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I've spoken to my 85 year old father. He confirms that on my birthday in the 50s I'd get a 'showboat' cake. I'd forgotten about these. I remember now taking ages to lick out the cream inside and then eat the lovely chocolate 'basket' .... Simple pleasures maybe, but if only I had a time machine!

Thank you for this post. My Grandfather, deaf from Active Service in the Royal Navy in WW I, and having a small Paving business in Pype Hayes, was recruited into the Heavy Rescue section of the Civil Defence programme. He and his men would attend Bombed buildings to shore up, clear or rebuild...

Good point, Paul Stacey, the winters WERE harsher, (why?). My 18 year old son had not seen really heavy snow until he was 16. The last fall, enough to cause REAL problems in the Midlands was 1991. Maybe the commuting patterns were different in the 50's. More buses, more people...

Not yet, but it should be good. He was/is (?) a decent, if a bit rough, character who I met once on a call. He certainly knew the darker side of the City, the Fewtrell lot and the other 'gentlemen' .............

Many of these remembrances are mine too, and lasted, in my case, into the 60's. I think that emerging from the post WW II 40's into an austere world, where modern gadgets were around, but out of reach through cost, gave us all common memories. Plus the fact that it was a continuing social...

Lyn, Working out of Henrietta St, this was a common run up to Dudley Rd Hospital. esp from the Expressway, so I had lots of time to study this unearthed treasure. Likewise the old Lucas Factory site nearby, and roads in what is now the Waterlinks area. I've said it before, maybe these homes...

Stitcher is right. A few years ago, New John St was widened, and the grass banks excavated, this revealed row upon row of rubble filled cellars, some with furniture in! I've recently been down to Longbridge for the first time in a decade. I drove around these roads every day for years, answering...

Can't remember the restaurants, but I may have gone there as a toddler. I do remember the moist multi coloured sponge cake which had ?kirsch? in it ... that was a special treat. Normally it was ricepaper men, (we weren't that rich!)

The Norton had a problem in that it was one of those 'Pubs which was at the boundary of several 'difficult' areas. Castle Vale, Bromford, Pype Hayes, Erdington, etc., and, as such became a front line for gangs from these areas. Another was the Navigation.......... This 'Pub saw several serious...

Kunzle Cakes ... a bright star in a drab world. That shiny Chocolate Icing, the smell in the Shop on Sutton Parade, the slab chocolate on the counter, the pretty cakes behind glass.... as a 5 year old in the 50's this was heaven.

My Grandfather had a builders yard just across the road, behind the Bank building. I did go to the Norton occasionally. had a Girlfriend who lived just up the road in 1978. It had been quite a notable 'Pub in the early days of the 20th Century. The B'ham M'Cycle Clubs Road Trials used to start...

In the 70's we used to go to the "Night Out" on the Horsefair. Its had several names since, Dome, Dome II, etc., The 2 most memorable evenings there was (a) Showaddywaddy - hundreds of 'Teds' all in the Drapes, Beetle Crushers, Bootlace Ties, dancing and singing along ......... and (b) Jim...

Used to go to The Belfry in the late 60's/early 70's. They booked bands well in advance. By happy circumstance, often, the Bands booked would have a record in the Top 10 by the date of their appearance. This way, I saw most of the 60s Bands and quite a few 70s for a cheaper price than usual. (I...

We always referred to the ones with holes in as PIKELETS.These were toasted top & bottom, as you say, in front of the fire on a fork worked best. CRUMPETS were more like a breadlike consistency bun, flattened with a soft crust, you had to cut these in half and toast the insides. Both benefitted...

TA!:stupid: Just got to get a Corset so that I can get into my 60's gear!

Re: Garages........ This is something that I've noticed over the last 25 years. Even busy, well established, modern sites seem to close, be demolished and have houses on them with indecent rapidity these days. How unlike the 60's where to open a small petrol filling station was a retirement...

For a fascinating read, get hold of Olga Kevelos's book. She started on the Cut, but became a Works Motorcycle Rider for James, BSA and Greeves in the 50's & 60's. An incredible woman, who, in her 60's, looked like everyone's favourite Granny, yet could wheelie a Trials bike over any impossible...

I'd like one too please Lyn..........

.... don't hold your breath. Unfortunately, there is, within the 'modern' Anglican Clergy, a politically correct group who view War Memorials as incompatible with Christianity. These same people view Islam as 'a peaceful religion'. This is why several senior Anglican Clergy have spoken out over...

Nickcc101 ... You are right, I missed a bit from my last post. Following the deregulation of 'Bus Companies back in the 80's, many transport companies were set up, or expanded. By the 90s, lots had gone, and others were in difficulty. I think Arnolds were one such.