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Slade Lane Roughley

P

pamela floyd

master brummie
i dont know if i have posted this request on the right place, im trying to find out about why were i live in slade lane, roughley, there are 6 cottages and slade farm, but the numbers run up to 158, the lowest being 68, cant find out any information on slade lane, even though i have lived here for almost 10 yrs , pam x
 
Where have you looked for info Pam? I know Sutton library has now closed, so you won't find anything out from there any more, but Birmingham might have some details. Unfortunately what you can get there is now very limited until the move to the new building.
 
i got some books on sutton coldfield, and spoken to a lady in her 80s who as lived in slade road, all her life she used to do potatoe picking on the farm years ago she told me, but did not know about the numbers, only that farm workers used to live in the cottages, thats all i know shortie, thank you for your message ,
 
Pam, I was not thinking of books, libraries usually have maps of the area, although small ones don't always. Maps can often tell you quite a bit, including how many cottages there were originally, and if there are several maps, you can find out approximately when demolition took place. Originally they would not have been numbered, most places did not have actual numbers in the early Victorian age. I know Slade Lane, have used it a lot over the last 40 years, but never thought of what it might have been like years ago.
 
Here is map for Slade Lane around 1884, though it does not show much

map_c1884_slade_lane.jpg
 
hello shortie, / mikejee, thank you for your messages, and the map, i think the numbers must of been picked out of a hat, i dont think there were other cottages in the lane ,i just dont know, shortie if you come down the lane in the future pop in for a cuppa, pam x
 
Nice offer Pam, thanks. I wonder if numbers have been allocated as if there WERE once more cottages? Seems a bit bizarre, but you never know.
 
Hi Pam,
I found your post when using Google to search for information regarding Slade Lane, Roughley. My grandmother was born there in January, 1908 with the address on her birth certificate being "Tue Slade", Slade Lane, Roughley. It was a farm, as her father was a farmer. The family moved to Rhyl in North Wales the following year. I have an old photograph of the farm-house which my grandmother had in her possession, as well as a photograph taken by a cousin in the 1990's when he was pursuing family history research. I believe the house is now Slade Farm, but it would be interesting to know the history of it if possible.
Kind regards,
Helen in sunny Perth,
Western AustraliaTue Slade Farm House where Dora Jean CLARKE born.jpg
 
Hello and welcome to the forum Helen. How lovely to see this photo of the Farm. I have passed this way for many years living in Tamworth and working in Four Oaks. My cousin lives off Little Sutton Lane who I often visit. The area has always been of interest to me. I expect some historians in Sutton Coldfield would love this photo.
 
Thanks Wendy,

Yes I'm very lucky to have had a grandmother who kept all the old photographs, letters etc and a Mum who was thoughtful enough to keep them after my grandmother died.

Helen
 
Hello Helen,

Thank you for your post regarding slade lane, the farm house is still as your photo, the farm is now owned by jan and hughie willetts, [ lovely family ] hughie was born also in the farm house i should think in the 50s, the farm is no longer a farm as such, but now sell all sorts of farm items, tractors, lawn mowers, ect, ect, i will ask jan for information of how the farm as changed and let you know, pam x

wendy, if you want to pop in for a cuppa any time your passing your welcome im the next drive past the farm going towards slade road, pam x
 
3rd attempt - each time I post it disappears !

Hello Pamela,

You are not far from me. I know the area well, and also Hughie & Bill Williets, having used their businesses several times. I have no idea about the house numbers, but I'll bet B'ham Council do ! You see most of the fields from Turf Pitts Ln, through Slade Ln, along to Withy Hill and out along Springfield Rd are designated B'ham Council Building lands. In my lifetime the estate at the Northern end of Slade Ln was built, and I'll put money on a few more houses appearing soon in the area.
My grandfather bought some 20 or so acres of scrubland called Middleton Heath in the late 20's after the sale of the Middleton Estate. Bounded in the North by the Bassett's Pole intersection & Pub, and on it's Southern side by a row of what he called the 'municipal' (Council built) houses, on this ground he kept pigs as a joint venture with a gentleman in No 1 Slade Ln. A track ran across it, (now Hill Ln), linking Fox Hill Ln to Coppice Ln into Middleton, crossing the A.453 Sutton Rd and A.446 London, (now Lichfield ) Rd. Being a builder and Driveway specialist, in the 30's he built an absolute BLOCKHOUSE of a Bungalow, (still there, No 45), at the Eastern end. Walls 3 feet thick of Engineering bricks & concrete, he knew war was coming ! As the years went by, he sold much of the land off as building plots, the last 1/2 acre going for £200 in 1955.
Now - ROUGHLEY - This is a corruption of the name "Ruffian's Den" .... In the 18th Century it was the hideout of all sorts of thieves. Tom King the highwayman was born at Stonnall and was a 'regular'. His best friend was Dick Turpin, and both were at Roughley at times. Bishop Vesey, in order to keep watch on the area, built 2 fortified houses at Cotty's Moor and Withy Hill. Many Thieves were caught in Slade Ln and area, tried and sentenced in Sutton, they were hung on Gibbets in Fox Hill as a warning to their comrades.

Hope that helps.... !
 
Pamela, I'm not sure if this will make you think I'm mad but I always knew it as Slade Road, on the way towards Canwell. Perhaps if you investigated using Road instead of Lane you may get some better information. Regards, David, Aston and Mere Green.
 
My Uncle's father, George Leslie Bullock, lived in Roughley in the early 1900s.
On the 1911 census, his father, Richard, is shown as a Farmer and an Employer at Roughley Farm, Roughley, Sutton Coldfield. I can't find them on the 1901 census but on the 1891 census there address is just shown as "Farm House" and the Civil Parish "Sutton Coldfield, part of" and the Municiple Ward "Hill, part of". Would this address be the same as Roughley Farm? I think the area known as Hill was around Mere Green so not far from Roughley.

Capture (1250 x 426).jpg
 
Correct David F, "Hill" is still used to describe what is now referred to as Mere Green. The Church is St James 'Hill' and when I was at Sutton College in the 70's the Annex, (just off the island) was known as 'Hill'. There is Hill Hook Road, etc., I'd imagine that prior to the post WW 1 development, the whole area was overshadowed by the hill where the TV Masts are now. Roughly would have been on the Eastern County and Parish boundaries.
David W has a point, Slade Ln and Slade Rd are two distinct highways.
 
Having grown up in Four Oaks I never realised how much "Hill" was used around the area. Ley Hill and Hill West primary schools. I went to school in Edge Hill Road played in Hill Hook Road walked up Rosemary Hill Road and my friend lived in Hill Village Road and these are off the top of my head. Of course I now realise the hill is where they built the TV mast, which caused untold problems as the TV would come over our radio gramophone, much to to the annoyance of my father. I remember as a child my friends and I often helped a farmer in Roughley to move his sheep. He was a lovely man who obviously liked children...happy memories.
 
Hi Pam,

Thanks for your message - I'd love to hear any history of Slade Farm the Willetts are aware of. I think one wing of the house has been altered and turned into a garage since my grandmother was born there in 1908, by the looks of things (a cousin of my Mum's took a photograph of it in 1999 when researching the Clarke family history).

Best wishes,
Helen in sunny Perth
Western Australia
 
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