Hi Ann Marie,
Thank you for your reply, good to hear from someone that remembers Sparkbrook & Leamington Rd.
I remember the Bullivants very well, they lived opposite Grafton Grove where I lived in N° 3. When Barrie was about 13 or 14 he turned up on my door with Mick Bennett, Mick lived in Brunswick Rd or Chesterton Rd. They had heard that I was racing cyclist and both wanted to follow in my footsteps. Now I knew that Barrie had emigrated down under but have heard nothing off him since. I have good contacts with the Aussie Verteran cycling federation, I even got them to join the International Cycling Federation (ICF) last year. I do some work for the ICF, mainly translations and coordination.
Mick Bennett went on to become an Oylimpic and World medalist, he now runs the anual cycling show at the Design center in London.
My auntie Liz (Ford), and her son Freddy lived at N° 58 they had a dog called "Punch" and my mom (Lily) would often go to the "outdoor" for my step-dads (Mr Wittin) jug of beer. The ice-cream from Burtons was out of this World, I think that they won just about every international prize with their ice-cream. I have many happy memories and Swanshurst Park is one of them, though I was used to going much further afield in my young days. Every Sunday I would cycle over the Malverns to Gloscester and back, on my own, non stop when I was about 11 or 12!!! At 14 I cycled from Brum to Chepstow then round the Welsh coast to Rhyl and back then to Brum in 11 days, with just 10 pounds in my pocket. After 8 days I was broke! Good old days. They made me the person I am today.
I am including this photo (again) of the fancy dress competiton (that I won, N° 77) from the coronation street party in 1953. One of the Bullivants is standing in the middle dressed as an Arab.
Regards, Graham.