The marvellous Lickey Hills

[Phil]

Roy

These are the only tea rooms I remember at the Lickey's, the larger one is the Billberry Tea Rooms at the base of Billberry Hill which closed in the 60's but is still standing today and something to do with Youth Clubs. The second one was up in the hills located near to the fairground. I suppose that one closed around the same time as the fair.

[frederick]

When we went to the Lickies we took a pic nic we couldn't aford the tee rooms or the fair grownd         we had just enough for the bus and tram there and back.

[roy one]

tea in a bottle  and bread and jam  (jam if you was lucky)

[jennymoores]

 
Great story, Jenny, it really took me back.     Never knew there was a cafe in Cofton Park   -   whereabouts was it?

.   


The cafe was in the middle of the park, actually it was someone,s home, but they served tea and ice creams through the window.  I am in Tamworth at the moment as my sister has had an accident, and she has confirmed where the 'cafe' was.

[planetmalc]

.   


The cafe was in the middle of the park, actually it was someone,s home, but they served tea and ice creams through the window.  I am in Tamworth at the moment as my sister has had an accident, and she has confirmed where the 'cafe' was.

 
Thanks for that, I'd never have guessed there was a dwelling on that piece of land   -  must have been a nice place to live.

[Terry B]

I served in the Auxiliary Fire Service at Kings Norton Fire Station for a few years and remember going up the Lickey Hills one summer's evening to try out radio relaying. I'm going back to the 1960's so the memory's fading a bit but to prove the system, we used a combination of three vehicles - a controller, a relay station and a receiver. Things were quite basic in those days and nothing as easy as today's phone systems which seem to be able to reach anywhere!

In fact, for convoy work, (another of our specialities, and one which I'll elaborate on) we still used dispatch riders on motor bikes!

I can also recall a training trip we made to Edgbaston Reservoir to try out our "Bikini Unit". Another story I'll relate if asked to do so.



 

[roy one]

Roy

These are the only tea rooms I remember at the Lickey's, the larger one is the Billberry Tea Rooms at the base of Billberry Hill which closed in the 60's but is still standing today and something to do with Youth Clubs. The second one was up in the hills located near to the fairground. I suppose that one closed around the same time as the fair.

and one in colour

[JudithM]

That 'Bikini Unit' sounds intriguing 

I live near the Lickeys and also used to go there from time to time when I was a kid, it was a long day out then (on the bus - sadly the trams had stopped by then but my Dad says it was a day out in itself just to go out on the trams!).  I do remember being very impressed at one point that the café sold bread pudding 

[Terry B]

Judith, The Bikini Unit was  an Auxiliary Fire Service vehicle that carried an inflatable raft and 10 Coventry Climax water pumps that were mainly used on tidal waters. The raft, with two buoyancy chambers was inflated either by foot pump or by compressed air and the water pumps were positioned on the raft in three rows of three with the tenth pump attached to the back and acting as the propulsion. It had a tiller. The pumps had suction bends through the raft to draw water. They were fine pumps and would pump about 300 gallons per minute each, and that was a LOT of water. Delivery hoses would then be trailed to the river bank.

We kept a Bikini Unit in store in the rear of Highgate Road bus garage, where there were many other AFS vehicles and equipment kept.

I've found a photo of a Bikini Unit and posted it below. The vehicle wasn't the easiest to drive.

 

[JudithM]

Thanks for the information - we could have done with some of those by me in '76 when the woods burned down!

[Terry B]

Hello Judith,

I'm sure that the ten pumps to each Bikini unit would have done a good job at containing and putting out ther fire you describe but they would have needed a ready supply of water and a lot of 'personpower'!