Shakespears - source of those yellow walls ice cream blocks and The Eagle Comic. Across the road in Sheaf lane a rank of shops with a chip shop at the end and I think a Maypole Grocers with a cashiers office and those overhead wired devices with wooden pots in which the cash was whizzed back and forward. Chip shop was possibly the Sea Gull but not sure about that.

So from what's left of my memory there was no cafe in between the Three Horse shoes and the Wheatsheaf up to 1953. But it wouldn't be the first time if I'm wrong!!

Obviously I was - this is from my cousin:-
I have a book on Sheldon which I have borrowed from Vic my brother. with a photo of the Sheldona Cafe with flat roof and lighthouse on the top. It is said to be near the Wheatsheaf. The reason for the lighthouse is unknown. I have phoned my cousin Margaret and she is going to see if she can find out about both, she lived on the Coventry Road Elmdon opposite the old Airport for over 40 years so saw quite a few changes. There was a cafe opposite Coalway Avenue on the Coventry Road but I do not know what it was called, I think it was owned by someone named Vickers. I was bridesmaid at Margaret's sisters Wedding Reception there in 1949. XXXX knows quite a lot about Sheldon perhaps you could e.mail him. The book was published by:- Tempus Publishing Ltd. The Mill, Brimscombe Port, Stroud, Gloustershire GL5 2QG www.tempus-publishing.com and you can place orders on the website. There are about 50 titles on the list for Birmingham. The one I have is called Images of England - Around Sheldon by Margaret D Green. First published 2004.
 
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Lindiloo - not sure if you get notified about amendments to posts - I have added info about the Sheldona cafe to my earlier post
 
Lindiloo - not sure if you get notified about amendments to posts - I have added info about the Sheldona cafe to my earlier post

Hi oldsheldonian, I'm not sure if we get notified either, but I have had problems with my emails today, so I haven't looked, however, Ive kept this thread open and updated on my pc to look for a reply :) this is the first opportunity Ive had to reply though.
Thank you for your wonderful memories, they are most appreciated.
I am not sure when the cafes were there as I can find no reference in the records that I have access to apart from one that I found today for Jn Grayland in 1937. Mr Grayland was a cafe proprietor of 2159 Coventry Road. I discovered his name via a picture that was posted some time back by a member called jukebox. The picture was of the Ship Tearooms. 2159 would have been on the same side of the Coventry Road as The Wheatsheaf Hotel... which disproves my theory of the Sheldona being that side I guess, but if you find out any more information, I would be grateful to receive it.
The position of the Cafe by the Horseshoes would have been across Horseshoes Lane and opposite the Cinema, rather than in the stretch between Honeybournes and the Horseshoes.I have the book you mentioned,(thank you) which is where I saw the Sheldona picture.. it is where it said, "it is said to have been near the Wheatsheaf" that threw me.
Vickers was the name of the other cafe mentioned, the entry in Kelly's Directory read, Vickers, S & E.V.

Here are the pictures I mentioned, hopefully he won't mind me sharing them.
Would you mind if I shared your last 2 photos with the group that I'm in please, I know everyone would be thrilled to see them.
ship.jpg
ship 2.jpg
 
Hello Lindiloo. You are very welcome to copy the photo's I posted. I am waiting to see if my cousin's cousin can add anything about the missing lighthouseo_O!!
When i was in Sheldon my mother ran the Post Office (which became Honeybourne's Stores when the a new Branch Office opened further down the Coventry Road near Coalway Avenue.
On Google maps all I can see is a post box so I guess this is near where the PO was) Funnily enough the Post Box remained outside Honeybournes for many years and at one stage before the precinct opened all that remained to mark our old shop was the Post Box and the dropped curb stones which marked the location of a gulley way which led down alongside our gardens to the back of the houses in Beverley Grove. My Grandad was the actual Postmaster but I never saw him do any work;).
So Mom was always working 6 days a week, our treat trips to Lyons were part of a visit to a wharehouse in town, think it was called the Beehive, where she bought things to sell in the shop. So we never visited local tea shops and as you can imagine they were not high on my list of interests - I was usually out on my bike in the countryside, train spotting at Marston Green, going to Stonebridge or Kenilwoth Castle or walking along in Westley Brook wearing my wellies building dams or fishing for sticklebacks etc. Mom ran the Post Office all through the war so she seemed to know everybody and a 2 minute trip to the Greengrocers took half an hour at least. I can remember queues for bananas when the re-appeared. I went to Stanville road school and was surprised to see on Google maps that the school itself still has the same plan as in 1940's although you can only see the Caretakers House from the roadway now. My cousin went to Silvermere and I remember for a time when I was very little having to walk to Silvermere to get our school dinners!
If I get any more info I will post it.
 
There used to be cafe on the corner of Horse Shoes Lane, they were famous for selling cornish ice cream which didn't seem
to be available anywhere else locally. This, i believe was the Sheldona and somewhere behind the property there was a coal yard.

The tennis courts were from memory about halfway down Horse Shoes Lane on the left side as you walked from Coventry Road.

I cannot remember the Ship tea rooms but i wonder if they were demolished or converted into a house there were one or two
newer properties built on that section of the lane which weren't in keeping with the others.
 
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