"Burglar Bill" and other old tales of Radford

The index for Kings Norton RD for Dec 1/4 1905 shows a marriage between Frederick James Marthews and Jane Elizabeth Wilkinson

Artful, just remembered the large girl's name you refer to was Peggy Humphrey, she lived next to Nell Leather's shop. Also out of all the names you gave me the only one I remember is Vernon, they lived in Three Spires Ave I think. I used to knock about with one of the brothers, can't remember his name. Funny how we forget but it was a log time ago. Do you remember Schofield's paper shop, most of the local kids had a paper round with Schofield's at one time or another. The shop was in Heathcote Street. And just round the corner was a Fish and Chip Shop, although we were not religious we always seem to have Fish and Chips on a Friday (Fish Chips and a pennyworth of scratchings) how nice was that? As you can guess it was me that had to get the Fish and Chips in. Just next to the Chip shop was a Wool shop and then Keel Craft, Keel Craft sold Model Aircraft and various items. I used to go there to get my Grans accumulator charged for her radio (wish I had that radio now) hope you find this a memory jog. Do you remember Worthingtons, the greengrocers at the bottom of Heathcote Street, I remember the man who owned it and when he died his daughter took over, she ran it for a long time. Next to Worthingtons was another Shop (not sure on this one but I think it was the Maypole or similar) all I remember is they used to sell broken biscuits and if we were to ask for a bag of broken biscuits and they had none the girls would would break a few for us, cannot see that happening today. One final note, do you remember the big sign attached to the end of the cottage wall on the Radford Cottages? Ah Bisto, showing the two kids in raggy clothes. All the best. Colin.

Another story about Burglar Bill. Bonfire fire night, I was about 10years old. My friends and I built one of the many Bonfires you could see all over the City in them days. Our Bonfire was on waste ground at the rear of our house (Radford Rd). Came home from school and lit the fire, it was great, about 9 o'clock it started to fade. I had seen some wood preserver in cans just outside Burglar Bill's yard, two 5 gall drums and one 1 gall drum, I poured some into a small bean can, took it to the fire and threw the contents on the dying embers, the fire exploded and I saw two lads dive into the bushes. Wow was the response. With that we disposed of the 1 gall can in the same way. I then decanted some of the remaining liquid into the 1 gall can to hide our tracks so to speak. (he would not miss it) . The problem was the next night, when I came home from school the fire was again re kindled and burning almost out of control. The two lads responsible were being held by the Police, they had returned to the drums of preserver and used the lot to restart the fire. I got home and was having my dinner when a policeman stood at the door, I had been pointed out as the ring leader. I was taken to Court and stood before the Magistrate, Mrs Pearl Hyde (later to become the Mayor of Coventry). I was warned by my Dad not to refer to Fredrick Eli Augustus Wilkinson as Burglar Bill. On the stand I had such a job trying to refer to him using his full name, Pearl Hyde said "Carry on Colin we all know you mean Burglar Bill." I looked round, my father was still praying .lol. Bottom line is, I was told I was not to blame and I would leave Court without a stain on my character, the other two were sent to correction school for 6 months, serves them right for dobbing me in. The only person hurt in the story was Burglar Bill, he not only lost his wood preserve he had to pay costs, the other two were also on another charge and they did not have their parents with them, having your parents with you stood for quite a lot in them days, Sorry again Bill. It's funny in a way, on the way out from Court I heard Bill saying to my Dad how sorry he was for taking me to Court.

Harking back to the Radford Road Cottages and unsure where to put this posting I thought it may make you smile, this story started when I found a Webly Service revolver along with some 303 rounds hidden in an old oak tree up the Hi-its . I remember it being somewhat rusty but it still worked (firing pin still intact) could not wait to show all my mates so I took it into school (Barker Butts), the response "wow" they all loved it and wanted to swap. I could have had anything I wanted that day. This brings me to the next bit, the hidden vault. I need to hide the gun from my dad ,he would have gone spare if he knew, so I decided to make a safe. For some reason I knew that house walls had a cavity in between so I thought if I could remove a brick from the outer wall I could hide the gun and replace the brick. Now I could not do this on our own house wall as my dad would hear me banging so I decided to find a house close by to do the deed. I used to play by a house where the next door house had been bombed, it left only a chimney stack and an open fire place, (very common site when we were growing up) "That will do" I said. My two friends and I began the the task of removing the outer brick using an old steel railing as a pick. After a while my arm was dropping of so I asked my mate Brian to have a go, I took a break and just sat on a grass verge while he banged away. All went well until he dropped the steel rod and ran past me at great speed? I shouted what's wrong, thinking he had hurt himself? I looked at my other friend and he also did not know what he had done, he then also took off? What's going on? "Ok" I said to myself I will have a look to see what had spooked them. OMG I looked into the area we had been working in, gulp. I could see two eyes staring at me through the hole we had made by the removal of the brick (a slight miscalculation the wall was only one brick deep) I could do nothing but look at the lady ,Mrs Crutchlow. This means a good hiding for sure. At that point I went home and waited for the the response. My dad was at home I could not tell him what I had done and I just hoped it would go away, it did not, later in the day I was inside listening to Dick Barton, Special Agent, when the door knocked (yes you guessed it again it was Plod ) He called my dad outside and after a while I could hear them laughing. Was that a good sign? Anyway dad came back in, called me over and said what bxxxxx hell you done now? He looked at me and burst out laughing, tears in his eyes. It would appear that although Mrs Crutchlow was somewhat put out, the copper and my dad saw the funny side, it was agreed that if my dad put things right ie replace the brick and repair the tiles that had fallen into the washing up sink all would be forgotten, and as the project was not done with criminal intent no charges were issued. And all was well not even a telling off, that was a bonus. We had a good old laugh about it and as for the gun I swapped that for a catapult, dad caught me using it, slapped me one then took it home and used it to scare the cats in his garden. As for the 303 rounds I told my dad I had found them, well he took out the projectile, folded the ends over (you are not going to believe this one) he chucked two rounds on the fire in order to clean the chimney, well it did that ok it brought down loads of soot along with a couple of bricks. Never knew to this day why he did it but it sure made us smile. As for writing these little quips the wife has been onto me for years to share my stories. I hope you enjoy. Colin

Another great story, Colin - you should publish a book! I've altered the title of the thread so that all the stories you're going to tell us will have a place alongside Burglar Bill Keep 'em coming, Colin

Thanks again MR I was a little bit concerned that it was not in keeping with the site conventions . You have now reassured me and I hope all other readers feel the same . I thank you for that. Glad to see you enjoyed your day out at the Bull. And thanks for changing the title. Colin

Great tales Colin...........love 'em!

Hi all I love your comment "site conventions". In any conversation, all manner of subjects may arise under the umbrella of a single thread title & I am the worlds worst for doing that, so have no fears with that. Your posts are very gripping to read, so please do not refrain from posting. Thank you for your posts.

What a great story Colin. We are all waiting for the next instalment. Don't keep us in limbo !!!! You must have more tales to tell.

Colin, when you refer to Radford Road Cottages, are they the ones which used to get flooded off the road and pavement after heavy rains, or have I got the wrong area ?

Dreamtime you are correct, the Radford Common as you well know was higher than the cottages and if you were to go down towards the Radford pub just before you get to Beake Ave their was an hump in the road (the hump was a bridge carrying water under the road, not sure if it was the Sherbourne or Sowe River? Someone will put me right I am sure) anyway this formed a catchment for water that could not escape when there was a downpour, and so the Radford Road flooded right up to Three Spires Ave. The water in the middle was prone to get quite deep, we loved it as you can imagine, on went the wellies and off for a paddle. As for where I lived it was number 404. From the very question you asked me I could tell you must have known the cottages (there is a photo showing the cottages being demolished on this topic) Might as well tell you another funny, as the cottages were back to back being divided by a single brick wall, we had no back door, the coal was kept under the stairs in a coal hole. Having to live in such an house was due to the bombing and lack of houses I guess, anyway the story, my dad noticed that the coal was not going as far as he had expected or as normal, he could not work out why we had used so much . The same problem kept bugging my dad, until one day when the coal had almost gone he noticed a brick in the dividing wall had been removed and replaced, started him thinking ? "I wonder if the person who lived in the adjoining house has been stealing our coal" he said. This is the bit I liked, he placed two un-baited mouse traps in front of the removable brick in the hope he would have another go at stealing some coal. I cannot remember how long it took but it worked, it must have hurt and because he could not see what had bitten him so to speak he must have had the fright of his life. lol My dad who would have gone and sorted the man out for stealing the coal worked on the basis that if he had accused him he could have just said he did not do it and if the Police had been called they also would need proof. And so as the mouse traps were in our house and he had his fingers caught by poking them into our mouse trap then he had no leg to stand on. Rough justice. Dad was very happy with the result and needless to say we never had a problem with him again. Another one off the list. Thanks for the interest, Dreamtime. Colin

Oh yes, I like that one - gimme more !!!!

Poor old Burglar Bill. Did we give him a hard time? Because he had a scrapyard or should I say a scrap pile, onto the pile was an abundance of corrugated steel sheets, just the job for den building or to be more precise, an underground den. My brother Jim is 7 years older than me and he started me off digging tunnels and underground dens. A bit scary at the time and even more scary now. The hole was dug and covered with corrugated sheets then covered with soil and turf. The hole was about 6 foot deep and only had one entrance / exit, this was a tunnel about 6 foot long and dug out of the soil, with no pit props. Very dangerous, so to get into the tunnel we would lift a metal dustbin lid or similar covered with turf. Being honest you just could not see any clues as to its location. No ventilation and the main chamber could hold about 6 kids. We sat around the sides on bench-like seats cut out of the soil. Now if that was not dangerous enough the den was lit by candles and, wait for it, we had a fire with a flue we could retract, gets worse, I remember a friend of ours, a girl. We showed her how to get into the den via the tunnel, I went in first and she followed me, only problem was she crawled instead of going in snake like. She got stuck. No matter how hard I tried she would not budge, she started to panic and started screaming and then I panicked. I broke out via the hole we had made for the chimney, I then ran to the other end of the tunnel,down the hole, I then placed both feet on the girl's bottom and pushed, she shot out into the den like a cork out of a bottle. I had to calm her down, she was so upset. "Don't tell ya dad" I said. She then went home, but the screaming had not gone unnoticed, Burglar Bill turned up and as I had removed some of the roof, he clocked the corrugated sheets and then he started to rant and rave, he then started to recover his corrugated sheets. Just like Superman my dad appeared on the scene. He laid into Bill, " you leave these kids alone they are doing no harm so go away" (or words to that effect) "Look what they have done Mr, they have taken my scrap metal to build their den" he said. He was not interested in the den, just the metal. My dad sent him packing. Nobody messes with my dad I thought, what a star. We all cheered. My dad then took a look down the hole in the ground, I heard him gulp. "Right you kids, you must all go home now and as for you (meaning me) your dinner is on the table" so off I went with my dad, he sent me in for dinner, he did not come in, he chatted to my mum outside then collected a spade and filled the den in. He could not believe the size of the hole, what he did not know was a couple of days before he stood over the tunnel calling me I was in the tunnel, I could not reply as this would have exposed the tunnel, my brother was with my dad looking for me but could not say anything, he knew if he had exposed the tunnel he would also be for it. (we lived in a time when the belt ruled the day and I had a few, it hurts) Jim my brother said after, he did not know I was in the tunnel. Later we had a laugh about it but vowed never to tell dad. How am I still here? Colin.

Wow Colin, It seems as if I must have led a dreary life compared to yours (well I was a girl) and your school holidays were never long enough considering all the antics you got up to. Did you take after your dad ???????

Do you know Dreamtime I have never thought of that, it's because my dad died when I was 14 years old. So I never got to know him as a man. Him dying so young shook me up a bit and I became the man of the house, so to speak. Life can be so cruel. As for him being like me, hard to say, he liked his pint, he was always respectful, he would insist on no swearing in front of my mum (well not if it was her turn lol) - just kidding. Some men sat behind us on a bus one day, they were swearing a lot (not the type of swearing you hear today) he just turned round and said "Lady present" the swearing stopped with an apology. Today doing that you would get a knife in you. Dad worked hard, he could not go into the army due to his war work but he was in the Home Guard. He kept me on the straight and narrow but he did rule by the belt. I have no regrets on that score. One funny thing he used to do was on a Sunday after a trip to the Radford pub he would finish cooking the Sunday dinner then after eating his dinner he would watch the television, a film. He would watch the beginning then fall asleep, he would wake up as the titles came up then remark on how good the story had been. Just made us laugh he taught us respect. If the tv was on and we had guests then the tv was turned off as it should be, unless the football was on then it stayed on. Lol. If you like my childhood stories and you take the trouble to say so then it's been worthwhile for me also, thanks Dreamtime. A question.... did you live in Radford? Colin