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piddock st smethwick

A

Astonian

gone but not forgotten
hi
I am looking for information on the notoriuos police station piddock st
smethwick it was almost big as our steel house lane one
could any body tel me what year this was openened as i have previosly said in the last thread my grand father was a constable in smethwick
and going by reports of my ancesters he was well informed of new cannal st
and other out lets of the summer lane bettings carrying on with the illegal gamblings and as he lived in smethwick or kings norton at the time he could have worked at digbeth as well but my first preference would be piddock st
as he moved to b,ham from batsford glocestershire i beleive piddock st was the central office for smethwick at the time and may be try and find out what rank he held many thanks astonian ;;
 
I remember as a child scrumping apples from some one`s tree by victoria park.

the local Copper caught me and took me to piddock Rd Police Station,
the Sargent at the desk told the officer to put me in the Cells.

It seemed ages that I was in there, then the officer came in and he gave me a glass of lemonade, and the Sargent told him to take me home, when I got there and he told my Dad what I had been up to, Dad sent me to bed with out any tea. but it taught me a lesson not to get caught again.
 
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Barnes Family

would like to get in touch with any one who knows the Barnes Family who lived in Edmunds St / Emliy St Aston / Suffolk St .

also the Ryland Family also from the same erea.
 
I was stationed at Piddock Road Police Station from 1960 till late 1965 when it was part of Staffordshire County Police. I was transferred to Cannock just prior to the amalgamation of the South Staffordshire Divisions into the first part of the new West Midlands Police in 1966. West Bromwich, Wednesbury, Walsall Borough and Wolverhampton as well as Smethwick all became West Mids Police. The station itself in Piddock Road was a two storey building. The upper floors prior to 1966 were made up of singlemens quarters at one end and the canteen and club in the other end. All the offices and parade room were on the ground floor including the Superintendents Office. The Superintendent lived in a house at the rear of the station facing onto Crocketts Lane with other police houses opposite. The whole area has changed now but the pokice station still remains there but the club and quarters are now offices. Was a very happy place to work in during the early 60's
 
Hi Master Brummie, I served in Birmingham City Police and then West Midlands Police for over 30 years and am now Vice Chair of the Police Museum(s). Forgive me but I think you may have slightly confused the issue. When your relative was serving he is unlikely to have worked in Birmingham and lived in Smethwick (which was in Staffordshire Constabulary until 1966). I suspect he joined Birmingham City Police if he worked in the city centre - either Steelhouse Lane or Digbeth Police stations. If you have his details name d.o.b and collar number and rank I may be able to help as we offer a genealogy service. I worked at both Steelhouse lane and Digbeth and I can tell you Piddock Road (yes I also worked there as a Sergeant and Commander) is considerably smaller. If you would like me to try and se if we have any records please let me know through the forum.

Bob
 
hi bob
just read your reply to master brummie with intrest
especialy the bit about living in smethwick and b,ham
my grandfather came to smethwick from glocestershire where he was a constable ;
and transfered to smethwick he lived at high park rd would he had to be stationed at piddock street when it
opened. was it possible he could have been transfered to digbeth or the lane
during the 1925-30 or was it not excepted in those days
i do not know what his collar number was or rank which i was always intrested to find out
i have been to acocks green museum last year and i found it very intresting but there was no-one available
to asked questions nor i was not sure whether there may have been a register there for that period
well bob thats what my question is ; so grand father would have been stationed at the little station
then moved to piddock st when opened did they close the little one down when
piddock st opened many thanks ;Astonian ;;;;
 
Hi Astonian, I am intriged by the movements of your grandfather and can only assume that he transferred from one force to another which explains where he served. Gloucestershire, Staffordshire covering Smethwick and Birmingham were all different police forces then. We should have a record of him at our Sparkhill Museum (there is a charge for this service). If you want to contact the Museum keeper Dave Cross please ring 0845 113 5000 and ask for the Police Museum at Sparkhill. Dave only works part time so you may have to leave a message or ring again. Sorry about no one being able to help at the Open day but Dave was probably not there that day. Alternately you can e mail Dave on D.A.Cross@west-midlands.pnn.police.uk.

Good Luck.

Bob
 
hi bob
many thanks for your reply thats brillient news i will do it on monday
incidently bob when will the museum open again
mamy thanks again best wishes Astonian ;;
 
Our next Open Day will be during February half term.......best to ring Dave beforehand to confirm.

Bob
 
hi bob
once again many thanks for the infomation you have supplied
regarding my request; unfortuneately i never got around to contact dave yesterday
but i will be most certainly be contacting him today [ tuesday ] by email .for defin;
iwent to my daughters yesterday ,she lives in acocks green
and i told her about the museum she never knew it was there, she knew of my grand father
and of my family back ground and when i go she wants to come with me
so thats brillient news ,
incidently ; whilst i am on this thread i am mentioning acocks green ;
i know this is a different subject but i thought i might mention the old red lion pub
as i know that we do have people on the forum like to hear of pubs
and a couple of weeks ago the red lion which was one time my old pub years ago was closed
down and boarded up . but yesterday there is a sign which says under offer
so some-one is intrested in it and its gonna reopen i suspect
hope the moderaters did not mind me mentioning it
many thanks guys , and many thanks bob . best wishes Astonian ;;;
 
Re: Barnes Family

Hello
I am searching my family (Barns/Barnes) too - although they did not live in Edmunds St - they resided in Morville St, Aston and John (Barns/Barnes) was a retired police sgt - I had a link with Jake (Journeyman) as we seemed to share a relation, Sadly Jake has not logged onto the site for sometime, so I have not been able to establish this. Not sure if this fits in with anyone on your family - John William Barns (1874-1951) his father, John Barnes - 1822-1892 was the police officer in Birmingham. I too am trying to contact Dave to see when the museum is open - but I do not get any replies when I try to email the site, Do you know of any opening times, etc? many thanks in advance!
 
We have had the Museum redecorated which necessitated a large number of exhibits being moved off site. We are now in the process of putting the displays back together but it is a mamouth task with the limited resources available to us. I will post the next Open day on this site BUT also look out for press releases in the Birmingham Evening Mail....Bob
 
hi bob
many thanks for that info;
if you was to asked about a person whom was in the force ,a long ime ago
would any body there have emediate axcess to the records ,
meaning the person on duty t the museum, not meaning joe public to see .
so if i asked about my grand father the person may be able to tell me there and then as to what rank he held
or is there only a certain amout of dated records there to glance
i went a couple of years ago but they was busy and i could not aske the questions
any way i am looking foreward to the opening best wishes Astonian ;;
 
afternoon all hope everyone is well i am trying to find photos of pool road in smethwick would be grateful if anyone could help regards bowdler
 
Hi Moss
this is Fantastic ....thank you ...as my grandfather was born at 94 pool road in 1913 and this is such a fab picture also did they class smethwick as part of the black country around about 1913 .....
with my greatest gratitude
Many Thanks
Bowdler
 
Hi Bowdler,i think the term "The Black Country" dates back to the 1800s, but i am not sure if Smethwick was thought of as part of it from day one.
Moss.
 
hi Moss
ok thanks for helping anyhow and thank you for the photo of pool road may i ask where you was able to it as i search on the internet and nothing came up
regard Bowdler
 
i think you will find the black country tag starts from the other side of smethwick or black heath olbury cradley heath
tipton west bromwich and cross the boundry to the beginning of halesowen and stourbridge as it was in them days
and surrounding district across the boundrys to stourbridge
but stourbridge is no longer a part of it now as itv was back in time
best wishes ASTONIAN ;;;
 
Paul Botha said:
I lived in Piddock st in the 1950s ,we moved to Australia 1957 ,is piddock st still there ??
Click to expand...
hello paul and welcome...far as i can see there was not a piddock st in smethwick...do you mean piddock st hockley?? my gt aunt lived there at 2/22 piddock st

lyn
 
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The Police station building is still there in Piddock Road Smethwick but it has a different use now.
rosie.
 
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