Recent content by Phil Gundy

In the 50s and 60s we always had a real tree in the front room. It lasted a long time as we only heated the room for special occasions. Spiral paper chains and balloons in both rooms, the chains being rolled up and used again each year. Christmas night was party night as relatives and neighbours...

My dad was in the second wave on D Day with the Royal Warwicks. His best mate, Buck, was killed in Lebistry Wood. He went back there a couple of years before he died to find his name on his memorial. My niece went with him and filmed the visit,

If you mean St Peter's College Saltley, the school there was for poor children. My dad was one of those in the 20's, as I found out when I went there in the 70s as a student teacher.

I remember helping to make that chess set for the production.

Hi Dave and Biscayne. Sorry to hear about your experiences of bullying. A younger cousin of mine had much the same experience at Marsh Hill, although he never opened up about it until years later. I think a lot of what I experienced was low level intimidation, the kind to make sure you didn't...

Yes, I was downgraded too. Couldn't believe the slower pace of life outside the top class, but I soon adapted.

I helped with the lighting on this production and had a small walk-on part. The body in the trunk was a good prop, a pupil hidden inside so an arm could be lifted up.

A puzzle from 60 years ago cleared up. Gotta love this technology. Sometimes.

So did he own the houses? Maybe she meant the guy who paid to have them built. She died a long time ago now and my memory from 60 years ago may be limited. I remember being about 10yrs old when we stopped paying rent and bought the house when the row was sold off. That's when we had the bathroom...

My elderly neighbour back in the 1960's told me that the builder had named Reginald Road, where we lived, and the other name roads after his children. She knew a lot about the area and had lived there a long time.

I lived there many years ago and was told that all the roads named after people were named for the builder's family.

When in the sixth form I was given a ladder and, with another classmate, allowed to climb onto the Gymn roof to throw down all of the stuff which had accumulated there. Imagine being allowed to do that today! It was a different world back then. I think that caps had been done away with a year or...

Jumping off the bus as it turned the corner there added a bit of danger to my school day. Saved a whole two minutes of walk back from the bus stop.

I found a couple. One with modern graffiti, the other looking downhill from it.