Wyken Slough

Norman Conquest. Yes I agree it was Faulconbridge, Yes, thanks from me also, how do you guys get these pictures, would be nice if you could put a date to the picture, the house was opposite to the mill but a few yards down, I only went in the house once. Now if you knew the ironmongers, the name (Dobbs and Pegg) both ring a bell. Did you not know the milk bottling place or the Co-op? (just thought we have three different spellings here). Norman, would you mind telling me how close you are to this area, could we possibly know each other?

Norman Conquest, sorry, getting mixed up with the Normans,

Nice poem Kaga, did you write it yourself? Some of these last posts have rattled a few memories, especially the photo of the mill and Kaga mentioned the milk bottling factory, I can just about here the bottles rattling now. As I mentioned to Philip a few posts ago I regret not taking more photos of the Slough and the surrounding area, the Clod Banks, the burning path and the old buildings that one thought would be there for ever. And Norman, the description of where you lived rang no bells at all, I have to go on Google Maps to make sure that a road is the one I'm thinking about, my memory is no help. I used to live in a council house, 1 Tallants Road, born there and hardly recognise it looking by Google Earth today. You may be interested in another photo of the weir at the south end of the Slough, I loved taking pictures of water. Cheers.

Thank you for image above. That is the weir that I mentioned several times. Without the weir Wyken Slough would hardly be there because average depth is only about 2ft. Like you I have many regrets of photo opportunities missed. I was a member of Bell Green Community Centre photographic club and regrettably left many negatives there never thinking that one day I would treasure them. Norman

Kerbstone, a smashing photograph. Amazing that the right black and white picture often conveys so much more than full colour. It's such a shame that many of us weren't able to record the scenes of past times and it's so easy now. Tallants Road, Proffitt Ave, Armfield Street etc was my area also. Tallants Road used to end abruptly just past Over Street before it was extended in a crescent with the newer houses in the late 50s, as was Elkington Street. There were a few very old cottages there before the new build, I delivered papers to some of them. It was possible to cut across from Tallants Rd to Bell Green Rd. I don't know your age but in my days, early 50s to mid 60s there were the Alvidges, Bakers, Monaghans, David Cooper, John Rice, John Chaplin, Alan Bassett in your immediate vicinity. Opposite your house were the Wood family. I'm sure I could recall plenty more but not, alas, at this precise moment. There was a row of cottages at the rear of your house. In the early 60s they became derelict and collapsed while some kids were playing in them. One of the Woods or the Beasley kids was quite badly injured I recall. Also to the rear, where the temple is now was a detached house and builders yard of sorts. Just to stay on topic, a pal of mine, Mick Sexton, who lived next to Hydes butchers, was a keen fisherman and we often went to the Slough and to the cut nearby. The Slough was very popular and was stocked with gudgeon, perch, bream and a few pike.

I think you've captured the Slough very well with that bit of writing, Kaga, and the atmosphere as it was when I was a kid. Thank you for your comments, Norman and Walrus, I didn't think that photo would stir much interest. Your post about the place I lived, Walrus, brought back a few memories. Most of the names you mentioned rang some bells but I can't put faces or places to them. One name, Alvidge, was a name I remember well, Jimmy lived across the road from me and was in the same class at Courthouse Green school for my last year at that school. He contacted rheumatic fever at some stage which damaged his heart but it certainly didn't slow him down. On one side of his house were the Bacon family, my father referred to them as the "Rashers" which they didn't appreciate when they found out. The mother wore the pants, literally, which was fairly rare for a woman in those days and was the boss for sure. And she would be the first out to scoop up horse manure left behind by a passing horse and cart. I used to knock around mainly with a couple of fellers from the Ward family who lived just up the road, Michael and David I think, together we would roam all over the place the Slough and surrounds included, we were really free spirits. There was a girl who lived down Haddon St, I think her name was Maureen Liggings and boy was she wild, most boys were scared stiff of her, I think my last memory of her was her riding someone's horse that she'd found, bareback of course. I don't know whether I'm breaking the protocol, this isn't right topic is it? so I'd better finish here. Cheers

Just been thinking about my childhood, there was a year when the slough froze over for some weeks, now could it have been the first year of the war, 39/40 I believe it was, there were dozens of us sliding around, anyone out there remember that year and severe weather, tried to find out, no luck.

Kerbstone, sorry for the delay. I remember the Bacons and especially the formidable Mrs Bacon very well, she was always seen in trousers, sleeves rolled up and ready to put anybody in their place. Jimmy Alvidge did, as you say, have some sort of medical condition. Coincidentally he and one of my brothers married sisters from Elkington Street. Jimmy's brother Ernie was quite a keen boxer. Diagonally opposite from your house were the Monaghans, two sons John and Michael.

Another view of the Slough. One of the motor boats can be seen moored up near the boathouse. Yes Kaga I do remember the winter of '39 and yes I do remember skating/sliding on the frozen Slough. I have tried to find some reference to that winter but drawn a blank so far. There must be a record of the cold as it was the coldest winter in living memory. Water was frozen for more than a month. Windmill Rd school was closed because of burst pipes. We had an outside toilet at home and we filled every crack where the cold could get in and two candles left burning inside. It did the trick because we never had a burst pipe. The summers were long and hot and the winters severe. The winter of '47 was also bad but not so much the cold but snow. I remember it drifting in Old Church Rd much deeper than I was tall, it was on the ground for a month or more. Norman

Norman, the photo above would have been just dying reed beds then, nothing in that field, no posts, buildings, or trees, but great fun on the ice. In 47 I was in a warmer climate, and my family left the district 46 time, but my younger brother was telling me the other day, my older brother tried out those hover boats on the slough sometime after the war, formed some club, news to me, you have any news on that. On the Bell Green topic I'm trying to find out more about Bell Green Albion football club in the 20/30s, you have any interest in that subject? thanks Kaga.

This is all I can find about the winter of 1939. Norman.

Kaga. You may be thinking of the hydrofoils that raced there for a couple of years shortly after the war. A friend Brian Woodruff raced one. His was powered by a 650cc Triumph motorcycle engine. Hardly ideal. Norman

Norman. I knew a Brian Woodruff he lived on Binley Road, I wonder if it is the same person you mentioned.