Acocks Green, West Midlands

Shops

I was born in Douglas Road in 1941 and remember many local shops as they were then important parts of our life and we often visited daily. On the Yardley Road I recall Greenwoods the baker, their son, Malcolm, and I went to the same school, Wrensons the grocers, C King Bowdler the chemist (we would now say pharmacist) and a... [more]

Hobmoor Croft Yardley

I was born in 1940 and lived at 27? (it might be another number) Hobmoor Croft. We lived next door to the Lewis family and the other side was the Bessie family. We lived there between 1940 and 1945 when we moved to Erdington. As I was so very young I don't have many memories of the place except that there... [more]

The shops on Yardley Road

I remember when all shopping was done by visiting independant local shops. The shops I remember going to with my mother on Yardley Road were Alldays butchers, Timms greengrocers, The Bargain Shop, Terry Lovetts Sports, The Iceberg (drinks store), The Chocolate Box, Washland and many more I can picture but cannot remember the names of. This was well before people had... [more]

Rag & Bone man

We lived at 1, Northanger Road, which was at right angles to Olton Boulevard East and we have had views down both directions of the Boulevard. I remember the regular visits of the rag and bone man.  Cars were becoming common-place, but a horse and cart seemed very old fashioned.  The horse manure was soon collected up by the keen gardeners... [more]

West Midlands Pocket Album

Both Acock's Green and Olton were once residential areas favoured by the wealthier inhabitants of Birmingham, but they became progressively industrialized as factories opened along the route of the railway. The Birmingham Mail in November 1903 reported that Acock's Green's genteeler residents were moving further out: 'Like the Arab, they are folding their tents and stealing away in the direction of Knowle and Solihull, where the octopus... [more]

West Midlands Living Memories

Clifton House occupies the corner of Fox Hollies Road and Olton Boulevard East, and had probably been only recently completed when the photograph was taken. It remains unchanged today, but the shapely elm tree in the background has gone, presumably a victim of Dutch elm disease. However, the spindly cherry trees on the roundabout look a lot more substantial now. ... [more]

West Midlands Living Memories

Clifton House occupies the corner of Fox Hollies Road and Olton Boulevard East, and had probably been only recently completed when the photograph was taken. It remains unchanged today, but the shapely elm tree in the background has gone, presumably a victim of Dutch elm disease. However, the spindly cherry trees on the roundabout look a lot more substantial now.