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Erdington postmen heroes remembered

Hi Happy Guy;
The Hall Of Memory Was Built to COmmemorate the 12, 320 BIRMINHAM Citizens whom Died and the 35,000 Whom Were Wounded
In the First World War. When the Prince of Wales laid the Foundation
stone, on 12 June 1923. HE said the Building would stand to
, symbolise to Generations to Come -- Work of every Kind unflinchingly given, Compasion to the Sick and wounded, courage
And resource in adversity. and above all, Self -- Sacrifice in the Face of Death . Astonian;;;;;
 
Thanks for that Alan, my Dad used to take me to the "Hall of Memory", often as a boy, and greatfull I am for that, we should never forget. ​Paul
 
Hall of Memory 1.jpg All my life I have loved and Admired the Hall of Memory, One of the best monuments to the fallen I have ever seen, as a watercolourist I have painted it a number of times, and have attached an example. Such a great pity the had to build the new library so close. Eric
 
ROYAL MAIL REM SERVICE 20.11.16 008.JPG ROYAL MAIL REM SERVICE 20.11.16 009.JPG ROYAL MAIL REM SERVICE 20.11.16 010.JPG ROYAL MAIL REM SERVICE 20.11.16 012.JPG ROYAL MAIL REM SERVICE 20.11.16 013.JPG ROYAL MAIL REM SERVICE 20.11.16 014.JPG hi folks i attended this years royal mail rememberance service yesterday...weather cold and wet but despite that a great turnout of well over 100 people to honour our fallen postal workers..kenny stowe( who over 40 years ago found the plaque on waste ground and kept it safe not really knowing what to do with it that is until 2014 when this forum got wind of it:D) was also there feeling so proud that the plaque is now where it should be..also great to meet david delderfield ex manager of the erdington post office..had a lovely buffet and entertainment in the marquee after the service..loved the ending when we all sang land of hope and glory and waved out flags:)...few photos here of the day..
 
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kenny stowe and his friend wilf...90 years young..he served in india and egypt
 

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Really great photos, so good to do,Lyn, I held my solitary parade, to the Cambridge Gas Co, Pals, as usual on the 13th.Paul
 
Thanks Lyn. So pleased Ken went too. Also good to see former Erdington PO manager there. A fitting tribute to 'our' postmen. Viv.
 
butchers boy said:
great photo"s lyn wilf is very pleased with his photo.keep up the good work.x
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kenny it was an honour to help with the plaque and i am sure that all of birmingham history forums members agree..but if it was not for you saving it none of this would have happened...so pleased wilf likes his photo please give him my regards he is a lovely man...x
 
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Vivienne14 said:
Might be worth getting it listed on the PO archive site Lyn (if you haven't already got them on your list!). Viv.

https://catalogue.postalheritage.org.uk/dserve/bpmadocs/memorials.htm
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Hi Vivienne just had a look at the listing of War Memorials on the Postal Heritage website. In the mid to late 1990s all Delivery Offices and Crown Post Offices in the U.K.
, were asked to provided photographic evidence of any War Memorial on their premises.

The photograph of the wooden plaque listed as being located at Erdington Delivery Office was taken by me, perched on top of a step ladder, with my autoflash covered with a bit of tissue paper to soften the glare from the flash.
 
Astoness said:
yes viv ive got the post office on my list of people to bombard i really cant let this rest i feel very strongly about it...all it needs is a little clean up...2 bolts...an appropriate place to reinstate and above all someone who cares enough about these men to step up to the mark and do something about it..

lyn
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Astoness said:
View attachment 91101hi folks...to cut a long story short..an aquaintance of mine ken stowe who was working on the JCB s in 1970/71 was ordered to a demolished building on monument road ladywood and told to shovel up all the rubble and dispose of it..he spotted a lovely marble tablet dedicated to 7 local postmen who gave their lives for this country..feeling that it was not right to do this he kept the tablet and its been with him for over 40 years..he didnt really know just what to do with it but knew it had to be kept safe...as you know this year will be 100 years since the outbreak of the great war and im sure you will all agree that now is the time for it to be placed once again on an appropriate building somewhere in the ladywood area..these men must not be forgotton and its so sad to think that they nearly were...i am now contacting people who maybe able to help me get the tablet put back where it rightfully belongs so that these men will never be forgotton again..if any of our members are related to these men or can offer me any help or advise please feel free to contact me..

lyn
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Hi Lyn, thanks for the link to this thread. Reading the first post above made me start thinking.......dangerous I know! But do you know which end of Monument Rd where the Memorial Plaque was found? If it was close to the junction with Hadley Rd, then there is all probability the plaque had somehow found its way to the GPO Training School located close by and demolished in the early 70s as part of Local Development Schemes.

The above will not take us any closer to where Erdington PDO was located, in 1922, but could solve the mystery of where it was found.
 
hi david...great to see the plaque being talked about again especially as you are an ex manager of erdington post office...dont think their is any doubt that the plaque was originally erected at a post office in erdington especially when this invite received by charles bulls widow and children states so but i think you may have something there as to why it was found by kenny in ladywood...i can double check with him or he may even post something himself but from what i was told he found did find it on monument road close to the hagley road junction...i think on the right hand side of the road going towards hagley road...do you know which side of the road the training school was ??

lyn

Invitation%20to%20Unveiling%20of%20Erdington%20Post%20Office%20War%20Memorial.jpg
 
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Astoness said:
hi david...great to see the plaque being talked about again especially as you are an ex manager of erdington post office...dont think their is any doubt that the plaque was originally erected at a post office in erdington especially when this invite received by charles bulls widow and children states so but i think you may have something there as to why it was found by kenny in ladywood...i can double check with him or he may even post something himself but from what i was told he found did find it on monument road close to the hagley road junction...i think on the right hand side of the road going towards hagley road...do you know which side of the road the training school was ??

lyn

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Hi Lyn yes the Postal Training School was in Parker St. That is the last side road on the right as one would approach Hanley Rd. I hope that narrows it down a bit.

David
 
david looking a street view i think parker st is too near to hagley road...i am sure ken said it was further down from there and actually on monument road..will try and find out from him...just one thing was the training office actually in parker st or was it on the corner of parker st and monument road..

lyn
 
Astoness said:
david looking a street view i think parker st is too near to hagley road...i am sure ken said it was further down from there and actually on monument road..will try and find out from him...just one thing was the training office actually in parker st or was it on the corner of parker st and monument road..

lyn
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Hi Lyn just had another look at a map of Birmingham circ 1951. The Postal Training School was in Bellis St off Reservoir Rd. Sorry got confused with redevelopment and realignment of streets.
 
yes david i guessed that..kenny has confirmed he found the plaque around the bellis st area so i think its safe to say that the plaque was most likely taken to the postal training school after the post office in erdington that it was originally on was demolished and because of the drill holes in the front of the plaque it was most likely put in place at the training school...the back of the plaque has very old looking fittings from when it was first put up..i did take photos of the back of the plaque when i had it in my front room for a couple of weeks..will try and find them..

lyn
 
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