• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team

Coalmen/coal yards

Mine was the Ashanti which was an good steel built 1944 Tribal class frigate then onto the good old Ark.
The Best Times !
Lock up yer daughters !!!!!!!
 
Hi Astonian; Correction on the coal wharf at the bottom of sheepcote st and
King Edwards rd it was backed on to a rail siding, the canal was at the top of the
hill King Edwards rd which is now the NIA and the back end of the new canal
showpiece Brindley place.
 
Wasnt the Vic the first one to have the angled deck?
I remember seeing the Eagle at plymouth with holes in the side where they had taken the engines out.
Last saturday was chatting to a member of the RNR, they dont even iron thier trousers ! not the same without the swagger!
I am married the daughter of a brylcream boy, I know beggers cannot be choosers but she a good lass at heart even if she gets queasy on the hovercraft, but my runs ashore are now curtailed.
 
coalman the Vic had a huge refit completed around 1958/59 with the angled deck, painted underneath it a few times, was on her at the time the photo was taken Dave
 
Re: coal deliverer

as kids we used to jump on the coal barges that pulled into lesters wharf at lincoln road
 
Hi to Ladywood; Brilliant !!!!!!!! THE BARKER ST TRIANGLE. I was one of those
kids waiting on the steps at Sheepcote St for semi's or scots etc, used to go up to
Monuement Road sheds as well. Keep writing the memories they are great, theres
a book coming on .
 
hi liberty
what you have said is correct and it all depends which way you are coming from i lived at 243 king edwards rd and if i walked down the king edwards rd towards sheepcote st then the coal yard is at the bottom like i said and yes its the nia car park
and if i walk up sheepcote stret passing those steps you go down into garbet st
then you had main railways siding and many years ago there was a murder
and also the canal which backed on to clarkies scrap yard and ledsam st
where we use to dragg the cut and fish out knocked off bikes which we took home or arond to the old lady wood police station best wishes astonian ;
 
Along the cut to search for scrap iron, schrapnel from the bombs, memories from a lovely but tough childhood and Aston Villa doing well what more could an old Ausie ask for. Regards to all my fellow Astonians. David Weaver
 
Hi Dave
they was sure tough times we dragged the cut with a good lengh of rope
which would reach the other side of the cut and a good strong barr shaped and we would spend most of the day along that section by sheepcote st and ledsam street
for some reason it was a theives paradised section especial for bike we fished out a safe and a moped a rally run about even a safe and a gun you name it we got it out the tow path was covered in scrap metal the only problen we had was when charlie the big grey shire horse pulling the old coal barge coming from the feeder at smethwick he was galloping that fast we could not move fast enough the old man on the barge was ranting and raving at us he had to stop the horse and make way for himto continue there was a water inlet to old mans clarks scrap yard where we took all the scrap we got afew bob to survive and of course after the war we concentrated on the surrounding st,sand went into all the bombed house and and when the clearance of the area came we went into every house and removed the old window frames cast iron weights inside the windows we took them by the hundreds .
pram after pram old man clarkes yard was full of them he made some money out of us in deed mine you he did catch us afew times because is scales was rigged and
at the end of the day he made a few bob out of us
yes times was hard i had a friend by the name of john aston whom brought is little brother with us he was a little kid he fell in the cut i had to jump in and fish him out
the inlet of the cut went pass sheepcote st there was two exits to get on the cut on sheepcote st one entrance to smethwith and the other exit across theroad was to go to the old basinon the oppersite side was the main goods yard sidingwhich the cut under the bridge of sheepcote street toward town and there was a inlet to take you to goodriches wharf along side a single rail track where the bage would unload
dave they was the days - good or bad i do not know compared with today society and the minds of the people today and i have dealt with joe public more many many years have a nice day dave best wishes astonian ;;
 
Charlie said:
Oisin,
We also had damp slack on the fire to try and keep it in all night - but I remember once coming home from school and the house was freezing. My auntie was at work and my dad had gone fishing, so I decided to light it as I'd seen dad do, with the Despatch acting as a 'drawer'. It caught fire of course, blackened all the chimney breast and burned my right arm from wrist to elbow! Next day, my teacher at St Mary's Handsworth, couldn't believe I hadn't been to the doctor - the blisters were the size of half-crowns! The Head despatched my off to the docs, my dad thought I was a whimp! I was about ten years old.
Click to expand...


I had to laugh when I read this as only last night I was telling my OH about lighting the fire. As you know the snow we have now is the worst in 30 years and before that was '63/64. I said my house of that time must of been bliddy freezing with no carpets, no central heating as we know it and windows with frames you could slide your fingers around! The fire wasn't considered going until the Despatch caught fire.
 
When we lived in Aston in Bevington Rd, the coalhole was in the entry which was below the street level so the coalman had to go down a slope under the house and the hatch was halfway along the entry wall, great fun in the wet or snow!
Went to get some coal this week for our log/coal burner, it's three 20Kg bags for £18-00 for the cheapest, logs £7-50 a bag.....
 
We used to count the bags out until we realised that the crafty so and so's were bringing in empty bags in full sacks.
 
When we lived in small heath our coalman was Bobby Evans.I remember as a child watching the coal being tipped down the "coal hole"into the cellar.My job was filling the coal scuttle.
 
I remember having to count the coal bags for my Nan as well he used to come on a horse drawn wagon - she used to throw the slag onto a heap along with the spud peelings and it was the first time I ever saw a "coal garden". At Crhistmas time she also used to "hang" the turkey complete with feathers, head etc in the coal house until Xmas Eve when we had to do the necessary to it.....my Dad used to chase me round the house with the feet pulling the sinews to make them move, no wonder I hate birds feet now. Earlier when coal was in very short supply my Gt Uncle was on the railways and the train passed by the bottom of our garden - Leo would toot his whistle and out would come shovels full of coal from the engine and Nan and I would go with a bucket and pick it up - naughty eh!!! but as they say needs must when the devil drives.

Dyan in NZ (where we are basking in temps of 30C - sorry guys)
 
Those crafty coalmen were up to all sorts of tricks i started working for a coalyard at 13 licking stamps and sticking them on the bills ,posting them 5 days a week for 5 bob at 14 i started loading the lorries on a Saturday morning 3 ton =60bags 5 ton =100 bags £1 for the little one £1-10 shillings for the big one plus a free breakfast down the cafe i was rich hard work but money one of their tricks was to take a couple of lumps out of the bags and put them into empty bags and sellthem for cash so if someone had 20 bags they would end up with 18cwt the posh people used to go down their cellars with a piece of chalk and put a chalk line on the wall every time a bag came down never knowing the bags were slightly light. At 15 left school and got myself trade. Dek
 
I can't ever remember us getting our Coal delivered.? I had to go and fetch it in an old pram from somewhere down Park Road. Reg.
 
Our coalman for Formans Rd, Sparkhill used to deliver by horse and cart. I too was given the job of counting the bags but I can't remember whether we were ever cheated other than perhaps by weight. It was also my job to follow the coalman up the street with a bucket.
I remember being shouted at by him that he would not be dropping any so I was wasting my time. He didn't realise that I was not there for the coal droppings but for the horse sh droppings. Dad used to swear by it for the roses!
 
I do Reg and Mom use to get me to count them, also once in a while fetching a bag of Coke on our old Pram with my Sister on Saturday morning from the yard in Chester Street off Rocky Lane Aston Cross. It must have been 4 mile round trip.
 
My dad was a coalman and he used to stand in front of the fire in winter and the steam used to come off him in clouds. Oh the lovely smell of coal tar, sweat and horsemuck the finest smells of all. mixed with Ansells Brewery of course. Regards, David Weaver
AstonBred said:
I had to laugh when I read this as only last night I was telling my OH about lighting the fire. As you know the snow we have now is the worst in 30 years and before that was '63/64. I said my house of that time must of been bliddy freezing with no carpets, no central heating as we know it and windows with frames you could slide your fingers around! The fire wasn't considered going until the Despatch caught fire.
Click to expand...
 
How many shoes did you throw on the fire as well. Also, did anyone have tar blocks from the roads when they were digging them up - all these helped to prolong the coal in the fire
 
Those blocks were a menace on the roads when they got wet, motor bikes skidding everywhere and bycycles like riding on an ice rink. We had a fire in the chimney one night, talk about panic, dad finally got it out just as an air raid started. Some air raid warden stood outside shouting, 'Put that light out'. Dad finally walked out to him and said, 'What the blankety blank do you think I've been doing?' Kind regards, David.
 
Reading all of your reminiscences on the coalman made me smile as they reflected my experiences exactly......particularly being sent to follow the cart with a bucket! My Nan did that to me a hundred times before I worked out when he was coming and managed to be over at my mate's house each time. I found the attached page when I was surfing on the subject. It describes coal deliveries down in the Smoke but it was the same nationwide back then.
https://www.1900s.org.uk/1900s-coalman.htm
 
Yes i remember our coalman godrick was there name i think, you could pay weekly. our coal hole was under the stairs in our 2 up 2 down back house. We used to wet the empty sugar bags and fill them with slack to back the fire up of a night. You daren't leave any of your old shoes lying about, otherwise they would be on the fire. I also remember drawing up the fire with a newspaper, and start reading it until it caught fire.

regards Stars
 
stars said:
Yes i remember our coalman godrick was there name i think, you could pay weekly. our coal hole was under the stairs in our 2 up 2 down back house. We used to wet the empty sugar bags and fill them with slack to back the fire up of a night. You daren't leave any of your old shoes lying about, otherwise they would be on the fire. I also remember drawing up the fire with a newspaper, and start reading it until it caught fi

regards Stars
Click to expand...

Godricks were based down our end(at least the green lorries were)bottom of Newdigate St Vauxhall. Dek
 
My Brother, Charley Weaver, died this morning he was eighty nine. He was a coalman around Aston and Nechells. Served in the desert as a tank driver, took part in D-Day landings and was a good bloke. Thanks, our kid, for being my brother and the stories you told me when I was a kid have all been passed on to my grand-kids. David.
 
Hello David I am so sorry to hear your brother has passed away. He was just the sort of man that was the backbone of this country and the reason we won the war. We owe them all a debt we can never repay. I do hope he rests in peace.Thank goodness he had a good brother who listened to his stories and passed them on. He will be remembered.
 
David, sorry to hear Charlie has passed away, I think I told you before he used to deliver to Moms in Holte rd and stop and have a cup of tea with us. He always put his black face to the window and frighten my daughter Michaela, it made her do as she was told though, if she was naughty we would say " I up is that Charlie I can hear coming up the entry" it was all in good fun though, I can see his face now bless him xxxx
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top