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Chris, you mentioning the possibility of an ' unmanned ' entrance to Sutton Park opposite the Parson & Clerk pub definatey rings a bell. I seem to recall that for a period of time we kids started to use that gate to enter and exit the park and I'm wondering as to why we would have switched our '...

SEVEN FOR THE PRICE OF FOUR. Period : Around 1938 to 1940. Frequently during off school periods we would make our way to Sutton Park to explore and seek some new adventures. This would usually mean that between five to seven of us would meet up on the Kings Road, Kingstanding and having decided...

A Mothball and Lavender day. There would be the Sunday's when Dad and Mom decided that we would all go meet one of our Uncles and Aunties. That could mean a visit from Kingstanding to either Aston, Erdington, Perry Barr or Nechells. So out of the wardrobe would come the best set of clothes. Dad...

OVER THE GARDEN FENCE. There were quite a few occassions whereby Mums would look forward to a break and a little chat with some of the other lady neighbours. One of the most opportune spots for this was either the front door step or over the garden fence. The terms for some of these chats went...

FLASH BACK. Here was a little ' snippet ' of the post war period. For some considerable time after the end of WW2 ' Air raid Sirens ' would be periodically activated ( tested) around the City. If I recall correctly there was no prior warning given that these pretty unwelcome sounds were going to...

INGENUITY and IMAGINATION. How the children could create something out of nothing. There seemed to be not the slightest problem for the children of years gone by in thinking out and performing activities, experiments and adventures to enjoy out in the fresh air. Every little group seemed to be...

THE STREET. Going back apiece it was amazing how the street gutters seemed to attract many of the kids. Parents, in general, would continuously warn their children to " keep away from the gutters " But the street gutter had it's purpose from the kids point of view. It was a place to sit and to...

oldMohawk. With reference to my iPad photo postings problems. Thank you for your kind advice, it would seem that it has already helped ' farmerdave '. Ive got a feeling though that the problem stems from something that's not lining up from MY end. It seemed it all began when I carried out an "...

farmerdave. Hi there Dave. With reference to your difficulty in opening those ' images '. I'm sorry that I can't help you on this but I'm wondering if maybe a recent " Apple " update that I carried out on my IPad might be the cause. I can only assure that I follow the ' forum ' image procedure...

BORROWING DADS OLD SPADE. ( Period : 1943 ish ). Our local schools invited we school children to join in with the " Dig for Victory " government campaign, to help out with the war on the home front. Sounded good to us kids. In our district the schools managed to acquire a large plot of land just...

Eddie. Nicely described. Can see that you've been there.

A BACK STREET SATURDAY MORNING. Moms on the boundary, a cobble assisted ' Googly ' on its way, a clang from the dustbin lid, cheers all round. " Your'e in next Fred ". What could be any better ? Photo :

WELL DONE. I think that a " well done " to the pupils of HAZEL OAK school in Shirley is in order and their efforts are worth a few words. Mondays ' Birmingham Mail ' 12th Oct 2015, reported that the pupils with Autism and Learng Difficulties at the school have stitched hundreds of ' Toiletry...

THE HOME MADE STREET TROLLEY. I don't think that there was anything more enjoyable than the times that the kids spent with their home-made Trolleys. Every angle was explored and tried out with these proudly owned " Plank and four wheeled " concoctions. One-upmanship was always in the mix...

PLANNING FOR " BONFIRE " NIGHT. Period : Early Post-war. Another exciting event for the kids to build up to. The main objective of the children was the collection of bits for their Bonfire. Worth bearing in mind that this was in the era of " make-do-and- mend " and therefore there was very...

WHO ? HOW ? WHAT ? The natural curiosity of the kids. Going back a ways I think of the times when we klds asked our parents questions which seemed perfectly straight forward to US but seemed to throw THEM into a rapid state of muddle and confusion. For some types of questions there were many...

CONKER TIME. ( Very much a look forward to moment in the year ). Over the years many of the kids would be out, about this time, looking for their first collection of Conkers. It was sensible to ' get in first ' , if you could , before any other ' groups ' might have already cleared up the fallen...

MIMICKING and IMITATING. There were countless children, I recall, who could imitate or mimic with a fair degree of accuracy and talent. The range that I remember included the kids mimicking : DONALD DUCK and POPEYE. Some of the girls did a fair old job of imitating SHIRLEY TEMPLE. The CHARLIE...

WASN'T QUITE READY YET. I recall at one time when our Dad advised my younger brother and myself that it would be a good thing and a good experience if we were to start helping out around the house with jobs other than just running errands. I think that this sounded good to us because here was...

The old school Vaulting Horse. ( Some could, some couldn't ). Sketch :