Bournville Heritage Day

Last Saturday we visited the Bournville Heritage Day. It brought up all sorts of memories despite this being the first time I had ever walked around.

We started at Selly Manor.

Because we got there as it opened we got to go round the inside without other visitors.

We moved on to the Rest House in the centre of the village Green.  It has the most amazing ceiling.

We went into St Francis Church where there were photographs of the steam trains that ran around the Cadbury factory.  There were also some models of the engines.

My cousin got married at St Francis Church and I was a bridesmaid.

We walked up to the Quaker Meeting House - an Arts and Crafts building.

And then across the road to Ruskin Hall.  The inside was a bit disappointing.

We walked from Bournville Green to Bournville Lane to visit the Concert Hall.  I remember going there in the 1950s to see The Emperors New Clothes.  The string quartet were members of the CBSO.

The path went between the factory and the recreation ground.  As we walked we met a man with his son and got talking to him.  It turned out that he is writing a book about the railway inside the factory and Cadburys have given me great access to the archives.

We walked through the park to the Valley Pool - the home of the Model Boat Club which Roger belongs to.

We walked to the Serbian Orthodox Church.  I liked the outside of the building. I found the inside to be over-decorated.  I tend more to minimalism!

We went back to the Model Boats for coffee and cakes and then back to the car, passing the Carillon on the way.

Three times during the day we came across the Clarinet Choir.

Having collected the car we visited Rowheath Pavillion and park before going home.

And the trip down memory lane?

From the age of 11-18 I lived in Northfield and went to school in Kings Heath.  I mostly travelled to school and back on the number 27 bus which travelled through Bournville, past Valley Pool, the Green, the Carillon and through Cadburys.

My grandparents owned a grocery shop in Heath Road, which my uncle and aunt subsequently ran and was where both my mother and cousin grew up.  My cousin went to Dame ELizabeth Cadbury school which is opposite Valley Pool.  She and her husband eventually moved into Claines Road.

Last year when I was looking at the history of my grandparents I discovered my paternal grandmother had been a chocolate packer at Cadburys.  I knew my maternal grandmother had worked there.

Saturday was the first time I had walked around Bournville despite knowing it so well.

Thanks for being here today.
Bernice

PS:  I'm going to take a short sabbatical from blogging.  Hope to see you on October 15th.