Sheldon

[Maria Magenta]

There's a bit about her here and a picture:

Angela Rippon and Female Firsts

Angela Rippon and female firsts: Remembering women’s contribution to television news by Gillian Murray At the recent Women in Film and Television Awards held in London in December 2013, Angela Ripp…

womensfilmandtelevisionhistory.wordpress.com

 

[Sheldon-John]

After seeing your post I checked their website and found that they were having a 'running day' on Sunday. Took my grandson over to the new location at Illshaw Heath. He thoroughly enjoyed it and couldnt get him away, even after 4 hours. Although not an official open day they hooked up two carriages to one of the engines and took him for several spins round the track. Many thanks to Phil and Jackie Shrimpton for making us so welcome - even gave us cups of tea from the club house. I learned that the new site opened in 1964 so expect that is when Campbells Green closed? The large concrete track sections are , in fact, the originals from Campbells Green. An older member said that a few years back he took an old gentleman round who was a former member of the club in Sheldon. They have an event in July - check their website. Below are a three photos from Sunday and some pics from Cambells Green in the 50's which Phil kindly emailed me this morning.

Apologies for belatedly commenting on this thread; only just seen it. Fascinating photos of the old model railway field. I lived on the Coventry Road until '61, opposite Caudle's entrance. Our back garden didn't allow access to the field but a friends garden backed onto it so we used to crawl through the fence into the railway field to play, which was fine when there was nobody about. But the members were very possessive about their field. Sometimes we would crawl through the long grass to watch the miniature engines working but we knew they didn't like us doing that so we used to occasionally look up above the grass to check if they'd seen us only to find that doing so gave us away. They always split up into two groups and run round both sides of the track to catch us. It was sometimes a close call but we always managed to get away. One day, to avoid being caught, I had to crawl through someone else's garden fence, who I vaguely knew, and sprinted up the garden passing this lad & his Mum who were sitting in deck chairs drinking tea, shouted hello and shot out of their side gate onto the Coventry Road. I'm surprised to realise that I didn't know that field was called Campbell Green: it was just the railway field to us kids.

 

[eddie coleman]

I have some very vivid memories of playing in Chelmsley Woods when I was a boy in the fifties. What a beautiful place it was especially when the bluebells and primroses were in profusion. A gang of us kids would walk from our homes in the Garretts Green area - across the cornfields on Garretts Green Lane, past the farm near Mackadown Lane,under the railway bridge, on past the old Toffee factory near Tile Cross, past the Bell Inn, and Hatchford Brook and on to the Woods themselves. What a variety of fun confronted us. I remember one particular occasion when we ventured further into the Woods than we normally did and were confronted with what seemed to be an impenetrable swamp. The only way to cross the swamp was to leap from grassy tussock to tussock. If you missed your footing you sank into the bog up to your knees. This seemed to go on for hours. When we finally conquered the swamp we came to a wide river. Thinking back it must have been the Cole. On the banks of the river a local farmer was allowing his sow to forage about freely for food along with six piglets. We chased the piglets for hours, delighting in the way they scampered through the bracken but always returning to the haven of their mother. Happy days indeed!

I wonder if others have fond childhood memories of playing in Chelmsley Woods?


Ray

Brings back memories....lived at 342 garretts green lane from 1948 to 1961. Was 4 when we moved there into our newly built council. did the same walks as you by the sound of it ...loved every day . Spent most of the time with Bobby Barnet , Keith waters and Alec Griffin.

 

[wendylee]

Brings back memories....lived at 342 garretts green lane from 1948 to 1961. Was 4 when we moved there into our newly built council. did the same walks as you by the sound of it ...loved every day . Spent most of the time with Bobby Barnet , Keith waters and Alec Griffin.

What amazing childhood memories flood back when Chelmsley Woods are mentioned, we lived in Sheldon and it was a long walk when we were little but no one ever complained, our family always took picnics baskets with us and spent a whole day playing, picking bluebells and just enjoying the surroundings.
Happy Days.

 

[devonjim]

What amazing childhood memories flood back when Chelmsley Woods are mentioned, we lived in Sheldon and it was a long walk when we were little but no one ever complained, our family always took picnics baskets with us and spent a whole day playing, picking bluebells and just enjoying the surroundings.
Happy Days.

"cathray" see #573 above was a neighbour and I too enjoyed the adventures to Chelmsley. Living on the edge of the countryside having moved from the city was a privilege. Cycle trips to Packington Ford and to Coleshill were other escapades. We were so lucky that in 1950's there was so little traffic that we could enjoy such freedom.

 

[wendylee]

"cathray" see #573 above was a neighbour and I too enjoyed the adventures to Chelmsley. Living on the edge of the countryside having moved from the city was a privilege. Cycle trips to Packington Ford and to Coleshill were other escapades. We were so lucky that in 1950's there was so little traffic that we could enjoy such freedom.

What wonderful childhoods we had it was pretty safe for kids to wander around and have fun. We didnt have bikes when we were kids I would have liked to cycle about.
We were so lucky weren't we? You would never let your kids roam around now like we did would you? Things have changed so much.

 

[jmadone]

What wonderful childhoods we had it was pretty safe for kids to wander around and have fun. We didnt have bikes when we were kids I would have liked to cycle about.
We were so lucky weren't we? You would never let your kids roam around now like we did would you? Things have changed so much.

I so agree with you Wendy and Jim and don't you think Sheldon was such a great place to grow up in? 50 yards from my front door was King George V playing fields where I learnt to play cricket, football rounders etc, sometimes with teams of up to 16/17 a side. This park was the gateway to Marston Green for train spotting and then later to the bluebell woods at Chelmsley. Not only bluebells but magnificent swathes of purple rhododendrons as well. We learnt about the local wildlife, we knew where the robins and blackbirds nested, discovered skylarks nests on the golf course. Later as we grew older we ventured further on our bikes, fishing at Coleshill, Packington and sometimes Earlswood lakes. Wonderful days.

 

[Richard Dye]

After seeing your post I checked their website and found that they were having a 'running day' on Sunday. Took my grandson over to the new location at Illshaw Heath. He thoroughly enjoyed it and couldnt get him away, even after 4 hours. Although not an official open day they hooked up two carriages to one of the engines and took him for several spins round the track. Many thanks to Phil and Jackie Shrimpton for making us so welcome - even gave us cups of tea from the club house. I learned that the new site opened in 1964 so expect that is when Campbells Green closed? The large concrete track sections are , in fact, the originals from Campbells Green. An older member said that a few years back he took an old gentleman round who was a former member of the club in Sheldon. They have an event in July - check their website. Below are a three photos from Sunday and some pics from Cambells Green in the 50's which Phil kindly emailed me this morning.

Thank you for sharing these photos............…..Truly the Golden age of Steam!

 

[Spargone]

..don't you think Sheldon was such a great place to grow up in?

Don't forget the smell of fresh 'cow' just over the fence at Mapledene!
it's hard to imagine now how we were allowed to paddle in the local brooks, take treks to watch trains at Marston Green and aircraft at Elmdon without supervision. (Until my nephews went to secondary school the furthest they ever went out of doors on their own was to the pillar box at the end of the road).
There was such a lot of green space around that had their own narrow tracks that we would walk along, indian file style or later on our bikes, so really we were quite safe from road traffic. Don't forget the secret mothers' telegraph! It didn't matter where you went or what you did the news would get back home before you did!

 

[Elmdon Boy]

Sheldon country park off Barrows Lane at the back of the TA centre wasn't manicured and sterilised like it is now in the 50s when I remember it. Rough grass, trees ,bushes and two ponds for fishing in for newts, frogs sticklebacks. As kids we called the area 'the baggies', don't know why, anybody else remember it as this nickname?
You could let your mind wander pretending to be your TV western hero's fighting the baddies, or perhaps being Robin Hood, running about in the trees. Tracking was another good game. The kids today couldn't do that even if they wanted to.
With all the bushes and most off the trees uprooted there's nowhere to hide.
Such happy days, such a long time ago now, days always seemed so sunny,seems so sad its all gone now.

 

[wendylee]

Sheldon country park off Barrows Lane at the back of the TA centre wasn't manicured and sterilised like it is now in the 50s when I remember it. Rough grass, trees ,bushes and two ponds for fishing in for newts, frogs sticklebacks. As kids we called the area 'the baggies', don't know why, anybody else remember it as this nickname?
You could let your mind wander pretending to be your TV western hero's fighting the baddies, or perhaps being Robin Hood, running about in the trees. Tracking was another good game. The kids today couldn't do that even if they wanted to.
With all the bushes and most off the trees uprooted there's nowhere to hide.
Such happy days, such a long time ago now, days always seemed so sunny,seems so sad its all gone now.

Hi Elmdon Boy, Yes I remember it as the Baggies, I dont know why it got that name haha. I lived on Common Lane that backed onto it . We spent a lot of happy days playing over there too.

 

[Spargone]

Sheldon country park off Barrows Lane at the back of the TA centre wasn't manicured and sterilised like it is now.

Yes real nature! Similarly 'at the boundary', the field at Arden Oak provided lots of intersecting tracks to follow. The long grass and bushes made it hard to see more than twenty feet ahead.
I remember major games making use of the gullies, organised by the older kids, 'hide and seek' on a grand scale, scouts despatched on bikes to check out where the other side might have got to. I recall about a dozen of us following the roadside tracks from the Wheatsheaf to the boundary, bikes in front and a few on roller skates hanging onto the back of the last bike.
It used to be possible to get from the back of Munday's toy shop (Coalway Avenue/Coventry Road) through to Rectory Park and go across or around Deepdale Avenue. Lots of scope for grand adventures! A culvert and a climbing frame isn't the same.

 

[jmadone]

Sheldon country park off Barrows Lane at the back of the TA centre wasn't manicured and sterilised like it is now in the 50s when I remember it. Rough grass, trees ,bushes and two ponds for fishing in for newts, frogs sticklebacks. As kids we called the area 'the baggies', don't know why, anybody else remember it as this nickname?
You could let your mind wander pretending to be your TV western hero's fighting the baddies, or perhaps being Robin Hood, running about in the trees. Tracking was another good game. The kids today couldn't do that even if they wanted to.
With all the bushes and most off the trees uprooted there's nowhere to hide.
Such happy days, such a long time ago now, days always seemed so sunny,seems so sad its all gone now.

I had relatives that lived in Barrows Lane, in the block of houses between the TA centre and the New Coventry Road. We used to visit them quite often and used to walk through the park (King George V) past St Giles church and up Common Lane to Barrows. Whilst the adults would be talking and drinking tea I used to play over "The Baggies" with my elder cousin and his friends doing just the sort of things you describe. More happy days

 

[wendylee]

We had our engagement party in a hall at the TA Barracks on Barrows Lane almost 50 years ago. Is the TA still there operating as a TA??

 

[Spargone]

Is the TA still there operating as a TA??

It is now described as an Army Reserve Centre, hosting amongst others, A (FUSILIER) Company 4th Battalion The Mercian Regiment and the 2030 (Birmingham Airport) Squadron RAF Air Cadets.
I remember it as a temporary sorting office for the Christmas Post. Two shillings and seven pence an hour and I worked with Jenny, a year older, on three and six per hour, but because I was a boy I got to carry two mailbags versus her one! She lived in a prefab just past the Yew Tree, on Oaklands Recreation Ground.

 

[Radiorails]

I guess fr many of us once we entered out teens we gout out and about. Our parents probably had no idea where we were and what we might be up to. In the time before private cars became profligate the roads for cycling - or even playing in - were relatively safe. Hours along the 'cut', mostly the rural Stratford in my case, cycling round the West Midlands and The Cotswolds exploring places that were just names in bus timetables and of course for us out in the sticks, so as to speak, exploring the hub hub of the big city usually on Saturdays.
We didn't need gps/computers to find our way around - most of us seemed to possess a 'homing' instinct - and neither did we need to spend time in shops. Shops were for a specific purchase usually, besides, lts of money was not something most of us had. Basically a small amount for crisps, ice creams or 'pop' was usually sufficient. I do believe that that financial aspect taught us how to manage household budgets in our later lives. Sadly many people get into debt today due to their lack of household budget acumen.

 

[wendylee]

It is now described as an Army Reserve Centre, hosting amongst others, A (FUSILIER) Company 4th Battalion The Mercian Regiment and the 2030 (Birmingham Airport) Squadron RAF Air Cadets.
I remember it as a temporary sorting office for the Christmas Post. Two shillings and seven pence an hour and I worked with Jenny, a year older, on three and six per hour, but because I was a boy I got to carry two mailbags versus her one! She lived in a prefab just past the Yew Tree, on Oaklands Recreation Ground.

Thank you for that ...lovely story about the temp sorting office
It prompted me to google maps it...it looks exactly the same as when i was a kid! That was 60 odd years ago.

 

[Richard Dye]

What wonderful childhoods we had it was pretty safe for kids to wander around and have fun. We didnt have bikes when we were kids I would have liked to cycle about.
We were so lucky weren't we? You would never let your kids roam around now like we did would you? Things have changed so much.

So very very true!

 

[MartinGB]

[/QUOTE]
Indeed, fond memories of Chelmsley Woods and the surrounding area prior to the 1970s.
Lived on the Chester Road at Bacons End from the late 40s to the mid-70s, beautiful area surrounded by fields and of course Chelmsley Wood.
Spent many happy days exploring and playing in the local woods, helping the local farmer when harvesting season came along, and as our garden faced the farmers field many a time, we would find cows in the garden, how times have changed.
Worked at the local service station (Bacons End Garage) for a number of years but decided to move away once the redevelopment of Chelmsley Wood began, finishing here in Tasmania, Australia.

 

[Bookworm]

I wonder if the 'Baggies' was part of the land owned by the wealthy paint manufacturer from Birmingham who had his mansion near the woods and pool in Brays Road. We played in both places. There was a particularly good tree swing in the Baggies where you climbed up one tree to swing to another. Not any health and safety in those days. The brook also ran through the fields (Hatchford brook?) and it was great fun jumping over it (sometimes!).
Victor Skipp wrote an interesting booklet about very early Sheldon. In my youth many of the medieval aspects were still recognisable. Not now, it is a land of lost content to which we can never return. For all that we were the lucky ones who had the opportunity to enjoy it.

 

[jmadone]

The brook you refer to was named Westley brook and joined Hatchford brook near to Marston Green, Spargone mentions the booklet by Victor Skipp on other threads. I don't know about the land you refer to but agree with your comments about us being the lucky ones.

 

[Spargone]

The brook you refer to was named Westley brook and joined Hatchford brook near to Marston Green, Spargone mentions the booklet by Victor Skipp on other threads. I don't know about the land you refer to but agree with your comments about us being the lucky ones.

Just to complicate matters this land was a detached part of Bickenhill parish, Lyndon End. In Medieval times the brook is being called Smalbroke. Discovering Bickenhill by VHT Skipp doesn't indicate any clear ownership of these lands, assigning them to 'smallholders'. The OS land parcel numbers are in a different series to those given to Lyndon House and the hedgerow on the western side is very longstanding. Given the nature of the brook before it was culverted I would guess that the land had always been common grazing pasture, just a guess though.

 

[mbenne]

Some intersting information on Sheldon, as described in History and Topography & Directory of Warwickshire 1830, 1850, Warwickshire Trade Directory 1875 and Kellys Directory 1912. From 1811 the population ranged between 360 and 460 and by 1912 , though population isn't mentioned, Sheldon is described as "a small village but little frequented" Which cant be said for today!

I wonder what happened to the £39 5s charitable indenture from 1812 that couldn't be accounted for?

I'm curious as to where some of the places mentioned appear on old maps, where residents lived and the location of Sheldon Police Station . I have been able to locate Bennetts Well which was on Tile Cross Road, near the Junction of East Meadway and Cookes Lane.

Does anyone know where the parcells of land mentioned in the 1875 directory, Moleshay Lanes End, Clare Croft and Bonnells Meadow were located? A Bonnell Meadow is mentioned in a 1610 land dispute in Tanworth.

 

[Bookworm]

The brook you refer to was named Westley brook and joined Hatchford brook near to Marston Green, Spargone mentions the booklet by Victor Skipp on other threads. I don't know about the land you refer to but agree with your comments about us being the lucky ones.

Thanks jmadone.... I have that book and played a tiny part in it when helping in the research while at Sheldon Heath Comp. Another book
Around Sheldon (images of England) has an image of Gilbertstone House, Lyndon. Built in 1866 for Samuel Thornley. It was on the hill where Herondale and Saxondale roads are. They moved there into an older house in 1830 and had a new house built. Apparently he bought up farms land and houses all over Sheldon. We predominantly played in what was the Arboretum which had a boating pool but also went to the Baggies. I was a scout for a long time (in the hut by St. Giles) so King George V sports fields were also a part of my leasure time. Later, when I tried to play football, Gilbertstone playing fields was where my ineptitude was displayed! So much choice. The pond (boating pool) was a magical place. If I close my eyes I can still see it now. It is now the site of a special school and, like so many things, only remains as a memory.

 

[Radiorails]

When I see this thread and others about Sheldon, I am often reminded of my later school days. A friend and I had the same feelings about a girl that lived in that area. I am sure you all remember 'puppy love' or first loves.
Being very shy - still am really in some ways - l thought he would win her affection being bolder than I. To be fair he did give me the chance to meet her; I suspect he regarded me as no threat! I cycled over there and met her in a park area. I have no idea where it was and what it was called, neither do I remember her name. I took a large gift box of chocolates for her and we sat talking for some while. Eventually I left for home without any plans for the future and I never saw her again.
I hope she enjoyed her chocolates; I guess she did.

 

[Spargone]

Does anyone know where the parcells of land mentioned in the 1875 directory, Moleshay Lanes End, Clare Croft and Bonnells Meadow were located? A Bonnell Meadow is mentioned in a 1610 land dispute in Tanworth.

This reference says "Clare Croft, then known by the name Well Croft otherwise Laughton".

 

[jmadone]

Mbenne , Some of the locations and pictures mentioned in your post as in 1919
Mackadown House Located nr to Railway bridge in Mackadown Lane

The Elms and The Chestnuts and their location

Mention is also made to a blacksmith in Marston Green and I found this together with this

Unfortunately due to the map having been cut up into 8 pieces and then put back together again certain parts are illegible and I can't find the location of these.
Still searching for the police station location.

 

[mbenne]

Brilliant. Strange to have lived in Sheldon and still learning

 

[Spargone]

Mbenne , Some of the locations and pictures mentioned in your post as in 1919
View attachment 137238

Bennett's Well overlaid on modern mapping.


Marston Green Smithy

 

[mbenne]

This reference says "Clare Croft, then known by the name Well Croft otherwise Laughton".

Its difficult to identify the locations as they dont appear on maps but given the descriptions some appear to be around the Garretts Green area so I'm wondering if Molehay also referred to the Hays relates to The Hays, Kent's Moat as it is known today. And I have some recollection of the name Rye Eddish Field - could this have been something mentioned in our local history lessons at Mapledene Jnr?