Old Boy
master brummie
Hello All,
I have been with this forum several months now but have found comparatively litle about my small corner of Small Heath. I was born and grew up in Carlton Road which runs between Green Lane and Bordesley Green. On one corner of Green Lane/Carlton Road was Walkers which sold radios etc. After Mr Walker died one of his sons, Ray I think, opened a much larger radio and electrical goods shop in Witton Road, Aston. It was from there that I bought my first TV but that is another story. On the opposite corner was Blandfords, a fruit and vegetable shop where we children bought 'specks' i.e slightly damaged fruit.
Half way up Carlton Road was a hucksters shop run by Mrs Rose weho had carried on the business after her husband died shortly after they moved in. Nearly opposite Mrs Rose and a few doors from our house was Chapmans, a newsagent. Toward the top of the road was another sweetshop but I cannot remember who ran it.. Onto Bordesley Green was Hydes, a cooked meat shop where you could buy faggots and gravy if you took your own basin. Next to there was an electrical shop where we took the accumulators out of the radio (or wireless as it was called then) to be charged. Then there was Corbetts a large fruit and vegetable business. I well remember rabbits hanging a a row above the front of the shop. They were the poor mans staple diet in those days. They are now considered a luxury and very expensive.
Then down Victoria Street, along which the Inner Circle Bus ran, was the Baptist Church and I believe it is still there and towards the bottom was a general drapers run by a Mr Holmes. He was a very kind man and did not press his customers too hard if they ran behind with their payments. Sadly it was bombed during the blitz and Mrs Holmes was killed. He later reopened another shop in Green Lane towards Charles Road. The Green Lane Cinema was on the corner and, on the opposite corner, a licensed outdoor run by I think a Mrs Horton. Back along Green Lane towards Carlton Road was a toyshop and newsagents run in later years by an old friend of mine Les Ward. Then there was a fish and chip shop called Jacks.
It was run by a man called Jack and his daughter Hilda. This too was bombed and , I believe, Jack and Hilda were both killed but I would love to be proved wrong. Opposite was the Vine Pub much frequented by my father and his brother who lived next door but one to us.
If there are any other members who have any memories of this small area I would love to hear their story.
Old Boy.
I have been with this forum several months now but have found comparatively litle about my small corner of Small Heath. I was born and grew up in Carlton Road which runs between Green Lane and Bordesley Green. On one corner of Green Lane/Carlton Road was Walkers which sold radios etc. After Mr Walker died one of his sons, Ray I think, opened a much larger radio and electrical goods shop in Witton Road, Aston. It was from there that I bought my first TV but that is another story. On the opposite corner was Blandfords, a fruit and vegetable shop where we children bought 'specks' i.e slightly damaged fruit.
Half way up Carlton Road was a hucksters shop run by Mrs Rose weho had carried on the business after her husband died shortly after they moved in. Nearly opposite Mrs Rose and a few doors from our house was Chapmans, a newsagent. Toward the top of the road was another sweetshop but I cannot remember who ran it.. Onto Bordesley Green was Hydes, a cooked meat shop where you could buy faggots and gravy if you took your own basin. Next to there was an electrical shop where we took the accumulators out of the radio (or wireless as it was called then) to be charged. Then there was Corbetts a large fruit and vegetable business. I well remember rabbits hanging a a row above the front of the shop. They were the poor mans staple diet in those days. They are now considered a luxury and very expensive.
Then down Victoria Street, along which the Inner Circle Bus ran, was the Baptist Church and I believe it is still there and towards the bottom was a general drapers run by a Mr Holmes. He was a very kind man and did not press his customers too hard if they ran behind with their payments. Sadly it was bombed during the blitz and Mrs Holmes was killed. He later reopened another shop in Green Lane towards Charles Road. The Green Lane Cinema was on the corner and, on the opposite corner, a licensed outdoor run by I think a Mrs Horton. Back along Green Lane towards Carlton Road was a toyshop and newsagents run in later years by an old friend of mine Les Ward. Then there was a fish and chip shop called Jacks.
It was run by a man called Jack and his daughter Hilda. This too was bombed and , I believe, Jack and Hilda were both killed but I would love to be proved wrong. Opposite was the Vine Pub much frequented by my father and his brother who lived next door but one to us.
If there are any other members who have any memories of this small area I would love to hear their story.
Old Boy.
