I Am Nico
master brummie
They were big classes then. There are about 14 in my grandson's class and less in his sisters with twice as many boys in both classes.
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Group photos
- Thread starter Anne Jessel
- Start date
I Am Nico
master brummie
My grandad had a boot last and he used to repair nan's court shoes. They were ancient. You could maim somebody with them. They never wore out she threw them away when we moved when I was about 15.
mw0njm.
A Brummie Dude
dear me they look as though they are all sucking wasps
Eric Gibson
master brummie
On the school photos it made me wonder how much individuality has been lost since the school uniform became the norm.
oldMohawk
gone but not forgotten
Regarding individuality in uniform I look at my pic below from post#12. Twenty one of us from all over Britain thrown together under a very strict regime for six weeks, all in uniform, the front row with slightly clenched fists on our thighs (we were told to sit like that) and I can still remember the individual traits of some of them all these years later.
Cyril, second from right front row, previously worked on a market and always seemed to have ciggies to sell like 'Walker' in 'Dad's Army'. He hired a car for a group of us on the one weekend leave we had and seemed to make money from it.
Mac, left top row could never get his beret to fit properly and use to worry about it, but he was a great bloke.
Richard, middle top row, I met him at Snow Hill station on our journey to National Service. He was a bookish type not suited to military life and he went through a very bad patch when he discovered he was a 'tick-tock' man when he marched ... drove the NCO mad ... but he was cured.
The Corporal in charge of our flight looking relaxed after we had won him the shield but we could tell when he was in a bad mood because he continually rotated his wedding ring with his thumb.
We were together for 8 weeks and then the RAF posted us off in all directions and I never saw any of them again.
I'm third from left front row.
image only visible if logged in
Cyril, second from right front row, previously worked on a market and always seemed to have ciggies to sell like 'Walker' in 'Dad's Army'. He hired a car for a group of us on the one weekend leave we had and seemed to make money from it.
Mac, left top row could never get his beret to fit properly and use to worry about it, but he was a great bloke.
Richard, middle top row, I met him at Snow Hill station on our journey to National Service. He was a bookish type not suited to military life and he went through a very bad patch when he discovered he was a 'tick-tock' man when he marched ... drove the NCO mad ... but he was cured.
The Corporal in charge of our flight looking relaxed after we had won him the shield but we could tell when he was in a bad mood because he continually rotated his wedding ring with his thumb.
We were together for 8 weeks and then the RAF posted us off in all directions and I never saw any of them again.
I'm third from left front row.
image only visible if logged in
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Eric Gibson
master brummie
I watched a new series about recruits start on tv and thought how comfortable and gentle it has become since we were called up for national service. 
Phil
Gone, but not forgotten.
This is not my photo it's one I picked up on the internet, but I do remember it being taken in the mid 50's. It's the 38th Birmingham Scout group that was based in Vincent Street Balsall Heath, the photo was taken in Clifton Road school hall. I know I am on it somewhere, but I haven't a clue where.
maypolebaz
master brummie
maypolebaz
master brummie
I watched a new series about recruits start on tv and thought how comfortable and gentle it has become since we were called up for national service.
Yes, I watched that too. As an ex- Boy Soldier myself, I thought it was hilarious !
Radiorails
master brummie
Don't be shy Phil.
Eric Gibson
master brummie
Do the photos have any name captions? Be interesting to know who they are.
oldMohawk
gone but not forgotten
Unfortunately no, they are simply listed as Governors and Friends of Blue Coat School. They seem to know something about hat etiquette which we do not. Even the young lad's hat in the last pic has completely disappeared and he is slightly smiling.
I Am Nico
master brummie
Fantastic display of hats. Whilst doing my family research I made a page up just of ladies and gentlemen in hats and caps in hats and bonnets. All different.
I Am Nico
master brummie
Hercule Poirot spats. Dad had a pair of galosches in the 60's. My first teacher Miss Ellis in 1961 wore long pale green leather gaters she put on with a hook.Governors of the Blue Coat School, Edgbaston in two group photos. Spot the difference ...
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I Am Nico
master brummie
Or cake decorating. They look edible. You would not want to be sitting behind them at the music hall.Some of those ladies look as if they are into beekeeping!
Maurice
I Am Nico
master brummie
We have or used to have a Blue Coat School in Coventry. Is it an order I am quite ignorant on this. Well on a lot of things.
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Interesting as formal group photographs are, my real favourites are those group images where the subjects are almost completely unaware that they are being photographed.
This one is amongst those in my collection which I like best. I know when it was taken – late on a Sunday afternoon in summer 1943. I know where the men are standing and what they are doing – on Wood End station and waiting for the train from Stratford to take them to Snow Hill. I know why they are there and what they have been doing prior to the photograph. But all I know about them as individuals is that they are all Erdington blokes, that they are in the Home Guard and that they are all unidentified, apart from the man third from the right – Leslie Beard who lived with his wife Minnie and daughter Betty in Woodacre Road, Erdington.
One of the reasons I like the photograph is that in the middle of their pipe and fag break, something is going on overhead. Three of the men have noticed it. Cautious interest might be the best way of describing their reaction. Or even apprehension? It's likely to be "one of ours", but you can never be sure. What IS certain is that it isn't an Emirates A380 on its descent into Birmingham Airport......
I bet that amongst these men are fathers/grandfathers/gt.grandfathers of one Forum member or another. But I also bet that, sadly, they won't be recognised!
Chris
(Click on images to expand them)
This one is amongst those in my collection which I like best. I know when it was taken – late on a Sunday afternoon in summer 1943. I know where the men are standing and what they are doing – on Wood End station and waiting for the train from Stratford to take them to Snow Hill. I know why they are there and what they have been doing prior to the photograph. But all I know about them as individuals is that they are all Erdington blokes, that they are in the Home Guard and that they are all unidentified, apart from the man third from the right – Leslie Beard who lived with his wife Minnie and daughter Betty in Woodacre Road, Erdington.
One of the reasons I like the photograph is that in the middle of their pipe and fag break, something is going on overhead. Three of the men have noticed it. Cautious interest might be the best way of describing their reaction. Or even apprehension? It's likely to be "one of ours", but you can never be sure. What IS certain is that it isn't an Emirates A380 on its descent into Birmingham Airport......
I bet that amongst these men are fathers/grandfathers/gt.grandfathers of one Forum member or another. But I also bet that, sadly, they won't be recognised!
Chris
(Click on images to expand them)
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mw0njm.
A Brummie Dude
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mw0njm.
A Brummie Dude
why is it when i look at them i think of the caneSome of those ladies look as if they are into beekeeping!
Maurice
The preponderance of officers and NCOs in the group won't reflect the overall make-up of the Erdington unit of which they are all a part. These men have been on a Home Guard weapons training course – artillery guns, anti-tank weapons etc – and they will tend to be men in the unit with a degree of authority (and perhaps a responsibility for passing on their new knowledge to others when they rejoin the unit).
There is so much interesting detail in this image. For example, look at the number of men with Great War experience, shown by their medal ribbons. Survivors to a man. 25 years earlier several of them would have been in the trenches, hoping they would survive and enjoy a lifetime of peace. Just 25 years earlier – the equivalent, for us, of 1994 and to me the day before yesterday. And now here they are, back in uniform, for Round 2.
Chris