OLD WEST BROMWICH PHOTOS

I was born in Chruch Lane and remember with great fondness some of the shops between where we lived and the town centre.

Munslow's Hardware Store - he was the local Esso Blea Duler!!  We went to him for the paraffin for our smelly old fires.  I also remember him trimming the end of rolls of wallpaper with a special gadget he had fixed to the counter.

Holland's Bicycle Shop - they had two children, a boy and a girl.  I think the boy was named Jeffrey and the girl Mary but I'm not sure.

Pennington's Sweet Shop - They had a daughter, Valerie.  I went to her wedding reception at the Ebenezer School Rooms.

Also Pawson's Family Store, Hill's Coaches, British Restaurant, Violet's Pantry, Walter Smith's Butchers, Medley's Electricals and many more.

I also remember well, the clock outside the Cafe where the bus drivers and conductors would clock in.  You would wait there for what seemed an eternity waiting for them to emerge from the cafe and if you were going to B'ham, you had to change at the Boundary.

Happy Days!

It ain`t safe to go over the boundary now !

My Mom worked at the Civic Restaurant opposite the clock and she loved it there, I can only just remember going in to meet her at the end of her shift, I was only young, about 5 and I remember the clocking in clock for the bus men but it was outside, by the Tower cinema and I am sure I remember the Carters Green Farley clock striking every half an hour ?

I worked at Marsh & Baxters further up the green when I left school, it was opposite the Oddfellows Pub, right next door to where the building collapsed last year and I remember Walter Smiths well, along with Daniels the Butcher on the corner of Gunns Lane, they used to queue outside there every saturday morning at 6 in the morning and he used to be so busy.

Not forgetting Belchers and also Duffies (or was it Dufty's) the green grocer who shot his wife dead in the 60/70s and there was a shoe shop up by there also by Smiths the fancy shop which is still there

Fine Fare also, we used to think it was HUGE in there !!

Paul

It was Dufty's, Paul and the man who shot his wife was Robert, who was the son of the original owners.

Mr. Dufty was a member of the WestBromwich Motorcycle club and rode a Norton Sidecar outfit in trials. He also had the registration EA ! on his Bedford lorry, does anyone know what has happened to this number?

My old Gaffer Peter Guest from Guest Motors has the reg EA 24, it`s been on allsorts over the years. Originally from a motorcycle as well if my memory serves me correctly.

i remember when it was a penny return from dartmouth square to the boundary on the tram

what was the name of the pub in old meeting st. between carters green and black lake school,on the school side of the road..it's driving me daft.

bill phillips at 09:17AM on May 29, 2009

what was the name of the pub in old meeting st. between carters green and black lake school,on the school side of the road..it's driving me daft.

Wasn't it the Roebuck Inn?

It was the New Roebuck with the Roebuck and the Half way house opposite next to the chip shop. Can anyone remember the name of the chippy they always were the best chips around there.

I can't remember the name but we always popped in for six penn'oth on the way home from The Tower.

The boarded up Oddfellows Arms on the Green has been purchased by Decoron the Wallpaper shop the longest standing trader that end of the High St

They plan to extend the shop into the pub buildings

I remember going in Oddfellows ONCE, many, many years ago and it was an ODD place !

It was a right dive and the woman thay owned it was the ugliest woman I had ever seen in my life, shocking purple hair, 2 inches of white make up on her and a fur coat on and the place was infested with mice !

I think I can remember Decoron and his wife Jane (?) but I am sure he used to be further down the road and I am sure he had a shop on the Soho Road ??

Wasn't there a greengrocers, an open aired shop next to the Oddfellows ?

My Mom always used to shop on the Green on a Saturday morning, butchers, bakers and greengrocers were all there.....when I went back a couple of years ago it had all gone, even the Tower Cinema and Hills Travel where we used to queue when we were kids to go on the coach to Weston

I remember that woman, she had a weird son as well who used to drive her round in a rare XJ6 two door coupe, she used to sit in the back like Lady Muck, Mutton dressed as Lamb.

The Fruiters was called Duftys and there was a Chip shop as well that cooked the chips in Lard with funny louvred doors nearby.

Thats the one Chris !

It was a purple XJ6, a smashing looking motor and her son had a beard

I don't think it was duftys next to the Oddfellows, Duftys was further up the road on the opposite side, close to a shoe shop and Smiths the fancy goods shop, is that still there ?

Only went in The Oddfellows once but I remember that woman as well. Must have been around 30 years ago. She was like something from 'The House of Wax'.

Chris Hill at 04:46PM on Jun 12, 2009

I remember that woman, she had a weird son as well who used to drive her round in a rare XJ6 two door coupe, she used to sit in the back like Lady Muck, Mutton dressed as Lamb.

The Fruiters was called Duftys and there was a Chip shop as well that cooked the chips in Lard with funny louvred doors nearby.

Chris Hill at 04:46PM on Jun 12, 2009

I remember that woman, she had a weird son as well who used to drive her round in a rare XJ6 two door coupe, she used to sit in the back like Lady Muck, Mutton dressed as Lamb.

The Fruiters was called Duftys and there was a Chip shop as well that cooked the chips in Lard with funny louvred doors nearby.

the chip shop was Porters and this must have been almost next door to the odd fellows