Eastern Green

Despite having lived most of my life on that side of the city - I sadly attended a funeral recently of a very good friend - the one bright part of the day was visiting St Andrew's Church in Eastern Green - which I have never had the pleasure of seeing before. Down the end of a long slim lane which never gave me any cause to venture down before. What a pretty little place. Anyone got any history of the place - I've read it's circa 1875 from the Victorian era.

In light of the responding to old topics, this one of Neil's I can add too. Living in Eastern Green from 1971, we had our two children christened at St Andrews. On applying we had a bit of a lecture from the then vicar Derrick Tooby about our lack of church attendance. Derrick was famous for not liking confetti thrown at any wedding services he performed, there was a certain photographic spot that the bride and groom always chose for their picture to be taken. Guess where Derrick was buried after his passing???? TRUE!

I grew up on upper Eastern Green Lane in the 60's and 70's, I went to St Andrews Infants School, Eastern Green Juniors and then Woodlands. Spent my youth first playing football on the 'Rec' at the top of the road, then later meeting girls and drinking beer there, that's if we could persuade anyone older to buy it for us from the Standard Pub outdoor. I remember Homer's grocers shop on Upper Eastern Green Lane, it's now a house but in the 60's was behind the bus stop the other side of the road from Magpie House flats, my mum treated Mr Homer the proprietor with great respect as though he was a class above us, very strange. I just remembered that there was a barn there before Magpie Flats was built and I was told there were the remains of WW2 planes inside, on the way home from school one day I snook in to take a look and sure enough there were two pairs of wings up high on the roof trusses, one had RAF roundels and I think one has a black cross, this could have been a kid's imagination though, I was only about six or seven, I have no idea if they were real or some sort of prop. Sadly not much chance of anyone being able to corroborate this now I guess.

Hi CliffB. Was Eastern Green club built then?

Yes Mick, the club was there. I remember as a kid spraying the dregs of beer out of the empty kegs out the back. I did go in a few times when I was older, does it still look a bit like a shed inside?

Hi CliffB. I have not been in for many years. It is now a private club again. My mum & dad used to take me there in the early 60's, they had friends whom lived on Hockley Lane. I think it was a private club then? I moved to Eastern Green in 71 and my next door neighbour used to use the club a lot. I ended up becoming a member and ended up playing darts for them before moving down to Massey's. What years were you at Woodlands?

Mick, I was at Woodlands from 68 to 73, in Brook house, can't say they were the happiest days of my life. I only went to the EG club a couple of times when a mates parents who were members took us in, it wasn't particularly attractive to a teenager. I did spend a lot of evenings next door at the village hall though, as a Cub Scout we held gang shows there, I clearly remember my dad who was a scout master singing My Boy Lollipop on the stage wearing a skirt and holding a huge lolly. They regularly had jumble sales and Christmas fundraisers there. In later years I went to discos there too, Double G on the tables. I presume you mean Masseys Club, I had many happy nights there, my parents never went so I used to get in as a kid by climbing through the window of the kids disco which was opened by friends whose parents did work at MF. Strangely in later years my mum and brother both worked at MF. Happy days

I only went to EG club a handful of times. A long-time friend, since we were toddlers, had parents who lived in Canley, but they lived in the club; several nights a week, and a mammoth session on Sundays. The bingo was one of the highlights, taken very seriously. You would have heard a pin hitting the floor.

Hi CliffB. Did your dad work with Colin Grundy at the scouts? Norman Smith was quartermaster.

He did Mick, I remember Colin and his mate Mick too (not you is it?). They organised some exciting wide games at Rough Close and I remember a very realistic car crash that they mocked up to teach us first aid, it was so realistic at least one lad was throwing up. Norman and his wife, Joyce I think, were great friends of my parents. I went to scouts with their son Trevor, in fact I bumped into him at the Memorial Park a few weeks ago.

Hi Cliff, you must have also gone to scouts with Lee Pollard and Neil Adcock? Did you go onto Ventures?

I didn't go to Ventures, Mick. Much to my dad's disgust, I had discovered pubs by that age. A bit sad really because I did love hiking and camping. I think I remember Lee's name but it's a long time ago.

Hi CliffB Just re-read this post. Was the DJ "Double G" a guy called Graham Slater?

I know Graham Mick. We worked together at IBM in Warwick

Hi Neil He was the resident DJ at Massey Ferguson Club for years, he used to drive his gear around in an old ambulance. Now lives in Conway Av in Tile Hill Village.