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The Cabin, Coventry Rd, Sheldon

K

KathyP

master brummie
As a kid I seem to remember my aunt and uncle lived at a bungalow on the Coventry Road exactly opposite the Sheldon picture house. Think it was called The Cabin. Does it ring any bells with anyone?
 
I thought the pub opp the Sheldon picture house was the 3 horseshoes.
 
3 Horseshoes my fav hang out in the 50s, My band played many gigs there. Johnh Crump OldBrit.Parker.Co USA
 
Hi KathyP,
Are you referring to the row of shops and houses that were opposite the Sheldon? There was one called ’The Cave’ they sold small ornaments and nick knacks, it also had a photography studio at the back.

nick
 
Hi Nick

As far as I can remember they lived in a bungalow which was directly opposite the picture house and I seem to remember there being highish hedges round it which made the garden seem dark. I am planning a trip to Sheldon Library at some point to do a bit of research on St Bernards Grange so perhaps they would be able to help with this. I dont know, it all makes you wish you paid more attention when you were a kid!
 
My Mom and Dad and the Headfords went to the St,Bernards Grange every night I did Google maps and it looks like it is still there on Barrows Lane, I lived at 126 Moat Lane across from the Digbeth in the Field Church. John Crump OldBrit in Parker, Co USA
 
St Bernards Grange is still standing, may have changed a bit since your Mom and Dad went, has a Wacky Warehouse outside now, does meals as well, like most pubs seem to do these days.The Wacky Warehouse is a kids play area with plastic ball pits, slides climbing frames etc but all under cover.
 
KathyP, its been a while since you posted this query and you may have found the info you needed by now, but just for the record, if you go onto the "Old Maps" site at www.old-maps.co.uk and put Sheldon in the search box and then chose a map from the right hand side (try the 1938 one) and find the Horseshoes Lane/Coventry Road junction, it shows where there were dwellings.
I don't personally recall the Bungalow that you have asked about, as I was only a youngster when I paid visits to the Cinema, but I do remember the amazing little shop that brummie nick referred to, opposite the Cinema (or The Pictures as we used to call it) called 'Studio Cave/s' which I think was the ground floor of a house. My brother and I used to love going in there to find gifts for our Mom....
I vaguely remember Hoardings (is that the right word ?) going up next to Studio Cave/s so maybe that was when the Bungalow was knocked down ?? The whole site from Horseshoes Lane to Westley Brook (a stream on the edge of the playing field) is now occupied by a large building called Lyndon Place and car park. I think Lyndon Place was formerly NCR (National Cash Registers ?)

POSTIE....so that you can get your bearings.. ;) ..the pub is on the other corner of Horseshoes Lane and not opposite where the Pictures was (now Tesco's) it is opposite Guardian House which is next to The BT Exchange
 
I got my first 'pocket money' job working at Caves on a Saturday, seem to remember i spent most of my time mowing the grass in the long garden at the rear.

Also when i was about about ten or so my mother bought me a second hand camera from a friend for 10/-, we got a case for it from caves, that cost 11/6....
 
What year would that have been Neville..if you don't mind me asking ??
Can you recall the Bungalow that KathyP asked about ?
 
lindyloo said:
What year would that have been Neville..if you don't mind me asking ??
Can you recall the Bungalow that KathyP asked about ?
Click to expand...

It would have been about 1962/3, and yes i do remember the bungalow, it was next to the shop and i suppose was where the shop owner lived.

From memory, the shop itself was probably converted from a similar property as it had a garden at the rear.

I went after a Saturday job working in the shop but ended up becoming the gardner, well for a few weeks anyway, don't suppose i could be trusted

with all the breakables on display.
 
Hi Lindyloo,

hope you got my message about your post ~ it is very useful and I am going to have a look at that website. I've just had a look on Ancestry at the phone directories and my aunt and uncle are listed at 2090 Coventry Rd until 1955 then the 1956 directory shows them at their next house. My uncle was not involved in the shop next door that Neville mentions (we share the same surname Neville!) because he had a butchers shop on the Stratford Road in Sparkhill. I do seem to remember the bungalow had a long garden too, must have been a big parcel of land for the developers.

When I went to Sheldon library last week (thank you Adrian for your help) I was looking at photos of the picture house and the steps and the doors looked so familiar you would have thought I had been there the day before not nearly 50 years ago.
 
Hi Neville, I didnt start going to the pictures till a few years after that so you'd have been left a while when I started going into the shop..I was always scared of breaking things in there so I was extra careful when walking round. Ive found some photos of the site now so I will post them soon, they helped to jog my memory a bit.
 
KathyP said:
Hi Lindyloo,

hope you got my message about your post ~
Click to expand...

Hi Kathy,
I'm sorry to say I havent seen a message, but I am pleased you found my post useful :)
Im pleased that you have found info on Ancestry too.
I've been racking my brains all day trying to remember where I had seen photos of the area and I remembered about an hour ago !!!! They are in a book about Sheldon which was actually sitting on the shelf above my pc !!! I have made them bigger so the quality is not brilliant but it will hopefully help you to remember where the bungalow was, unfortunately there isnt a photo of the bungalow itself in the book. I hope you find them useful.
I remember going to the Saturday matinees with my brother which would be about 40 years ago and I'm sure we had a shilling each which got us in and bought us sweets !!
 
Pictures to show the changes over time,
Photos 1 and 3 were 1967 and 2 was 1973
They have not appeared in the order I wanted the to though, should be no.3 then 1 then 2


Studio_Caves2C_Coventry_Road_1.jpg
Studio_caves%2C_NCR_Horseshoes%2C_Sheldon_Cinema_1.jpg
Westley_Brook_to_the_3_Horseshoes_1.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hello Lindyloo,

What a great set of photographs, it just goes to show how things change without you realising it.

How many times have we passed somewhere in the car or on the bus only to find it demolished and struggling to remember what was there in the first place.

Does that make any sense at all???

Neville..
 
Hi Neville,
I'm pleased that they came out ok !!
It makes perfect sense....Things certainly do change and passing by there most days and seeing it how it is now makes it harder to remember how it was.
Thank goodness for old photos and local history books !!!

Lynne
 
Does anyone know if the shop next to the Studio Cave was a butchers, may have been called Astons. Also in Lindyloos first photo it seems that something has been demolished next to the Sheldon picture house, any idea what it was, as the cinema itself wasnt closed untill a few years later.
 
Hi Robert, I cant say for definate that it was a Butchers next door but I feel sure there was one somewhere there
Here is the picture of what was next to the Cinema, looks like houses some with possibly shops on the ground floor
 
The first property in the row was the 'Bon Bon', a sweet shop if i remember rightly..
 
That definitely rings a bell with me Neville !! :)
I know going the other way from the Pictures, across Lyndon Road, there were two Police Houses because a school friend of mine lived in one of them, but those have long since gone to..there is still a bus stop there though.
 
Yes it is Neville, there used to be one behind the Pictures as well, originally but it is now tesco's car park.
 
Thanks Lindyloo, smashing photo. Went to the Sheldon most week ends when i was courting my wife in the late 60s. and ealier in my teens. must have used those shops a lot of times. strange how quickly you forget. Neville i knew a lad who worked at the Studio Cave about 1963/64 his name was Nolan Taylor.
 
You're welcome Robert...and Neville your memory was spot on..The 1968 telephone directory has The Bon-Bon, Sweets, Tobacco, 2089 Coventry Road.
I havent found an Aston's butchers by Caves as yet, but looking at the photo from 1973 showing the 3 shops including Cave's, I am thinking that next to Cave's was possibly a greengrocers and that the boarded up shop on the end was the butchers and it appears to read J, Jasper on the sign, but I have not found a J Jasper on the Cov Road in the directories I have searched...

Robert, I have just found an Aston, R. F & Sons butchers, not by Caves but further down in Arden Oak Road. Could this be who you are looking for ?
There are 3 shops listed under the name
9 Land Lane, (Marston Green phone number)
10 Arden Oak Road (Sheldon)
158 Station Road (Stechford number)
Found the same in 3 directories...1960/62/68
 
Although we are probably not answering Kathy P's original question we are certainly finding out a lot about the surrounding area.

For instance, i remember that there used to be a cafe on the corner of Horse Shoes Lane and Coventry Road that used to sell the most wonderful Cornish ice cream.

Also the ground behind was used as a coal yard with the entrance being on Horse Shoes Lane, about fifty yards or so down on the left.
 
Hopefully all the info will help Kathy build up a picture to go with her own memories of visiting The Cabin.
I dont remember the cafe although I have seen a photo of The Sheldonia Cafe..not sure if thats the one though. I dont remember the coal yard either. Ice Cream tasted so much better back then !!
 
Thanks everyone. Its a bit like reaching for something at the back of your mind that you cant quite reach. My cousin still lives in the house they moved to after leaving The Cabin. Maybe there are photos in a box up in the loft. Wouldnt that be great!
 
:) Kathy, I know that feeling oh so well !!
I have my fingers crossed for you that there are photos..that would be brilliant.
 
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