Author Topic: Perry Barr Park in the '40's & '50's  (Read 3326 times)

misterbit

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Perry Barr Park in the '40's & '50's
« on: October 13, 2015, 06:39:29 PM »
Anybody out there ever do what I and my (childhood) friend Albert Smith used to go to Perry Barr Park from our homes in Denmark Street, Lozells to catch 'tiddlers', we had the usual jar on a string plus a 'hurden' sack to use to try and catch what we called catfish by wading in the water of the lake in Perry Barr Park, we would each hold one end of the 'hurden sack and submerse it 2 feet or so from the bank and go to and under the bank the catch the catfish? - we called them catfish because the were blackish in colour and had whiskers, the fish being around 2 to 3 inches in length.   I have always been puzzled as to exactly what breed of fish they were.   Anybody do the same, know anything about the fish, is the lake still there?

Phil

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Re: Perry Barr Park in the '40's & '50's
« Reply #1 on: October 13, 2015, 07:45:21 PM »
Hi Masterbit

Welcome to you, I hardly knew Perry Barr park and I was never a great fisherman but your fish might have been Gudgeon.
Phil died in 2020. RIP.

misterbit

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Re: Perry Barr Park in the '40's & '50's
« Reply #2 on: October 13, 2015, 09:34:58 PM »
Hi Phil,   Having done a lot of coarse fishing,pleasure and competition in various parts of the country, including Ireland - North and South over the years I reckon to know what a gudgeon is, and what one looks like.   The "cat" fish we caught were always small,dark and multi whiskered - rather like a achannel catfish.   It may well have not been a "cat" fish - but - with whiskers and having a "cat" fish look about it, to us they were catfish, its a species I've not come across since, maybe it was a breed peculiar to the lake in Perry Barr Park.   Maybe there is an expert out there that might throw some light on the "cat" fish!   Thanks for your response Phil.   

vamann

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Re: Perry Barr Park in the '40's & '50's
« Reply #3 on: October 14, 2015, 09:01:15 AM »
I used to fish the Perry Barr canal at Tower Hill and used to catch stone loach and gudgeon on a regular basis, both were a nuisance as they were so small getting them off the hook was a real pain.  I seem to remember that the canal had a water inlet into the lake at Perry Barr park so could be talking about the same type of fish.  I only lived a few hundred yards from both Perry Hall and Perry Barr parks so spent plenty of time with my net and jam jar :)

MITCHELL

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Re: Perry Barr Park in the '40's & '50's
« Reply #4 on: October 22, 2015, 12:22:18 PM »
Hi i also caught tidlers in the park in the fifties i lived on the aldridge road  not a fisherman but the canal fed the lake and then flowed down to church tavern.

stewart ross

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Re: Perry Barr Park in the '40's & '50's
« Reply #5 on: February 14, 2016, 07:31:56 PM »
Hallo. my wife maiden was Downes .they lived in Denmark street .Alf  Ted   Ann Jenny and  jacky.she would love to chat,

Aussy

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Re: Perry Barr Park in the '40's & '50's
« Reply #6 on: October 10, 2019, 11:03:49 AM »
My Father worked as a whole saler in Wolvethampton vegetable market.
Potatoes were always in a hurden sack (hessian) sack when I was young.
As far as cat fish well as an angler, there were catfish in rivers & lakes. I would catch them in Patshul Pool.



 

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