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Lyndhurst Estate

Rowden Hall was the estate's village hall, constructed on a small area of land (no space for a car park) on Rowden Drive, between the end of the school playground and the rear of the parade of shops. It took over polling station duties from the school and was intended to be a venue for events for residents, I voted there and attended the odd social event. I'm guessing it would also have been used for mother and baby groups, senior citizens socials, perhaps even wedding receptions and the like. It was one of the last buildings to be constructed and I believe is no longer standing. I've been unable to find dates for its construction and demolition - can anyone fill in a few gaps?
Peg.
 
Malcolm Lockyer Youth Club: Another facility built in the final stages of the estate's contruction. At the extreme end of the Sutton edge of the estate, accessed from Rowden Drive the youth club had a particularly impressive flood-lit 5-a-side football pitch.
I was never a member, I would have been had my interests at that time not lay elsewhere. Sorry no info' on opening date and I don't know if it is still operating, sad if has gone, especially if the, now closed, Lyndhurst Primary School playingfield has been built on, which I believe it has.
Peg.
Apology: I have been mis-spelling Burcomb, should be Burcombe Tower.
 
According to the records I have checked Sir Josiah Mason's Orphanage, some 15 minutes walk from the Lyndhurst, closed in 1964 and was demolished shortly after to make way for a housing development. I have to say that's inconsitant with my recollections, I moved on to the Lyndhurst in January 1960 and it wasn't long after me and my footballing friends made use of the fabulous football pitch within the orphanage grounds, it wasn't accessable to all, we found a convenient gap in the fence. The building was deserted then and looked like it had been so for some time, I did go into the church-like building on a number of occasions, always getting the same eerie feeling as I walked through it's dormitories.
The Birmingham Evening Mail published and article when the building was demolished featuring a photograph showing the building collapsing, in the dust cloud that lingered above: the image of a man could be seen, Sir Josiah? (the Mail asked).
So why did me and my mates walk to the orphanage grounds when we had the Lyndhurst School Playingfield closeby? - The orphanage had a superbly marked out pitch with goal posts - the Lyndhurst had no such features.
I wonder if anything remains of Sir Josiah, other than his name on a road and his bust on a traffic island?
Peg.
 
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It's late July 1965, C.S.E. exams are behind me and I'm making my final journey to Harry Lucas School, Hockley. I have to confess I have no memory of the day, but it's a fair bet I wasn't in uniform. Job search is over and after some ups and downs (mostly downs) I've been offered an engineering apprenticeship with Salisbury Transmission Ltd, Witton (Then part of the Birfield Group, latterly GKN) I say goodbye to friends and teachers and whisper Thank god that's the end of school! (WRONG!) as I leave for my final journey on the Inner Circle 8.
September arrives all too quickley and then it's my first day at the Apprentice School on the Hardy Spicer site, I've made friends with some fellow apprentices by then and we chat outside the entrance waiting for start time - everybody proudly shows their Cards (Do you remember the days when you had cards for your National Insurance Stamps?) - where's mine? Oh ****! - Left it in the flat.
To cut a short story long - borrowed my mates bike and went hell for leather for the Lyndhurst, I wasn't an experienced cyclist, but luckily, as you'll know, the Chester Road from the Josiah Mason Island to Hardy Spicer has fantastic cycle lanes - only one problem: saddle was far too high for me and I fell off, tore my trousers and bashed my knee up, but I got my cards and got back to the apprentice school with minutes to spare.
First day was very much a get to know each other day - but do you know what? I thought I had left school for good only to find out I faced another 5 years (turned out to be 6) of higher education!
What did I earn? £4/week plus 12/6 bonus after a few weeks (in theory you could get upto a £1, no-one did I think I got the top.)
Peg.
 
Late 1959. I'd lived for the first 10 years of my life in a terraced house in Heaton St, Hockley (on the edge of the Jewellery Quarter) and when the opportunity came to be re-homed in a tower block on the Lyndhurst my parents, particularly my father, did not find it instantly appealing. And the feeling remained even when me and my mother visited the flat on offer (a mid ninth floor flat) and the offer was rejected. But after some debate, (it was accepted we were extremely unikely to be offered a house) my parents changed their mind, but by that time the flat had been taken, but they were offerd a 6th floor corner flat, which they accepted.
There were few reservations about moving, one was in Heaton St we were very closeto the Lodge Rd shops (The Flat), but their fears were ill-founded when we realised we were within walking distance of the Wylde Green shops and the more extensive High Street and Station Rd.
It's been a few years since I visited the High St and perhaps my judgement might be unfair but I do mourn the loss of some major stores like Taylors (became Owen-Owen and then an indoor market), Littlewoods (where you could get a pretty good pie and chips), Ansell's Timber Yard, George Mason (near The Green) and of course, Woolworths; but there was only one market then - Wilton, 3 or 4 now?
Peg.
 
1966 World Cup Year! I'm approaching my 17th birthday and things are going O.K. at the apprentice school, I've reluctantly accepted the need to return to school (Erdington Tech.). It takes me 1/2 hour to walk from the Lyndhurst to the apprentice school (rear of Hardy Spicer) and I make the journey daily for the year I am there. Some of my fellow apprentices have motor cycles and that gets me thinking.
My interest in bikes started early on at senior school (Harry Lucas), in fact when I was fortunate to win the first year prize for Technical Drawing I chose a book on motor cycles. I invested in a copy of HOW TO START MOTOR CYCLING by Gerard Periam, and started saving........
Peg.


https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/peg-monkey-cartoons.48101/page-3#post-617782
 
It's about July 1967, I'm living with my parents on the Lyndhurst and I get my new motorbike - a Honda S90, a tiny bike by any standards (small, but perfectly formed, like my wife), it had a diminutive 90cc engine, but when it comes to performance size don't always matter when it comes to motorbikes, what is more important (certainly when it comes to acceleration) is the power to weight ratio, I wont bore you with the science - in simple terms although it had a tiny engine the bike was as light as a feather and, like the proverbial **** of a shovel, it flew. In fact it got to 30mph in the blink of an eye, whilst still in first gear - so what's any of this got to do with the price of fish? On one occasion the performance came back to bite me.

It was the first time I had used the bike to commute to my place of work, Salisbury Transmission in Witton, and the route I chose must have been a case of bravado triumphing over reason. I needed to head for Marsh Lane, past the Stockland Green Pub and onto Witton, I should have turned left out of Old Bell Rd on to the Sutton Rd for a few yards, turned left onto the Chester Rd and left agian at Gravelly Lane, turning right where it meets the bottom of station Rd and so on.
The route I actually took was right out of Old Bell Rd, BIG MISTAKE.

It was morning rush hour and had I waited patiently for some time, then half a chance came for me to make a right onto the Sutton Rd. The little bike reponded instantly and before I realised what was happening I was hurtling towards the far side of the road, travelling far too fast to make a right turn; I managed to ease of the throttle and regain some control, but my fate had been written. I did make the right turn, but only just - I ran along the inside of the kerb, lost my balance and fell onto the pavement, bending the nearside footrest and imparting a number of scratches on the bike, I wasn't injured.

If only I'd gone left instead of right! Ah Well! That's life!
Peg.

https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/peg-monkey-cartoons.48101/page-3#post-617835
 
Each tower block (usually close to the rear entrance) had a small children's play area (Standley's Tower being the exception - it housed senior citizens) they were open access so any child could use them, they usually consisted of a couple of benches (where mum's could meet and sit and watch their todlers play), some stepping stones in the form of mushrooms, one or two bars to swing on and so on; both Burcombe and Harlech were blessed with extra ground so they were able to accommodate impressive slides constructed like art-forms. I can't recall the one at Harlech but I do remember the slide rear of Burcombe, Tower, which could be seen clearly from the Sutton Road, if anyone has photos these would be valuable additions to the thread, in the meantime my recollection of the Burcombe Tower slide is shown below.
Peg.
Lyndhurst slide rear of burcombe.jpg
 
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When plans were first unveiled, (I estimate early 50s) for the Lyndhurst Estate the town-sized development, with monolithic tower blocks, they must have been received with horror by the householders on the eastern side of the Sutton Road and those that would back on to the estate's northern boundary on the Chester Road, even though the planners had a compelling argument that accomodation was badly needed to re-home families from inner city suburbs such as Aston, Saltley, Nechells and Hockley (as was the case with my family) who were being displaced by slum clearance activity.
Thankfully the estate's impact was mitigated by the many mature trees left on what would be the estate's eastern boundary, that fronted the Sutton Road, which meant the majority of the blocks were largely masked - not so for Harlech Tower, not only the largest block on the estate at 16 stories - it was the highest in the city at that time. For me the question that still remains unanswered: Why was the tallest block built in such a prominent position on top of a hill? - a monument to someone, perhaps?
The map below gives an indication of the proportions of the then proposed estate, you will get a better image (without my additions) using the link:
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=18&lat=52.4959&lon=-1.9081&layers=176&b=6
Selecting map: OS 25 inch, 1892-1914 and entering Chester Road Station in the search box.
Peg.
Map Lyndhurst Estate.jpg
 
It's 1968, I'm 19 and still living with my parents on the Lyndhurst, I forged a relationship with Paula, who resided in Burtwood near Brownhills. My motorbike had gone (the novelty of getting soaking wet everytime I made a journey in the rain had long worn off) and I was saving hard to get something with 4 wheels) so initially getting to and from Burntwood was problematical.
Those were the days long before mobile phones had even been thought of and only the rich and famous had their own GPO telephone, my parents didn't have one and neither did Paula's, so arranging our dates was complicated by poor communications, fortunately Paula had a friendly neighbout who took messages for her,
We had known each other a short time when I invited Paula to stay at my parents' flat for the weekend, we arranged to meet at the station.......what could possibly go wrong?.......
Must view!:
https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/peg-monkey-cartoons.48101/page-4#post-619753
Fortunately all ended well and that Saturday night we went to Mother's in the High St.
Peg.
P.S. Not sure where she boarded the train, does Brownhills have a station?

 
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Peg Monkey said:
Rowden Hall was the estate's village hall, constructed on a small area of land (no space for a car park) on Rowden Drive, between the end of the school playground and the rear of the parade of shops. It took over polling station duties from the school and was intended to be a venue for events for residents, I voted there and attended the odd social event. I'm guessing it would also have been used for mother and baby groups, senior citizens socials, perhaps even wedding receptions and the like. It was one of the last buildings to be constructed and I believe is no longer standing. I've been unable to find dates for its construction and demolition - can anyone fill in a few gaps?
Peg.
Click to expand...
I went to dancing lessons in that hall every Saturday morning for some years. It would have been 1964-68. I also remember bingo nights where everyone brought their own sandwiches etc and drink. It was a good place.
 
Peg Monkey said:
Each tower block (usually close to the rear entrance) had a small children's play area (Standley's Tower being the exception - it housed senior citizens) they were open access so any child could use them, they usually consisted of a couple of benches (where mum's could meet and sit and watch their todlers play), some stepping stones in the form of mushrooms, one or two bars to swing on and so on; both Burcombe and Harlech were blessed with extra ground so they were able to accommodate impressive slides constructed like art-forms. I can't recall the one at Harlech but I do remember the slide rear of Burcombe, Tower, which could be seen clearly from the Sutton Road, if anyone has photos these would be valuable additions to the thread, in the meantime my recollection of the Burcombe Tower slide is shown below.
Peg.
View attachment 125171
Click to expand...
 
I recall every one of those playgrounds. We had a name for each one. There was the tiger, the octopus, the long slide etc. Some were more boring than others. Mostly we summersaulted on the bars forwards and backwards.
 
Peg Monkey said:
The shops at the top of Beechmount Drive were built during the latter stages of the Lyndhurst's construction and I've been trying to recall who occupied what, when they first opened, the plan below is my best effort. But one part of my memory tells me there were more units; and I am not of one mind with my wife regarding the hairdressers (where she worked for a short time), her recollection is the unit was just a hairdresser, mine is as the plan.
Of one thing I am certain - there was a telephone box opposite the off-license, which I would use to ring my girlfriend (now my wife) on those nights we did not meet, (in those days if your home had a phone you were well posh, and she did!).
Peg.
P.S. She's quite open about the fact she only married me because I looked a bit like Scott Walker, mature lady threaders may remember the 60's hearthrob who fronted The Walker Brothers (which they weren't).
P.P.S. 6 May 2018: I've recently seen an old photo of the shops, there were 6 units.
View attachment 124622
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My mam went regularly to that hairdressers. The shop selling bay clothes sold lots of basics like adult underwear, wool, threads. I thought it was wonderful. Us kids (under 10) used to hang out sitting on the railings outside the outlicense shop sometimes in summer TIL it got dark !
 
Cathyburke said:
My mam went regularly to that hairdressers. The shop selling bay clothes sold lots of basics like adult underwear, wool, threads. I thought it was wonderful. Us kids (under 10) used to hang out sitting on the railings outside the outlicense shop sometimes in summer TIL it got dark !
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Hi Cathy, Welcome to The Forum.
I lived on the Lyndhurst 1960-72, you will recall the estate was on the approach to what was then Elmdon Airport, living in a tower block, as I was, you were very close to the action when a plane passed over, particularly if you were on the roof hanging out washing in the roof-top drying area - an activity I was regularly press-ganged into service with my mum. The planes were so low you could see passengers enjoying a last minute drink before landing.
Peg.

P.S. My original post had a topic-related attachment (intended to enhance Forum Members viewing experience) which has been deleted by a moderator. My original post has been transferred to an obscure thread, rarely (if ever) viewed, the following link will take you to the thread were the unabridged version can be viewed:
https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/peg-monkey-cartoons.48101/post-632084
Peg.
 
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My parents and me moved to The Lyndhurst in 1960 and withing weeks I had joined the 3rd Sutton Coldfield Company, The Boys' Brigade based at The Chester Rd Baptist Church, which was about 15mins walk distant. At that time I was the only lad from The Lyndhurst but within weeks my friends had joined and the number had swelled to around 10. All told I was a member for 7 years and played in the football team from day 1 rising to captain the A Team (we had A and B teams), we had a number of strips over the years but my favourite (for obvious reasons) was all red. Our home ground was a pitch at Pype Hayes Park, which had a dreadful slope from side to side, Ah! Happy Days.:)
Peg.
Must view! https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/peg-monkey-cartoons.48101/post-635039
 
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Lyndhurst Estate - 1960s: My family was re-homed to the Lyndhurst in the winter of 1960 (fair amoiunt of snow and ice around) from Heaton St., Hockley and not long before we moved a well-meaning elderley friend built me a sledge. The first real chance to use it came shortly after our move (not many snowy hills in Hockley), it was a solidly built craftsman's effort but therein lay the problem - it was far too heavy, with skinny runners, and it just sank into the snow. Until it was built-on there was a great slope at the side of Harlech Tower (The 16 story block), Ah happy Days!:).................
Peg.
Must view!: https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/peg-monkey-cartoons.48101/post-635196
 
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1960s - Although our flat had an electric drying cupboard my mom insisted on her laundry being dried naturally by fresh air, I was regulary press-ganged into service to assist the pegging out on the roof top drying area, I couldn't complain too loudly, she was on the rota for washing the 11 shirts from the Boys' Brigade football team of which I was a member.
Peg.
Must view!: https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/peg-monkey-cartoons.48101/post-635578
 
Peg Monkey said:
1960s - Although our flat had an electric drying cupboard my mom insisted on her laundry being dried naturally by fresh air, I was regulary press-ganged into service to assist the pegging out on the roof top drying area, I couldn't complain too loudly, she was on the rota for washing the 11 shirts from the Boys' Brigade football team of which I was a member.
Peg.
Must view!: https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/peg-monkey-cartoons.48101/post-635578
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My pegging out and laundry retrieval duties were not confined to daylight hours, or even seasons - on a cold winter's night, with a gale blowing, the rooftop drying area would have been the perfect training ground for an expedition to the Artic. But on a clear night there was a bonus - the panarama through one of the viewing panels was spectacular and if a plane did fly over at that time it really was a close encounter of the aircraft kind, come to think of it - a flashing beacon helmet might have been a good idea.
Peg.
Must view!: https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/peg-monkey-cartoons.48101/post-635931
 
Peg Monkey said:
The houses that abutted the railway on The Lyndhurst came late in the construction of the estate, which allowed glimpses of trains using the line, this was the latter days of steam and my parents flat was too far away from the line to allow a locomotive to be identified but you could validate you had actually spotted an engine
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I lived on Sutton Road opposite the estate, my bedroom window facing the tower blocks. If I stood in exactly the right place I was convinced there was a view of about 5' of railway line in the distance. With the windows open you could hear the train and something flickered as a train went by. Looking now at the pictures below it seems very unlikely, but a train-mad boy could dream, surely? These are the only pictures I took of the flats from my house. Probably about 1970?
scan0101.png
scan0103.pngscan0112.png
 
The phone box is still there.
I used to live above the shops 1994 to 2006.
The only shops there then were the Off Licence, Newsagent and the Council Office, the rest were permanently closed with metal shutters. Although there was a rumour that the shop marked as Greengrocer on your plan, was used as storage by the newsagent.
 
Kevkonk said:
The phone box is still there.
I used to live above the shops 1994 to 2006.
The only shops there then were the Off Licence, Newsagent and the Council Office, the rest were permanently closed with metal shutters. Although there was a rumour that the shop marked as Greengrocer on your plan, was used as storage by the newsagent.
Click to expand...
I actually filmed a bit of the demolition from the balcony which was about the middle of the block.
Robin Corbett, the local MP used to ask myself and another neighbour with a balcony to tie a huge banner between us during election times.

 
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The stairwell to the flats were a hangout for the local youths, who drank beer, used drugs, syringes etc, It was used as a toilet too, so you can imagine the smell.

A man came around about once a week with a bottle with a spray nozzle, a few sprays here and there and he was gone. It needed a big barrel of whatever he used, to be tipped down the steps and scrubbed about three days a week, so you can tell what good his little spray did…

At dusk you were in lockdown, as about 20 odd youths congregated there, if you dared to try it, your way would be blocked, you would get sworn at, sometimes nudged and you dare not touch the handrails as they were covered in spit, as might be the back of your coat.
 
Hello I’ve stumbled across your thread and know this is a long shot but have you heard of a Bobo/Bobb Tourey he was registered to be living in Burcombe Tower at the time of his passing in 1980 I'm not sure how long he lived there before that so thought worth asking as you never know, it is an unusual name. He would have been in his 50’s at the time
 
Hi Peg Monkey, enjoyed reading your memories of the Lyndhurst ….you mentioned joining the 3rd Boys Brigade in 1960, I have memories from that period of the Company, with Arthur Woodley as Captain, followed by Alan Skipper. I wonder if you are AJ ? and may have lived in Sycamore Road when you married ? Cheers The Lad
 
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