236 Old Birmingham Road

Harris Family History by Jean-Luc Addams

 

Currently the house has been extended with an extension running from the original cottage along the road. The original cottage was a nail makers dating back at least 200 years (so I was told).

It was bought by Diana Harris and Leslie Harris and I have a reference to 1954:

See below the Burma Star log, so it shows they were resident in 1954. They were my Grandparents and I lived with them from about 1968ish.

When they moved in the nailmakers shop/workplace needed to be taken down and it was replaced with a kitchen. The cottage was (then) very traditional: 2 rooms downstairs with bathroom and 2 rooms upstairs. Looking from the garden the house had a central door, and four multi-paned windows. It was redbrick with chimneys at each gable end.

Early 1970's the house was modernised with all windows replaced with large picture windows and a porch and back sunroom added.

Les worked at Austins/Leylands and had many connections though-out the area. He was very close with the owners of the local garage (which if I remember was just down the road and was Shell). I few doors up from the garage lived the Taylors - Old Mrs Taylor lived in a very Victorian room with dark wood and clothes that was at the back of the house. They had a large garden which went very far back and connected with the field that the Taylors worked. I remember the old barns full with hay - next to the barns was a very old haybailer - which would have connected to a steam engine. It was faded red with faded yellow wheels. The track behind the houses was where Les did a lot of work with cars and fixing things up - hence his friendship with the garage, etc. He was an engineer in the Burma conflict!

The track at the back went past the back gardens of the next few houses and the turned 90 degrees and met the Old Birmingham Road.

I remember our old Woolsley was always parked at the back - it was green and black with red interior and I was taken to it one day to be shown the mice that were nesting in it - I never remember being driven in it!

I do remember the fields being prepared with potato seeds. There was a big grey tractor - very open with large side wheels guards. I used to sit on the guards and told to 'hang on tight' - in case I fell and go caught up in the wheels - I would have been about 4 - hey it was the 70's - lol

Les had a brother Jess. He had the house next door to 236. It was meant to be nice, but was sold, torn down when the blind school moved in. Next door to use were 2 houses one where the head gardener and his family lived - the Arthurs. Both houses are still there although have been significantly added to with the Lickey Grange development. Although Jess and Les were brothers, there was a disagreement between them both over a boundary between the 2 properties. it was so serious that they didn't speak for 30 years and Jess moved out. So that would sort of put them waring at the end of the 40's. 

Diana (Les's wife) was a nurse at Bromsgrove general hospital. I belies that she was in the cottage when the war was on, so that puts the purchase around mid 1940?

Below is a picture of my mother (Lesley), Les and Dianna at her wedding 1965?

Les and Diana also had an older child: Brian. He went to Bournville Art School and moved to London and because a commercial artist. Les had a brother Arnold who was a farmer. He lived in Woodrow Lane, Marlbrook. He had all the fields around that area and grey cabbages and beats, etc. Where Epsom Road meets Woodrow Lane, is a row of terraces. He lived there with his wife Ruth and their mother. Epsom Road was the opening to the fields as there was no housing build there. Their house was in the middle of the terrace with an arched 'pend' through to the back (long garden). There was a step up to the kitchen which was at the back. I would go there with Les on Sunday mornings when Ruth was cooking. I always remember a hugely hot kitchen with many saucepans of cabbage and potatoes and condensated windows. Les and Arnold would pop along to the local for a few before lunch - leaving me with Old Mrs Harris in the front room and Ruth in the kitchen.

If you can see some parallels with the Taylors and Old Mrs Taylor in the back room, then that was how people lived then. Going further up Woodrow lane to where it meets Cobnall road. You'll find a large corner property. This was the Vellenders (I don't have the correct spelling). Their house was sort of like the Dingles in Emmerdale: full of stuff in the garden, mangles, boxes, bits of stuff everywhere. The house was the same. They had an older son (14-16?) who I got lots of beaten up toys from - there were such a nice family. One thing that always sticks in my mind was the garden itself. Les was a keen gardener, and so was Mr Vallender. The garden had a plot with HUGE (size of a medium football huge) award winning chrysanthemums, and loads of variegated Fuchias - I think that Les had something to do with both. I know he did lots of things with fuchias in the greenhouse.

About the house (see photos below) - Originally it was all brick, but when the windows and other stuff was done in the 70's it was harled off white. The gas meter box is the same one.

Where the white back door is was part of the renovations. it was called 'the car port' but no car fitted - lol. The first window on the ground back was the kitchen, followed by the bathroom and the living room - the back extension looks like it was removed. Upstairs were two rooms - the front (by the road) being mine and the back being my grandparents. there was a set of steepish stairs and a tiny landing at the top.

The kitchen had a "Parkray" back boiler system that (I cant say heated) warmed the water and kept the kitchen warm. In the living room was an open fire which was replace by electric later. I do remember using the back fire to toast bread with a toasting fork - very nice. 

Looking at the front where the tan door is. This was the original entrance which had a big old wood gate and huge gate posts. flanking this are 2 (looks like they are still there) yew trees. The hedges look like they might be the originals too - only much higher. I used to collect puffballs (fungi) from under the hedge by the gate.

Location and map below - 

A is the Taylors property

B is the big back fields with Taylors worked. the barns look like they are the same one that were piled with hey - we used to climb them and jump off. What look like caravans was where the old steam engine and red haybaler was.

C used to be the HoneyPot

I've taken a current map of The Grange and overlayed what I remember was there - in general I see that the new buildings sort of match where the old buildings were, although there are lots more bigger with gardens, new road, etc. You have to think of the Grange as being the main house plus gardens that the Blind School took over and built up with new classrooms and residential blocks. The lodge, workshops, greenhouse, walled garden, etc are what is left from the original estate?

Also think of the estate as being a haven for peace and quiet with lots of fruit related orchards, etc - there are very few remnants existing now. but back in the 1970's it all existed.

Starting at 256 we have my next door neighbours: Tony and Margaret Arthur and their 2 children Andrew and Rebecca. He was head gardener and maintenance for the school. The house is still there but heavily modified. it was a 3 bedroom semi-detatched. The right hand property was used for senior teaching staff. Behind the Arthurs was a large garden that stretched back bordering the Rainbows fields. The next door garden didn't go back as far.

At the bottom of the front garden was a short drive with access to Old Birmingham Road. This looped back on itself with bushes in between. At one end of the drive was a garage.

Sort of diagonal to the garage was the Clarkes house. Ken was the sub gardener. He had a wife (could be Pat?) and two smaller kids Lisa and Lee.

Further down at the main entrance was the lodge (still there) on the right and the headmasters newer build house. I think they were called Sherwood or Sherwin? Behind their house was their private garden and fruit garden which had raspberries, gooseberries, etc. It had a nice very need tall hedge which separated is from the apple orchard beyond. To the right of the orchard was neat lawns.

Going along the main drive was another house on the corner sort of modern? Here the drive split into 2. the left going up the hill past the Clarkes and the main drive continuing round to the main house. Both these drives had amazing cherry and apple trees flanking them, so is spring it was a riot of pink and white. Looking up the left hand drive was one on the new Residential blocks. 3 stories in brick very square. But was inset into the hill so from the left drive you were at 1st floor level and needed to go down some steps to access it. main access was from the other side across the lawn past the theatre.

Continuing round the main drive, the was a sort of copse of trees then very dark bushes on the corner taking you round to the main house on the right and the new build theatre on the left. there were stairs past the theatre leading to the residential block. Past the theatre was the carpark in front of the house. The firth thing you would see was a single story addition which was the kitchen, then a 2/3 story addition on the right corner facing 10 acre.

The Main house is on a hill and looking from the back you get stunning views down 10 acre and across the fields. The hills down to the flat area was always referred as 10 Acre!

If we are at the corner of the theatre looking toward 10 acre, you could see more of the dark foliage - I think it was possibly rhododendrons. They encompassed a very flat area we always called the sunken garden. You couldn't see it from the drive or knew it was there. I have a feeling it was probable either a croquet pitch or lawn bowls - if pushed I would go with croquet.

The copse continues to the boarder and nestled under the trees on the apex corner of 10 acre was the summer house. This was a totally wooden structure in faded green and cream, with big double doors that opened. I was not ruined at that stage but was very dirty and abandoned. You could really see in through the windows. It was always locked and never used. Until one day it wasn't. We went in and explored - the floor was already rotting away and there were packing cases and boxes lying around. plus very old cream colored rattan summer furniture. The design of the summerhouse was sort of alpine inspired and had a very Edwardian feel to it.

From the Summer house looking down over 10 acre you could see the apple trees. these were then replaced as you went down 10 acre into plume trees, *Victorias" in the middle and yellow plums at the very bottom.

!0 acre itself was (apart from the fruit orchard) just grass. It was mown and tended throughout the year. On the far right in the middle of the boundary was 'the dump' This was mainly used for dumping the garden waste, but as time went on other waste was put there too. It was surrounded by bushes so unless you knew what was there, you wouldn't see it. In the current map it looks like the dump is now a small hill?

Just below the dump was a metal climbing frame in a single row with bars. almost like an obstacle course...

Going further up 10 acre was about 8 damson trees and then as 10 acre meets the lower drive there was a large brick double garage type building where the tractor and mowing stuff was kept. To the right of this was a fine old wall with strange ratty gardens on one side. Once I was older and could decode architecture it was the remains of the original walled garden, with fruit and vegetable patches on the 10 acre side and potting shads on the other die of the wall - long since demolished even then.

Going back to the main drive. From the Old Birmingham Road there was a slight decline going down to the main house. As you went past this you came to the intersection with the left drive which had gone up from the main drive, past the Clarkes house and Residential block and looped back around and down (at quite an angle) past the pond. The right hand continued on the flat past the visitors car park and wooden classroom and then on to the workshops and nature classroom. The left hand continued down even steeper down to the greenhouse and garage/stables and the walled garden. There was a (virtually) 45 degree hill up that met the drive past the workshops.

To the right was now an upped and lower drive with ball courts in-between and finally a big play area with hugely dangerous items, roundabout, horse, tall slide, swings, infamous witches hat. The upped drive looped back at the end to join the lower drive. Just a bit further was a green wooden gate that lead from the Estate to other estates accessed from Alvechurch side. Above this was more manicure lawns but flat going up towards the modern classrooms and the second Residents block which was the highest point. There was a running tack here very clearly marked with start and finish lines and ran in a sort of oval with the start being under the trees. On really interesting thing here is the far top right corner. It was overgrown with bushes and looks even more overgrown now. But back then there was some sort of visible path. So we followed it, pushed through the undergrowth and it opened at the very corner and the was a round metal style giving access to the neighbouring property. I wonder if it's still there?

Going back to the Arthur's we are now looking up the manicured grass up the hill toward the other residents block at the top of the hill. I believe that was where Uncle Jess's house was. In front of the block and almost at the top were 3 apple trees - Which my grandmother insisted Jess had planted. Going to the garage there was a path going up overlooking the Clarkes house. There were some apple trees behind their house but the were crab-apple. The path turned at the top and and windy stepping stone path lead down to the upper (left) drive. This overlooked the main residents block. Following the drive on the left was a stone wall with lots of ivy going up to the grass lawns. The upper drive then split. The left going up to the higher residents block and the drive banking down past the the pond and meeting the main drive.

Just past the pond were steps up to the upper classrooms - these were new and had that 50s/60s design ethos, so single story, wood clad and asbestos inside - this was cleared in the early 80's. The workshops were at the same level as the main house the modern classrooms on the hill above and the stables on the lower drive.

I think that covers most of the layout. Possibly in more detail than is available elsewhere? This will probably be very interesting for those who now live there...