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Hello Astonian, Your say your parents ran the coffee shop in Great Hampton Street. Was that Bill's Cafe that was situated opposite Canning's Shop? That cafe served many hungry stomachs in the '50's from Cannings and the surrounding firms. regards. willey.

Hello brummypaddy! Your picture of St. George's Vaults shows the pub to be on the corner of Great Hampton Row and Unett Street. The street names are clearly visible if the photo is enlarged. It would have stood on the left hand corner of Unett Street if you had your back to the church...

G G Jean. Your Handsworth Grammar School photograph is very close to being 1947/8. The boy behind your brother is John Salisbury who ran the 400 metres in the Melbourne Olympics. The lad on the extreme right back row is John Partridge. The lad next to your brother is D.B.C. Roberts - a...

Hi janelynne! Stand by for a "Strawford" contact soon. Regards, willey

Johnny Mann: Did you know that Johnny topped the bill on the opening night of Midlands A.T.V. His fight was transmitted and he won! A greatly underrated classical boxer. Sadly no longer with us. willey

Phil, If you ever update your record of Barrage Balloon Sites, there was one located on the Handsworth Grammar School Playing Field site in Romilly Avenue, Handsworth. Regards willey

Henry Boot Ltd bought the farm land pre Second World War. The intention was to create a modern, tranquil estate. The 1940's map is of the original concept and the estate was commenced along those lines. Following the war, needs had changed and more people were wanting to buy their own...

Pam, PC .49 was played by Brian Reece - now deceased. willey

Re Slide Rules. When I worked in a Drawing Office I longed to be the owner of a pocket slide rule - one in its own leather case. It could then be carried in the top pocket. The very epitome of "cool". No sooner had I got one than the desk calculator came on the market and slide rules...

Claribel, You are correct. "Roys Royal Bakery" was indeed an actual bakery of many years standing. As a lad I used to watch the men working. They would be smothered in flour from head to foot. I was also attracted to the horses that pulled the carts. Obviously the bakery served the...

Di.Poppitt, Yes, sad news but they were good innocent times, weren't they? Regards, willey

Although this is an old thread, I would like to record that I too saw G.H. Elliott when I was a lad. It was during World War II. He was appearing as Man Friday in the pantomime "Robinson Crusoe" but I cannot remember which theatre. He was an old man then but he danced as light as a feather...

Hi Di.Poppitt! Sorry that I have not replied sooner. I have had a lot of contact with Graham Bryant and he says that he knows you well. I think that our paths probably did not cross at All Souls. I guess that I have a few more years on the clock than your goodself. I see you were a...

The pageant is my earliest memory. I can remember being held in my father's arms and seeing large strange monsters (dinosaurs) being chased by cavemen. I had spent the majority of my life with that memory lost to me, that is until I saw some old film on the T.V. when like a curtain opening...

Brummagen_lass - Well done! What a pleasure and a rarity to find someone giving of their great efforts for free. Again, Well done! Regards, willey

Dear nickcc101, Yes Dodds well known. The strongest memory that I have of that shop was the large trap door in the middle of the shop floor which was down to the cellar which I assume was their store room. As far as I recall they did not take too much care about screening the open trap door...

Hi Laraine! Here is the photo of 200 Frederick Rd. that I promised you. The house numbers increase to the right of the picture

Re Frank Moss - he kept a newsagent in Sady Lane, Great Barr for many years.

All those shop names are very familiar. Does anyone rember the unexploded bomb on the forecourt of the Odeon Cinema during the war when the Bomb Disposal Team were awarded with a lifetime's free admission to the cinema? There was also another unexploded bomb dropped into the gardens of the...

Laraine, I will look out the photograph of No.200 and will post it on this site. As my stay at No.200, I was only there for the first eleven months of my life, however my paternal grandmother and her family lived next door at No.202 for nearly twenty years. Regards. willey