Recent content by Eric Gibson

Not to do with the club history but: My dad as a teenager carved a statuette of a Villa player all painted up in the Villa colours with a silver cup at his feet, it stood on the mantelpiece of our house all through our childhood. I remember him altering it when they started wearing shorter...

I've not been refused but I have a feeling the insurance companies try to price you out when you pass 70.

I note Nick says he was born in Coralie Street, I wonder if he remembers my uncle Bill aunt Lil and their daughter Margaret who were there at about the same time, Bill used to drive a van for the Birmingham Mail.

Allen wanted to but never got onto the motorbikes he rode the big red pushbikes, he was of work for a while with a badly broken ankle when he put his foot down to avoid a parked car in the fog on the downhill of Kingstanding Road. He met the prime minister of Ceylon Mr Bandaranaike at the Grand...

Here's Allen my brother.

I came across this today. click though on the 'read more' button for the full story. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/189857705/robert_francis-sweeney

When fishing with dad we caught a few eels in the canal they were about nine inches long and a devil to untangle from the line when they tied themselves into knots.

This looks better than I've ever seen it,only problem is I can't see it from the house the shed's in the way.

It was always concreted 'when I were a lad' ;) I remember going there as a child, I also remember going with a mate through the tunnels from the brook in Warren Farm Road all the way to the park and booing at the kids in the pond from the overflow slot.

My only visit to Lightwoods Park was to some sort of show with a pig roast, it rained most of the day and the roast wasn't much of a success, they didn't start serving it until late evening when everyone was on their way home.

That's the boy Lloyd, Nellie Cox (Barlow) was my Ma in law. I was told it happened in Finchley Park, that might be wrong as I'm not sure they were living in the Kingstanding area in 1941, maybe Ashted.

Another place I recall drownings was the quarry at Great Barr.

My late wife's brother drowned as a child in Finchley Park pool but I think the only notice was from his mother who put a small notice in one of the newspapers. His name was Paddy Cox (maybe Patrick) I can't remember the dates but it would have been in the 1930s or early 40s

Reading about Soho led me to this and an interesting half hour reading.:) https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/info/50165/birmingham_connection/1579/archives_of_soho

I wonder if the title to the thread should read The Lodge to Thornhill House instead of Thornhill Road. Manor houses had lodges remote from the main house.