Midland Hotel, Midland Road

My name used to be Sue Dear and I was born in the Midland Hotel. My family had been there for 4 generations - my Grandma was Grace Cook and she was the licensee. My aunt Sybil ran a Driving School from there called The Midland Driving School. I read Angela's account of living in Midland Road and I certainly remember the monkey puzzle tree in the front garden. Was your surname Tear - Angela? Also walking to school in the winter of 1946/7 - I started school at The Lindens in Midland Road, then going to The Acorn School (in the church hall) - then Victoria School and finally The Girls High School from 1951-6. The garden of the Midland Hotel backed onto the Cambridge Hotel and that was referred to as The Bunny Run by my family - re the American soldiers and the local girls. It was lovely reading about the home town of my childhood. What a mess the planners made of it - with the Midland Hotel brought down in 1956 for the now useless letelphone exchange. My family had long associations with the town - on my maternal side my grandma came from the family of John Edwin Brown - the builders - of Castle Street