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Growing Up In Brum - Roy Blakey Inspired.

a national sport for school kids in the fifty's was being chased by a "Parkie", from illegal swimming, tree climbing, fence climbing, kite flying, fishing, bike riding, camping, fire lighting. ect.
 
Roy Blakey said:
THE RAFT PROJECT. ( The kids ). 1940 ish.
At one time our group of juveniles decided to try and build a raft with the intention of floating around on it
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A 'raft' I remember floating on was a large sheet of ice on the quarry behind Perry Beeches school. I think it was during the winter of 1947 and the thaw had started with the 5" thick ice breaking up. With three of us on board it floated quite nicely but was difficult to steer.
 
TREE JUMPING. ( 1930's early 40's ).
We used Westwood Coppice, Sutton Park for one of our favourite pastimes. ' Tree jumping '. ( If we had been asked at the time to write an instruction procedure for this it would have read something like this ).
(1) Find a wooded area with suitable climbing trees.
(2) Select a tall climbable tree with strong branch out shoots.
(3) Test climb the tree and check various clear ' jump gaps ' from different positions and heights.
(4) Collect armfuls of dead leaves from the surrounding wooded area and place on the ground beneath the ' branch to ground ' jump gap. Pile the leaves at least ' Waist high '.
(5 ) Climb, jump and enjoy.
(6) Frequently repile leaf stack.
(7) Keep excited shouts,whoops and cheers down to a minimum to avoid catching the attention of any one of the patrolling
' Parkies ' and being chased off, or being chastised by some well meaning ' grown up ' that might be in the area.
We enjoyed this pastime many times, we jumped from some pretty high branches and never had a casualty . We did have a few ' stitch pulls ' to our pullovers though which in general we poked through to the back to hide.
As a matter of fact,of this period, Mom's, Aunties or Neighbours were pretty swift and adapt at ' Darning ' wool garments or ' unwinding ' and ' re-knitting '. Make do and Mend was the order of the day at the time.
Anyway it was all pretty good and truly enjoyed.
.
 
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Re: Birmingham History

Can anyone remember playing "nearest the wall" with fag cards, halfpennies & pennies? If only we knew that one day those fag cards would be worth a few bob!!
 
Re: Birmingham History

For some of us. One of our first lessons in growing up. ( But you won't remember it ).
As a baby, you're in your Cot, you've been put down to sleep for the night. For whatever reason you fancy a bit of company and attention. OK, make a few crying sounds ( normally does the trick ). Nothing's happening. Raise the noise level a bit. Still nothing's happening. Keep it going then.
Heck, you're getting fed up with this,feeling a bit tired and worn out as well, can hardly keep your eyes open.
You fancy shutting your eyes and being quiet for a while.
zzzzZzZZZZZZZZ.
There you go, you've just had you're first session of being ' through the night broken in ' by your parents.
 
Roy it also happens with milk during the night. We only gave water one night instead of milk and from then on went through the night. (She was 19 - no only joking)
 
Hairstyles. Always plaits and bunches with lovely ribbons when very young with really long blonde hair. A little later aged 10ish haircut and permed. Into the early 60s onto the No 8 bus from The Flat to Carpenters Road walking up to Lozells Road for a bouffant with loads of lacquer and even a pink spray sometimes, all different styles backcombed - even the 'cottage loaf'. Into the middle 60s with the Cathy McGowan long hair. Then a Mary Quant cut with one side very short and the other side bobbed. Grew long again, and eventually the purdy cut. Grew it again and sleeping in rollers overnight (very attractive!) and sometimes leaving rollers in all day as well, but walk outside and with the wind/damp weather the curls fell straight out. Then the magical curly perm, I loved it just wash, dry and afro comb it. Still blondish. Many styles following but always with long hair, with a fringe, without a fringe. Until now (whitish) bobbed without a fringe. Some styles just keep coming back, when I look at the young lad's hair now theres not much difference in the short back and sides of long ago.
 
carolina said:
Hairstyles. Always plaits and bunches with lovely ribbons when very young with really long blonde hair. A little later aged 10ish haircut and permed. Into the early 60s onto the No 8 bus from The Flat to Carpenters Road walking up to Lozells Road for a bouffant with loads of lacquer and even a pink spray sometimes, all different styles backcombed - even the 'cottage loaf'. Into the middle 60s with the Cathy McGowan long hair. Then a Mary Quant cut with one side very short and the other side bobbed. Grew long again, and eventually the purdy cut. Grew it again and sleeping in rollers overnight (very attractive!) and sometimes leaving rollers in all day as well, but walk outside and with the wind/damp weather the curls fell straight out. Then the magical curly perm, I loved it just wash, dry and afro comb it. Still blondish. Many styles following but always with long hair, with a fringe, without a fringe. Until now (whitish) bobbed without a fringe. Some styles just keep coming back, when I look at the young lad's hair now theres not much difference in the short back and sides of long ago.
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Carolina, What a lot of gorgeous hairstyles you`ve had through the years. My favourite cut for the ladies was the "elfin cut" as favoured by the lovely Audrey Hepburn, & i reckon it was a doddle to maintain. I`ve been blessed with a good mop of hair which i simply comb back in the teddy boy style. I did have it permed once (aka Kevin Keegan) & i hated it. Washed it every day till i got back to normal.
 
Reading caolina's post got me thinking with regard to her comment about young lads hair styles seem to keep re-appearing from the past.
Got me thinking about ladies dress fashions through recent times. My impression is that ladies dress fashions in general and overtime seem to go round in some sort of a circle and end up in a form of ' repeats '.
QUESTION TO carolina : Is this about right or am I tracking it wrong ?
I don't think it's a great deal better for the blokes either but coming from a different direction. The guy's seem to have got locked into these armour plated, tight fitting and difficult to pull on JEANS and further still we seem to have got stuck with the SHIRT HANGING OUT fashion. Tried the JEANS. Felt like I was struggling to get into a DIVERS WET SUIT. Gave it up never to return.
 
I think you are right about fashions going round, only this week I saw a pair of shoes the same as some I had in 1977! Wooden soles but high heels with straps....I can only wear flat ones now.
rosie.
 
Very true about fashions coming round again, the 80's bat wing loose tops seem to be in again.

I can remember my grandmother going into the old Bus Stop Boutique in New Street in the 70's saying styles of the dresses they had in there were like ones she had worn when she was young!
 
image.jpgGrowing Up. ( Another level ). The Engagement Party.
About Jimmy : He's been a bit nervous all week. Why ? Because he's agreed that the formal proposal to Annie will take place at her home this coming Sunday and all family members and friends are invited to attend to witness.
He's not in any way got any doubts about the commitment to Annie because he's realised that since the time that he first met her that he just loves to be with her as much as possible. He's very much changed his life style since meeting her and he realises that Annie's influence has given him a more meaningful, responsible and grown up approach to things ( Yep, he knows he's needed to tweak things a bit ). He just wishes that he could have avoided the ' open to the public ' engagement spectacle . He will do it though for Annie's sake.
About Annie : She tells us : Jimmy is very special to me, we get on well to-gether and I enjoy every minute of his love and friendship. He was a bit of a ' rough neck ' a while ago, his friends have told me, but all I see is a good guy who cares about me. Mom and Dad think that he's ' tops ' which is nice too. This business of the engagement day proposal is bothering him I know, he's not very theatrical in that way and I know that he's going to have to push himself to make his proposal in front of family and friends but he knows this is the way I would love it to happen. Not to worry, he will enjoy a few beers when it's all over.
Sketch to go with this Post : " No fuss. Nicely done ".
 
To Shawcross. Hi there. The Jim and Annie story is I hope a fair reflection of one of those ' growing up ' experiences that may confront any young couple and the way they react to them. The story is based on an actual BRUMMIE couple and a true event ( Names changed ).
I just have the belief that ' growing up ' is on a ' sliding scale ' and doesn't have a particular ending and that as we gain more and more experiences so do we use those experiences to tackle and overcome problems that drop in our path.
The previous post of mine tries to draw a picture of a ' growing up ' experience that " Jim " had to tackle on his engagement day.
 
image.jpgRemember the G Plan era ? ( 1950's - 1970's ).
I recollect young couples trying to put to-gether their own homes ( whether it be a flat or a house ) during tis period and wanting to furnish and add as and when they could afford it had a useful store situated close to the top of the Bull Ring
( The Times Furbishing Company ).
The store sold an extensive range known as ' G Plan Furniture '. The beauty of this range of furniture was that the designs,styles and colours remained available and without change for many years such that couples who chose from this range could acquire, match and build up their homes over a substantial time period.
My guess would be that there is probably a fair amount of this furniture still about and being used to-day.
Photo of the store brings back memories.
 
We bought our G-Plan dining suite and two armchairs second-hand from an advertisement in the Birmingham Evening Mail! We thought we were so posh!
rosie.
 
I worked there for a couple of years and remember the G Plan, another popular one was Parker Knoll. Nearly all the carpets came from Kidderminster.
 
Now I feel old - as I type this I am looking at a G-Plan bureau which is still in daily use!!! My parents (94 and 87 years old) still use their G-Plan dining room table and chairs as well.

Janice
 
Re: Birmingham History

G Plan furniture is still with us: they have moved from High Wycombe to Wiltshire but still set the pace in style it seems. Parker Knoll likewise are still making their timeless pieces, very much a favourite with those who are concerned more with quality and comfort than trend. They have also moved from High Wycombe, they have now located to Derbyshire.
Not all carpet manufacturers were based at Kidderminster and Stourport, Yorkshire, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wiltshire and Devon were amongst those most well known. Devon of course was where the original axminster carpets were made.
 
As I type this I'm also looking at a G Plan Sideboard which was bought from Times Furnishing in 1972. I keep my printer inside it so had to drill a hole in the back for the power cable etc. Shown below is an existing forum pic which I've made appear in this post from a group of pics in an old post here. Good view of the Times building and a few other interesting things in this 1951 pic.
Image8_New_St_1951~0.jpg
 
Alan I can still remember when sometimes I worked the 'eyeball' switchboard and had to dial out for the carpet salesmen and was answered by Kidderminster Carpet Company. Yes you are correct there were other areas for carpets, its just I never thought nearly 50 years later I would be moving into an area not far from Kiddi'.
 
Some of the aromas and smells in and around Brum that we don't encounter a lot these days.
(1) That smell from a bit of ' scorching ' when your Mom was doing the ' ironing ' using those old heavy gas stove heated irons.
(2) The early morning smoke smell from newly lit house fires.
(3) The aroma of the Men's Cigars at Xmas being enjoyed sitting around the dining table after a satisfying meal.
(4) The smell in the old fashioned Ironmongers coming from the oil and paraffin storage area.
(5) The aroma of the garden Bon-fire on a Saturday night after the Men had finished a bit of gardening.
(6) The aroma of Carbolic Soap during the family bath period on a Friday night.
(7) The aroma of a smear of Eau de Cologne that some parents would dab on the children's forehead during a Flu period
(8) The smell of melting Soldering Flux in the kitchen when Dad was doing a repair on some electrical item.
(9) The smell of a wartime ' Fry up ', powdered milk , lard, American dried Egg powder and Spam.
(10) The smell from the chimney of those lovely steam trains as they passed by.
(11) The lovely aroma of the fast glues that the kids used to make Balsa Wood aeroplane models.
 
More smells: the smell of iodine as it goes onto a new cut. Ouch! the smell of cigarette smoke on the upstairs of a corporation bus; the smell of bread and dripping. Other smells related to horse-drawn vehicles but I wont go there. Dave
 
Smell of a privet hedge always brings back memories of childhood to me. You don't see that many these days and yet they seemed to be everywhere when I was growing up.
Judy
 
Roy Blakey said:
Some of the aromas and smells in and around Brum that we don't encounter a lot these days.
(
(6) The aroma of Carbolic Soap during the family bath period on a Friday night.

Would that be weekly or yearly Roy :-}
The exotic aroma when you walk into an Indian restaurant
The smell of leather in a Humber Hawk saloon
The smell of fireworks round the bonfire
The fishy smell emanating from Brookvale park on a warm summers evening.
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The aroma of toast on a coal fire! My brother made a toasting fork at school, it stood proudly in the fireplace!
rosie.
 
my grandparents had a newsagents and l loved the smell of the paraffin and wood they sold , also the smell of leather at the shoe repairers...can'nt say l enjoyed the odour of hops and vinegar in the air but all astonites know what l'm talking about...and of course the gas works we did'nt like that but it was home was'nt it.....Brenda
 
To Smudge: Once a week Smudge. Small gas boiler in our kitchen fed through the wall into the bathroom and thence into the bath.
First ' boil up ' could just about half fill the bath. Friday night. First in, Dad, second in Mom ( same water, no top up available yet ). Third in, Aunt Daisy ( boiler still on so Aunt could afford to top up the existing water with a bit of warm water ). Fourth in, me ( same as Aunt, might be able to top with a bit of warm water). Last in, younger brother John
( same water ).
I was talking to our John recently and this subject came up. We had a chuckle about the possibility that at the time when we kids got out of the bath we had probably got more dirt on us than when we first got into it.
 
Growing up ( Streetwise ).
The kids and young folk used to gather on the streets or in the parks. The learning experiences gathered during the get togethers in the the streets or the parks provided, I believe , a major portion of the skills of being ' Streetwise ' and learning a bit about ' empathy ' as well. Here was the early learning stages of probably one of the most important lessons a young person could have.
THE ABILITY TO READ OTHER PEOPLE.
When mixing with the other kids, I believe ,we gradually used the observations of body language, manerisms,facial expressions and ' reading between the lines during conversations' , we began to understand our friends and their situations a lot more and then we learned bit by bit how to adjust our approach, input and reactions to their situation accordingly.
Parential control is , or should be , a major factor in guiding a young person but my guess is that the influence from and reactions to any youngsters friends will always play a big part in their eventual development.
I think that there are growing concerns that ' Modern children and Youths ' are missing out on these ' Growing up ' stages.
The ' Culprits ' seem to be the Mobile phone, the Telly and the Computer. For my money I doubt the adequacy in learning important Social and Active skills from these sort of pastime substitutes.
Maybe a bit of ' Texting ' and ' Interneting ' goes someway to Social connecting but it's got its limitations and I cannot see it having the same enjoyable experience and rewards as the street and park meet-ups of the old days.
 
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