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Would this have been close to Oldmohawk’s image in post #1620 ? Or is it a reference to Baden Powell (and the Scouts jamboree held in the Park) ? Viv.
Lady Penelope
master brummie
mw0njm, this is Blackroot pool and the raft was in the middle of Keepers, the swimming pool where the lido was.
Lady Penelope
master brummie
Viv, this was the cafe and boathouse built in 1939 which now houses the Miller & Carter restaurant. In his book 'The History of Boldmere', Ken Williams states that the pool could have been named after a farmer but this, I think, is only a guess. At one time the pool was known as New Forge Mill when it was being used as a spade mill. There's a house in Stonehouse Road called Spade Mill House. It didn't become part of the park until 1937 which I suppose is why the boathouse was built then.
oldMohawk
gone but not forgotten
I remember seeing it when it was simply a cafe but it later became 'La Reserve' restaurant...
The cafe at Powells Pool in the process of construction in 1939. Viv.
Thanks OM, thought I’d seen it before. I think I even went there once when it was La Reserve but it was dark ! Viv.
Someone may remember this. Possibly around 1940s/50s (?).
Viv.
Viv.
I is still there but quite silted up and not maintained
oldMohawk
gone but not forgotten
x
Happy days ...
That picture reminds me of a day in the 1940s when my cousin and and I were told to go and play in Sutton park. She was 9 and I was 8 and we were given 2d each for the park entrance tickets and bus fares to journey on the 107 Midland Red bus from Perry Barr to Sutton. We spent all day roaming across the park including paddling in the stream shown in the picture. It was evening and getting dark when we got back to Perry Barr to a 'telling-off' for being late back.
Happy days ...
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mw0njm.
A Brummie Dude
donot know if its been posted before i cant see it
Interesting natural history Pete. Much more woodland in the past. I only remember the parts I went to as open heath-type ground. I remember lots of marsh grass, so the area we went to must have been quite wet. The main wooded areas seem to be located in the more central parts closer towards Sutton Coldfield (Town).
Wonder when cattle grazing stopped in the park?
This 1926 aerial view from Streetly gives some sense of how vast the park is, seems to be very little wooded area on the west side.
Viv.
Wonder when cattle grazing stopped in the park?
This 1926 aerial view from Streetly gives some sense of how vast the park is, seems to be very little wooded area on the west side.
Viv.
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mw0njm.
A Brummie Dude
Cows returned to graze at a Sutton Coldfield beauty spot and were sporting some high-tech kit to track their moo-vements.
GPS collars have been fitted to the livestock in an effort to prevent them causing damage to a nearby golf course.
The cows made their annual return to Sutton Park on Wednesday (May 11) complete with the new kit which creates virtual fences to stop them wandering off in to the ‘rough’ at Sutton Coldfield Golf Club. so watch were you sit
GPS collars have been fitted to the livestock in an effort to prevent them causing damage to a nearby golf course.
The cows made their annual return to Sutton Park on Wednesday (May 11) complete with the new kit which creates virtual fences to stop them wandering off in to the ‘rough’ at Sutton Coldfield Golf Club. so watch were you sit
mw0njm.
A Brummie Dude
Cattle grazing has long been a feature of the park and has been a vital part of maintaining the heathland and grassland. Medieval deer parks generally provided pasture for cattle and sheep as well as supporting deer
Great, and being nicely managed. Think another member posted photos of the ponies somewhere on this thread too. Good to see it being used in this way, supporting the park environment. Viv.
mw0njm.
A Brummie Dude
true viv. or else it will soon get unkempt. and prone to wildfires. a lot of the wildlife that was in the park have grown up now,and do go there anymore
Not a very clear image but this is a nice example showing the woodlands in the 1880s. Hopefully it hasn’t changed too much since. It has many more features referenced too. The map itself has ‘Encampment’ labelled but it doesn’t make a point of listing it in its key of this Roman presence. So posting a much later map (from a book but sorry can’t reference or date it).
Viv
Viv
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Where would we be without our parks and open spaces ? Sutton Park had (and hopefully still has) 2500 acres of open space according to this tantalising poster. Presumably the various gates were installed to capitalise on its attraction by making entrance charges. Viv.
1908
1908
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mw0njm.
A Brummie Dude
mw0njm.
A Brummie Dude
what ever next
It is difficult to believe that a man could be living wild dressed in tree bark and leaves only 9 miles away from this country’s second largest city, however if the witness testimonies are to be believed this is in fact a reality.
Sutton Park which covers an area of 2,400 acres in the West Midlands is said to be the place where the mystery man has been s
een and where over the last few months numerous sightings of him have been made. He has aquired the name Bark Foot as his feet have been seen wrapped in tree bark which have been made into a primitive form of foot wear, his hat also has been formed of what I presume to be made of Birch bark.
Patrick Sheehy told his cousin Oliver how he was jogging through the nature reserve one morning last May when he took a short cut through one of the Holly groves when he collided with a man cooking sausages in a frying pan over an open fire, dressed in his birch bark suit.
A local reporter discovered the remains of a makeshift shelter with a fireplace and frying pan. From April to June this den was covered with blue plastic sheeting, according to John Fowler whose dog took him to the site in November 2003, he went on to say that “It was quite well hidden, about 40yards off a path and covered with holly branches and bushes”, “Quite a few times you could see smoke coming out of the top”. It seems that Bark Foot is actually breaking the law by making the park his home as an old by law forbids anyone from taking up residence in the park.
Mrs L Smith met Bark Foot at about 6.30pm on the 25th of July when he emerged from Queens Coppice, a clump of trees on one of the hills in the park. He was covered with tree bark and leaves and his bark shoes were tied together using thin saplings. He was holding a charred frying pan which had a big hole in its middle. He asked her if she had any sausages, she said she hadn’t but offered him some fudge which he took before he disappeared into the undergrowth.
Peter Molesworth encountered the wild man as he walked his dog Zeberdee at 5.30 one morning in August. He described him as about 5ft 10in in height, 60 years old and very rough looking. He was wearing a cowboy style hat made from tree bark and a long one piece overcoat which looked as though it had been woven from leaves and reeds.
He had as usual with him his trusty frying pan and around a dozen sausages and he offered Peters dog one, however Peter told him his dog had already eaten. The wild man went on to identify himself as Larchey, or Larry Larch and said that he had been living in a tree house that he had constructed somewhere in the park, he also went on to say that at some time in the past he had used to be a bottle opener designer from Hemel hempstead, a sort of poor mans suburban Crocodile Dundee!
It is not known whether the wild man is still alive as this item was taken from the Sutton Coldfield Observer which appeared on the 6th of August 2004, however the park is so vast that the possibility remains that he is still alive living on his fried sausages and avoiding the likes of you and me!
The wild man of Sutton park.
It is difficult to believe that a man could be living wild dressed in tree bark and leaves only 9 miles away from this country’s second largest city, however if the witness testimonies are to be believed this is in fact a reality.
Sutton Park which covers an area of 2,400 acres in the West Midlands is said to be the place where the mystery man has been s
een and where over the last few months numerous sightings of him have been made. He has aquired the name Bark Foot as his feet have been seen wrapped in tree bark which have been made into a primitive form of foot wear, his hat also has been formed of what I presume to be made of Birch bark.Patrick Sheehy told his cousin Oliver how he was jogging through the nature reserve one morning last May when he took a short cut through one of the Holly groves when he collided with a man cooking sausages in a frying pan over an open fire, dressed in his birch bark suit.
A local reporter discovered the remains of a makeshift shelter with a fireplace and frying pan. From April to June this den was covered with blue plastic sheeting, according to John Fowler whose dog took him to the site in November 2003, he went on to say that “It was quite well hidden, about 40yards off a path and covered with holly branches and bushes”, “Quite a few times you could see smoke coming out of the top”. It seems that Bark Foot is actually breaking the law by making the park his home as an old by law forbids anyone from taking up residence in the park.
Mrs L Smith met Bark Foot at about 6.30pm on the 25th of July when he emerged from Queens Coppice, a clump of trees on one of the hills in the park. He was covered with tree bark and leaves and his bark shoes were tied together using thin saplings. He was holding a charred frying pan which had a big hole in its middle. He asked her if she had any sausages, she said she hadn’t but offered him some fudge which he took before he disappeared into the undergrowth.Peter Molesworth encountered the wild man as he walked his dog Zeberdee at 5.30 one morning in August. He described him as about 5ft 10in in height, 60 years old and very rough looking. He was wearing a cowboy style hat made from tree bark and a long one piece overcoat which looked as though it had been woven from leaves and reeds.
He had as usual with him his trusty frying pan and around a dozen sausages and he offered Peters dog one, however Peter told him his dog had already eaten. The wild man went on to identify himself as Larchey, or Larry Larch and said that he had been living in a tree house that he had constructed somewhere in the park, he also went on to say that at some time in the past he had used to be a bottle opener designer from Hemel hempstead, a sort of poor mans suburban Crocodile Dundee!It is not known whether the wild man is still alive as this item was taken from the Sutton Coldfield Observer which appeared on the 6th of August 2004, however the park is so vast that the possibility remains that he is still alive living on his fried sausages and avoiding the likes of you and me!
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Bark Man /Bottle opener designer must be in his 80s if still alive. He’s doing well if he’s lived (albeit illegally) and survived the conditions in Sutton Park for a long time.
The military camp is interesting. Of course, many soldiers were put through training in the park at various times.p including WW1 recruits. The possibility of it being used by the US army in WW2 (suggested by Mike Hodder) is no surprise really as Great Barr (Pheasey) also had one and wasn’t that far away.
Viv.
The military camp is interesting. Of course, many soldiers were put through training in the park at various times.p including WW1 recruits. The possibility of it being used by the US army in WW2 (suggested by Mike Hodder) is no surprise really as Great Barr (Pheasey) also had one and wasn’t that far away.
Viv.
I love the poster. It would be great to have a copy of that to frame.
oldMohawk
gone but not forgotten
There is some information earlier in the thread about military use of the park.
Regarding the military connections with the park, 'britainfromabove' took a photo of the Powells Pool area dated 1946. Two pics below. (click them to make larger)
The full view shows a military camp top right and other interesting things are a fire engine with pipes going into the pool, a large herd of cows, and people. I can remember seeing the camp but cannot remember whether it was for the Army or for POWs. I certainly saw POWs in the park nearer the Streetly side but they were in tents.
An enlarged view below of the camp showing personnel standing in line near the water tower. A fence along the road with a gateway top left.
A Sparks
master brummie
Sutton Park's own Green Man!what ever next
he wild man of Sutton park.
It is difficult to believe that a man could be living wild dressed in tree bark and leaves only 9 miles away from this country’s second largest city, however if the witness testimonies are to be believed this is in fact a reality.
Sutton Park which covers an area of 2,400 acres in the West Midlands is said to be the place where the mystery man has been s
Patrick Sheehy told his cousin Oliver how he was jogging through the nature reserve one morning last May when he took a short cut through one of the Holly groves when he collided with a man cooking sausages in a frying pan over an open fire, dressed in his birch bark suit.
A local reporter discovered the remains of a makeshift shelter with a fireplace and frying pan. From April to June this den was covered with blue plastic sheeting, according to John Fowler whose dog took him to the site in November 2003, he went on to say that “It was quite well hidden, about 40yards off a path and covered with holly branches and bushes”, “Quite a few times you could see smoke coming out of the top”. It seems that Bark Foot is actually breaking the law by making the park his home as an old by law forbids anyone from taking up residence in the park.
Peter Molesworth encountered the wild man as he walked his dog Zeberdee at 5.30 one morning in August. He described him as about 5ft 10in in height, 60 years old and very rough looking. He was wearing a cowboy style hat made from tree bark and a long one piece overcoat which looked as though it had been woven from leaves and reeds.
It is not known whether the wild man is still alive as this item was taken from the Sutton Coldfield Observer which appeared on the 6th of August 2004, however the park is so vast that the possibility remains that he is still alive living on his fried sausages and avoiding the likes of you and me!
The Green Man
Carved figures of the Green Man appear on our churches and cathedrals yet this is an ancient pagan symbol of rebirth, traditionally associated with May Day...
www.historic-uk.com
mw0njm.
A Brummie Dude
i think the wild man of sutton park was just wierd.
The Green Man is believed to symbolise the cycle of life, death and re-birth. The symbol of Godhood within the male and its relationship with the transcendent life force our Goddess, the female expression of divinity. He is a Pagan symbol who heralds Spring after a long winter and the renewal of lush vegetation.
The Green Man is believed to symbolise the cycle of life, death and re-birth. The symbol of Godhood within the male and its relationship with the transcendent life force our Goddess, the female expression of divinity. He is a Pagan symbol who heralds Spring after a long winter and the renewal of lush vegetation.
Some more views: Wyndley, Powell’s and Keepers Pools.
Viv.
1930
1920
1918
Viv.
1930
1920
1918
Lady Penelope
master brummie
There are some very good walks organised in the park, some organised by the Park Rangers and Rob Pocock explaining about how the park is being managed and some by an archaeologist explaining the history of the park. I think they will have finished for this year by now but I'll look out for any coming up next year.