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Victoria Road Aston

J

June Moorby

Guest
:crazy2:

Hi any one remembers Victoria Rd. ? the old Vic picture house,
and the swimming baths
Every saturday morning went to the pics for 3 pence old money that is. Went to watch Flash Gordon and the Rock men.

As kids we did think that Flash Gordon was just great and you could not wait till the next Saturday to see if he lived or died.

Tat Tar June.
 
I spent hours and hours in Victoria Road Baths....... I hated it when they ran what they called sessions at busy periods. My mum used to go ape at me because when I came home my eyes were always sore from the chemicals in the pool.
 
My Dad joined the city police force in 1948 and as he had to leave his family behind he was in 'single mens quarters'.My mom came to Aston for a weekend every month and she and my Dad used to stay at a pub in Victoria road,the White *?
 
My aunt Ada (Ada 'Biddle', later 'MacDivitt') lived at 206 Victoria Road in the 30's to the 50's. Her second husband Alf MacDivitt and his brothers ran a car repair business called Mac's Motors also in Victoria Road near Flight's coaches IIRC. I lived in Potters Hill around 1953-56 and we used to go to the public baths as there was no bathroom in the house. E.
 
:crazy2:
Hi all.,

I used to live in the middle part of Vicarage Rd.
Like you Eric we did not have a bathroom in our house.
You had to put the kettle on to get hot water to have a wash.
But we did have a tin bath that came into the house every
Friday night and put in front of the open fire.
I also remember Flights as we went on many  a days trips with
them.
The Victoria Poilice station we used to play jumping off all the steps  There was one poilce man who took us kids up the side of the cop shop as at the back they used to keep the police horses. He let us give one of the horses an apple.
We were over the moon.
Lived in Vicarage Rd from 1938 to 1950. just a few years ago I WISH.

Tat Tar   June. :idiot2:
 
Nice posting June ;) I remember going from my school, Whitehead Road to Victoria Road Swim Baths

Early 1960,s,, you,re right,, those chemicals used to getcha red-eyed (Before i even drunk whiskey :crazy2: )

ps Loved the " I Wish",, but June ,,you lived there at the Best of Times really O0

Certainly be glad you.re not there now aarh gal :-* John Y
 
:crazy2:

Hi John,
Glad you liked the '  I WISH BIT'

As you say I did live there at the right time
and I would have not changed a thing. many
happy times.
Swinging on a rope tired to the old  street gas lamps.
Every one would help each other in troubled times.
A dear friend sent me a photograph of the back of our old house as they were about to pull it down.
Dear dear there was tears in my eyes.
Good job I did not stay there as I would be 6ft down underneath
the Express Motor Way.

Cheers Tat Tar June.
:2funny:
 
What I can remember most
about Victoria Rd was getting
my bike wheel stuck in a tramline :-[ :laugh:
 
We went to aunt Ada's for a Christmas family get together, while we were there one of those pea soup fogs came on and all the traffic stopped so we had to walk home to Kingstanding. Dad said we'll be ok if we follow the tramlines to Perry Bar but somehow we found ourselves going along the Chainwalk. We got home eventually but what a night. E.
 
Any one remembers the chemist shop on the corner
of Victoria Rd and Park Road.
Just in side they would have a large basket full of
different size glass tubes.
We often went in there to buy these as we used them for pea shooting small ones 1 penny large 3 pence but the very extra large they charged 6 pence. Never did buy that size had not got the momey.

Tat Tar   June.
:crazy2:
 
another memory recalled mind you June I bet the real reason was you had not got the lungs to blow them LOL  :2funny: :2funny:
mind you health and safety would have a say in not lettting you use them today
 
Hi John.

I did have the puff to blow down the glass tubes, in them days. ha ha.
Just think of all the games we played, did not cost very much but gave us hours of fun. We did not have the PC bunch telling us what we could and not do.
A very sad world now.

Tat Tar   June. :crazy2: :D :2funny:
 
Hi Postie,

Yes that is it, thank you so very much for letting
me see it.
Takes me back to very happy times.

Tat Tar  June. :D
 
Hi June,

the chemist shop was Buckinghams.. My brother in law must have lived by you John Burford he lived in the middle bit.

Doreen :
 
Hello Doreen,

The name John Burford rings a bell with me but cant put a face
to him. I lived at number 53.
Thank you for the name of the chemist.

Bye now June.
 
I also spent hours upon hours in victoria road baths, as I was on a special pass issued by Upper Thomas Street School to there swimming teams, any one remember Kenny Williams he worked over the road from the Baths at the butchers, he used to go swimming every day and coached by Mr Millner at Thomas Street he went to the 1955 olympics in Melbourn Australia.
I can recall on our way back from school swimming training we used to call at the Bakers on the corner of Victoria Road & upper Thomas Street Buy a large freshly baked loaf eat out the center on the way back to school and save the crust till break.
Victoria Playhouse my Mom & Dad (Great Villa fans) used to drop me off at the saturday afternoon matinee and pick me up after the match.That is untill I got the VILLA PARK bug.
Can any one else remember Kenney Williams, Perter Leigh , Johnny Prescott? Upper Thomas Street had so many good sports men including many pro footballs.
Happy Days, ASTON
 
Hi June
Don't know if I have spoken to you before. My much loved Nan lived in Vicarage road. Her name was Annie Harris and she owned the fruit and veg shop there. Opposite lived my Uncle Fred and Aunty Rose with their children Martin and Gillian. She had lived there since the turn of the century. Dad was born in Park Road, and she died in 1954 in Vicarage Road.
We used to have such good times there, and were a large very close family. :smitten:
Nice to read your postings
Lynda :)
 
Hello Lynda,

Yes we have been in touch before on the Vicarage Rd site.
Nice to hear from you again.

Hi Aston,

I do remember a Ken Williams. Infact 2 of them one used to live in the upper part of Alma Street close to Six Ways and the other one near to the fair ground by Aston Church
Which one is it ?????

Bye now   June
 
Hi June , do not know ? only know ken met a girl at the Olympics, she was with the Canadian Swimming Team and he went over there to live. But more than that no info?
ASTON
 
just to please you Kenny Williams and the school swimming team Ken some times comes to our reunions still looks very fit I do have some more upper Thomas Street pictures if any one is interested Football crickey and the running team with some ols teachers to view let me know
 
I remember Kenny Williams and his cousin Royston, they lived almost opposite Victoria Road baths, Royston was sweet on me when I was about 14 and came and knocked on our door to see me, my dad wasn't too pleased. To get back to Ken, as John says he has come to one or two of our Reunions when we were at the Barton Arms, he told me he is still (or was then) connected to the swimming world, if I remember right as a coach. BTW the Melbourne Olympics was 1956 - always an even year.
 
YES IT buck,s and he had a shop of coloured of old fashion medice bottle,s on display , on his old fahioned counter in the old days 1952, also the picture rod as shown , if you look along the road towards the shops , the one with the shop blind showing in the picture that used to be DR, GRASON,S house, and his surgery, buckingham,s had there shop remodernised in the late fities, and made it larger, and better, becos it was smaller and darker inside in the early 194O,S. we used to live at 5. / 92 LICHFIELD ROAD IN THE 194O,S AND FIFTYS, THEN WE MOVED UP TO VICTORIA ROAD THE LITTLE CAKE SHOP ON THE CORNER OF UPPER THOMAS STREET ALONG FROM THE SWIMMING BATH,S WHERE YOU COULD A SLICE OF BREAD PUDD;; FOR A PENNY
 
Remember the SALVATION ARMY in Victoria Road just before it meet the Lichfield Road. Most of My family were SALVATIONIST'S at Victoria Road. The posted Photo shows My Aunt & Uncle Hilda & James Matthews of  266 Park Lane. Any one remember Jack & Edith Lamb My other Aunt & Uncle who also attended Victoria Road, as  did My Mom & Dad plus all My Cousins.
Any one stand at the bottom of Tower Road and watch the open air meetings they used to hold before marching back to the meeting hall?
ASTON
 
Aston, I don't remember them, but after meeting your cousin Derek? at the Reunion on Friday night, I would say he is the image of his dad.
 
I knew a Mrs lamb she used to visit our next door neighbour Mrs Moore Mrs Lamb gave us a few religios books with full plate pictures of angels and such like I wonder if it was your Mr Lamb we were still at school when she visited late 40's early 50's
 
JOHN, My Aunt, Mrs EDITH LAMB ran the shop in UPPER THOMAS STREET which you have on the main site, it shows a snowy street with a shop at the top of the court yard in which both her sons lived at one time or another. I think she actualy lived over the road from the shop at No 19? about three doors down from her daugter. All our familys lived within 1/2 a mile of each other uptill around the mid 60s. TOWER RD, PARK LANE, UPPER THOMAS ST. Six familys in all, THE JENNEYS, THE MATTHEWS,THE LAMBS.(Three familys of LAMBS)
 
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