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.

Scavenger Hunt

For the summer the ladies in Snapshot Girls borrowed the Summer Photography Scavenger Hunt from This West London Life.

Ever the one to be last minute I worked on this last Friday - the theme was set 2 months ago!

I have taken liberties with it.  Some I have found in my stash of photos and some are a quirky rendition of the prompt!

1. Family pet or cute animal  These wooden ducks represent out family

 

 

2 Look up to the sky

 

 

3 A colourful front door

4 What's on your feet (well, not actually on my feet but they were on one day this summer!)

 

 

5 Favourite simmer food/meal   (This was my birthday dinner 2022 and is my favourite summer meal ever!)

 

6 Something with wings  (The areas either side of the stage are called wings.)

 

 

 

7 Favourite summer reading nook/space  (I don't have a favourite place)

 

8 Something colourful in your garden

 

 

9 Moving water (Roger moves water about in these watering cans!)

 

 

10 Something that casts a shadow

 

 

11 A kitchen utensil you hardly ever use  (I only use it to defrost the freezer!)

12 A place of worship

 

 

13 Mark the passage of time

 

 

14 Your nation's flag  (Chocolate lollipops)

 

 

15 Something you've repurposed  (I originally made a costume and turned it into this!)

 

Thanks for being here today
Bernice

Theme Poetry

This week's theme on the zoom workshop was the Guiness World Book of Records.

photo by Erik Jan Leusink

Whilst Sarah-Jane was doing her presentation I had already thought of the subject for a poem and wrote this first one whilst she was still talking.

Stone 

Along the water’s edge
heaped pebbles, in various shades of grey,
Making it difficult to identify
the ideal stone. Flat, smooth edged
Fitting perfectly into the hand
Ready to skim into
the cold, clear water.
Easier into a river than the sea.
Practising since childhood.
The frustration of never getting past
three bounces. 

Practice makes perfect
so they say
And years and years of practice
brought Kurt Steiner, the so-called ‘Mountain Man’,
to the world record of skimmed bounces.

A magnificent eighty-eight.

You can see footage of this record on Youtube.

I also wrote this poem during the zoom session

I really enjoyed the topic even if as often happens I went a bit off-piste.

Thanks for joining me today
Bernice