Recent content by Jehu

I found two old pictures of a girl friend from Spring hill rink and married her back in 1965, note the state the ice was in. but so many great memory's from that rink and the coach trips to Richmond rink. On one trip to Richmond rink the coach drive could not get to the car park because a Mini...

Hi my name is Richard Downing and my father Albert Downing worked for Belliss and Morcom as a center lathe worker turning very big crankshafts for ships. when I was about 20 years old in 1964 I was working for Crockett and Lowe and was sent to Belliss and Morcom a couple of times to mount two...

Good day Lauraloo My name is Richard Downing and I remember John, in the team picture above which was taken in 1961 he is in the third row from the front and third from the right, I am in the second row from the front and second from the right, I presume he had only just joined the Mohawks as he...

Good day, My name is Richard Downing and I remember going to Slade road all boy's school for one year in 1955 and the music teacher was a Mr Nutt and he had been my moms teacher somewhere!!! I lived very near the corner of Gipsy Lane in Farley Road and first started at Marsh Hill school then...

Good day to anyone in the links above, my name is Richard Downing and I started going regularly to Springhill ice rink in 1957, joined the Mohawks in 1961 to the end of the season in 1965 at Silver blades, and I saw Bill West, in fact I am in the same picture, see above picture #155554 from Phil...

Thanks Phil for your fast reply and for your tech note recommendations

Good day Phil, I'm still thinking of the fluorescent light tubes experience of yours and have related it to my kids, one of which works in a bank and she showed other tellers some of the pictures of the Mohawks, so when I walked into the bank 4 other tellers shouted loudly Hi Dad, I thought that...

Thanks for your hard work in behalf of BHF, it has helped me to do some great reminiscing even going back about 60 years to when I started speed skating for the Birmingham Mohawks, there's fabulous threads to them on the BHF. Its a great website, all the best.

Hi Phil WOW, So it was probably do to your experience that every speed skating rink now has padded boards when racing, Thanks for getting my imagination going!!! brilliant. One time when training at Silver blades one of the other guys asked me to look at the ice on the corners and said, what do...

Actually another somewhat funny situation happened at Silver Blades, we were training and Bobby Grinsell fell at one of the corners just in front of me but there were no steps up of the ice like Springhill only about 11/2" so he slid across the rubber mats on his bottom, thus a brazing his skin...

Good day Phil I just thought of some funny memories from Springhill and Silver blades rinks, At Springhill the team was being introduced one at a time and Eric Grinsell was just in front of me (Richard Downing) so he goes down the 5? steps and jumps onto the ice and goes flat on his face, he...

Good day my name Richard Downing I raced for the Birmingham Mohawks from 1961 to 1965 and I remember helping some of the Herman's Hermits to skate after the session had finished at Silver Blades, I also was presented a trophy by one of the cast of James Bond's Dr No, if my memory is correct it...

Good day my name is Richard Downing and I started my apprenticeship with Crockett and Lowe 14 January 1961, I worked at three of his places one that backed onto the canal near city center, one on Broad St, and the head office, Bill Crocket was very good to me he even helped me get a house to...

Good day Phil Sorry for not getting back to you sooner but we just had 2 blizzards in 3 days. The three pictures inside are at Nottingham's rink under the stands, and the picture in a starting position has Brian Grinsell with the starting pistol was just for the front of some Silver blades...

Hi my name is Richard Downing, I worked at Crockett and Lowe as a Wood/metal Pattern maker in Birmingham, all the patterns were for different car company's like RR, Jag, Lotus, this was from 1960 to 1966, Then Pitt and Dickson ( Walsall ) from 1966 to 1970.