Perry Park

[oldMohawk]

Viv, everyone where I lived as a child called it 'Perry Barr Park' ....
The Library have the following postcard photo dated 1890-1899. I know that the pool has a central overflow (can be seen on GE) but from my memory no line could be seen from it to the bank. The hill behind the pool is definitely not the canal side.

 

[mw0njm.]

Viv, everyone where I lived as a child called it 'Perry Barr Park' ....
The Library have the following postcard photo dated 1890-1899. I know that the pool has a central overflow (can be seen on GE) but from my memory no line could be seen from it to the bank. The hill behind the pool is definitely not the canal side.
View attachment 152169

i remember the over flow, as kids we went up to it in the boat to look.at it i remember it was a round outlet.
we also went on the bus, via the aldridge gate,to catch the stickle backs in the stream,with cotton and a bent pin hook

 

[oldMohawk]

I have many childhood memories of the park and one I recall was when my sister age 6 and me 7 went there having been told not to paddle in the streams. We ignored the warning and paddled and I trod on broken glass badly cutting my foot. I left a trail of blood trickling from my sandal as I limped very slowly home. A lady caught up with us, sat me down and from a first-aid kit she had in her shopping bag expertly bandaged my foot !

 

[oldMohawk]

An aerial view of Perry Park shows army huts by the lake and anti-aircraft guns. My photo in post#3 was taken from the lakeside path near the huts.

The high ground seen in the photo in post#31 might be the area to the right of the pool see in this aerial photo.

 

[A Sparks]

IN the 70s i worked for the parks dept,before the council took over.i was a tractor driver. ( were i got my love of trac from)
i mowed the grass in perry park as well as p/hall park. one of the jobs was getting perry park ready for the show. delivering fences etc. do they still have a show there?.... great times.

No, they haven't had the show there for years. They were great though, used to go when I was at school.

Both parks were near to where we lived, I was born in my Nan's house on the Walsall Road opposite Perry Barr Park and then my parents moved to Glendower Road which is slightly nearer Perry Hall Park.

 

[oldMohawk]

The unusual feature across the lake in post#31 is shown on a 1888-1913 map. It is also shown on a 1892-1914 map but the lake was then referenced Birmingham Parks Committee.
1888-1913 map

 

[nickcc101]

We always knew Perry hall park as Perry Hall playing fields and Perry Barr park as Perry Barr park, the sign in Perry Avenue said Perry Hall playing fields. We lived a few hundred yards from the entrance from 1945 until 1970 and never called it Perry Hall park.

 

[Pedrocut]

For OldM...

 

[Vivienne14]

I remember when the sports facilities at Alexander Stadium moved to Perry Park, when the old stadium opposite Welhead Lane became the dog track (or maybe it was the Speedway? Or was that later ?). And I’m sure my dad told me the Stadium in Perry Park was being built for a major sports meeting (Commonwealth Games maybe ?). Viv.

 

[A Sparks]

Yes, I think it was the Commonwealth Games.
I remember the Alexander Stadium before it moved very well, when I was at Birchfield Road Juniors we had our sports day there once.
It was used by the Speedway for quite a time too.

 

[oldMohawk]

The Historic England website has been mentioned in two recent threads so I gave it a test. I had already seen many of their images but there are new ones taken from high altitude RAF aircraft. Reference the oblique view image in my post#34 I looked at RAF photos taken in the Perry Beeches area where I lived as a child. The photos show anti-aircraft guns in Perry Barr park. I tried to use the website's image embed system but have not yet made it work.

South is at the top of the image date 1941. Four anti-aircraft gun emplacements on the right with the guns in them.

image from https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/archive/collections/aerial-photos/

A later image date 1953. The guns have been removed.

image from https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/archive/collections/aerial-photos/

A modern image (date 2021) and work for the Commonwealth games underway ...


The AA guns in the park fired at the bombers during air raids and showered the district with shrapnel (jagged very sharp lumps of metal) ... we used to collect it on the way to school !

 

[A Sparks]

Yes, I remember my Mom and Nan mentioning the AA guns in Perry Park, they lived in a house on the Walsall Road very near the park.

 

[nickcc101]

The Historic England website has been mentioned in two recent threads so I gave it a test. I had already seen many of their images but there are new ones taken from high altitude RAF aircraft. Reference the oblique view image in my post#34 I looked at RAF photos taken in the Perry Beeches area where I lived as a child. The photos show anti-aircraft guns in Perry Barr park. I tried to use the website's image embed system but have not yet made it work.

South is at the top of the image date 1941. Four anti-aircraft gun emplacements on the right with the guns in them.
View attachment 168664
image from https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/archive/collections/aerial-photos/

A later image date 1953. The guns have been removed.
View attachment 168665
image from https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/archive/collections/aerial-photos/

A modern image (date 2021) and work for the Commonwealth games underway ...
View attachment 168666

The AA guns in the park fired at the bombers during air raids and showered the district with shrapnel (jagged very sharp lumps of metal) ... we used to collect it on the way to school !

Used to land on our roof in Dewsbury Grove but could have been the guns from the Park or the Playing fields. All of our ceilings were cracked and my Mother blamed the guns.