The Francis Frith Collection.
You are here:

Chester Road.

I spent 9 years from the age of 6 to 14 years old, (1936 to 1944) living in the Princess Alice Home & Orphanage in Sutton Coldfield.
I do not recognise any of the pictures on this website. So I am presuming there have been many changes, besides the demolition of the Home and surrounding property.
I do remember spending so many weekends in Sutton Park, just a short walk from the Home. It felt longer when I was small. We played in the Woods, Picked Blackberry's and Bluebells. Swam and paddled in the streams and Picknicked, until we were so tired we had difficulty walking back to the Home.
I attended school in nearby Boldmere walking to and from there along Chester Road.
During the war when Coventry was bombed the German planes returning to Germany dropped their remaining load, as they passed over the Home. Luckily none of the children were killed or injured, although we were all very frightened.
Whilst walking to school (in all kinds of weather) we would wave to the huge tanks of troops passing by.
We rarely went in to the town, except at Xmas, to shop at Woolworths. Also as a 'special treat' a visit to the Cinema to see Shirley Temple.
I am disappointed to not see any older photos with some of the home, or of Boldmere Schools. although I have enjoyed browsing the site.

Written by Pam Davies. To send Pam Davies a private message, click here.

A memory of Sutton Coldfield in West Midlands shared on Monday, 4th February 2008.

Memories Links

Other memories of

See more memories of Sutton Coldfield

Sutton Coldfield homepage

Add a Memory for another place

Tips & Ideas

How does Sutton Coldfield feature in your personal history?

What are your best memories of Sutton Coldfield?

How has Sutton Coldfield changed over the years?

Share memories about your local community, its history and people.

Comments

RE: RE: Chester Road.

Hi, I was wondering if you know me as I was at Princess Alice when you were, my name is Ronald Bradley and I am wanting to get in touch with my old friends.

Comment from Ron Bradley on Thursday, 21st January 2010.

RE: RE: Chester Road.

My great uncle worked at the orphanage in 1911 (from the census), he was a laundry engineer. If you google 'Princess Alice Orphange' and then go to a HCH site you will find a picture - I am told the site is now a giant Tescos.

Comment from Ann Sherwin on Sunday, 22nd August 2010.

RE: RE: Chester Road.

My father was at Princess Alice during renovation work to his school, Boldmere, I'm not sure of the date, but I'm guessing it was the 1930s. His name was Clifford Stokes, he came from a big family from Banners Gate. He had many happy memories of playing in the Coke piles and going home filthy. Does anyone remember Cliff or prehapes his siblings, Donald, Norman, Vincent, Beryl, Lily to name a few? Many thanks, Bev

Comment from Beverley Frodsham on Sunday, 24th October 2010.

RE: RE: Chester Road.

My name is Joan Edna Tiddiman, I was in the Princess Alice NCH in the late 1930s if anyone can remember me, does anyone remember Edmund Pink? If you remember me please get in touch, Thankyou, Joan

Comment from Joan Edna Tiddiman on Wednesday, 4th May 2011.

Comments

4 comments have been shared so far in response to the memory "Chester Road.".

Why not get involved and post your comments using the comment form below.

Post a Comment about this Memory

To post a comment about this Memory, complete the form below. Your comment will appear alongside the original Memory on the website. If you wish to send a private message (not published on the website) to the person that wrote the Memory, click here.

Subject: RE: Chester Road.
You have to be logged in to be able to post a comment.
If you have a Frith account, then please log in below, if not, click here to create one.
Email:
Password:
Comment:
  Note: There is a 300-word limit - you have 300 words remaining.

© Copyright 1998-2012 Frith Content Inc. All rights reserved.