My grandparents lived in Bloomsbury Street, Nechells until bombed out during the war, they then moved around the corner to Gt Lister Street. Grandad (William Kirkham) was a hairdresser and had a barbers shop with a red and white pole outside. In those days men used to go to barbers shops not only for a haircut but also for a shave. On visiting I used to be fascinated by the sight of grandad lathering the faces of the men to be shaved (no unisex hairdressers in those days). He would sharpen his cut throat razor on a leather strap and then proceed to remove all the lather plus whiskers, how I would hold my breath when he reached underneath the chin. Fortunately his hand was very steady !!! My mother as a small girl used to have to lather all the customers ready for her father to start shaving. She hated doing it. At the back of the shop were the living quarters where grandma despite having an old gas cooker in the annexe (no fitted kitchen there) would cook all her meals on a coal fired range. The oven or ovens, I can't remember if there was one or two,were at the side of the fire. How she judged the right temperature for cooking I will never know but she did. There was always a kettle on the fire boiling ready to make tea with sterilised milk I can still taste it now. When the area was re-developed the grandparents move to The Riddings.
Sylvia
Sylvia
