Eddie Taylor

Lived in Great Barr for 35 years As a child I grew up at 65 Thetford Rd, and went to Beeches Rd primary, and later to Aldridge Rd School
During my last term (1954) the Head at that time was AC Locker and our form teacher was Mr Walker (Deputy Head)
As a child my favourite playground was the brook from Beeches road to the pump shack for the quarry and the sand and gravel area at Booths Farm
I cannot remember where I found an old map, but it showed a lane leading from Booths Farm Rd to Beeches Rd through the area that was being used for gravel extraction, to Beeches road around where the brook flowed. So I tried to find any trace of the lost lane.
And I did. A little distance from the position of the brook at that time, was, buried in the marshy grass, a small brick arch about the width of a small cart, which was probably the bridge over the water at some time in the past. I was about 11 years old I think. That area is covered by the motorway now, looking at Google.
The brook was a great source of fun for a small group of kids from Thetford Rd. Robert, David, Johnny, Steve, Ann, Dawn, and myself. We used to construct a dam, creating quite a decent sized pool, then jump in to it. The girls were not so keen on that bit.

Up by the pump house you could catch red and silver stickle back fish if you were quick. We had great fun scree running down the big pile of gravel at the end of the conveyor, and playing hide and seek in the Willow trees growing on the sand outwash from the gravel cleaning.
From Thetford Rd you could get to the pump house by using the right of ways at the back of Fowlmere and Turnberry Roads only crossing the road twice
At 15 I was working in the jewellery quarter in Hockley Brook near the corner of Key St. As an apprentice you were the general dog’s body for all sorts of jobs and errands.
One task was to collect from Hockley Chemical neat sulphuric acid which was just in a large stoppered glass jar carried by hand by me back to Acme Engraving along the public footpath. This was used for etching of copper plates for Christmas card printing, and steel letter head dies which were produced by an engraving machine.
Health and safety was a bit different in those days.

One smart aleck sent me out to buy a spirit level bubble never thinking I would get one. But I did! He had to fork out one and six pence which was a lot in those days. There was one man that was a real grouch, and would always snap at you with one snide comment after another.
There were two apprentice, Ron and myself, and we had to make the break time drinks that were given to the workers at their work benches.
Old grouch’s drink was hot chocolate. So one day Ron and I made up his chocolate with a good dose of Exlax in it. It was an entertaining time for a while after that.
At some times the smog would descend and you could hardly see your feet on a really bad day, so it was a walk from Hockley through Handsworth and up the then single lane Walsall Road to get home. Engraving was a sunset industry, so I left that and took up electronics which was not.

So, having left engraving trade I became a service tech. Working first in the Horsefair in the city for Queen Bee TV (! Yes it was really called that) then for Sweeny Radio in Alum Rock then out of St Pauls Square for a comm’s company.
This was an interesting time as it involved going to a variety of companies of all sorts, from the giants like Rubery Owen in Darlaston, Crabtree in Walsall, (Switch gear) Walsall Litho (where you were checked out very carefully as they printed currency and stamps), Accles and Pollock in Oldbury (Tube specialist).
There was a tale that A&P were sent a very, very, small tube from a competitor in America with the note “What do think of this?” A&P sent it back with an even smaller tube inside with the comment” very good”. One interesting point for that company was that the canteen was licenced to sell beer, due to the high heat and hard work running the tube draw benches.
On a different level, Walsall Town hall was also frequently visited, as there was a large Standard Telephone Co two motion telephone exchange that I used to service. It has a wonderful grand marble staircase that is truly magnificent.
Out of town “perk” jobs would be in Pershore, Stratford, Steeple Aston, and Evesham, but occasional jobs would crop up in Shropshire and Oswestry, or Stafford and Stoke on Trent too. Then there were the small jewellery companies in Hockley where all work spaces were glass partitioned and you were watched like a hawk. They even vacuumed the floors to recover the gold chips and gold dust, so the chances of sneaking out with the odd diamond or bit of gold weren’t that good really.
I met and later married my wife Jean, (which was the best thing I ever did). Jean lived on the Coleshill road Stechford not far from the Fox and Goose, so the roads between Great Barr and Stechford became an oft travelled route involving the 51 or 52 or the Midland Red 118 to Perry Barr and then the trusty number 11 to the Fox and Goose.
The off peak number 11 evening last bus of the day driver had an amazing ability. In order to keep to schedule, he kept the bus in top gear at just under 15 MPH. Why something did not break remains a mystery to me. You could feel every piston stroke as the vehicle shuddered its way to Perry Barr.
Jean and I did, what was I think considered normal in those days, of purchasing a house before we married. So number 37 Anderson Crescent Great Barr became our first home.
Back then Wilderness Lane was just that, with little but patchy scrub land after the school, and Booths Farm Lane a narrow bush lined road with not a house anywhere near.
We were happy there, and Jean had support from other young mothers as our daughters arrived and grew up. Then the motorway went through, and although some distance away you could hear all 15 gear changes as the trucks ground their way up the incline if the wind conditions were right for the noise to travel. (Well perhaps not 15, but it did sound like a lot). This did not add to the enjoyment of Vivaldi or Schubert on the sound system for some reason……
One evening we sat at the back of the house looking over the green belt land (Then just pasture with stock grazing on it) towards West Bromwich, and watched the sun set some distance above the horizon. It was setting in the pollution layer. That is when we decided to come to NZ. The house sale and move to NZ happened very quickly. We transferred the money from the sale on the day it arrived in our account at the Scott Arms bank to our NZ account, as we were leaving for Southampton for the boat to NZ that very day.
We are very happy to be in NZ, it is a beautiful place to live, and we feel lucky to have been brave enough with two young girls and no jobs, to have made that leap of faith.
Now long retired, we live in Omokoroa, which is a smallish coastal community with local hot pools and a small but nice beach.
Eddie and Jean Taylor.