Wyken Slough

I certainly remember the boats on the Slough, it was a place regularly visited with my parents in the 50's with lots of fun on the paddle boats turning those paddles like crazy and finishing up with hands full of blisters from the paddle handles. As I got older I advanced to the row boats and used to spend many a happy hour rowing around and never getting bored with it not even when the boatman forgot about me leaving me to enjoy a much longer time than I was supposed to have which made him very angry. What was I supposed to do? no one called me in, I only had the sun to tell the time by and I was having a ball. The messages posted by other members certainly brought back a lot memories of good times with my mates and the mischief we got up to and have filled in a few gaps about the history of the place. I am posting a photo of me on one of the paddle boats in the early 50's

Hello Kerbstone & welcome to our forum Thank you for your post a lovely picture. Brill!

Thanks PhilipinCoventry, I'm glad I've stumbled across this site, it's so interesting. Another thing I remember is going to a fair set up at the Slough, Dad gave me halfacrown to spend, that to me was a fortune, I even managed to win a few prizes to take home. I regret not having taken more photos of the area.

Hi all You are very welcome Kerbstone. With all of the hype of water theme parks nationwide, I am surprised that the Wyken Slough could not have been lightly developed so as to be a facility for recreation on boats. I remember the fair also. This picture reposted from a rambling thread shows my Claude Butler about thirty five years ago when I was visiting the Slough. Rambling topic

The Slough 1920-30s. Through the eyes of a child. Owned by my uncle, and private. The privacy though is by the giant reed beds that stretch down either side, almost to the little rickety white bridge at the far end, hundreds of bullrushes bending in the wind. Thirty-forty dabchicks, moorhens, and coots on the pool at any one time. The water teeming with fish, carp, bream, tench, etc.The little reed island in the centre waiting for the swans to nest. Peaceful and majestic. Beyond the little bridge the water trickles on through the willows, becomes marshland, pair of kingfishers flit by (who can describe the beauty of the kingfisher) two hundred yards or so on it bears left, around the 14 acre meadow until the hedgerow meets the railway embankment. The meadows sweep down to the pool in a carpet of colour. At the edge of the pool, marsh, marigolds, and lady's smocks, four or five skylarks, singing on high, a dozen peewits swooping. And this is my playground.

I was told, some time back, that there was a houseboat moored there and owned by a family who owned a large garage by the Morris at Courthouse Green. Also that the present park was three separate fields. Does this strike any bells, Kaga?

I was told that when the colliery was started, they built the railway and basin for haulage, but they needed key men on the spot, so they built five cottages on the slough side of the railway, one alongside the track, the other four in a three sided square, but they needed provisions, so they built a road from the green past the slough, up to the railway turned right alongside and fed the road into the square, a hundred yards or so before it reached the railway, a cinder road was built to the left, about the width of a football pitch along it crossed the railway turned left again passed by the farm ran almost parallel with the railway and in to the road halfway up Tusses Bridge, the train crossing at the foot of the bridge. Also where the road met the railway there was a stile, led over to the basin ran alongside and over to Lentons Lane. A path led from the railway embankment behind the cottages down across the white bridge and in to A-Green, I was told the men made the paths, from work to home. Of course in those days everything was horse drawn, still was up into the early thirties, people walked or biked everywhere, had to, the trams turned round at the top of Bell Green. No phones, no hand radios, and we kids could play in the street for hours without a car bothering us if a car passed over Tusses Bridge, scrapped both sides.

Greg, hi. Bill Rose, son Reg, one houseboat, one pair of swans, three fields, one between the slough and gardens of A-Green, now park I presume, triangular field on right, was a large reed bed, one on left, path leads through to white bridge, fence ran from A-Green to just past culvert feeds the slough, inside fence from culvert about ten tall trees, then long wooden hut, Roses family live in, space (entrance) another small hut, fishing tackle, score of rods etc, and used by my granddad to sell fishing tickets, alongside the moored houseboat. Fields kept private for bird sanctuary. Roses moved to garage around 30-31 near Morris works. Interest - early war tanks drove from Morris to clod banks for testing, 31-32 a guy fishing under the trees caught a carp, granddad offered weeks free fishing, for the carp, took it to taxidermist, had it placed in glass case, put it on display in fishing hut, twelve and half pounds. Questions for you, does railway still run by power station, are buffers still there?

Hi Kaga. I go past there most days, and there is no sign of any rails or buffers anymore.

I have watched this forum for a long time but have not felt the inclination to join. Till now. I was born 1932 in Old Church Rd so I well remember the Slough both pre and post war. What prompted me to join the forum was the mention of Rose's garage on Bell Green Rd, on the right after leaving Bell Green. Although I was serving my apprenticeship as a carpenter with Harold L Bates of Arbury Ave I was always happiest covered in oil working at Rose's in my spare time. I was taught a lot about the mysteries of the internal combustion engine and that knowledge served me well throughout my motoring lifetime although I must admit that when I lift the bonnet of modern car I scarcely know what I am looking at. Norman

I have just stumbled on this forum, not very good on this computer hence the mistakes. So you knew my uncle not my favourite guy, I have no idea when he acquired the slough, or when he sold it, but it was his in 1927 and up to the end of the war, did you ever fish there or visit? My mother and his wife were great friends, so I spent a lot of time down there before I was born, my grandfather once told me my father was very shell-shocked when he came home from the war, so his brothers took it in turn to take him to the slough to recuperate. But it was a beautiful place in those days but in 1939 the slough was sick (my own opinion) had been for sometime, one day I counted ten-twelve fish belly up on the surface, all longer than my shoe, the reeds were turning black, the island in the centre was almost bare, the flowers were shrivelled up, the coots, moorhens etc were leaving fast. But no one cared, as you must know what everyone was concerned about was, if we were going to war. To me industry was killing the slough, by 1942 the Germans finished it off, and the meadows were under the plough.

Norman, can you describe exactly where Rose's garage was please? I spent part of my childhood in Proffitt Avenue between 1952 and 1963 but I simply cannot remember a garage on Bell Green Road near the Morris. I do have a vague recollection of a sort of very large nissen hut shaped building, but I cannot place it accurately. Was that it or am I imagining it? There were so many changes over the years that I'm a bit confused. I can only remember a big petrol station that was built some time in the late 60s or early 70s.

Hi Walrus. It has been many years since I was last in Bell Green Rd and although I have looked on Street View (similar to Google Earth) I am unable to locate the exact spot where the garage was. The good news is that you are correct in describing the garage as similar to a large Nissen hut. Above the entrance and the full width of the garage was a large board painted red with Rose's Garage on it. It was certainly there in '52. They did not sell petrol. The nearest filling station that I recall was East's at beginning of Henley Rd. Norman

Back to Wyken Slough. It must have been toward the end of summer 1942, I had been fishing the Slough with a friend when my sister turned up with her boyfriend. As it was getting dark I left the Slough leaving my sister sitting near the hedgerow with her BF. The sirens wailed warning of an air raid when I was halfway home the main target appeared to be some distance beyond the Morris factory. As always there were stray bombs and when my sister came in she told us that a bomb had dropped into the Slough somewhere near the footbridge. There was a Tardis police box near the rocks on Bell Green Rd and Jean phoned from there to notify the police. Following day Mr Plod turned up telling us that two others had also reported the bomb but as it could have buried itself up to 30 ft in the soft mud under the water nothing could be done about it. Perhaps it is still there or it may have gone off when no one was there to witness it. I suppose there many such bombs around the city, I know of one other. Norman

Year I was born, I actually thought the huts were reverse, the long hut along side the slough, but there you go, I also thought the reed beds extended down to the huts, probably did by the time I was five or six, the Roses family lived in one of those huts, the fishing tackle in the other, I also thought he owned all the land you see up to the road. As far back as I can remember the field behind the trees was a giant reed bed, field left corner was not used, only by the wild fowl, the bank below the trees was the favourite spot for fishermen. This shot must have been taken from the grassy arm that led three quarters up the pool, beyond was the channel where the water was fed in from the culvert. Now the water came from two brooks, one from Parrots Grove, the other from Sutton Stop way. At Sutton Stop there was a huge waste tip, at night you could see the small fires break out on it, from as far away as A-Green, and even as a small boy I thought poisons leaked down to the slough.