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Hello Blacksmith, just wander back with me thirty years, when Adolf was starting to get a bit active, and take a look in Carrie Wainrights shop in Gladstone Street, Aston. There was a long fly paper hanging up which changed once a week, but during hot weather it was more flies than paper. There...

Sorry Jean, Aston Hall Road was just around the corner from Gladstone Street and I have a map locked in my memory but I refuse to send you my head cause I still need it. Regards, David.

Alf I have an old mate who was a Chindit can I send some of these photo's to him? Regards, David.

The Barley Mow in Four Oaks was Mow as in Cow. Regards, David.

Re: The strike of 1981. I was born in Gladstone Street next to Queens Road where Atkinson's brewery was situated. One night during the war a bomb came into our Anderson Shelter and because of all the fumes we had to go to the big shelter at the brewery. I can remember the piano playing and...

Re: In my memory.. Hey Kandor what beautiful memories, I actually went there on a visit. I used to sit for hours on a Sunday in Nechells while my dad collected the coal money both before the war and during. As an Aston kid your lot were a bit posher than us but I can still smell it, see it and...

Many thanks for the information Ray, I will lock the date into my history notes for the kids to read. That was the night I got my head stuck through the bedrails and couldn't get it out so I couldn't go down the shelter with my brother and sisters. Mom and dad sat with me rubbing a weeks ration...

Hey Baron I'm now having a good laugh at myself. When dad said we were going to see a strong man picking up a cart horse I imagined he'd just march up to it, throw it over his shoulder and we'd all clap. I felt quite cheated when I saw that platform. Regards David.

I used to love going down that big hill in Nechells on the back of my Dad's coal lorry. Gas street lamps and all. Regards, David.

Does anyone remember an old bloke called Odder who used to run the boxing at The Holte next to the villa ground. I went there a few times to get my weekly good hiding and he must have been a hundred years old by the look of him. A bit nifty in the ring though as my nose would attest.

I was introduced to the great Len Tiger Smith when I was a boy as he was a friend o my father's. He had big ham hands I remember and a very serious face. Pound for pound he was one of the greatest ever and had the scrap of a lifetime with the great Len Harvey who was a lot heavier. Tiger was a...

mwOnjm as you would know, though others might not, the 112 used to go through Aston, Sutton Coldfield, Four Oaks, Shenstone, Lichfield, Fradley, Alrewas to Burton. My uncle lived in The Old Mill at Alrewas and we used to go fishing in 'The Cut'. Wonderful childhood memories are stirred up...

Jean, 'There was a little man who had a little gun and his bullets were made of lead, he went to the brook and shot a little duck right in the middle of its head. Regards, David.

Jean, 'Ginger nut fell in the cut and frightened all the fishes, a fish came up and swallowed him up and that was the end of ginger nut.' I too am a ginger nut so had it sung to me many many times which caused many fist fights. Regards David.

Mom used to sing this to us down the air raid shelter and I still sing it to my grand kids. 'There was a man and and he went mad and her run up a steeple, he pulled off his big red nose and threw it at the people, there was a lady passing by who thought it very funny, she picked it up and wiped...

Before the war we used to go to the Onion Fair every year and I reckon I'm the only kid in the whole world see his father knock one of those coconuts off its post, not once but twice in a row. He was then told to go away, not very politely I might add. Those coalman's arms had quite a sting in...

Vivienne, it's a different type of shelter I know, but we spent many scary hours down our Anderson Shelter. During the big raid over Aston a burning bomb bounced into the shelter onto my mother's lap and as quick as lightening she picked it up with my brother's school jacket and threw it out of...

Brenda, I went to another school in Four Oaks and had to go to The Gaffer for six of the best. I wrapped my hand in a bandage and when he asked me what the problem was I told him I'd sprained it so ended up getting only three strokes on the other. Instead of keeping my big mouth shut I went...

Anyone remember standing outside the pictures in Victoria Road asking someone to take you in when it was an 'A' picture? When I was a kid, and couldn't get in, I used to pick a young a fellow with a girl and look at her very sadly when asking and invairably out to impress his love the fellow...

Thanks Jean now you've made me feel real old. My brother and I got the strap for running up and down behind the multitude of classmates pretending to iron during a rendition of 'Dashing away with the smoothing iron.' 'Bobby Shafter' was another. 'Barbara Allen' had a good airing also. Regards...