Author Topic: Friends Hall Cricket Club  (Read 2634 times)

Anita Sinclair

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Friends Hall Cricket Club
« on: May 30, 2010, 10:35:41 AM »
Does anyone remember a cricket club called Friends Hall?  I think it may have changed it's name over the years.
I'm not sure what area of Birmingham it was in but there were a lot of allotments at the top end of the fields.  My father, Bernhard and his brothers Gerald and Nigel used to play cricket over the weekends and limited overs during the week - probably something like 20/20.
As kids we loved it in the 60's because we used to meet up with all our friends and go pick blackberries at the back of the clubhouse and usually ended up getting stung by nettles.  Helped the ladies make the lunches which usually consisted of salad and cold meats.  I used to butter the bread and was allowed to use the egg slicer to slice the eggs !!  Can remember bowls of sliced onions and sliced cucumbers doused in vinegar on the tables.
We always used to go to a pub that was close by afterwards - as the kids weren't allowed inside we used to sit outside with a lemonade and packet of Smith's crisps (with the blue bag) or if we were very lucky a small pot of shrimps or cockles.

Phil

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Re: Friends Hall Cricket Club
« Reply #1 on: May 30, 2010, 10:50:55 AM »
Hi Anita
 
Were your fathers family Quakers because the word "Friends" in the name of the club would suggest that. Its a pity you cant remember more than a general description of the surroundings.
 
Like the name of the pub that you went to, Did you get to the club by bus. If so can you remember the number or where you boarded it.
 
Any little detail like this might help.
 
Phil
Phil died in 2020. RIP.

Anita Sinclair

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Friends Hall Cricket Club
« Reply #2 on: May 30, 2010, 11:08:28 AM »
You're right! Friends Hall does sound like the Quakers, I never thought of that .  Nope ... we weren't Quakers ... the only link we had with Quakers was that Dame Cadbury was my mother's godmother.
 
The captain of the club at one stage was Vic Halford .. or Holford ... he had a daughter called Valerie who was around the same age as me .. Mom has a photo of us both sitting in a pram at the cricket grounds. There was also a chap called Roly who was good friends with my Uncle Nigel and the umpire was Reg Hunt.
 
Have just phoned dad (from Moscow to Johannesburg) he said the club was in a place called Stirchley and seems to recall something about it being on Pineapple Estate .... if that makes sense to anyone  !  He's battling to remember the names of the pubs he went to in that area  (he's 78) but does remember the Barley Mow.
 
 

Phil

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Re: Friends Hall Cricket Club
« Reply #3 on: May 30, 2010, 11:56:10 AM »
Hi Anita
 
Stirchley is in the south of Birmingham and the Pineapple Estate is part of it. It may not be coincidence but Bournville the heart of Quaker country is only a short walk away.
 
I thought I knew all the pubs in the Stirchley area but I'm afraid that the Barley Mow is unknown to me,
 
I don't suppose it could be the Pavilion at Bournville that you remember could it, but I think you would remember the Pavilion. The other thing is there would not have been a pub local in Bournvville.
 
 
Phil
Phil died in 2020. RIP.

Anita Sinclair

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Friends Hall Cricket Club
« Reply #4 on: May 30, 2010, 12:05:54 PM »
Hi Phil
Nope ... it definitely wasn't the Bourneville Pavilion.
Probably better to wait until I get back to South Africa in August and see if I can go through the old photos and get dad to rack his brains to remember more about it. I seem to recall the gates being set back from the road and we used to drive down a little passageway (or probably a so called right of way) to get there.
 
Is there or was there a pub called the Golden Lion in the area?  One or two of my brain cells are trying to go into recovery mode and try and recollect from about 43 years ago ... I was about 10 when we left Birmingham to emigrate to South Africa.

pickard.r

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Re: Friends Hall Cricket Club
« Reply #5 on: June 02, 2010, 11:04:16 AM »
Hi Anita
I was bought up in & around the area you describe & can tell you that there are at least two possibilities..
Site 1 could be off Hunts Road/ Ripple Road  With the Hazelwell Pub on the corner off Pineapple Road (just enter Hazelwell Fordrough in Google maps & you will see what I mean)
Site 2 could be a little further up the road just off Vicarage Road turning right at the Red Lion Pub into Grove Road.


The first site is the one where I first got into double figures in a cricket match (2 runs against Wheelers Lane in a schools final :D )I remember there being an old wooden shack to change in but it looks to have been replaced by some kind of landscaping project.


Bobby

You can lead a horse to water but, a pencil must be lead.

Phil

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Re: Friends Hall Cricket Club
« Reply #6 on: June 02, 2010, 12:31:02 PM »
Anita
 
This is just what you need,  someone like Bobby here with first hand local knowledge. When he stops bragging about how many runs he made of course.
 
Phil
Phil died in 2020. RIP.

Anita Sinclair

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Re: Friends Hall Cricket Club
« Reply #7 on: June 02, 2010, 03:36:27 PM »
Hi Bobby
Too funny - two runs!  Ah well ... I know some of our South African Protea players who haven't even managed that in a test match !!  So .... despite Phil's rude comment ... well done for even getting two runs.
 
Sounds more likely to be the second option and perhaps it was the Red Lion ... does every town in England have a Red Lion  :D    ?  Dad and my uncles used to frequent one on the Stratford Road in Shirley as well.
 
We had a fairly decent clubhouse.  I can still recall running into the mens change room when I was about five years old and charging outside with a 'toolbox' on my head telling everyone I'd found a funny hat in the change room ... the ladies very quickly told me to put it back where I found it before the men came back off the pitch. 
 
How does the American Express slogan go ... don't leave home with out it ... the (blue) box?  Of course, in those days they didn't have half of the armoury that modern players have - the box and pads, can't remember hard helmets let alone the steel bars that cross them.  Most of the guys wore peak caps and Mom used to spend hours cable knitting dad's jerseys.
 
Also remember touring to other local clubs some weekends and I decided to jump into a canal for a dare ... couldn't swim ... no problem to me though.  One of the players saw me and jumped in to get me out.   To this day ... I still find it hard to resist the water! 
 
Remembered another name ... Johnny Plymouth was also one of the players.  Dad was a fast bowler in his day.
 
Will be in good old Brum in August - first time in 12 years so will have a drive around Stirchley if I get the chance.
Thanks for responding.
Anita
 
 
 
 

pickard.r

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Re: Friends Hall Cricket Club
« Reply #8 on: June 03, 2010, 09:23:45 AM »

 
Sounds more likely to be the second option and perhaps it was the Red Lion ... does every town in England have a Red Lion  :D    ?

Hi Anita
I may be wrong but I understand that "Red Lion" is the most common name used for pubs in England, but with so many closing that could soon change.
As for my cricketing "skills" I have to admit, if I remember rightly, one of my runs was a bye.

Bobby
You can lead a horse to water but, a pencil must be lead.

Phil

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Re: Friends Hall Cricket Club
« Reply #9 on: June 03, 2010, 10:53:29 AM »
Hi Bobby
 
At least that is two more runs than I would have got.
 
Phil
Phil died in 2020. RIP.

cloverfell

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Re: Friends Hall Cricket Club
« Reply #10 on: January 12, 2013, 03:35:09 PM »
I think Friend Hall CC was off a gravel Drive off Cartland Rd and backed onto Lyndsworth Rd on one side and Riverside Avenue on the other. At the far end was Ashbrook Gr.


 

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