Castle Bromwich

Village School

I remember moving to the village school in about 1962/3. I had been at Highcroft private school further up towards the church for a couple of years but my parents decided to move me to the village school. The school was very old. My grandfather went there too as he was born in the village and I lived here from when I was born until I was 22. My farther still lives in the same house in Castle Bromwich to this day.
I can still remember Mrs Huggins (a lovely lady teacher) and Mrs Davy and Miss Dobinson. The toilets were outside, adjacent to the playground. As Helen said, the morning assembly and PE were carried out in the Victory Hall. We used to walk from the school to the Victory Hall in the morning through a little alleyway, carrying a large mat to sit on, with a pupil at each end carrying it.
I can't remember walking to school but can remember walking home. I used to walk out of the playground over a small piece of waste land opposite the shops. I can still remember the names: Lambs (toy shop), Perks (wool shop), Holes (hardware), and I think it was the Salad Bowl (fruit and veg) at the end. My cousin now owns this property and it is an office. I then walked past Jack's (the barber) and through the Coach and Horses car park, into Ringmere Avenue, up Woodford Avenue and I was home.
I too remember watching the builders build our new school in Southfield Avenue circa 1964. We were the first pupils to move into the school. I still sometimes have a look at my old school when I visit my father. Happy times.

My house

Although I so far know little about it, the white house with the black beams was formerly the local shop. In the early 90's it was derelict and subsequently refurbished as a residential property.
I purchased the property in February 2007, and live there now. If anyone knows anything of its history, please leave information here!
It used to be a coaching inn, and its age is approximately 300 years old.

Post Office

We moved to nearby Kingshurst and the Post Office on the corner of Hurst Lane was the nearest for collecting the much needed Family Allowance. It was a good walk as the buses were not very frequent. When I was newly married 13 years later, our first house was in Hawthorne Road so this was my local shopping area. We moved away 33 years ago but having friends who live in Hurst Lane North we do visit the area occasionally. I have experienced many changes to these shops and the now very busy road.

Village School

To the left of where the photographer was standing was the junior's playground of the old village school (St Mary and St Margaret's.) In 1963-4 we would have vacated the old buildings and moved into a new building in Southfield Avenue on the Hall Estate. The old school was basically a large room divided into classrooms by immense sliding concertina doors. The windows were very high and so were the ceilings. Because the old school was very cramped just prior to moving to the new one, our class with our teacher Mrs Huggins, had our lessons in two rooms of the old house. I remember immense coal fires in the winter while the rest of the school had hot pipes running around the rooms. Morning assemblies and P.E. lessons were held in the Victory Hall further down on the left. The Victory Hall was later converted into a working mens club. The building on the right with the white end wall and black beams was a general store but I'm afraid I don't remember the name of the man who owned it. A little further on was Rawlings Farm and I vividly remember the smell of the pigs there!
The site of the old school is now given over to flats.