Birkin Avenue, Hyson Green

[Denman 0]

I was looked after as a small child  during school holidays by my grandmother, Gladys Hindley at number 5 Birkin Avenue.

Visiting the site recently all of the houses backing onto the school have been demolished sadly.

The area now appears td be very much smaller than I remember! There were toilets in the yard and a cafe known locally 

as 'Dirty Dick's' that sold items like Kellog's corn flakes. Opposite was a grocer's shop that cut slices of ham on one of 

those deadly looking machines! I recall buying 'sweet' cigarettes from that shop. Anyone out there recall life in Birkin Avenue?

[Cliff Ton 10,457]

Welcome to Nottstalgia Denman. This photo is from 1967 looking down Birkin Avenue; the road going across left to right is Caulton Street, so your No.5 would be on the left, just behind the photographer.

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

Welcome from me also, Denman.  My maternal great grandparents lived at 120 Birkin Avenue but long before my time. Several of the children who attended Berridge with me also lived there. Look forward to hearing more of your memories.

[Gem 1,430]

On ‎12‎/‎07‎/‎2017 at 10:14 AM, Denman said:

I was looked after as a small child  during school holidays by my grandmother, Gladys Hindley at number 5 Birkin Avenue.

Visiting the site recently all of the houses backing onto the school have been demolished sadly.

The area now appears td be very much smaller than I remember! There were toilets in the yard and a cafe known locally 

as 'Dirty Dick's' that sold items like Kellog's corn flakes. Opposite was a grocer's shop that cut slices of ham on one of 

those deadly looking machines! I recall buying 'sweet' cigarettes from that shop. Anyone out there recall life in Birkin Avenue?

Only help that I can give is re: Dirty Dicks real greasy spoon place known for their pink lint cobs "spam and tomato" about  3/4 shops up from Lenos  Cinema, might give a point of reference for other shop.

[PeverilPeril 3,279]

That picture of Birkin Avenue looks a bit odd to me? Birkin Ave is a continuation of Peveril St., where I lived. I walked or cycled daily down Birkin Ave to Berridge Rd school 1948/1952. Also went to Palin St Baptists and youth club until 1958. Maybe the corner shops changed - don't remember the Gallery. Memory a bit faded though 

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

The shop on the rounded corner that has Gallery outside also sold costume jewellery in the mid 60s. I remember my sister buying some blue earrings from there around 1966/7 and then walking further up onto Bentinck Road where there was a confectioners next to Bentinck Road School. I vividly recall going in there to buy an Easter egg for mum on the same day. For some reason, every time I remember that day, I can hear the Beatles song Penny Lane in my head! 

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

Thinking about that area, there was a shop on Peveril Street, I think, which sold the dark stained pine Spanish ornaments and small items of furniture which became popular in the late 60s. They were characterized by what looked like adze marks on the surface

 

My sister went to Spain in 1967 and brought back some candlesticks of this type. The following Christmas, dad bought me a jewellery box in the form of an old wooden treasure chest and some corner hanging shelves to match the candlesticks. He got them from the shop on Peveril Street. I still have all those items.

[Cliff Ton 10,457]

11 hours ago, PeverilPeril said:

That picture of Birkin Avenue looks a bit odd to me? Birkin Ave is a continuation of Peveril St., where I lived. I walked or cycled daily down Birkin Ave to Berridge Rd school 1948/1952.  Maybe the corner shops changed - don't remember the Gallery. Memory a bit faded though 

 

49 minutes ago, Jill Sparrow said:

The shop on the rounded corner that has Gallery outside also sold costume jewellery in the mid 60s. 

 

The Gallery building is still there but now housing; everything on the left has gone.  https://goo.gl/maps/xRJ8xTyg2PR2

[mercurydancer 1,104]

An area well known to me in the late 60s and 70s. My grandmother lived at 118. The numbering system nowadays is not compatible with the numbering system then. I recall a small newsagents run by a very old lady between 118 and the bottom of the road at Gregory Boulevard. Across the road I recall a Pownall shop. 

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

You won't believe this, M.D., but my maternal great grandparents, William and Lucy Saunt lived at 120! They died in the 1930s and my mother was too young to recall the house. It was destroyed before I  knew of it but I've been told it was near a newsagents. They lived there during the Great War and their son , Archie, was killed. The address is given on the CWGC record of his death.

[Cliff Ton 10,457]

Nice to see this thread resurrected. The OP has never been back since the day he posted the question.

[catfan 14,793]

No but he certainly stirred up a bit of nostalgia tho !

[mercurydancer 1,104]

Jill, I'll look him up on CWWGC. I am very interested in Nottingham and more specifically Hyson Green soldiers. 

 

Jill

 

The grave registration gives a little more detail but not a lot more. Husband of Mrs Saunt, 120 Birkin Avenue

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

Archie was in KRRC. He died on 10 December 1915. He wasn't married, despite the error on the official record. Mrs Saunt was his mother.

[mercurydancer 1,104]

I have for many decades visited military cemeteries and I have evolved a notion that with each grave, there is a person, who, when we are talking Nottingham soldiers, walked the same streets as we do, knew families which still exist today. It is no longer fanciful to find faces on old photos of those who lie, in some cases, very far away. I want to find out more of these soldiers (I am not that well acquainted with the Navy) but its important to me

 

[mercurydancer 1,104]

Jill

 

How old was he? I cannot find that out. His army number is a bit odd. It is short of the usual by one digit. Maybe a regimental thing, but it is unusual, but not a typo. There were many other soldiers of the time who had 5 figure numbers. 

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

Archie's brother in law also died in The Great War. I'll look his details out. He lived on Berridge Road, slightly up from the school and on the opposite side. His name was Harry Bradley.

 

Archie was born in 1890.

[mercurydancer 1,104]

25 years old. Not a time to die. 

 

His burial site is different to where he was originally interred. It was a war grave issue, and I am sure he was treated with the utmost respect into his final resting place. I do not know that cemetery but I know that area in some considerable depth. 

 

The cemetery and his date of death are intriguing. December 1915 on that line of the Somme was quiet, and had been since the trenches were dug. That he was buried in a church yard indicates that he died before the mass casualty facilities were developed. It is highly likely that on that time there would have been a medical unit close to the church. There are no other casualties for that area on that day. He did not die in a trench attack, because that would have been obvious in the records.  Possibly sniper fire but that is speculation at best. 

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

Archie was killed by a shell. His older brother, my grandfather Louis Saunt, witnessed his death. He also scraped up what was left of his little brother and buried the remains in a sack near to where it happened. According to my mother, grandad made a rough wooden cross and planted it over those remains. He apparently had a photograph of the cross and of his brother in uniform on the wall in his bedroom for the rest of his life. He died in 1965. Sadly, neither have survived and I don't remember seeing them.

 

Louis blamed himself for not being able to keep his little brother safe. The sight of what happened must have haunted him for the rest of his life. He never spoke of it to his family but was often to be seen with other ex soldiers in the area, deep in conversation sitting on the seat which was sited on the grass triangle near the bottom of Churchfield Lane. They would understand.

 

I have a copy of the battalion war diary for the period around Archie's death and, as you say, MD, there is no obvious enemy activity. I always assumed that his remains had been left where they were originally buried and his grave was only a memorial. His death would have been instant and he would have known no pain. That may have been some comfort to his relatives.

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

Place of birth

Nottingham

Family History

Harry Bradley was the eldest son of Henry and Sarah Ann Bradley. Their other children included: Lilly (b.1878), Arthur (b.1881), Kate (b.1887) and Ernest James (b.1889). The family home was 9 Herbert Street, New Basford [C.1881]; 76 Gawthorne Street, Basford [C.1891]; 88 Birkin Avenue, Hyson Green [C.1901]; 11 Mozart Street, Nottingham [C.1911]. Henry Bradley was employed as a ‘letter carrier.’ He died in Nottingham aged 78 in 1925. His wife, Sarah Ann, died in 1929 aged 73. Harry Bradley married Rose Olive Saunt in Nottingham in 1898. They had three children: Lily May (b.1899), John (b.1902) and Harry (b.1913). Harry and Rose Bradley lived at 79 Bridlington Street, Hyson Green [C.1901]; 94 Hazelwood Road, Hyson Green [C.1911]; and later at 52 Berridge Road Forest. In 1918 his widow married George M. Bowles. She died in Nottingham aged 65 in 1944.

Employment/Hobbies

He was employed as a postman.

Date of death

26 Sep 1917

CWGC

Commonwealth Grave No

842675 - CWGC Website

Service number

267650

Rank

Private

Decorations

 

Military Unit

2/6th Bn Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regiment)

Military History

Pte. Bradley was called up for service and attested in Nottingham. Following training he was drafted to France. He was a stretcher bearer during the Third Battle of Ypres and was killed in action. His body was never recovered, but his name was commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial.

 

This is my great aunt Rose's first husband. Information may be of interest to MercuryDancer's project.

[Jill Sparrow 10,304]

Walter Strayan Bridge

Person Details

Place of birth

Willsden London

Family History

He lived with his brother Francis and family in 1911 at 7 Hazelwood Road Hyson Green Nottingham.

Employment/Hobbies

He was a baker.

Date of death

01 Aug 1916

Age at death

33

CWGC

Commonwealth Grave No

592394 - CWGC Website

Service number

27867

Rank

Sergeant

Decorations

 

Military Unit

17th Bn Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regiment)

Extra Information

Gorre British And Indian Cemetery

Remembered on

• Hyson Green District Virtual Memorial War Memorial as W S Bridge

This is a relative of one of my school chums from Berridge who lived at 9 Hazelwood Road. She has photos and the Death Plaque relating to this soldier. Another Hyson Green lad.

[plantfit 7,580]

Lest we forget

 

Rog