My Memories Of Selly Oak And Bournbrook

A Memory of Selly Oak.

I was born in Bournbrook, Birmingham in 1950, daughter of Kenneth Clarke born 1924 and Joan Clarke (nee Price) born 1927.
My father was born at 21 North Road, Bournbrook, son of Edith Clarke and Jack Clarke. The family name was really Rone Clarke and this family began their trade as woodturners at Rose Cottage, Bristol Road, Bromsgrove.
My father worked at W H Ward in Dale Road, and as we lived at No 10 Dale Road, I remember as a child I used to wait for him at lunch time when he came out, I remember Mom used to tell him to "Take your boots off" because they used to bring swarf into the house. My father worked on a lathe at Wards and his brother Charlie Clarke also worked at Wards as did his mother Eva who was an engraver.
I remember early in the morning lying in bed and hearing all the men's boots going down Dale Road as they made their way to work at Wards. My father worked there until it sadly closed.
My mother's parents were Albert and Amy Price, and they had the barber shop at 745 Bristol Road, next door to Shields the pawn shop, and they lived at the back of the shop. I used to love watching my grandfather cut people's hair, and use the cut-throat razor, it fascinated me. Selly Oak was a lovely village then, my mom worked at Pilsbury Pet Shop and I used to play with Lewis Bowditch whose father owned Bowditch Bakeries on Bristol Road. I also remember on the corner of Dale Road was Burtons and over Burtons there was a snooker hall, and as teenagers myself and my friend Georgina Baldwin used to shout up the stairs there to attract the lads. I used to visit the Oak Cinema on Saturdays, ABC Minors, and then as I grew older went there to do my courting in the back seats, "Oh the good old days". I remember Thongers the Chemist in Bournbrook, and my father's cousins Tom and Arthur Clarke ran the greengrocers on the Bristol Road (opposite the Bournbrook Hotel). I went to St Marys C of E School, and I was there when the school celebrated their centenary. It was a lovely school. I then went on to Selly Park Girls School, Stirchley, and then when I left school at 16 went to work in the Central Registry and Birmingham University as an office junior, I remember the head of the office was called Miss Bardell, a very strict lady, but I learnt a lot from her. I then went to work at The Medical School in their Registry Office.
I remember Woolworths in Bournbrook, and used to love to go in there when I had any spare pocket money. I also remember Hamiltons sweet shop.  
I used to go to the Home and Colonial Shop with my Nan Clarke and she would sit on the stool there and order her groceries, I loved watching them pat the butter, and put the sugar into blue bags. The smells in there were wonderful!
There was a shop in Dale Road run by a Mrs Philpot, it was a sweet shop and it also sold cigarettes, "10 Woodbines", my mom and dad would send me for. I remember Mrs Philpot had her hair tied back and wore bright red lipstick.  Then there was an outdoor on the corner of Dale Road where the neighbours used to go with their jugs for their beer or their sherry. Some of the neighbours I remember are the Ricardos, Baldwins, Timerick, Pat and Keith Morris and their son Stephen who lives next door to us, he was a photographer.
But most of all I remember the happy days I spent at 745 Bristol Road, my grandfather's barbers shop, and the times I spent with him fishing on his days off, asking if I could serve in the shop, I used to get all his tips, and when the men came to the hatch for contraceptives, I would enquire what they were for, and was told to be quiet and that they were for "fishing".  I know they cost 3 shillings and ninepence. He used to pop next door to the pub at night, and I used to put my ear to the wall and I could hear him singing after a few whiskies, he used to think he could sing like Al Jolson, and he always used to sing 'Sonny Boy' to me, and when I hear that now it brings a tear to my eye.  My grandfather died when I was 11, and things never really seemed the same again. My grandmother tried to carry on running the shop, but it was difficult and in the end she got rid of it and went to live in a bungalow in Hubert Road.  Yes, Selly Oak and Bournbrook were lovely villages, everyone knew each other, and you could always leave your front door open.
When I visit now, which is not very often, I could cry, it looks so run down and neglected. Houses to rent which are taken up by students. What a shame, they certainly were the good old days when I lived there, why do things have to change, and nearly always for the worse. I would love to hear from anyone else who has memories of Selly Oak and Bournbrook.