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Tile cross/ marston green / dorridge
- Thread starter changinman1
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Ann, I suspect that I'm one of the few people that Colin didn't fall out with! I'm pleased to hear that he's well and a little more relaxed with the world.
Keith still has no use in his right arm, very little in his right leg (although he can hobble around a little, with a stick) and he can not speak very well. Despite all this he remains cheerful and manages a social life...oh, and I take him to watch the Blues play fairly frequently and STILL he remains cheerful!
The Two Hands was bulldozed about 18 months ago and the site is undergoing housing development.
Yes, I remember The Cabin, aka The Mezzapa, The Radleys Arms and various other titles over the years. Indeed, I remember the original Cabin, a small wooden building, as it was when I attended Garrets Green Technical College, just up the road.
Isn't this forum the absolute business? I'm fast becoming obsessed with it. I showed it to my sister today and she's going to join!
Ian
Keith still has no use in his right arm, very little in his right leg (although he can hobble around a little, with a stick) and he can not speak very well. Despite all this he remains cheerful and manages a social life...oh, and I take him to watch the Blues play fairly frequently and STILL he remains cheerful!
The Two Hands was bulldozed about 18 months ago and the site is undergoing housing development.
Yes, I remember The Cabin, aka The Mezzapa, The Radleys Arms and various other titles over the years. Indeed, I remember the original Cabin, a small wooden building, as it was when I attended Garrets Green Technical College, just up the road.
Isn't this forum the absolute business? I'm fast becoming obsessed with it. I showed it to my sister today and she's going to join!
Ian
A
Annveitch
Guest
robert.
thats it was the cabin then the mazeppa then the radleys arms, its closing to-night. Might already be closed if theve run out of beer. Another one gone, can,t see it opening up again. Be nowhere left soon.
thats it was the cabin then the mazeppa then the radleys arms, its closing to-night. Might already be closed if theve run out of beer. Another one gone, can,t see it opening up again. Be nowhere left soon.
Robert, it's had several names over the years that I've known it. The original Cabin was a small wooden bungalow-type building, almost a timber pre-fab.
Ian
A
Ann B
Guest
Welder and Ann last year I put a photo of the original Cabin on The Cabin thread, in case you want to see it.
Ann
Ann
A
Annveitch
Guest
welder.
its addictive, i just happened on it, you no nowt on the telly, snow outside and no GRANDAUGHTER HOGGING THE PC. i can,t stop reading some of the posts. it just takes you back to your youth. Give our regards to Keith when you see him. it happened to a friend of ours a few months ago, he went to work one morning and felt ok but as the day went on he felt a bit off, he got in the house and he had a stroke, all down the one side his speech is getting better, but he still can,t use his arm or leg properley, he said its the little things that get to you like rolling a ciggie, it makes you realize how fragile life is.
ann
its addictive, i just happened on it, you no nowt on the telly, snow outside and no GRANDAUGHTER HOGGING THE PC. i can,t stop reading some of the posts. it just takes you back to your youth. Give our regards to Keith when you see him. it happened to a friend of ours a few months ago, he went to work one morning and felt ok but as the day went on he felt a bit off, he got in the house and he had a stroke, all down the one side his speech is getting better, but he still can,t use his arm or leg properley, he said its the little things that get to you like rolling a ciggie, it makes you realize how fragile life is.
ann
A
Annveitch
Guest
ann b
thanks i will have to try and find it, I remember the Cabin from the 60s & 70s, when they used to have the free and easy in the back room, one on the organ and one on the drums, we had some great nights in there Paddy Laird was the gaffer there for some time, Happy Days. The ones who have it now have run it in to the ground, thiere attitude was all wrong to run a pub, I know pubs are having a hard time, my son used to have the Residents Club on Bromford, he had to pack it in last year the smoking ban done for him, but the people who have got/had the radleys never encouraged custom.
ann
thanks i will have to try and find it, I remember the Cabin from the 60s & 70s, when they used to have the free and easy in the back room, one on the organ and one on the drums, we had some great nights in there Paddy Laird was the gaffer there for some time, Happy Days. The ones who have it now have run it in to the ground, thiere attitude was all wrong to run a pub, I know pubs are having a hard time, my son used to have the Residents Club on Bromford, he had to pack it in last year the smoking ban done for him, but the people who have got/had the radleys never encouraged custom.
ann
Hi Ann, I had a look at the photo you mention and was pleased to note that it was just as I remembered it. I well remember that mad slope down to the pub. We used to cycle over from Marston Green, just to ride down that slope a few times.
Ian
A
Ann B
Guest
Hi Ian,
It was good on roller skates as well. I wonder how many kids scrazed their knees on those slopes.
Ann
It was good on roller skates as well. I wonder how many kids scrazed their knees on those slopes.
Ann
Blimey, the coincidences continue! Early last year I went to the Residents Club on Bromford estate to visit a bricklayer friend, Billy Johnson, who had a wrought ironwork job for me. I stayed for a few beers and was served by your son. He told me at the time that the smoking ban was hurting business. I'm sorry to hear that he knocked it on the head.
Ian
A
Annveitch
Guest
welder
it was 12 months last november he moved out, up untill the smoking ban they were doing really well, they had 2 holidays a year and bought a nice house in Castle Bromwich had a big extension put on the side, and then because the council owned the land they refused permission to put a smoking shelter up, so the punters started to drift away. it was a shame because they worked so hard. another coincidence or maybe not! do you remember Kathleen who used to run the 2hands, she was my cousin.
ann
it was 12 months last november he moved out, up untill the smoking ban they were doing really well, they had 2 holidays a year and bought a nice house in Castle Bromwich had a big extension put on the side, and then because the council owned the land they refused permission to put a smoking shelter up, so the punters started to drift away. it was a shame because they worked so hard. another coincidence or maybe not! do you remember Kathleen who used to run the 2hands, she was my cousin.
ann
A
Annveitch
Guest
welder.
colin knew billy Johnson martin put a do on for his regulars a week before he went and billy johnson was there talking to colin.
colin knew billy Johnson martin put a do on for his regulars a week before he went and billy johnson was there talking to colin.
This is getting silly. Several years ago Keith, brother in law, built an extension on the back of my house. Billy Johnson did the brickwork and Colin's brother Alan put the roof on.
I wonder if Colin remembers Derek "Deadly" Johnson, no relation to Billy. Deadly restored and lived in Babbs Mill, by Yorkswood, at the end of Kingshurst Lake. He'd have loved this forum, he was well into local history. He passed away about 8 years ago.
Ian
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Annveitch
Guest
welder.
colin new derek johnson for years came from the village somewhere married to sue. he put some doors on for us and artexed our ceiling at the time it was fashionable, he used to live by the canal down saltley he had an old cottage there at one time, colin always called him deadley.
colin new derek johnson for years came from the village somewhere married to sue. he put some doors on for us and artexed our ceiling at the time it was fashionable, he used to live by the canal down saltley he had an old cottage there at one time, colin always called him deadley.
A
Annveitch
Guest
welder
alans living in gran canaria now, had a small win on the lottery some years ago and decided to move to spain , he used to take the holiday makers out on fishing trips nice life for some
alans living in gran canaria now, had a small win on the lottery some years ago and decided to move to spain , he used to take the holiday makers out on fishing trips nice life for some
Deadly was a genious plasterer amongst other skills. He was originally from Lea Village. The cottage you refer to was in Crawford Street, Saltley, and was an old Lock Keeper's Cottage on the Birmingham-Fazeley Canal, Deadly's first restoration.
When he'd done that, sold it and taken on the Babbs Mill project, I got involved. He and Sue lived there like gypsies with no mains electricity, gas or sewer access. They eventually got linked to the Severn Trent sewers system but still had no gas or electricity.
Deadly Derek bought a diesel driven electricity generator which he housed in a brick built structure at the bottom of the garden with a start button in the kitchen of the mill, around 100 yards away. The arrangement was....erm, less than reliable. I used to be a diesel fitter some years prior to this and someone , Keith Steele, brother in law, I suspect, told Derek about this. Consequently, I was a frequent visitor to the Mill and became good friends with Derek and Sue, having, yet again, sorted the generator!
Derek's enthusiasm for all things relating to local history was infectious and may have influenced me in my own enthusiasm for this cracking forum.
It's late now so I'll save to another day the tale of Deadly digging up his garden path in search of spanners....or, even better, me and Keith picking him up to go fishing..............shall we just say that Sue wasn't best pleased with him?
Ian
James's was the newsagents/general store. That's where I had my paper round for 2 years.
Heather, their daughter attended Coleshill Grammar School at the same time as me. She was good with horses and was entered to ride in the Horse of the Year Show once, maybe more often.
Ian
L
lisamel
Guest
Heather, who is my aunt is still mad on horses, after a short stint as a Home Economics teacher at Coleshill School she relocated to Devon to run a very successful country pub!
I don't remember the shop as anything other than a newsagents when I was a child in the 70's but it was a great place to play?!
I don't remember the shop as anything other than a newsagents when I was a child in the 70's but it was a great place to play?!
Chris B
master brummie
Hi All,
I used to live in Cooks Lane Marston Green in a bungalow next door To Alcotts Farm, the Midland Red bus used to run down the lane on its way to Bacons End. To me the bus used to fill the lane and all the hedgerow waved about as it motored past as I stood at the gate looking through the slats. I can remeber Mom showing me a flattened black bird on the road surface, and I can hear her words now, "Never go past the gate onto the lane or thats what might happen to you". And I never did I used stand looking over the top on the look out for Dad coming home from work on his motor bike, and as he aproached I opened the gate for him to come into the drive, when in the garden I closed the gate and put on an old airforce flying helmet, climbed onto the pillion and we motored around to the back of the bungalow and into the garage on the other side, I always loved the little ride. The bungalow was not connected to the main sewers and all the waste went into a septic tank which had to be emptied periodically, Dad used take some of the water from the overflow and mix it with water and water the cabbages with the concoction and they grew like footballs. In the field next door there were horses that I fed with apples that fell from the trees in our garden. The bungalow had a conservatory on the back with a sump for watering the tomatoes, it had the odd newt sitting around the sides and swimming in the water. It's all built up now and both the bungalow and the farm have long gone. Mom also had a Bungalow and a shop in Bell lane practically opposite the Bell Pub.
Regards Chris B
I used to live in Cooks Lane Marston Green in a bungalow next door To Alcotts Farm, the Midland Red bus used to run down the lane on its way to Bacons End. To me the bus used to fill the lane and all the hedgerow waved about as it motored past as I stood at the gate looking through the slats. I can remeber Mom showing me a flattened black bird on the road surface, and I can hear her words now, "Never go past the gate onto the lane or thats what might happen to you". And I never did I used stand looking over the top on the look out for Dad coming home from work on his motor bike, and as he aproached I opened the gate for him to come into the drive, when in the garden I closed the gate and put on an old airforce flying helmet, climbed onto the pillion and we motored around to the back of the bungalow and into the garage on the other side, I always loved the little ride. The bungalow was not connected to the main sewers and all the waste went into a septic tank which had to be emptied periodically, Dad used take some of the water from the overflow and mix it with water and water the cabbages with the concoction and they grew like footballs. In the field next door there were horses that I fed with apples that fell from the trees in our garden. The bungalow had a conservatory on the back with a sump for watering the tomatoes, it had the odd newt sitting around the sides and swimming in the water. It's all built up now and both the bungalow and the farm have long gone. Mom also had a Bungalow and a shop in Bell lane practically opposite the Bell Pub.
Regards Chris B
Hi Lisamel, what became of Heather's brother Colin? The last I heard of him he was still in Marston Green, living in Coleshill Road, almost opposite the entrance to what used to be Marston Green Cottage Homes.
Your memory of the shop being solely a newsagent would be right as your grandfather (Norman?) concentrated more on that in later years, along with selling sweets and pop.
My mental image of your grandfather reminds me that he always had a cigar in the corner of his mouth, and he pretended to be grumpy to us paperboys but he was alaugh, really.
Another memory, he used to allow people to leave their bicycles in a shed at the rear of the shop for a "tanner". That was when people cycled into the village from outlying areas and used the buses or trains to get into town. The downside to this arrangement was that to access the shed you had to run the gauntlet of a large, barking Alsation dog....at least the bikes were safe!
Ian
A
Annveitch
Guest
CHRIS B
what a lovely memory, we used to go to marston green some sunday afternoons, used to catch the train from lea hall, we,d walk to the bluebell woods it was a magical sight when all the bluebells were in flower and the rhodedendruns. we,d pick armfulls and take them back for our moms and the neighbours.
Does any one on this post know of or remember a plane crashing on the fields somewhere near mackadown lane, I don,t know whether it is my mind playing tricks on me or whether it was a chidhood myth, if it did happen it would have been in the 50,s
what a lovely memory, we used to go to marston green some sunday afternoons, used to catch the train from lea hall, we,d walk to the bluebell woods it was a magical sight when all the bluebells were in flower and the rhodedendruns. we,d pick armfulls and take them back for our moms and the neighbours.
Does any one on this post know of or remember a plane crashing on the fields somewhere near mackadown lane, I don,t know whether it is my mind playing tricks on me or whether it was a chidhood myth, if it did happen it would have been in the 50,s
Ann, a BEA Douglas Dakota landed in foggy conditions and overshot into the fields at the end of Mackadown Lane and became stuck. It was a while before it was recovered. This would have been around 1954 or 5.
Ironically, the plane I mention was the last ever scheduled flight of a Dakota into Elmdon Airport, as this aircraft was being disbanded.
During my childhood in Elmdon Lane, Marston Green, my bedroom overlooked Elmdon Airport and I took some interest in the comings and goings.
Ian
L
lisamel
Guest
Hi, Colin is my father we lived at the house in Coleshill Road until the mid 70s, after then Colin lived in the village until moving to Catherine De Barnes in the 90's and he has just moved at Christmas to live in France.
Your image of my grandfather Norman is just about right, he didnt know what to do with himself after retiring and still got up at 5am for the rest of his life. My sister and I also had to 'run the gauntlet' from the dogs - but the cat was even more viscous!!
dereklcg
master brummie
Hi CHRIS B nice story, was,nt the sweet factory opp where you,re describing, or was that later, the road that went to the radleys just through the tunnel on the right hand side there was a small tunnel that water passed through, we used to call it the jumping bridge because it was water in the middle and you had to jump from side to side to get through or get your feet wet does anyone remember it?
regards dereklcg
regards dereklcg
dereklcg
master brummie
Bang on ragga,it did lead to donkeys, we were in that area on donkeys the one day,
and there again, if you can cast your mind back there were some grt big tufts of grass that we called the camel humps,we were jumping on them and there was a wasps nest and we were stung all over they were up our sleeves we were screaming and shouting they were all over us.
We ran as fast as we could we lived in kelynmead and we did,nt stop till we got home,my mom stripped me off and i still had the wasps in my cloths was i sore! blotches all over me and got covered in calamine black- jack and anything my mom had.
We never forgot that day in a hurry,and never went back to them camel humps.
but we still went back over donkeys oller, i even thought of it in 77 when i did my hgv in granby avenue,what fun we had over there way back when,
Derek
and there again, if you can cast your mind back there were some grt big tufts of grass that we called the camel humps,we were jumping on them and there was a wasps nest and we were stung all over they were up our sleeves we were screaming and shouting they were all over us.
We ran as fast as we could we lived in kelynmead and we did,nt stop till we got home,my mom stripped me off and i still had the wasps in my cloths was i sore! blotches all over me and got covered in calamine black- jack and anything my mom had.
We never forgot that day in a hurry,and never went back to them camel humps.
but we still went back over donkeys oller, i even thought of it in 77 when i did my hgv in granby avenue,what fun we had over there way back when,
Derek
When next you speak to your Dad please tell him that Ian Whitaker from 200 Elmdon Lane sends his best regards.
Ian
Wow i,m sorry i missed that, with the plane. i could have got some photos on my ilford Instamatic of me little box brownie. happy days.
great thread:) hope we can keep it going. regards dereklcg
The picture showing a Dakota is entirely appropriate to the thread, nice one! That was, pretty much, the view I had from my bedroom window for the first 28 years of my life.
Ian
G
Graham S
Guest
Sorry, but I'm pretty sure you're wrong there; Dakotas were regularly working scheduled flights in & out of Elmdon until well into the 1960s, possibly even the very early 70s, and the last DC-3 in service was grounded only in 2008. It may have been the last BEA Dakota into Elmdon, as I believe they were replaced in the BEA fleet by Vickers Vikings and Viscounts around that time. In fact there's a Viscount beyond the terminal building on the postcard.
Cheers
Graham