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Wooden roads of a different form have been around for a long time. Using logs and planks they were popular with the military. Called courdorey (not certain of the spelling ) roads they were simple to lay and would carry the weight of anything the army had. Any area that had trees you would...

To make any comment on this thread you certainly have to know your Onions....sorry My sister was married to an Onions in the 60s. A nice chap as I remember he came from Wednesbury. But sadly or otherwise they parted in the 70s and I have not heard of either for quite a while. I wish the fellow...

Just to add a few more lines to this saga. I spoke today to one of the many onsite contractors who worked on the utilities of the Longbridge factory. He said a full survey had been carried out on the underground parts . This would be about the time of the BMW buy out.Many of the bricked up...

When it first made its appearance I drove from Leominster to Birmingham Airport so my youngest two grand kids could ride on it. Yet another invention taken up by others because development was starved of cash.

That makes the modern gangs sound like a bunch of pussycats. Kids who shoot from cars as they drive by hitting anyone in the vicinity.I would not liked to have face down one of the Victorian hard men. Living out in the country does have its advantages. Just keep way from unstable people with...

It could be a bit of a job getting the coffin through the door way on a bus. As soon as you enter the bus you have to take a 90 ' degree turn to one side or the other. They do not make bendy coffins. A cremation urn would be no bother. It would not surprise me if the urn of ashes of a loved one...

Thank you Len I was under the mistaken impression that most houses had the Anderson type shelter. I found an interesting bit in Hansard, a speech by the Bishop of Birmingham who championed the deep hardened shelter. The Govt. and Councils were backing the Anderson shelter and the Brick with Lime...

I have read a lot as a result of this post. The British Govt was very slow off the mark in providing deep and strong bomb shelters for the public. Lessons learn t from the bombing of Barcelona were not put into practice. The Underground was actually banned from being a shelter but public...

On looking at Google Earth I can see some interesting concrete foundations nearby. Any idea what was there and could there be a connection with your lumps of concrete ? I favour the idea of a filled in air raid shelter but why is it in a residential area ? Too many questions for a Saturday.

I notice the potato shop has a coat of arms above the widow and below it says "potato salesman to the Queen ". You would have thought Queen Vic would have owned enough farms to supply her own needs.

Thanks for bringing this to everyones notice. This is a big rambling forum, a bit like those famous department stores of Birmingham's past. There is such alot of information here, I get like a kid in a sweet shop and go of in directions .

That the good thing about this thread....It has no tone to lower....( If I had some Smilies I would put a few in but they seem to have gone off somewhere)

I found a site today of photos taken around Birmingham and the Midlands. It has one photo of Dorridge in the 1980s https://www.pbase.com/beppuu/image/50034327 The rest of the photos are well worth a look but I should imagine the photographer is well known here. Keith Berry, he can certainly...

I remember that we had ryhmes to select team members for playground games at primary school. The trouble is I cannot remember any of them. I am surprised but pleased this thread keeps on being resurrected.

Found this ebook, it is stuffed with all sorts of stuff. Part of the Gutenberg Project which has already been mentioned in this forum. https://www.afamilystory.co.uk/ebooks/description-of-modern-birmingham.aspx The author is Charles PYE.

Re: The Third Man; life at the Heart of New Labour Peter Mandelson Harper Press £ The Millennium Dome project I believe was inherited from a previous government. It surprised me it was not strangled at birth but I suppose the thought of cleaning up The Dock Lands was appealing. It was that...

Sad to hear that. A burglary is most upsetting. If it happened recently perhaps an appeal in a local paper or radio station for the return of the photos may bring a result. Stranger things have happened. Some body local may also have taken photos of the garage. Local papers may have a photo or...

The glass beads or "Diamonds " intrigue me. These have been used as trade goods for hundreds of years. Birmingham itself made many such trade goods cheaply e.g. Axes, nails, cheap firearms but uncertain about glass beads. These could be obtained cheaply in India ,a long term trading partner...

I remember the anouncer always started the first shipping forecast of the day so " Good Morning Gentlemen and here is todays shipping forecast". He probabley wore a bow tie while reciting it and I doubt any of the skippers were female in those days. As a kid I loved the radio and all through my...

It just goes to show how some words in common parlance can go so quickly out of fashion / use. The term Jerry Built was common when I was a kid but now realise I have not heard it for quite a while. It was often applied to the new estates built quickly after the two World Wars. New and cheaper...