Author Topic: Shard End  (Read 316816 times)

townie

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8931
Re: Shard End
« Reply #55 on: April 26, 2013, 09:22:03 PM »
Hi VaL Dave Wallace how old would he be.
Was it a vision, or a waking dream?

teegee

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 238
Re: Shard End
« Reply #56 on: April 27, 2013, 08:07:37 AM »
Hi Tee Gee I remember a Roger Tongue lived in the flats in Shard way is this the same person.


No, I don't know if they were related though. I used to live in Kitsland Rd, in the flats by the Two Hands. I am aged 66 so most of the people I knew will be about the same age.


terry

Dave Wallace

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 23
Re: Shard End
« Reply #57 on: April 27, 2013, 12:56:19 PM »
Hi VaL Dave Wallace how old would he be.
I "would be" 67 this coming October. :P

townie

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8931
Re: Shard End
« Reply #58 on: April 27, 2013, 04:11:47 PM »
Hi Dave. Glad your still here. Think i got mixed up abit. Happy 67th birthday.
Was it a vision, or a waking dream?

Dave Wallace

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 23
Re: Shard End
« Reply #59 on: April 28, 2013, 07:34:07 PM »
Hi everyone...I just came across this little tid-bit of info about Shard End. My apologies if it has already been posted elsewhere.
Shard End is an area of Birmingham and a ward within the formal district of Hodge Hill. Shard End borders the village of Castle Bromwich to the north and Kingshurst to the east.
History
Before the end of World War II, Shard End was completely rural with the only buildings being farmhouses, farm outbuildings and tithe cottages.[/size]
Shard End's most infamous resident was Abraham Thornton, son of the owner of Shard End Farm (later the site of The Harlequin pub). He was charged with the murder of a local girl, Mary Ashford, in 1817. The events of the trial led to the abolition of two ancient legal rights - the right of a close relative to demand another trial although the defendant had been acquitted, and the right of a defendant to defend himself by challenging the relative to a duel. The duel did not take place and Thornton left the area soon after his second trial to travel to the USA.[/size]
In the inter war years the Midland Sand and Gravel Company operated a mine on what is now the Norman Chamberlain Playing Fields (or Shard End park), off Packington Avenue. During World War II, this gravel pit was used to store and repair third-line tanks. After the war the area was landscaped to become the playing fields. The old gravel pit was allowed to fill with water from a natural spring to form Shard End Lake and has become a leisure facility.[/size]
A plan of the new housing estate was produced at the end of 1945 and compulsory purchase orders were issued in 1946. Building of the estate started in the late 1940s and was added to in stages producing some variety in the housing.[/size]
As a result of the construction of the estate, plans for a new church were drawn up. In 1954, construction of All Saints Church, a traditional Church of England church, began and construction was completed in 1955. Designed by F J Osbourne, it was the first new church to be built in Birmingham after World War II. On November 1, 1955, the Lord Bishop of Birmingham, Leonard Wilson, consecrated the church. This was followed by a visit by Queen Elizabeth II two days later.[/size]
Shard End Library opened in 1967 and was the first in Birmingham to use plastic membership cards instead of the traditional cardboard tickets.[/size]
Development in the 1970s[/size]
After the estate of the 1940s had been constructed, a large swathe of green land - known locally as 'The Fields' - remained along the River Cole valley. This rare open space in a city provided valuable recreation space for the new and young population of Shard End. During the late 1970s, however, this tract of land was sadly built over and the area lost much of its charm.[/size]
Since the building of this development, and a sharp decline in employment levels during the 1980s, Shard End has seen a marked increase in the problems typical of urban areas in large cities.[/size]
Notable natives[/size]
Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra fame grew up in a council house at 368 Shard End Crescent in Shard End.[4] The lyrics to the ELO song 'All Over the World' mention Shard End along with cities like London, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, and Tokyo.[/size]
The English artist, Geoff Bunn also grew up in the area.[/size]

Dave Wallace

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 23
Re: Shard End
« Reply #60 on: April 28, 2013, 07:46:11 PM »
Here is a map of Shard End....Before it was built...



townie

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8931
Re: Shard End
« Reply #61 on: April 28, 2013, 07:47:06 PM »
Nice one Dave. The fields by the river cole was known as the cow fields although i never seen a cow on them. Also i remember the library being constructed very well, as when we were kids i fell down one of the holes they had dug and broke my ankle.
Was it a vision, or a waking dream?

Dave Wallace

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 23
Re: Shard End
« Reply #62 on: April 28, 2013, 07:59:30 PM »
There have been many articles regarding the Library, all saying it was the only one in Shard End. However......I used to get my books from the original Library that was situated in Aylsford hall, on the corner of Bradley Rd and Packington Ave. I was a member for many years before the Library in Shustoke Rd was built.
The bookcases were on wheels, and used to fold up to be put away at night. Even earlier than that ( about 1952-54 ) a mobile Library van used to come down our Rd ( Longmeadow Crescent.)

Dave Wallace

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 23
Re: Shard End
« Reply #63 on: April 28, 2013, 08:06:15 PM »
While I'm in the mood.....I often wondered where "Shard End" got it's name from...Here is a bit of info I just read regarding that.....
This post-war housing estate has an Anglo-Saxon name. Its earliest recorded form, atte Sherd derives from atte 'at the' sceard meaning 'the gap', but it is difficult to envisage now what this meant twelve centuries ago - gap in the woodland perhaps? The second element of the name originates in the fact that this was the Shard End of the manor of Castle Bromwich from before the Norman Conquest.

Dave Wallace

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 23
Re: Shard End
« Reply #64 on: April 28, 2013, 08:12:01 PM »
Not really as I never had much reason to go up there very often, one shop I do remember and it may have been next to the newsagent was a little grocery store called Rotes. Well, the Rotes owned it but it may have been called something else. The reason I remember this shop is my first wife worked there after she left school. The other shop I remember well is the hardware shop that was round the corner in Ownall Rd. The reason I remember it is because I used to do a lot of fishing and I fished the lake in Pithall Rd a lot. At that time, and I was at school then, the lake was fenced off, and to fish it you had to get a key from the aforementioned hardware shop, 10/- or a £1, not quite sure, and that may have included a deposit for the key. The fishing rights were held by The Bulls Head angling club, the one in Stechford I'm on about but they allowed you to buy a days permit. I had some good days fishing there, but if you was'nt careful you could easily fall in as the banks were quite steep at that time, probably why it was fenced off. I did hear stories of how at least one child fell in and drowned, but they were stories and not based on fact, but who knows. Another story I heard was that the old army camp that used to be in Hurst Lane dumped a couple of unwanted tanks in the lake, but again, just a story.


Terry
......During the war ( When the lake was empty ) the MOD used it to store third class tanks.  Maybe that's where the rumour originated ?


townie

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8931
Re: Shard End
« Reply #65 on: April 28, 2013, 08:40:45 PM »
I remember Aylsford Hall still there i think. My mate had his reception there now i'm going back.
Was it a vision, or a waking dream?


 

Terms of Use     Privacy Policy