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Hello, Nico, In Sparkbrook, my mother's version of that rhyme was something like: Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Jews, bought his wife a pair of shoes. When the shoes began to wear, Nebuchadnezzar began to swear. And these are the words he said... Talazu-za-zoo, talazu-za-zae... (and that's all I...

Ah, the jubblies. Only ever orange-flavoured, round our way at least. I remember the trick was to tear off the top (not always easy) then squeeze the frozen triangle up from the bottom. As Vivienne says, they lasted for ages, but they did become whiter and less flavoursome as time went on...

Yep, he was still glueing those joints and sanding those dowels, Eddie. Regards, Ray T

I was a Golden Hillock pupil about 1961-65 and I well remember the formidable Mr Travers who taught English. I believe he was the one with a selection of canes, one of which he called "whistling willy". Mr Matthews the music teacher was equally cane-happy, and he once caned me for idly picking...

Hi, Phil, This Cannon Hill Park boulder is interesting. You say it was missing in the late 50s or early 60s, and I remember one just like it being in Farm Park, Sparkbrook. Just like the Cannon Hill one, it was rumoured it was a meteorite. I visited a much-changed Farm Park a few years ago...

Thanks so much for these two photos, Phil. Mrs Wallace's bakery shop would have been beside the barbers' on the left, then. There would have been cakes and loaves in that window! I'd forgotten the barbers' shop being there, even though I must surely have been dragged in there as a lad for...

Hi, Astonian, Was there a mention of Jukes and Son in that book about the Ladypool Road shops? It was a hardware and decorating shop that I worked at part-time in the 60s. I've loved seeing the old photos of Kyrwicks Lane posted here recently, especially Phil's one of the Long St/Kyrwicks...

I was a member of the BAA from the end of the 50s to late 60s, I should think. That membership got me fishing on many canals and some pools. I didn't catch any "glass-casers", but enjoyed being out next to the water, mainly. Competitions weren't my thing, I enjoyed fishing alone or with a...

I'm sure you're right about the fish and chip shop near Mrs Wallace's bakery, Roy. For some reason I can only remember the one run by "Hicky" (I suppose his name might have been Hicks) down the other way in Spark Street. I remember Hicky in his white coat with a heavy build, a crewcut and a...

Nice that you remember Mrs Wallace too, Roy. I don't remember the barbers' shop next door, but I recall her little shop was about opposite the Railway pub which was on the corner of Montpellier St and Kyrwicks Lane. I didn't know she did deliveries either, but we only lived a couple of...

In the 1950s, when my family lived in Long Street, Sparkbrook, there was a bakery round the corner in Kyrwicks Lane owned by old Mrs Wallace. It was just a house converted into a shop so her wares could be displayed in the window. Whether Mrs Wallace did all the baking, or whether there was a...

The snowy theme is nice, but the snow keeps collecting at the bottom of my monitor screen. I'll have to put the heating on, I suppose (expense, expense, expense...).

Looking at the pictures, I don't see any lack of soap. The people themselves look quite clean, as do their clothes in general. They're obviously poor, though, and surrounded by damp and mildew, rotting timbers, peeling wallpaper and flaking paint, things which cost good money to put right but...

A colourful series of events, Nicholas. But in my opinion, when knives start embedding themselves in walls, and "strange messages" appear when nobody's looking, then the perpetrators are more human than spirit. The notorious Enfield Haunting comes to mind as another example. Regards, Ray T

Most Sundays in the late 60s I'd take our dog Butch for a walk from Tavistock Rd, Acocks Green, down to the Richmond Rd towpath access to the Grand Union canal. From there we'd walk the towpath to Knowle and beyond before sitting down for a rest and starting the walk back. We both used to love...

The BCM looks a fascinating place, though I haven't visited it yet. A lot of outdoor scenes for the BBC's WPC56 were filmed there and it gave a realistic 1950s feel to the police drama. Regards, Ray T.

My mother used to say that somebody was "for the 'igh jump", meaning they'd been caught doing wrong and were going to be punished. I guess the "high jump" referred to was associated with hanging. And if something was broken my mother used to say it had "gone west". This is interesting because...

Yes, I remember as a child being taken to see Uncle Holly at Lewis's, but not Father Christmas. I might be mistaken, but wasn't Uncle Holly the cheaper option!? Regards, Ray T

My mother often recounted the story of how one day a gypsy woman knocked at the door of a female relative -- I think it was mother's aunt. The gypsy was selling clothes pegs but perhaps had a sideline in fortune telling, because she told her potential customer: "You've got a lucky face, my...

I had a great, great uncle just after the war whose sayings came down in the family. His poor wife always had a hard time getting him out of bed and off to the factory in the mornings, and she used to shout upstairs: "Jack, I don't know how you can sleep with all the money you owe!" And from...