Growing Up On Tyseley Lane

A Memory of Tyseley.

In 1960 I was 5 years old and lived in Tyseley Lane with my older brother, mom and dad and also gran and great-gran. My grandad had died the previous year and I often wonder if his shed still stands at the bottom of the garden! Around this time I recall sitting in the bay window, helping my mom with her rag-rug making, when 2 fire engines arrived outside and the firemen jumped out and ran down the side of our house to the back garden. We rushed out and discovered that a hoax call had been made to say our shed was on fire!
I also remember the milkman delivering with his horse drawn float; I think it may have been the last horse drawn one around Birmingham. Our neighbours were Mr. and Mrs. Bevan on one side and Mr. and Mrs Naylor on the other. It was a friendly, safe lane and people always stopped to chat. My friends were Linda Hills, Linda Jay and my brother's were Robert Jay, Robert Mallaby and others whose names I don't recall.
I went to Acocks Green primary school and we would walk there,passing over the railway bridge just past which stood Mrs.Harper's shop, where we bought our halfpenny sweets and cali (a sherbert in a small bag). The winter of 1963 sticks in my mind as there was a very heavy snowfall. School was still open though and walking along Warwick Road, I could not see over the piles of snow at the roadside!This weather lasted ages and was great fun for us children, though the adults weren't thrilled. That was the worst winter I can ever recall and I wonder how we all coped when these days everything grinds to a halt at the slightest snowfall.
I wonder if anyone else remembers Tyseley Lane in those days. Mom, dad, my brother and I moved to Acocks Green when I was 8. Sadly, my great grandmother died shortly afterwards and my gran came to live with us. My memories of the lane are happy ones and life was good then. Other family names I recall include the Treadwells of Onslow Grove and the Burtons.
My dad worked at Lucas in Shaftmoor Lane and was known as the Polish Brummie. He used to come home with bits of metal in his shoes which mom called swarf. He would buy me some toy farm animals every payday as my farm was my pride and joy.
The lane doesn't look so different today except for the improvements to the houses. There is a porch on "my" house now and my dad's lovely front garden is gone. I loved watching him laying out a diamond shaped pathway with flower beds between. The lane will always hold a place in my heart.

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