STREETLY, STAFFORDSHIRE MEMORIES  (1936 - 1961) THE PARISH HALL STREETLY DURING THE 1940s by Chris Myers

THE PARISH HALL, FOLEY ROAD, STREETLY I have already described – through the eyes of my seven-year-old self – the Home Guard Children's Christmas Party which took place on a Saturday afternoon just before Christmas, 1943. This was held in the Parish Hall in Foley Road, Streetly. The Parish Hall played an important part in community life during the war years and the following post-war period. No doubt it had done so throughout the 1920s and 1930s as well, but those years passed before I became conscious of the world around me at about the outbreak of war in 1939. And my elder brother and sister, who would have known it from 1931 onwards, never recounted any particular stories about it. No doubt it merely represented a part of their normal, everyday existence as it did later my own. By the time I reconnoitered the area in 2018 in the hope of taking some "after" photographs to accompany the "before" ones I have, the Hall had totally disappeared, I found it was impossible to establish exactly where it had stood and the camera remained unused. (As it did in some other areas as well, not least Little Aston Park!) But the subsequent appearance of further evidence and the availability of modern images via Google Street View mean that this omission can be remedied at least in part and illustrated. It is interesting for me - and something of a surprise -  to realise that the existence of a building which meant so much to so many people at that time is now almost unknown to the majority of 21st century Streetly residents. For that reason, I hope you will bear with me if I tell you a bit of what I know about it, and remember of it, just for the record. What I can tell you is below, in three sections: WHERE WAS IT AND WHAT WAS IT LIKE? WHAT WAS IT USED FOR? ONE EVENT AT THE PARISH HALL (out of so many) WHERE WAS IT AND WHAT WAS IT LIKE? The Parish Hall (or the Parish Room as my parents insisted on calling it throughout my childhood) was located in what is now Foley Road East, a few yards down from All Saints Church in the direction of the Chester Road. A 1920 Ordnance Survey map (left - and no doubt reflecting the layout of the area in 1918/1919) shows precisely where it was - not immediately adjacent to the church itself but perhaps 50 or 60 yards from the latter's western boundary. (The cartographer elected to use the term "Church Room"). A 1926 aerial photograph (below, left - in which the Hall itself is not to be seen as it is just off the bottom border) shows that the intervening area had, by then, gained a substantial house set well back from the road – no doubt the vicarage; and the area between it and the Foley Road was filled with a well cultivated garden hidden from the road by a tall hedge. The hedge is no doubt the reason why I remember nothing about the intervening land between the Hall and the Church, apart from the fact of something being there which meant that the two buildings did not directly adjoin. From available information, we can probably conclude that the Parish Hall lay under all or part of what is now Foley Church Close. Perhaps chunks of it sometimes get dug up in the gardens there, especially those on the side of the road nearer to the Church. I do not know the date of the Hall's building. It clearly took place some time between 1908 (when the Church was built) and around the end of the Great War, before the Vicarage appeared. It may even have been built at exactly the same time as the Church, or just a year or two afterwards. The Church would have been created to fulfill the spiritual needs of a growing local population; and the Hall would have been there to benefit its social life. There was certainly building going on in the area during the Great War – I know of at least one building in Featherston Road which dates from 1914/1915 - and the 1920 map shows us how things had already developed with at least five houses already built in that road. (It seems as though the impact of war at that time on residential development was  less significant than during the events of just 25 years later when everything came to a halt for many years). And so the Hall might have appeared as early as 1908 but must have been built at the very latest by 1918/19. It would therefore have stood, serving the community for at least 50 or 60 years and perhaps a bit longer, until "progress" overwhelmed it. The Hall stood fairly close to Foley Road, set back perhaps 20 yards or so, and the area at the front could therefore accommodate a few cars. Perhaps that was adequate. Or was there some sort of overflow parking, down the left-hand side? As time went on, well after I last set eyes on it, the parking must have been woefully inadequate and presumably measures would have been taken if there were space to accommodate them. But in my time, I remember nothing at all of that, nor of the need. As you can see from the map, the Hall stood at 90 degrees to the Foley Road and the entrance was of course at the front, facing the road. At some stage in its existence, another wall had been built, right in front of the main entrance door so that you accessed the building around the side of that and then turned sharp right to go through the main door. Even as a child, this arrangement looked a little strange to me and I always put it down to the need, which I witnessed in many other buildings, for protection against possible bomb blast. It probably had nothing to do with that, however, but resulted from a decision by the 1920's Church Wardens to cut down the blast of cold air when somebody opened the main door on a winter evening! Once one was inside, it all looked vast, to the eyes of a small child. An expanse of polished parquet floor (together with its smell of beeswax), a large number of chairs arranged either around the edge, below the windows with their blackout curtains, or in rows, depending on the event; and beyond them the curtained stage extending across much of the width of the building. On the right-hand side of that, a door leading, I think, to a kitchen; and a similar door on the left leading to goodness knows what - perhaps a cloakroom or other facilities and the mysterious area behind the stage. WHAT WAS IT USED FOR? I can provide, from my own experience, just a few glimpses of how it served the community. I have already described one of the parties I attended there. A wonderful experience which I have never forgotten and which, for some reason, stuck in my mind more than other similar events. There are likely to have been other wartime Home Guard Christmas parties which I would have attended, but memories of them have gone. I went to other parties there, in particular, nearly every year, a Dr. Barnado's party. This was generously put on by Mrs. Joan Bretherton (seen right, with her husband Carl) who lived in a large house at the Little Aston end of Hardwick Road: she did much good work in the community, including acting as the local organiser for that charity and, presumably out of her own pocket, generously laid on a children's party every year as a reward for those children who had a collection box at their homes. (I'm not sure if I ever felt any twinge of guilt, but I should have done as it was always my mother, rather than I, who regularly put a spare threepence or sixpence through the slot in the roof of a little papier-mâché house which was the collection box). Games and film show and fun, just like the Home Guard parties. There must also have been the odd birthday party in the Parish Hall, hosted by one or other of my friends. And, just for a few weeks, I went every Sunday afternoon to Sunday School, held in a circle of chairs in the middle of the Hall and run by an unknown lady.  The enthusiasm and interest were short-lived and, to their credit (or discredit?), my parents never forced the issue. Adult events were not normally attended by us children. But of course they occurred – all the normal things that occupied and diverted the minds of adults at that time: whist drives, dances, amateur dramatics, choral activities, political meetings, private gatherings ........ anything where the community wanted to come together and needed a venue for which the alternatives (which can only have included All Saints and the Methodist Church, the Hardwick Arms and the Parson & Clerk, the Golf Club and whatever facilities the local schools possessed) were unsuitable for other than specialist tastes. One of the most serious events was the night when the Hall hosted the very first meeting of the local Home Guard. Those who had put their names forward in the days following Anthony Eden's broadcast of Tuesday, May 14th 1940 were summoned to attend it and receive further information as to what was to be done at a moment when invasion, previously unthinkable, had almost overnight become a real threat - a probability even. This is the invitation to this meeting received by my father and my elder brother, both anxious "to do their bit". Which they did, over the following years. Because of my age I only caught a very occasional glimpse of more grown-up events. For example, a vision of my sister in Girl Guide uniform kneeling with a friend up on the stage in front of a pyramid of sticks, pretending to light the bonfire - and succeeding because the pyramid rapidly glowed red. Not very convincing, really, because even I knew that it was only a red bulb which had been switched on - and I was also an expert on PROPER, serious bonfires and so knew about these things. But you entered into the spirit and clapped, like everyone else. Of course you did. And there were plays and concerts and displays which were suitable for youngsters and you sat through them with varying degrees of involvement or boredom. Once I went to some dancing event where the activity took place in the middle of the floor rather than up on the stage. A group of ladies were all dressed in long, shiny, pink dresses and were flitting around. I didn't know most of them but I did recognise, to my great surprise, one lady who lived on the opposite side of the road to us on the Chester Road.  She was quite ancient, just like my parents. She must have been at least 40. And there she was, circling with others around the floor, one arm outstretched above her and carrying a flower, the other arm trailing down behind her, her face one of intense concentration as she tried to appear graceful and artistic; and then all of them moving inwards, their upstretched arms coming together to form a posy of flowers at the peak of the pyramid. Great applause. Bloomin' daft, I remember feeling at the time: why do grown-ups have to make such fools of themselves sometimes, to act so unnaturally so that they become different people? A bit like they do at Church which is one of the reasons I hate going..... But of course I clapped, like everyone else. I had just one experience of the Hall's stage myself. It was one of the nastiest experiences of my young life. I was five and had not long started school, at Sandwell. We were told that we were to perform in public. I can't remember whether it was a sort of dance or a gymnastics display. A group of us was ushered on to the stage to do our thing. The audience below us stretched out, down the entire length of the Hall. Everyone was looking just at me. I knew that for certain. There followed an excruciating five or ten minutes which I spent pressing myself as close as I could to the side curtains and keeping as many people in front of me as I could. But all the time I knew that I could not hide completely. It was truly ghastly. Roars of applause as I scuttled off the stage with all the others. That was little compensation. The thought of that experience has never left me, kept me as far as possible from stages of any kind and is no doubt the only reason why I never became the second Laurence Olivier (much as I later idolised him in 1944 as he led us to victory at the Sutton "Empress" cinema over the foppish French in "Henry V"). Others had far fewer inhibitions about appearing on the Hall's stage. Dramatic performances were given by local people. A lady by the name of  Mrs. Dean was one of the leading lights: she lived in Manor Road. Politicians appeared, especially around election time. Duncan Sandys and Peter Thorneycroft, and, I think, Christopher Soames. The latter had married Churchill's daughter Mary and became the father of Nicholas (now Lord Soames). All three of them later occupied some of the highest Offices of State in Conservative governments. I was taken to a couple of such meetings by my parents in the immediate postwar years and on one occasion with a female contemporary. One of the politicians observed in his speech how gratifying it was to note members of the younger generation in attendance. This comment flew far over the head of my companion who by that stage was wholly oblivious and was concentrating on her colouring-in book. But I noticed it and it encouraged me in my efforts to look intelligent and attentive to whatever he was banging on about. Which was gobbledygook to me of course - I understood little at the time and remember even less now. But the message would certainly have been what my parents and most of their friends wanted to hear: "Times are unutterly grim, five years after the war. Did we really win it? Shortages everywhere, rationing still with us, permits needed for everything, the Government wasting money right, left and centre - just look at the Groundnuts Project! ...We need Winston back...." From that message came a distant hope, specifically for me - full availability of new Dinky Toys and sweets coming off the ration. It took a long time for it to be fulfilled. It seems astonishing to me that, as far as I am aware, no image of the Parish Hall during its long life seems to have come to light. I can't believe that none exist and that cannot be the case; but it seems that nothing has so far surfaced. The only ones I have ever seen are those which appear below. JUST ONE EVENT AT THE PARISH HALL (OUT OF SO MANY) TThe following images depict a particular event, out of the thousands which must have occurred throughout the life of the building. It is a children's gathering, of the sort which I have described above. I suppose that it COULD be a record of the Home Guard children's party which I attended in December 1943 and have remembered ever since. I cannot be sure. And I have to be honest and say that it may well not be: it is more likely to show an earlier event, perhaps in 1941 or 1942. It is still definitely wartime and perhaps it is another, earlier, Home Guard party; or perhaps a different event, also held for the benefit of local children. Most of the images in this section come from the camera of Mr. Bill Cutler who had the foresight to record some aspects of Streetly life during the war years and the immediate postwar years. Their quality is dictated by the fact that they are stills taken from 9.5mm cine film. Whether they are pin-sharp or not, we are indeed lucky to have them. In the first sequence we see the arrival of a few of those attending the event, to enjoy what it has to offer or to help to make it happen - or both.           The Arrivals The following images show us various Streetly people arriving for the event. We are in the forecourt of the Parish Hall. This first image, fuzzy and unsatisfactory as it is (because the camera is facing the wintry sun) has been included because it give us a glimpse of the view out across Foley Road. A man has appeared escorting his child. Perhaps it is his car we can see parked behind him – a black Flying Standard. He is starting to walk towards us. Another man in the foreground is greeting him. In the background, on the edge of the far side of the road, is a telegraph pole with white stripes painted around it to assist motorists as they grope their way along the road after dark with only the glimmer of masked headlights to assist them. Beyond it are a hedge and open fields. There seems to be a large building of some sort in the distance to the left: its outline here suggests something substantial, and industrial even. But it can only be the outline of a house which appeared between 1920 and 1926 (just after the 1920 map and before the 1926 aerial photograph shown above) and is also shown on this 1940s map of Foley Road, marked with a red arrow (below)).  I have no recollection of it. More people arrive. Another man is escorting an eight or nine-year-old boy. And a lady in a felt hat, perhaps her husband or a grown-up son at her side. Again we can see a car parked behind them on the road. We shall get a better view of that later. Then, looking towards the Hall, two men (below). The one in the spectacles might be Joe Perry (left) who was a comrade of my father in the Home Guard and lived with his wife, Meta, on the Chester Road, between the ruins of Manor Farm close to Bridle Lane and the junction of what is now called Foley Road West. In the Home Guard one of his duties was to act as Mess Steward, almost certainly at Company HQ, located at "The Greylands", a requisitioned house in Middleton Road near to the junction with Manor Road. Mr. Perry was a born entertainer and was often to be seen at social events, performing as a comedian and pianist.  Perhaps he is going to do a performance at this one, even acting as Master of Ceremonies. And then what soon happens inside the Hall.           Inside the Hall We'll now move inside the Hall to see what is about to happen. This stage is well lit and children are going through their paces. A little girl dances and twirls. At the end of her performance she moves off the stage to the left. And gives us a final move before she disappears. Then we see what is probably the full cast, apparently singing for our benefit. Well done, young ballerina and the other youngsters. You're all far braver than I. (And anyway, my mum would never have bought me a frilly tutu like that). These are just glimpses of what has been going on. Is it a school concert? Or some entertainment in the middle of a party? When it finally comes to an end, the participants leave the Hall and go back to their homes, most of them on foot or bike and a few by car - if they are lucky enough to own one and to have an essential user's petrol ration with which to fuel it.           Departures Our photographer is back outside to record the audience and helpers leaving the event. In the background are the only images I have seen of the front of the Parish Hall with its strange entrance – the main doors obscured by a brick vestibule around which the entrance is on the right. A noticeboard faces us with no notices on it. Two Home Guard blokes are discussing something, just by the entrance.  They are in uniform. Someone's Rover is parked just in front of us. A man and his ten or eleven-year-old son, in school cap and raincoat, have squeezed past them and now walk away. We can see that the Home Guard man is wearing an HG armband on his sleeve.  This is a throwback to the time in 1940 when full uniform was in short supply and was still being issued - a time now largely passed by, but the armband remains in evidence in these still relatively early days of the war. A much younger boy and his father have now emerged from the Hall and are walking towards us, past the parked Ford Prefect Coupé. The man is Mr. Carr, another member of the Home Guard although he is not in uniform this afternoon. Mr. Carr is a Sergeant, which probably means that he served in the Great War; and later he will become an officer. Mr. Carr is looking down at his child and saying something. Perhaps: "Look, somebody is taking a photograph. It's Mr. Cutler, you know him. And you know what to do, just look up at the camera and smile." "Like I'm doing". The child, however is not so certain. He will certainly know Mr. Cutler, but when you are only three or four you tend to view new circumstances with a degree of caution. And a lot has been happening this afternoon already. It has been quite bewildering. Another man emerges from the Hall. He is carrying something. He hoists it on his shoulder and comes closer to the camera. Whatever he is carrying, it is well wrapped up. In fact it is a Lewis machine gun. And the man carrying it is in Home Guard uniform. His weapon has no doubt been on display during the afternoon. Perhaps he has been explaining to the older children how it works. He comes closer towards us. The guardian of this bit of lethal weaponry is very likely to be Mr. Ralph who lives in Middleton Road. Mr. Ralph is known for his expertise with guns such as this. In fact he has his own anti-aircraft installation on open land between Wood Lane and Hardwick Road as this 1920 map, marked up in 1940, (below) indicates. The location is noted as "M.G" and is adjacent to the HQ of No.3 Platoon in Little Hardwick Road. Some images also survive of this defensive position and Mr. Ralph can be seen training some of his colleagues in the use of the gun. Regrettably we shall never know whether it was ever fired in anger. Back at the Hall, an unknown lady also emerges into the wintry sunshine. Is she a mother of one of the children? Or has she been helping with the arrangements or the catering? Or even both? We now move to the pavement and look down Foley Road in the direction of Chester Road. The car we saw previously is still parked at the roadside, with the obligatory mask on its one operational headlight and blobs of white paint on its front mud wings. It's an Austin 10 Cambridge. By the side of it two men are in discussion. The man on the right is holding forth on an unknown subject at which we can only guess. The progress of the German invasion of Russia? The Americans' entry into the war, at long last? Last week's air raid? Or something mundane such as the price of potatoes or a further reduction in the tiny meat ration? Whatever it is, he has opinions. While he is talking a car, perhaps a Morris, comes up the road and overtakes the parked vehicle before carrying on towards Streetly Village. And a man has just walked past the pair. The man on the left ventures an opinion. The third man has walked past this pair on his way down towards the Chester Road. Has he been to the event as well? He turns to look back at us. Is he checking on the state of the discussion? That seems to be nearly over. Or is he having a final look at the cameraman before he continues on his way home? He will walk down the hill past a handful of 1920s/1930s houses; but mainly open fields stretching away on each side, behind their tall hedges. At the crossroads he will not immediately turn left or right because there are no houses in either direction for several hundred yards on this side of the Chester Road, just farmland. So he will cross over the road where he has the choice of going off to his home to the left or to the right, where there ARE houses, or of carrying on along Foley Road towards further homes including a couple of short cul-de-sacs, Egerton Road and Blackwood Road. And then, toast-and-dripping by the fireside on this winter afternoon? The wireless on as the light outside fades. Nearly time to put the blackout shutters up and close the curtains. Sunday tomorrow. A day off. Apart from the Home Guard parade in the morning, or giving the vegetable patch its winter dig... The moment passes. As does the Hall itself a few decades later. And with it, as the years go by, the small community of an earlier Streetly and everyone who knew it in those faraway days. Apart perhaps from a few of the children who appear in these images and who, like me, might still remember a tiny bit of it in old age. Just a glimpse, here and there..... ********** POSTSCRIPT Things have changed, just a little, over the ensuing 80 years.   1941  2021     **********

GO TO    The Christmas Party, Dec. 1943

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Grateful acknowledgement is made to the late Bill Cutler for having had the foresight to create a record of aspects of Streetly life in the 1940s; and also to Kate Cutler for making them available to staffshomeguard and generously permitting their use in this website. Further acknowledgement is made to members of the Streetly History Facebook group and the Birmingham History Forum for providing useful informations; and to other sources including The Library of Scotland, Google Street View and Britain from Above. Images from the Parish Hall and the anti-aircraft installation are © Kate Cutler 2023 All ttext and other images are © The Myers Family 2023 This family and local history page is hosted by www.staffshomeguard.co.uk  (The Home Guard of Great Britain, 1940-1944)

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INDEX  Streetly and Family Memories 1936-61