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The Gun Makers Arms

Astonian

gone but not forgotten
HI EVERY-BODY .
I Was Wondering Whether ANY-BODY As Got A Picture
Of The Gun Makers Arms Which Was On The Lichfield Rd Aston
It Was By Frenches The Fruit And Veg AND Dents The Hard Ware Shop AND BY Robinsons The Fruit And Veg And Old Man Whettons Sweet Shop
Also It Was The Next Pub Along From The Widdows Pub Which I Have Got Thanks To Dave Bath Posting The Pic Comfirming That I Was Right It Did Excist As Some Of Our Fellow Members Said It Did Not But Dave Prove It To Be True , Alomg With Old Matty,s Shop And Parks The Grocer
I Would Really Appreciate This As That Pub Holds Memories For Me
And It Was An Akinsons House Pub ,
Many Thanks To One And ALL Best Wishes ASTONIAN ,;;;
 
HI Dave ,
How Are You Keeping , Fine I Hope
We,ll What Can I Say To You You Came Up Trumps With The Widdows For Me ,
And Now You Have Got Me The Old Gun Makers , which Holds A Lot Of Old Memories
For Me FromWay Back In The Forties And Fifties With My Parents , And Of Course My
Best Friend Growing Up, Colin Gaskin , I Haven,t Seen Colin Since We Joined Up Together ,He Went Into The Tank Reg, Like Is Father And I Followed My Uncle Albert InTO The 1st Batt; Of The Royal Warick Regiment ,
Thanks A Million Dave AgainAnd You AreA True Friend For Life And A True Scholar And A True Star ; Best Wishes Astonian ,;;;;;
 
Hi Astonian,
sometime back Imentioned That my aunt Doris was the licencee of the Gunmakers arms,
She remarried a guy who was a cripple,can't remember the exact year
 
Dear Astonian

I loved your information on the Gunmaker's arms it was most definately there as i lived up the entry that was at the side of Thornley's. I Remember all the names that you mentioned it was great going back. But do you remember a place called Goldberg's. My friend and I used to try to knock the dummies off the stands by trying to create a vibration effect on the window. How silly was that? Now don't tell me you lot, my mum sorted me out on that one years ago.
 
hi val .
i most certainly do remember goldbergs and it was a very large shop
do you remember when they sent the money across in the air on a wire
they would put your money in a little brass cash holder and send it speeding through the air to the cash office and they would send your change back
i used to go in with my mother and some times on my own for a pair of stocking or bibs or vest and i most certainly remember the dummy its nice to know some one whom can remember the shops and the names unfortunately we appear not to have any local natives on the forum whom lived that close to the shops of these people nor the pubs whom ifd they lived in the terraces by the pubs or the court
a point could be made regarding the widdows there was one person whom was one time on this forum but as disapeared about 2 years ago was flower girl
whom grew up across the rd from the gun makers and her parents bought my grand fathers shopand was brought up in it do you know all this performance over the widdows is begining to think i was never there and its a pigment of my imaginagation
as god made apples i know it was the widdows i have got my son crawling through all my threads and e,m to find that picture of the widdos because i think its been a long time ago this happened before the disputing of it i know one of our members did find a pic after all the fuss and i thought i will not bother brining it up at the time
i remember the time in the early fifties i got knocked down out side the astoria picture house and i was in the general hospital for one eck of a time i was a hit and run eventualy when i got home it was one of those indian summers we used o have
i sat on the steps in plaster and with crutches and one old biddy from the courts
where denise grand parents lived which was only thirty yards at the most as she was stepping in to the widdows she said oh you are that young lad whom gone knocked down on the cross ain,t yeh i said yes well don,t sit there begging she said to me
i called my mom and dad whom was sitting by the door and told them they collared her and told her off she came out and bought me a bag of the smiths crisp
the chap whom took over after the old gather died was related to the family called gamage whom lived up our terrace i think is daughter was nancy gammage the mother and the daughter was carol gamage and they was related to the goughs
albert gough and philiss gough whom had a daughter jenifier gough whom marrid into the fisher family and stan fisher the father worked with me and barry at tubes
and the son she married was colin fisher i last heard they was living in tamworth
any way as they say the proof is in the pudding
best wishes astonian ;;
 
Hi Astonian, It was great to read your post, I had someone the other day off friends reunited ask me about the Widdows so any information regarding the location would be welcome I cannot remember this name the Vine yes but the widdows has me stumped.

I used to hang out with a little gang of friends "gangs" not having the same connotation that it does today. I was always hanging around the Gunmakers Arms. There was a boy and a girl who lived there and sometimes I used to play with them. Later as I grew up our gang did our courting outside this pub and Thornley's the paint shop although Thornley's was closed by then. I remember one night I wanted to stay out longer than my mum allowed, my mum came down the entry to look for me. My friends and me hid in Thornley's as we could get in by the back entrance and pretended not to hear my mum. I was in trouble later when I finally got in, it seemed worth it at the time. Those were the days.
 
hi val
very nice to hear from you i.m am having trouble trying to place you in my mind
i remember the boy and girl at the pub which entry did you come from
was it the one with the sargents or was it the other side of the rd by the old shoe repairer harold lloyed the gully as we called it i lived next to the cake shop [ astons]
next to thompsons the only kid i remember up thompsons entry is colin fisher
with a twitching head a little kid he wasbut the other side i do remember a gang of girls colin and myself used to chase please enlighten me on this val as to what entry you are coming out off i will think on this one to se for myselfwhether i can remember you speak to you later have anice day astonian ,,
 
Hello again Astonian

I lived up the entry by Thornley's the other side was called (in kids speak) the old donkey's. up our entry there were the Williams kids Diane and brother then there were the Hems kids a big family June, Sheila, Michael, Peter, Johnathan, and karen I think I missed one out here sure there were 7 kids. there mum and dad was kitty and leonard. then there wes us the Dolans kids being Valerie, Barrie, Bernice, and Gail our mum and dad was Winnie and Fred.

I remember the Sargents and the Vincents their daughter was called Doreen and boy was David. they lived up the entry on the other side of the pub.

Further up there was the Evans's they had a daughter Veronica. Going back the other way there was the Johnsons (Cromwells) son Brian and sister Elaine, the Scrivens's I was given my first Brownie uniform by the mum one of the sons was called Raymond plus sister Maureen. They used to keep dogs. further up still by thompsons (the Fisher entry there lived a girl called Hazell who was my sisters best friend. Other names I recall were the eastopes they had twins, and Johnny Dawson. That should be enough to be going on with lol:) Take care Val
 
hi val
nice to hear from you so soon .you have made my day i have a terrible day today
i was stuck in the bank today for three hours discussing business
the this evening i have come home then i found your thread and beleive me girl you have lifted my spirits i am feeling estatic i remember raymond with the dogs because one of them bit me ,and most of all the gang and hazell and the sargents
colin and myself was always fighting with the sargents as i am typing this its all flooding backas if was yesterday and i am trying to visulise the faces
i used to come down most nights to the gum makers to get the bottle of ginger beer
because the widdows did not stock it it was only orange -lemonade or vimto
did diane have ginger hair ; co,s she was related to me where did you go for your brownies was it the gospel methodist or dyson hall down park rd by the vine
my to older brothers was in the b.brigade ,there at dyson hall and i was in the life bouys then when we came out of there we would fight the kids from the gully across the road from your entry can you remember the family with the big garde by fishers entry they was rough and ready is mom was always watching all the kids in the garden making sure we wer,nt fighting each other cor ; you have certainly started my
mind working now i am prety sure i can remeber you now out side the gun makers
by the way the widdows was the oppersite way to the gun makers walk pass the fishers entry and thompsons shop then astons the cake shop then mrs oxill shop
if you can remember her she sold the shop to a mrs barnes then the widdows arms
the pub was a brown tile with the garden at the back by the smoke room
sundays it was always packed in that back yard well val i will close for now and look foreward to hearing from you again and let me know did hazel have red hair
i have put red hair this time its not nice to callit ginger is it best wishes astonian ;;;
 
Well now I am amazed.

I have been checking the site trying to find a mention of the "widdows" because someone asked me if I remembered it as I lived in Aston. I had no idea where it was so checked postings only to find that it was the nick name of the Gunmakers Arms. I lived as close as anyone could to this pub, its address was 116 Lichfield road according to the pic on site. How I never heard this nick name beggers belief as I lived At 3/114 Lichfield. Have I got this right now after all this time or am I making another mistake. Is The Gunmakers arms-the widdows?:beam:
 
It is a long time since I mentioned the Gunmakers Arms but I did manage to download a picture of it from another site. Not sure if I can download it to this site but if not will certainly put it up on the facebook history forum so that you can see it from there val x
 
Val have you any photo's of your house only Denise Hodson on the forum is trying to find someone who has?. Her Nan and Granddad lived there too. Alan do you remember Geff and Joan Smith?. Jean.
 
HI VAL;
So you recall colin fisher he little kid whom had a nervous twitching head from up thompsons entry and the kids next door to there house
he married my child hood girl friend from up our terrace the other side namely jenny gough whom i actuly watch from a distance at the aston parish church
she loked marvellous indeed i was a choir boy at the church and on the name of yourself i am prety sure i knew you from child hood days as welll
jennies cousin carol gammage grand father took over the widdows when the cripple man died as i recall
it later changed to the queens head in the mid fifties and dunbar certalinly rings bells in my head ; i seenm to recall a little kid with curl haird
i also hada rely whom lived up robinsons entry ; meaning robbos fruit and veg opersite the cobblers shop
on lichfield rd by the gully his named was albert LLoyed a little pokie shop he kept and he latched on to my aunt up tyburn rd and lived with her foryearts and it caused a big stand off with her brothers and they never spoke to her inmany years in the end he milked her and went back to liverpool
astonian ;
 
hi val
its must be donkeys years since we had you on here ; the p[ubwas orinionaly the widows changed to the giun maker
then mid fiftied t the queens head it s last change before the dstruction of aston ; was your brother the little kid with curly hair ;
i lived at 5 back of 92 lichfield rd and you was 3 back 114 lichfield rd so how close can you be ;
we knew each other alright from kids days ; astonian ;
 
Hello Astonian, hope you are well with all this brainstorming of Aston Hall and surrounds plus the precious memories attached to it. I think you are older than me, 1933, but thought the other day while fossicking amongst the earywigs and bobowlers how strange it was we most probably played together on or near the swings and the big roundabout when we were nippers; all this without realizing seventy years or so later we’d be sharing our important stories through this wonderful site. It’s a small world, young fella, so keep taking your tablets because I need much more of my history, to tell my grandkids, through your perceptive memories and what gems I can remember too. Pull down yer cap lad, to protec yer earoles, and don’t gu out without yer thick gansy on, it’s a bit parky out there they tell me. It’s nearly a hundred today over hear but looking out the winder I see it’s a bit black over Bill’s Mother’s so I reckon it’ll start to spit soon before the bigun gets ere to cause us some havoc with lightning bolts and hailstones as big as Granny White’s toffee apples. Kindest regards, David.


 
hi val;
just going back to the old thread of the pubcalled the widdows; i just wanted to tell people and fellow forum members
that tday i actualy met two indivisional people whom are in my eyes are astonians because they was born in sandy lane one was a gentleman;
from walsall aldridge and the other from great barr ;and the second was a lady ; a real lady ;and i said they are both from sandy lane
and i mentioned the forum and my family and grand parents ;whom they knew and remembered them well ; i was chuffed ;
i said it was really nice to actualy meet a person from the street and being aston ;
i said can you recall a pub on he lichfield rdcalled the widdows arms and both said yes ; and i said thank you vrery much as i knew and knowin my heart
that it excisted but some people said know where i lived next door to that pub and sat on them steps for donkeys years growing up
that it was the widdows arms and hey changed the name i think it was in and around 1953 / 4 /5;
and then we spoke about the old aston days and variuos place and he told me of the orinional name before HP sauces and how it was oly vinigar making before the guy experence in making a sauce incondiments and how he bottled it up and he wanted to use zebras to carry it around the streets and give people the little condiments
for tasting and hoping to market it but because the zebras bite he used the old donkeys and thats what he done and he told me he as one of these little
conidments still in he cubbard and never been used he said he only made so many before making large bottles of good old HP sauce as we knew it ;
i think he sad it was a guy called gardier or gardener wa the true founder of hp sauce at the aston cross
but at least i knew i was correct about the widdows pub ; and i am sure after the old fella whom was a criple died i think it was an old guy called len and the surname was gammage and it was iis daughter or wife was called nancy but he was related to the goughs and gamage of cromwell terrace,
the last time i met nancy gamage was in around 1981 and her oldest daughter whom i knew as well from the terrace was carol they was at the atlas bingo hall stechford and i beleived she was livingin castle vale then ; best wishes astonian;
 
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