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Erdington postmen heroes remembered

mikejee said:
Never believed we would work out why it ended up there, but we did with exwag's help
Click to expand...

yes mike i too thought it would remain a mystery for ever...so pleased that david came up with the answer..as to just why the plaque was left to be gathered up with the rest of the demolision rubble we will never know but the main thing is it was saved and it ended up in a fitting place..so alls well that ends well:):)

lyn
 
hi dave lovely photos and for those of you who may not know the last 2 are of ken stowe who found the postal plaque over 40 years ago on a pile of rubble and kept it safe until he asked for our help in getting it re dedicated and placed at the NMA...smashing to see you today dave...i thought the buffet and entertainment was really good and it seems to me that we get more attending every year...thanks dave:D

lyn
 
good thinking viv...i would like to think it has already been added but will try and find out...looking back on this thread again it was quite a journey:)

lyn
 
Makes you realise just how many , ordinary working men and women, contributed to our country's call, and many paying the ultimate price, while others without fanfare came home from the horrors, and quietly got back into their working lives. So very grateful, I put a poppy cross every year to the "Cambridge gas Company Pals", the company long gone but their memorial still stands by Tesco!!
 
UPDATE

hi folks for those of you who are not familiar with this story and for you to understand it it is best if you start reading this thread from post 1 ....the other day i visited the NMA to have a look at the newly remodelled site of the GPO memorial garden and noticed that the postal plaque was not there ( if you read the thread it was originally sited in 1922 at the old post office on erdington high st.). after a couple of days making enquires i have been informed that our postal plaque is on the move again...it has now been cleaned by a stone mason and will be sited at the post office in erdington...the post office is now in the process of a refurbishment but as soon as that is completed the plaque will be placed there which is really where it belongs..i will be informed when it is in situ at the post office so that i can go and have a look and take a photograph...this is good news folks as most of the royal mail memorials are sited within post office buildings

i am sure we would like to thank the NMA for looking after the plaque for the past 10 years but after an absence of over 50 years it is time for it to go back home...

lyn
 
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Thanks Lyn
I for one am pleased it is going HOME as I always felt it should be back in Erdington.
I hope it joins the wooden plaque which has WW1 and WW2 names on it.
 
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As I understand the history, the post office where the men named on the plaque worked from was on the Green (High Street). When the new Sutton New Road GPO opened (in 1938), the work moved there. The former Green/High Street premises were demolished (but not until the 1950s/1960s I think). So if the marble plaque goes to Sutton New Road, that seems appropriate.
 
hi folks just received this email from martyn bunn and the plaque is still on course to go to the erdington post office when the refurbishment has been carried out...i need to keep on top of this so that the surviving rellies of the men named on the plaque will if they read this thread know where it is..




Wed, 12 Jun at 11:24

Hello Linda,



I hope this Email finds you well.



On Monday, we [PORF] had the opening ceremony of the GPO garden at the NMA.



Alan Johnson performed the opening ceremony. (Alan started as a Postman in Barnes in 1968 (joining 1 year before me!), later becoming General secretary of the Posties union, then becoming an MP (Hull I am minded to recall), undertaking many ministerial positions.)



We deliberately kept the event 'low key' as with the ongoing Post Office Inquiry, we were of the mindset that in some public thoughts, they not being unable to separate the [now] business units that were once the GPO.



Apart from a few rain drops when seated for the opening ceremony, the weather did us proud with rays of sunshine.



The NMA were insistent that with the new memorial, the gardens should be landscaped. Looking around on Monday, the whole GPO Garden does look nice.



FYI, I attach 2 links to the Artist and the Company that made the glass plinths.



Kind regards



Martyn Bunn



PORF Trustee.



(I have no update for you on the memorial stone that will be going into the Erdington Office)



www.peternaylor.co.uk

GPO Memorial

The GPO Memorial It was a great honour to design a memorial for the GPO (General Post Office). The memorial commemorates the 12,830 men and women of the GPO who died in the two world wars of 1914-198...
www.peternaylor.co.uk



GPO Memorial Glass Sculpture — Proto Glass Studios

This outdoor glass sculpture displays old photographic imagery of the 12,830 GPO men and women who gave their lives during the World Wars. The 19no, 2m high panels sit in a continuous faceted panoramic 'wall' at the NMA.
www.protoglassstudios.com www.protoglassstudios.com
 
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