Tommy Knocker's wood was supposedly haunted by Tommy Knocker himself. He was either a murder victim there or had committed suicide - memory fails me. 'Knocker' was some sort of nickname rather than his real name. Either way the wood had a story behind it.
I left Quinton in the 1960's, but worked on the building sites that were to become the new Woodgate Valley estates in the summers of 1970 and 1971 when on holiday from University.
The brook that runs through the valley, Bournbrook, was used to provide water for the Lapal Canal. The brook runs up through Selly Oak and joins the River Rea somewhere near Canon Hill Park, I have no idea how far it does in the direction of Halesowen. As kids we knew it as Daisy Brook. My dad once took me fishing there, it would have been some time in the mid 1950's. 'Fishing' consisted of standing astride the brook and laying a sack cloth at a shallow angle to the flow of water thus allowing the fish - little one inch tiddlers - to beach themselves. He had moved to Quinton in the 30's and I got the feeling he had done the same when he was a kid.
We knew the Valley itself as 'the fields' or 'Becket's farm'. It was still a working farm at that time, with cattle dotted around hither and thither. It was only a year or so ago that I learned that the Lapal Tunnel ran underneath.
I left Quinton in the 1960's, but worked on the building sites that were to become the new Woodgate Valley estates in the summers of 1970 and 1971 when on holiday from University.
The brook that runs through the valley, Bournbrook, was used to provide water for the Lapal Canal. The brook runs up through Selly Oak and joins the River Rea somewhere near Canon Hill Park, I have no idea how far it does in the direction of Halesowen. As kids we knew it as Daisy Brook. My dad once took me fishing there, it would have been some time in the mid 1950's. 'Fishing' consisted of standing astride the brook and laying a sack cloth at a shallow angle to the flow of water thus allowing the fish - little one inch tiddlers - to beach themselves. He had moved to Quinton in the 30's and I got the feeling he had done the same when he was a kid.
We knew the Valley itself as 'the fields' or 'Becket's farm'. It was still a working farm at that time, with cattle dotted around hither and thither. It was only a year or so ago that I learned that the Lapal Tunnel ran underneath.
