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Dave, the 'Dam Busters' film has some brief footage of Upkeep being test-dropped at Reculver (by a Wellington, IIRC). Barnes Wallis apparently really did remove his shoes and socks to feel for bits of the mine following detonation! There is also a shot in the film of a Mosquito dropping a mine...

Alan, your photo is of the interior of the Castle Bromwich factory, possibly the final inspection line. There was certainly an anti-aircraft gun-emplacement at Hill Top Farm on the border of Handsworth and West Bromwich, but no airfield. Read about it here...

Quite right, Eric. Therein is the difference between MOAB and the WW2 Tallboy and Grand Slam bombs, which were deep penetration weapons. G

Sorry Sospiri, but the news report I saw referred to it as 'the world's largest non-nuclear bomb'. Which in fact it still isn't, as the Grand Slam was actually slightly heavier. Grand Slam wasn't the bomb used against the dams - that was known as Upkeep, the famous 'Bouncing Bomb'. The...

Not sure if I'm putting this in the correct sub-forum, but with reference to the much-publicised dropping of the 'Mother Of All Bombs' in Afghanistan, not one single mention have I seen in the media of the fact that the genuine MOAB is the 22000lb 'Grand Slam' developed by Barnes Wallis and...

OK. Thanks very much! I must have driven past it at sometime. Presumably it's still lived in. Next question: what was/is its connection to Chance Bros? G

Hi Lyn, yes, easy to forget that it didn't last long. I've got a feeling that the Carlton Club which was Mother's predecessor on the premises was going for longer. I still remember the long queues and the limited choice of drinkies at the bar. Oh, and the noise..... G

Hi Lyn, my visits must have been in the mid-1970's, and IIRC even then only a part of the premises was still in use. As a rep I used to visit many companies no longer in existence, especially foundries and metal-bashing firms. Sad. Where exactly is/was Chance House? G

A bit late to reply to Terry's post, but I was a regular at Mother's and saw all the acts he mentions. 40-odd years later Cream remains just about my all-time favourite band, and I still listen to their LP's (not CD's!) and still get a big kick. Same goes for Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac and John...

Interesting thread - good to know that at long last something positive will (I hope) happen with the old Chance works. I visited a few times, representing my old firm which dealt in industrial textiles and heat-resistant materials - we supplied Chance with asbestos! That's what they wanted, and...

Hello Valmy, I just logged in for the first time in days and saw your post! Welcome to the Forum! I was in 1A through to 5A then sagged and was demoted down to 6G. I don't recall a teacher called Seckington - the history-teacher I recall (apart from Trout) was Sandercock, who I recall was...

Hello Alan, nice to hear from you and thanks for your kind words and wishes. I did at one time start spending far too much time on internet forums and had to cut it back a bit, but now back on course I think. I never entered that billiard-hall in my life - if I ever had, and my old man had...

I've found a grainy old photo of the old Institute, but don't know how to upload it.... G

Long shot - could it be the former Paradise Street premises of the Midland Institute? Demolished some time in the 1960's I believe. The view through the arch of Baskerville House (?) kind of suggests that location. G

Does anyone know when the chapel (of St Mary Magdalene) on Holdford Drive was demolished? It's featured in my 1954 Bartholomew Guide. I have only the vaguest memory of it. Was it still in use or redundant in 1939? This is a really great thread for me - reminding me of things and places I'd all...

Another Witton company I had personal contact with was Xpelair Ltd, Deykin Avenue, which took over part of the old GEC site. They were (very) good customers of my old employer, and when I visited I always got coffee and bikkies! It was always a struggle to find parking-space around there, I...

Hi OM, yep, I should have called it Kynoch's, not ICI/IMI which is what it later became. My grand-dad worked there - he drove a shunting-engine and I can still remember the stiff 'moleskin' trousers he wore. I once interviewed for a job at GEC Electric Avenue but was late arriving at the...

The 1939 and 2017 photos are very interesting in that the latter shows more industrial buildings than I'd have thought had survived. However, I wonder how many of these premises are still actually used for manufacturing? The fathers of most of my friends in the 1950's were employed locally and...

Hi David, Yes, I remember how we were expected to address teachers, and always to stand up when a teacher entered the class-room. I wonder if a lot of this discipline was a hangover from the War, during which many of the teachers in our years at GD served in the Forces. A few of the younger...

Hi Terry, well, you live and learn, as they say! I always thought that Witton Road ended at the Circle. My A-Z's ancient and modern aren't much help. We lived in The Broadway, not too far away, and I used to walk along Brookvale Road to my pal's house off The Ridgeway. Holford Drive Playing...