The road under the bridge would flood following heavy rain, which is why the pavement is elevated on one side. In those days you could hear the steam trains approaching, and it was customary at the station, having purchased your ticket, to walk down the ramp at the end of each platform and cross the tracks before walking up the ramp on to the other platform. (This access is now blocked).

SITE OF THE SCHOOL The Former School During our early years my younger brother and I would walk under the bridge five days a week to and from our little school at what is now a private dwelling at 150 Station Road. Bleak House School was run by two sisters, the Misses Pearson, for “girls of all ages and boys up to age 10”. We had a day off in October 1940 because the road was blocked by the bomb crater. Next to the station was Voces the local newsagent, located where the flats are now. The sign above the entrance said “T.Voce Newsagents” and the manager was a Mr Nuttall. During the 1930s and 1940s they sold cards, books and stationery items as well as sweets (a tiny bag of dolly-mixtures cost a farthing), and arranged newspaper deliveries. Among others my brother and I both used to do paper delivery rounds locally to earn a few pennies’ pocket money each week.

And when we got into train spotting, we both would use the station for trips to the main line at Lichfield Trent Valley.

When we graduated to secondary school most of our friends were local, residents of Station Road, Vesey Road, Eastern and Western Roads, Sunny Bank Road, Frederick and Mayfield Roads, and Little Green Lanes. We found a sports field off Highbridge Road, adjacent to the railway, and accessible through a gap in the hedge and a scramble down a bank, by the side of the bridge. The official entrance was probably gated. (This area is now occupied by Wilkinson Drive). The field actually belonged to the London Midland & Scottish Railway, although they seldom seemed to use it, and included part of a small railway carriage as a changing area. Our friend George lived in Mayfield Road, but his back garden had access to this field, so we felt justified in using it to play football and cricket. Others joined us, mostly colleagues from BVGS and KEHS, where the winter sport was rugby, not soccer. We even got together a football eleven, practising on a pitch to the south of Wylde Green Road used by a local amateur team.

Mostly we just played together, but one day we challenged Wylde Green College. We played on their ground and beat them, and although afterwards they claimed it wasn’t their official school team, we had already published the result in Birmingham’s distinctive pink Saturday Sports Argus anyway!

Michael – July 2021