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Lichfield Road Aston

Hi Ray: Thanks for the pawnbroker's locations. You can bet that the people who pawned their goods knew which of their local
broker's gave the best deal. I wonder if anyone in Brum has written any articles or books about this way of life. If there were 30 pawn brokers in the Aston area you mention
I wonder how many there were in Birmingham as a whole in that time?
 
As far as l know my parents never went to the pawn shop....but l remember my mother telling me if it was'nt for the pawn shops they would have starved...my g/father was a drinker and if he did'nt come home on payday first by the end of the weekend all the money was gone so his suit and shoes had to be pawned for money to live on...also a few times he would be picked up drunk and disordley (he had a temper) and his suit once again had to be pawned to get him out of jail so he could go to work monday morning....times were hard no social services etc.....also my g/father just took off and signed up in ww1 not letting the family know so once again mom said if it was'nt for the salvation army they would never have made it having 2or3 meals aweek provided by the SA.. l only remember a kindley old grandad the family would say the war changed him but he still drank but not in excess....Brenda
 
hi astonite
i remember that meth church alright we was all from dyson hall sunday school and the teachers took aload of us down to there one sunday afternoon
there musrt have been about twenty of us the teachers walked us all down from park street by the vine
and it was on of the first films in religion regarding jesuschrist being crusifyed on the cross they had loads of other kids as wel from other churches there
it was no more han a hut in green as i recall it i was about eight years old ;
i can now vizulize the old tea rooms its was a huge tall building and it did have some words acrooss the top of it ;i always thought then it was some kind of institute when i was a nipper years before i was born best wishes astonian;
 
Hi Astonian, thanks for your memories, as regards to pawnbrokers, the one my mom and her friends used was Mr Swinglers (or it may have been Swindlers) in Church lane, there was always a queue on a monday morning, he would take anything in to pawn from clothing, jewelry, bedclothes, you name it, he would give you money on it, he was a rotund gentleman with gold rimmed spectacles and charged 4d a sheet for the brown paper your pledge was wrapped in when and if you redeemed it. Times were hard, however, hard drinking was rife and there was no social services back-up.
 
HI ASTONITE
Yes i can recall old swinglers do you recall the old lady whom used to make the old toffee apples
and when you went further down on the bend there was an other old lady with the big bay windows was doing them as well
my old mates use to live across the rd the houses where the front steps was about three high to step up into the house ;
i spent alot of time down there and went out with a girl or two one was named sue ; she eventual went to live up belgrave rd ;
i do have alot of clear memorys of church lane and isleys coal yard as one of my mothers relatives married old mr isley ;
best wishes keep your memo,s coming ; astonian;;
 
Hey Astonian, do you remember Doctor Sudki on the Lichfield Road. His surgery was a short walk up from Aston Station on the right side. He was from Egypt I thing and about two hundred years old. It seems everyone in Aston went to him and he saved my life once when I was very young. Regards, David.
 
HI David
how are you keeping ; fine i hope,?
yes i do in deed remember him in fact ;i would say most of the bottom end of aston would have had him ;our doctor was dr grayson from park road
his surgery was on park rd goiung down to aston parish church it was just where the park fencing started for the rear end of aston park a well respected Dr
and polite the DR whom brought me into the world was a Dr tracy from edgbaston
whom was a surgeon as well as a GP His practice was inglby street ladywood
facing the old palli dance hall which later became bulpitts storage depot
and DR tracy was surgeon at dudley rd at the same time he lived in a big house in selwyn rd edgbaston all his life until he died as i was growing up he was my GP
until i was an adult and moved from the area and went back to aston;
best wishes Alan ; Astonian;
 
Hi Astonian, my late Wife and her family who lived in Vicarage Rd had a Doctor in Park Road in the 50's, don't know exactly where but his name was Dr Topping (lived on the Erdington/Sutton border), my Doctor(s) was Freshwater and Morgan bottom of the hill in a large white house between the Church and the Church Tavern pub by the 'tip', would be either Church Lane or Aston Hall Road. Dr Topping was an ex-Army man with a dislike for the RAF, when he gave my Wife her injections before she joined me in Hong Kong and found I was RAF he made a few sarcastic remarks about 'brylcream boys,' Eric
 
Our family doctor was Dr Gould, his surgery was on the corner of lichfield and sandy lane, he was a field doctor in ww1 l remember him being bald headed and wore thick horn rimmed glasses, he always seemed very gruff to me but he was a good doctor he was still going strong in 1959 when l left for the states and l believe he retired many years later.....Brenda
 
doctor gould was our doctor from about 1965/66 until 1974/75 he didn't suffer fools gladly but he looked after me very well with my osteomyelitis we knew he was getting on in years but could never work out his age.
 
off thread our doc was Dr Rosenfield with his doctors bag a black poodle and a morris minor car he was by the Ratpan pub he was a real doctor not like today
 
Does anyone remember the dentists name in Lichfield road?. He was a lovely man but the one that followed had an awful reputation for inflicting pain.
 
I think the dentists name was Markahm?. Does anyone remember a jewelers by the name of Scintaver or quite similar. Patzie the daughter was a friend of mine at school. she took me to her home and her lovely dad had fish tanks built into his walls at the back of the shop.
 
Hi Jaffa
My cousins and aunty and uncle frank was brought up in park street at number 10 which was ten doors from the vine
Also related to the sensors in park street the name markams rings a tone with me
What number did you live at in park street was you the top or bottom of the street in the big yard or what
And I attended dyson hall in the life bouts and the two older brothers in the boys brigade and our friends was from Lichfield red
And the road down the side street of that little shop in the corner of park street
I used to knock around with the Goodman's the lees and quite area of others in wainwright street plus the gangs in the big yard on top of there air raid shelter as well
Best wishes Astonian,,, PS I lived around the corner on Lichfield red and went to upper Thomas street from the age of 4 years old,
 
Hi Astonian, I lived at 28 Park St, nearer to Dyson Hall, and loved every moment there. Sheila was a good friend of mine, went to the same school, as did Sylvia.
 
Hi Jaffa
Nice to hear from you again nice to know you knew our sheila the vine is still standing but I am afraid the whole streets surrounding have all changed its all factory units now and the streets are to me seem small even around on sandy lane you would not reckonise the old place now
I do not live in brum now left many many years sgo but unfortunelstely I have a daughter whom lives in. Brum. That's the only reason why I pas bye in. Brum
Lichfield road as not really changed much they have widen end habit here and there that's about all
Aston cross its a ghostly place now but the golden cross is still standing thou but its not called that anymore
Its called orielys I think I have spelt it correctly its owned by a well known Irish fella whom owns a lot of pubs around the country
But I will not per sue that name about him its habit of taboo if you get my drift
How long have you been out in the out backs ha meaning Australia, I expect the weather is always great
I live out in the sticks of worcestershire I am going to be looking at a property down in Gloucestershire in the middle of nowhere
Very isolated I like it like that so I can go hunting
Well Jaffa I will shoot of now until the next time beast wishes Alan,, Astonian,,,,,
 
Hi Astonian,
I pop in here everyday, just to have a look around. I visited the UK in2011,and popped down to Aston. The whole area looks different, as you said The Vine is still there, but it was closed, and looked empty. Took a drive up Victoria Rd, boy how that has changed, all new houses now. I love seeing the old pics of Lichfield Rd, an how it looked when we were kids. Pity there isn't any of Park St. I have lived in Australia for longer than I lived in the UK now. The weather can go up and down. I live in Tasmania, the weather doesn't get as hot here, but when it does.. 'WOW". Weather in Sydney, and Melbourne is not so good at the moment. They're having lots of storms, with hail stones as big as golf balls, it is summer here, so that type of weather is unusual. Left UK in 1981, best move we did, as at the time we migrated here, UK was on a spiral turn and going down hill very fast. I grew up with Sheila, as kids we played in the street, or on Guy Fawkes night, we would have a guy, and stand outside of the Vine, asking for penny for the guy. Something that would be taboo now. We collected quite a bit of money, and then would run down to Jeffs the paper shop, and buy fireworks, or over the road to the chippie, and get some chips !! I never went to the Golden Cross, my hang out was The Vine, and the Duke of Wellington in Wainwright St.
Nice having a chat Alan.. Best wishes Jan. .'Jaffa"
 
Hi Jan,
Many thanks for coming backso soon to my reply when I see our sheila I will give her a mention about you
Also Christine and val the sisters out of all the cousins we are the closest that being the three girls
I remember the duke we lived around the corner right next door to the widows arms around by Thompsons
Facing claribel coaches where there was a little hut selling petrol
Would you recall roger Ensor of park st he had a sister called brands val married him but it never worked out
She married a guy called again and the have been married now for about fifty years now
We'll Jan I have to shoot off now but will catch up with you later best wishes Alan,,,,Astonian,,,,
 
Hi stars
What a walk down memory lane for me indeed it seemed like yesterday to me
Good picture of robbos fruit and veg and all the other shops along there
The two shops on either side of robbos was the one before him was Mr dents hardware
The one after robbo,s was diggers news agents spent loads of tanners in there
Buying there marbles 6d a netted bag to take to school if he sold out dashed down further along
To the corner toy shop at the end of the shop
S and the corner of Victoria road was Mr Taylor and bought from him
Took them to school upper Thomas street the same day and came back with nil ,
I was skunked as the lingo went when you cleared some one out ( Meaning you won all there marbles of the kid you was playing
Some kids looked for a slight groove in the school playground tarmac and you would line three up at a time
A
And so any steps back from your marbles the kid you are playing would stand back,
And he would try three shots at yours for everyone he missed you claimed his marbles
Buy if he kissed any one of your marbles meaning knocking or touching any one marble they was his your three you put down
Some played the six marbles I played cautionly stuck to the three but still lost them all
And regarding thompsons shop the gates you see I was a little kid aged 6 years old
And for the next couple of years I would roam down the terrace which if you look at another of your pics
Just next to thomsons was Aston,s Cake shop you will see a gap where they demoed them down first
Meaning the houses between the two shops throne was Barnsley's grocers
But back on track the gates you see with the bars on the bottom set of bars on there gates I sat down there day and night from dawn to dusked
All the guys whom always used to shout and talk to me whom worked there even peter thompson
And the slaughter men I there say there could be some one alive today may recall the little blonde hair
Kid squatting on the pavement I had a fasication for waiting for the pigs to come to there shop and watching the port pie trolly coming up and down.
On a chain, and there is alot of things I could say about the whole complex of Lichfield red
That was my kingdom when I got older I used to get up early and push the postmans bike up and down the whole of Lichfield red
All the way down to the kingedwars pub Aston hall red and post letters through all the houses and the shops then he said you had better go home now son and get ready for school and so I ran all the way back and put on my mail tree chtrismas boots
As I said I have a great memory of growing up in Aston, and as mom was an Aston girl
Parliment street and all her family of jelfs owning all the cafes and business in and around the city
She was well known because of her parents family still I will not waffle on otherwise I will never finish
But its great you can supply us all members some of our old pictures of Lichfield red
Incidentialy my aunt Maud smart from Whitehouse street worked at the Astotpria picture house on the cross so I used to her in free to see films
And when I was nine I got knocked down outside there on a saturday afternoon
And went sky diving back up the road through the air when the car it me my old man was working
At the golden cross pub ( Head barman ) that time for the Dodds Family best wishes Astonian,,,,Alan,,,,,,
 
My late Wife was born in a terrace yard in Lichfield Road in 1928 called 'Sunnyside', who thought of a name like that ! It was still there in the 50's looking forlorn and desolate, no idea when it was finally demolished. Eric
 
Surprisingly Eric, there were several terraces or courts called Sunnyside, in Angelina st, Grange Road, College St, William St, Alfred St, Yardley Wood Road and Railway Terrace, though, admittedly some probably lived up to their name more than others.
 
A dear friend phoned me yesterday and asked if I could find somewhere to post her pre and post war photo's of the Lichfield road area. She has not the facility to copy them so I offered to do it for her. I will post them on this thread and then pass them on to Carl Chin John Houghton and the BHF Birmingham and Aston pages. She has quite a few and I am feeling excited.
 
cookie273uk said:
My late Wife was born in a terrace yard in Lichfield Road in 1928 called 'Sunnyside', who thought of a name like that ! It was still there in the 50's looking forlorn and desolate, no idea when it was finally demolished. Eric
Click to expand...
Hi Are you sure about Sunnyside Terrace still standing in 1950's

The records I have suggests that that Sunnyside Terrace was the back of 12 Lichfield Rd which would been developed to extend Ansells Brewery.

In later years further extension was built taking up the Old Big Broom Hardware shop you want it they'd got it it might have taken sometime to find it.

Regards Ray
 
Ray, you could well be right, I first met my late Wife whilst on leave Christmas 1951, she then lived in Vicarage Road (4 back of 128) and they had lived there all through the war years, so they probably left 'Sunny Side Terrace' in the 30's. I was probably looking at another terrace still standing in the 50's further along Lichfield Road. At 86 years old memory can play tricks. Eric
 
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