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Young offenders detention centre

A

Astonian

gone but not forgotten
Hi guys
does any body know whether the young offenders detention centre at erdington
its a secure unit for the serios offenders of crime is still there
its i think by the old dhss offices on the corner of kingsbury rd
its so secure they can never escape like the other places of detention
and if possible can some-one tell me the name of it please
 
carole said:
It is now known as Ardenleigh - a part of Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Trust.
Click to expand...

Hello Carole are you sure you have the right place the one I knew was Glenthorne a High Security youth centre located in Kingsbury Rd opposite Rookery Park . It had a complete upgrading and modernisation maybe 6 years ago.Dek
 
Looks to be on the same site at least going by the post codes:

Birmingham & Solihull MH Trust
Ardenleigh
385 Kingsbury Road
Erdington
Birmingham B24 9SA


Glenthorne Youth Treatment Centre (YTC)Kingsbury Road, Erdington, Birmingham B24 9SA.
 
Thank you Bernie it does appear to have had a name change when I read Maurice,s link that was the place I remembered working on.Dek
 
Bernie D'Boult said:
Looks to be on the same site at least going by the post codes:

Birmingham & Solihull MH Trust
Ardenleigh
385 Kingsbury Road
Erdington
Birmingham B24 9SA


Glenthorne Youth Treatment Centre (YTC)Kingsbury Road, Erdington, Birmingham B24 9SA.
Click to expand...

You are exactly right Bernie, it is the same site and is part of the mental health trust.
It hasn't been a detention centre for at least eight years now when my wife work there with some quite unsavoury characters.
Dek, you must have worked on the upgrade for it's present use.
Brian
 
I just wonder where, and why, they dream up these romantic names - Glenthorne, Ardenleigh. There's certainly nothing very romantic, or pleasant, about the inmates! :D

Maurice :cool:
 
Templer said:
You are exactly right Bernie, it is the same site and is part of the mental health trust.
It hasn't been a detention centre for at least eight years now when my wife work there with some quite unsavoury characters.
Dek, you must have worked on the upgrade for it's present use.
Brian
Click to expand...
Yes Brian I only knew as Glenthorne and moved on before it,s completion thus never seeing it,s new name. Dek
 
I think they dream up the names in the hope that people don't link the places with the unsavoury characters in them - a sort of false sense of security!!
Sue
 
Don't know if they were from the same place,but I have good reason to remember what we knew as the "reformers"(one of them took a swing at me with a knife) they were toughies in the late 40s.early 50s.and they were not always locked up.However,on another occasion they threw a bloke in the serpentine,because he kicked a dog,not all bad then.:)
 
There's certainly nothing very romantic, or pleasant, about the inmates. Charming,

As one of the boys that were on one of the units I find that a little one-sided. I agree some was just pure evil. Yet some of us was only in there for behaviour problems. I later in life found out I had ADHD, Autism and anxiety disorder. Unfortunately kids like myself back then were looked at as just being naughty and often still are in this day and age. Some of us should have never been put in a place like that in the first place. I'm 39 years old now. Self-employed and a keen gardener who enjoys the outdoors and nature as well as classic cars. So please remember we are not all bad and I'm sure if you think, you will remember some good kids in there. Unfortunately it's to easy to just remember the bad

This was me in the wood work shop. Some of you may remember me
FB_IMG_1625449167051.jpg
 
hi robbie and welcome... that is a very good post and also thought provoking.... sadly it is so very easy for people to judge and make assumptions without actually knowing individual situations but i am so pleased that things turned ok for you and thanks for posting your photo

lyn
 
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Hears another photo of myself. I presume I was probably about 14/15 in this photo,

I was never in here for committing ANY CRIME. I was put in here for my safety, I would run away for weeks and months at a time from children homes, foster homes etc, So Social services and the courts felt this was the best place to keep me safe. There are always two sides to every story. I remember some fantastic staff. And some great teachers. Unfortunately, I can not remember their names. But I was always very fond of the Art and English teacher. There was also a black fella who used to take us to the gym. A very good tables tennis player who I was also very fond of. He used to also take me out for day release to erdington high street,

However, I also remember one thing which I pray they dont do to young people in this day and age and thats locking them in a room with only 4 walls for days and sometimes weeks at a time.

I would love to hear some of the stories of staff and young people who was there. Mostly the positive ones as they seem to always be the ones that people forget

FB_IMG_1625473699832.jpg
 
Welcome Robbie and thanks for your post. As Lynn says it was thought provoking and it is too easy to judge people. After 20 years as a probation officer and 20 years as foster parents I have met many folk that have been misjudged and seen as worthless but deep down are better than those that are judging them. Keep up the good work Robbie !!!
 
nice post johnny..its good to read posative things and of course no one is worthless.. very often all is needed is a little help to give folk back self worth and self esteem and the world can open up for them..i will admit to having low self esteem when i joined this wonderful forum back in 2008 so i pushed myself to get involved with all the lovely members and learn more about my love of birmingham history which helped me a great deal however i will never see myself as any better or worse than the next person.... and as they say the rest is history :)

lyn
 
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Astoness said:
nice post johnny..its good to read posative things and of course no one is worthless.. very often all is needed is a little help to give folk back self worth and self esteem and the world can open up for them..i will admit to having low self esteem when i joined this wonderful forum back in 2008 so i pushed myself to get involved with all the lovely members and learn more about my love of birmingham history which helped me a great deal however i will never see myself as any better or worse than the next person.... and as they say the rest is history :)

lyn
Click to expand...
Glenthorne was never a prison or a young offenders institute. It was a DHSS secure unit. I happen to know the guy who was Head of the Unit for a long time, Paul, and a more caring chap you would struggle to find.
Perhaps voicing ones opinion about something you have no knowledge of should not become the norm.
 
hi lindsay as you have quoted my post i will respond... sorry but i cant see where i have critised glenthorne or called it a prison or young offenders centre..i was only responding to robbies comments see posts 13 and 15 of which some of his comments are posative and to be fair he did not actually say he was sent to glenthorne..wherever he was was over 22 years ago and the title of this thread can cover a wide range of centres..i can also see nothing wrong in congratulating someone who turned things around after going through a rough patch in his teens...
 
The Reading Evening Post, in July 1981, describes the Centre as the children’s version of Broadmoor. In their defence they are reporting the escape of a youth who had murdered his aunt in an horrific manor.
 
There is an article in the Birmingham Mail on January 14th 1978 about Glenthorne, there is a photo of the Director of the unitMr James Wilkie and information about the home , part of the article states 'The children coming into Glenthorne had each been sent there by the courts'

( this statement probably giving the impression that anyone that is sent to an institution by the courts is an offender.)
 
Robbie said:
Hears another photo of myself. I presume I was probably about 14/15 in this photo,

I was never in here for committing ANY CRIME. I was put in here for my safety, I would run away for weeks and months at a time from children homes, foster homes etc, So Social services and the courts felt this was the best place to keep me safe. There are always two sides to every story. I remember some fantastic staff. And some great teachers. Unfortunately, I can not remember their names. But I was always very fond of the Art and English teacher. There was also a black fella who used to take us to the gym. A very good tables tennis player who I was also very fond of. He used to also take me out for day release to erdington high street,

However, I also remember one thing which I pray they dont do to young people in this day and age and thats locking them in a room with only 4 walls for days and sometimes weeks at a time.

I would love to hear some of the stories of staff and young people who was there. Mostly the positive ones as they seem to always be the ones that people forget

View attachment 158739
Click to expand...
Very enlightening post sir. I worked at Glenthorne YTC in 1980 when Mr Wilkie was director ( and a very fine humanitarian he was too). Those detained in that unit covered a very broad spectrum . A small few I felt very sorry for as they simply should not have been there. Their problems deserved a different treatment programme elsewhere. Unfortunately I don't recall any good outcomes despite the best efforts of staff.
 
Jocky said:
Very enlightening post sir. I worked at Glenthorne YTC in 1980 when Mr Wilkie was director ( and a very fine humanitarian he was too). Those detained in that unit covered a very broad spectrum . A small few I felt very sorry for as they simply should not have been there. Their problems deserved a different treatment programme elsewhere. Unfortunately I don't recall any good outcomes despite the best efforts of staff.
Click to expand...
Jockey, welcome to the Forum, lots of history and very good folks! And thank you for you work and insight!
 
dek carr said:
Hello Carole are you sure you have the right place the one I knew was Glenthorne a High Security youth centre located in Kingsbury Rd opposite Rookery Park . It had a complete upgrading and modernisation maybe 6 years ago.Dek
Click to expand...
Could it know as Saint Johns. When Birmingham started shutting homes staff from Forhill Remand where moved to St Johns in Erdington and there was part that was secure at the time
 
ISMEUK said:
Could it know as Saint Johns. When Birmingham started shutting homes staff from Forhill Remand where moved to St Johns in Erdington and there was part that was secure at the time
Click to expand...
There were several sections of St Johns who had different names so could Glenthorne be part of it. I worked and lived at Forhill in the 80's my neighbours on both sides of my house where transfered to St Johns
 
Robbie said:
Hears another photo of myself. I presume I was probably about 14/15 in this photo,

I was never in here for committing ANY CRIME. I was put in here for my safety, I would run away for weeks and months at a time from children homes, foster homes etc, So Social services and the courts felt this was the best place to keep me safe. There are always two sides to every story. I remember some fantastic staff. And some great teachers. Unfortunately, I can not remember their names. But I was always very fond of the Art and English teacher. There was also a black fella who used to take us to the gym. A very good tables tennis player who I was also very fond of. He used to also take me out for day release to erdington high street,

However, I also remember one thing which I pray they dont do to young people in this day and age and thats locking them in a room with only 4 walls for days and sometimes weeks at a time.

I would love to hear some of the stories of staff and young people who was there. Mostly the positive ones as they seem to always be the ones that people forget

View attachment 158739
Click to expand...
Robbie said:
Hears another photo of myself. I presume I was probably about 14/15 in this photo,

I was never in here for committing ANY CRIME. I was put in here for my safety, I would run away for weeks and months at a time from children homes, foster homes etc, So Social services and the courts felt this was the best place to keep me safe. There are always two sides to every story. I remember some fantastic staff. And some great teachers. Unfortunately, I can not remember their names. But I was always very fond of the Art and English teacher. There was also a black fella who used to take us to the gym. A very good tables tennis player who I was also very fond of. He used to also take me out for day release to erdington high street,

However, I also remember one thing which I pray they dont do to young people in this day and age and thats locking them in a room with only 4 walls for days and sometimes weeks at a time.

I would love to hear some of the stories of staff and young people who was there. Mostly the positive ones as they seem to always be the ones that people forget

View attachment 158739
Click to expand...
 
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