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TOWER ROAD ASTON B6

Have just corrected my post 174, as have realised that while altering what I wrote before posting it, I accidentally deleted part, which made it rather silly. I menat to, and should have posted that the factory in blue was the only "one which fitted the photo, having , from left to right a wall, then three houses with a tunnel back entrance after the first one, and then another wall"
 
mikejee said:
Have just corrected my post 174, as have realised that while altering what I wrote before posting it, I accidentally deleted part, which made it rather silly. I menat to, and should have posted that the factory in blue was the only "one which fitted the photo, having , from left to right a wall, then three houses with a tunnel back entrance after the first one, and then another wall"
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Hi Mike

Not sure where you grew up but...
Tower Road was level from Potters hill through to approximately No. 73-75; after that it was downhill.
So when you stood at the bottom of the first section of the road; looking back up towards Potters Hill (as per this photo), the top of the visible road is the beginning of the flat section.
The old Mission Hall / Egg Grading Station (No.65) is roughly at the end of the flat section. Hence the last telegraph pole in the photo was outside No.67 (where I lived).
This works out to be approximately 12/13 houses between the poles and confirms that the telegraph pole in the foreground is outside No.147.

I bet you think I'm potty!
 
John_Gower_Street_pupil said:
I have a photo of this taken from a slightly different angle... Can't seem to put my hands on it yet.
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Gotcha!

As you know Lyn I grew up at the top of Tower Road. And from up there the HP Sauce factory appears to be the other side of the street; such is the angular misalignment of all three sections of the road.
 

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I guess I won't be the first to make this observation... In the top part of Tower Road there appears to be as many back houses as there are street houses. That is something no-one realizes at the time; not wishing to be nosey and all.
 
mikejee said:
Here is a map of tower road c1950. the only factory that I can see, that fits the photo, is in blue no 141 which the 1955 Kellys lists as
Paper Fasteners, Eyelets & Metal Smallwares Ltd:- metal smallwares mfrs. (works)

View attachment 155757
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This post may explain a childhood memory, as I seem to remember 'helping' my nan Sheargold (110 Tower road) when she was doing her pin money work. Nan used to assemble brass document fasteners at home and they may have been from this factory, they consisted 2 parts, a small circular gear shaped disc with two slots in the centre and a small brass strip with points at each end. We used to spend ages threading the strips into the discs and folding them back. They were quite ornate I think, possibly for legal documents.
 
I found a few photos (loads more to go through) of my family growing up at 123 tower road. The Yates family
 

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Lyates said:
I found a few photos (loads more to go through) of my family growing up at 123 tower road. The Yates family
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Hi Lyates, welcome to the forum. There are lots of members that would love to see any photos of Tower Road, if you can scan them it would be even better but failing that just post them on the thread as best you can.
 
ANDY B 1981 said:
My grandparents the turleys lived at 128 tower road . they had 2 daughters Irene and olive
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My grandparents, Albert and Mary Ann Wilson (and their 9 children from the 1910s to 1930s), lived for 40 years or so at 128 Tower Road until about 1950.
 

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Larry Byrne said:
I lived at number 5 Tower Road, at the top end near Potters Hill. If my memory serves me correctly, at No.3 lived the Webb's and No.7 an old lady called Mrs Ford. This was between 1960 and 1967/8. I was around 9 years old when we left. I had a 'best mate' at the time name of Tommy Sheargold. Around the corner, down Potters Hill on the left, there was a sweet shop, run by an old couple. You mainly only saw the man, maybe because the lady had one eye/glass eye, which unfortunately freaked some kids out. In fact their back garden backed onto ours. Across from Tower Road on Potters Hill, was a family surname Cole. Their daughter Christine, would take my brother and I down to the ABC picture house on Six Ways on Saturday mornings. Just up the road from the Coles on Potters Hill on the left hand side, was a green-grocers run by a large man named Henry, and a bit further up, a bakery/cake shop on the corner (might have been a Wimbush), possibly run by a lady name Elsie? Also, not too sure about this, but I saw a photo on another site, of 'Austin's of Aston' car dealers, which was on Potter's Hill, but it didn't say what the name of the other road it was on the corner of. I think it may have been Tower Road, because a shop/business, that looked similar to the photo, was on the corner, but it was empty, and all the large windows had been 'white-washed'. Anyway, my mom's name was Mary, in case anyone on here may have known us. Cheers, I'm a new member living in Perth, Australia now, so it's great to have discovered this site.
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I knew Tommy Shergold, went to boys brigade with him and his brother. Cant remember the brothers name, but i did put a garden fork through his foot one day in my nans garden! Hoppy Days!!
 
Greetings from a newbie, my grandparents, Frank and Lily Alldridge lived at no 71 as did my mother Lily May until she married in 1939.
As I was born in 1948 my memories of that house are very few, I vaguely remember that there was yard at the back with a workshop as grandad had, I think a delivery business.
He died in 1951 I think and my Nan moved to live with us so there was no more connection with Tower Road.
If anybody knew them or has any information /photographs I would be most grateful

Martin
 
John_Gower_Street_pupil said:
Just a couple of things about the the sketches. The school house is shown in the exact location in which it was built; this differs from the map(s).
There were two entries street side. The one to the back houses was covered in part by the bedrooms of No.67; it had three concrete slabs and then the remainder of the path was blue brick all the way through.
The other entry had a padlocked door and was completely open to the elements. This blue brick path was higher above ground than the other entry by two red bricks.
Part of the dividing wall between the two collapsed into the lower entry one day; and to make it safe we removed the bricks next likely to go. The Egg Grading Station had long been abandoned by this time; so the fallen bricks were dumped in the higher entry.
This now allowed us kids to explore and is the reason why I know the school house was much further away from the Mission Hall that was.

The second thing is that we used to play football a lot in the street and were occasionally chased away by discerning neighbours. We used either the doors of the Egg Grading Station or the Castle Engineering works as our goal area.
In my time in Tower Road there was no business operating from the Engineering works; it had been boarded up for as long as I could remember (in the 60s).
One day, for some inexplicable reason it was demolished and cleared. This was long before people started leaving the street. High wire net fences were not a real barrier to anyone. We now had the perfect football pitch with two goal areas instead of one and we preferred the concrete surface too.
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I also played my football on that very spot... And in court 4, in July 66 my freind Nicky Vasic and me, watched the world cup final in my nans house. We then played the whole game out again after in the yard verses the props!..we lost!! Great memories indeed. I really cany help a tear now thinking of those days...perhaps its my age. thank you all for the stories...you have made me very happy today. God Bless..
 
watton said:
I have lots of memories of living at 2 back 181, Tower Road. Dad was Donald Draper. He worked as a lorry driver for the H.P Sauce. I was born in 1953 and can remember going to Upper Thomas St. Infants on the first day when I was 4. I insisted on walking myself to school in the afternoon. That school looked so big and the junior boys were HUGE! Because dad worked at the H.P, we often went to the Tower Rd. club. I used to be able to walk underneath the pool table without hitting my head. Was it MR. & MRS. Manton who were the ladlord & landlady? Dad used to have an allotment somewhere. When it came to runner bean time, our kitchen was steamed up like anything. The smell of them cooking still takes me back to our little kitchen. We didn't have a garden with grass. Just some slabs with a wooden shed for the budgies & an old chimney pot in which to have some colour. I wonder what mum thought of it all, when she came newly married from Norfolk?
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watton said:
I have lots of memories of living at 2 back 181, Tower Road. Dad was Donald Draper. He worked as a lorry driver for the H.P Sauce. I was born in 1953 and can remember going to Upper Thomas St. Infants on the first day when I was 4. I insisted on walking myself to school in the afternoon. That school looked so big and the junior boys were HUGE! Because dad worked at the H.P, we often went to the Tower Rd. club. I used to be able to walk underneath the pool table without hitting my head. Was it MR. & MRS. Manton who were the ladlord & landlady? Dad used to have an allotment somewhere. When it came to runner bean time, our kitchen was steamed up like anything. The smell of them cooking still takes me back to our little kitchen. We didn't have a garden with grass. Just some slabs with a wooden shed for the budgies & an old chimney pot in which to have some colour. I wonder what mum thought of it all, when she came newly married from Norfolk?
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My grandparents lived at 179 Tower Road. They were the Caddel’s. They had the sweet shop there. My father was also a driver for the HP. My grandfather worked on the deck at the HP. My uncle worked in the carpenter shop at the HP. I think think that before my grandparents moved to 179 they also lived at one back 181 Tower Road.
 
The Baron said:
watton , yes it was Mr & Mrs Manton, my cousin.‚.. Derek Matthews & I.‚.. played table tennis at the HP Club He & his wife Beryl both worked in the HP offices at the time.
I left Upper Thomas St in 1955 to work at the GEC Witton, lived.‚.. with My Mom & Dad up by the Mission Hall.‚.. at 173 next to the Vinagar Vats of HP.( I WAS THERE TILL 1962)
Do you remember Mrs Rudge at the out door or Mrs Kaddell at the sweet shop, Mrs Gabott? at the news agents.
All in the mid section of Tower RD.
This is a pick I took of our Tower Rd & Upper Thomas St Family members in the 50s.
ASTON

OUR_FAMILY_AT_173_TOWER_Rd_.JPG
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My grandmother was the Mrs Caddel who ran the sweet shop at 179 Tower Road.
 
Sorry for the mental aberration yesterday. My grandparents, James and Eliza Caddel lived at 178 Tower Road, and had the sweet shop. They had earlier lived at 1 back of 180 Tower Road. My other grandparents, George and Annie Male lived at 198 Tower Road. My great-aunt Lily Blockley lived with her husband Tom and daughter, Vera, at 180 Tower Road.
 
flambard said:
does anyone remember the Bull family they lived in back to back houses in tower road, down the large entry by the newsagent the people who ran the newsagents had a son named Leonard (1960s).
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flambard said:
does anyone remember the Bull family they lived in back to back houses in tower road, down the large entry by the newsagent the people who ran the newsagents had a son named Leonard (1960s).
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I remember a Ken Bull from Tower Road
 
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