Social Life: The Winter Sessions

In the early years of the estate the Bournville Tenants Village Council would run a series of winter events at the Village Hall on Woodlands Park Road. It is uncertain when these started or ended, but programmes can be found between 1928 and 1939. It is possible that they ceased during the war and were not rejuvenated in the peace.

Four programmes are held in Birmingham Archives (reference: MS 1536/Box 28), and give a sense of the activities residents could attend over the winter months, which were mainly dances and whist drives, as well as the annual 'Children's Christmas Party'. By the late 1930s the popularity of the dances seems to have waned, as only whist and the children's party were part of the programme.

Click the images to enlarge.

Bournville Tenants Ltd in 1909 (Booklet)

In the early years of the Bournville Tenants Estate a promotional booklet was produced filled with photographs of the new housing and information about the society, published in about 1909. A copy of the booklet is owned by a local resident, and is reproduced below, but other copies are held in Birmingham Archive (see here). There are some differences between the two copies, and those held in the Archive were probably produced a year or two later.

Click on the images to enlarge.

Page 1.

BOURNVILLE TENANTS LTD
Registered Office: ESTATE OFFICE, NORTHFIELD RD, KINGS NORTON

Page 2.

The "Garden City" has come to stay. It provides ideal conditions for English homes: it enables the workers to live amid beautiful and healthy surroundings. In the future the people may work in the city, but they will live in the country, and the homes of the children will be where there are fresh air, sunshine, trees and flowers.

Page 3.

THE BOURNVILLE TENANTS LIMITED

Page 4.

PAIR OF COTTAGES, WOODLANDS PARK ROAD.
Each Cottage stands in 600 yards of ground: the house is set back 10 yards from the road, thus giving a good garden plot or lawn in front. The accommodation afforded includes two sitting-rooms, large kitchen, three bed rooms, bath-room (hot and cold water), w.c., and the usual outhouses.

Page 5.

 NORTHFIELD ROAD, SHOWING THE APPROACH TO THE ESTATE FROM THE STATION.
The Estate is most conveniently situated, being from six to ten minutes' walk from the King's Norton Station (Midland Railway), with a frequent and convenient service of trains to New Street, Birmingham.
[NB: This is actually looking towards the station]

Page 6.

NORTHFIELD ROAD, SHOWING FRONT GARDENS.
The large gardens provided with the cottages on the estate afford opportunities for pleasant occupation after a day spent in the city. The tenants are enthusiastic gardeners, and during the summer months the front gardens present an attractive and pretty appearance, with a large variety of flowers and evergreens.

Page 7.

THE BOURNVILLE TENANTS LIMITED IS A CO-PARTNERSHIP BUILDING SOCIETY.

Page 8.

ENTRANCE TO WOODLANDS PARK ROAD.
The road winds gracefully down the side of the hill towards the north-west, running at the further end into Bristol Road. This position commands a view of the well-wooded Worcestershire and Warwickshire countryside, towards Bournville and Harborne, to the famous Frankley Beeches and Warley Woods, the latter being about seven miles distant.

Page 9.

A FEW HOUSES IN NORTHFIELD ROAD.

Page 10.

WOODLANDS PARK ROAD.
The Society began to build in Woodlands Park Road, on the site here shown, in November 1906.

Page 11.

COTTAGES ON KINGSLEY ROAD
The Society has secured the services as Architect of Mr. W. Alex. Harvey of  Birmingham (Consulting Architect to the Bournville Village Trust), who is one of the foremost experts in Garden City Development. Mr. Harvey's site plan combines the advantages of picturesque grouping of the cottages with economy in road-making, and also provides most efficiently for the residents' use of open spaces and recreation grounds provided in the village.
[NB: The top-left photograph shows 170 & 168 Northfield Road, not Kingsely Road]

Page 12.

 QUADRANGLE, KINGSLEY ROAD.--A group of twelve cottages, in three blocks, designed in a simple character, and arranged on three sides of a common green. Breaks the building line in a pleasing manner, and forms an attractive feature of the road.

Page 13.

EDUCATION AND RECREATION.

Page 14.

 COTTAGES IN COURSE OF ERECTION, HAWTHORNE ROAD.

Page 15.

FINANCE.

Page 16.

Designed and produced by J. Charlton & Co., Ltd.

Design & Illustrations
The back page is printed with 'Designed and produced by J. Charlton & Co., Ltd.', but this is underlined in pencil, and the text 'Stanley Williams, Lench, and Charlton is written. Presumably, 'Stanley Williams' and 'Lench' were the '& Co.'. James Charlton, an illustrator and wood engraver, lived at 12 Woodlands Park Road, probably moving in as the house was built, and remaining until the early 1930s, when Stanley Williams moved into the same address. No-one called 'Lench' has yet been found on the estate. 


Copy of the Booklet in Birmingham Archive
The booklet in Birmingham Archive is almost identical to the one owned locally, but the colours of the front cover are inverted, and a new photograph of the top recreation ground has been added to page 13. Apart from this, the booklet is the same, but photos are included here for reference.

Processions & Parties: Celebrating the 1953 Coronation

Click on the images to enlarge.

Five photographs showing the procession, events and parties which took place to celebrate the Coronation of Elizabeth II on 2nd June, 1953. As can be seen above, many of the houses were decorated with bunting as the procession started in Northfield Road. Children and adults dressed in their best, and many children were in fancy dress as they followed the car, which can be seen with a loud-speaker on its roof.

The two images, above, show the procession as it turned from Northfield Road to Woodlands Park Road (the road-sign in the background says Middleton Hall Road). The gentleman in the fez was possibly an entertainer.

Later in the day there were activities for the children, such as fancy-dress and races at, probably, the top rec (above). A tea-party for the children was also held at Woodlands Park Hall, seen laid out below.

The activities of the 1953 Coronation seem quite similar to the Coronation of George VI in 1937. A programme from 1937 can be seen here.

Processions & Parties: Celebrating the 1937 Coronation

Although no photos of the festivities surrounding the 1937 Coronation of George VI have been found (yet), there is a programme showing the itinerary of the day, which gives a sense of what the celebrations were like. They were quite similar to the 1953 Coronation celebration, where there are photographs of the day, seen here.

Click on the image to enlarge the programme, or see the transcription below.

Programme of Events

2-15 p.m. Procession assembles in the Drive, Northfield Road.
2-30 p.m. March round Village.
        Procession headed by Northfield Prize Band, followed by Villagers and Children in Fancy Dress, Decorated Cycles, Prams, etc.
        Judging to take place at the Pavilion.
3-30 p.m. Sports for Children and Adults on Recreation Ground behind the Garages.
2-30 p.m. Tea for Children in the Village Hall.

-----------------------------

The Band will give Selections at Intervals

-----------------------------

5-50 p.m. Re-assemple on Children's Playground.
6-00 p.m. Punch and Judy Show.
6-30-7.30 p.m. Burlesque Cricket Match.
         Ladies v. Gentlemen.
7-30 p.m. Treasure Hunt for Children.
7-45-8.30 p.m. Community Singing, led by Northfield Prize Band.
        Entertainer and Conjurer.
8.30 p.m. Adults' Treasure Hunt.
8.45 p.m. Dancing on the Green.
9.30 p.m. Bonfire and Fireworks Display.

-----------------------------

Light Refreshments will be available during the Evening

God Save the King

NOTES
If you are curious about what a 'Burlesque Cricket Match' was, there is an image here.

Archive Reference: Held at Birmingham Archive - MS 1536, box 28, 24/8j

The Top 'Rec'

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Above: The grand opening of the top recreation ground, known more fondly as the top 'rec', on Saturday 3rd July, 1909. The crowd includes many of the first residents of the estate, and the man speaking was Mr. T. Bryan (Tom Bryan, Bounville Tenants' first chairman), and George and Elizabeth Cadbury were seated to his left (our right). The six houses in the background are the backs of (I think) 36 to 46 Kingsley Road.

The Tenants Estate was built on twenty acres of land, with two acres of that being leased rent-free from Bournville Village Trust for 'the purpose of providing permanent open space and recreation grounds'. There were two the recreation grounds, the bottom 'rec' (see here), and the top rec', with the latter being the first to be opened; it contained provision for 'games of Bowls, Croquet, Tennis etc'; and the whole area being fringed with trees and shrubs 'with charming effect'.*1 Originally, the top recreation ground was for adults and the bottom recreation ground for children, which is why the bowls, tennis and croquet areas were set up here.

An article in the Birmingham Daily Post (5 July 1909) described the recreation area as:

'a triangular plateau with a charming outlook from all points of the compass. Citywards can plainly be seen on the horizon Warley Woods, while Frankley Beeches stand out prominently on the skyline in a south-easterly direction'. 

Above: Invitation card to the grand opening, which began at 3.30pm with speeches (top photo), where Mrs. Cadbury and Mr. Bryan were both presented with 'an album of views of the village' (it would be nice to find out if these still survive). After the presentations the group took a tour of the village, and then played 'sports and pastimes on the green'.*2

Above: The areas laid out for the bowls and tennis courts in 1909 (the houses in the rear are Northfield Road).*1

1930s

Above: A top 'rec' running event for young children in the late 1930s. The boy on the right is Brian Court, who still lives on the estate. The girl second from the right is Margaret Paxton (later Cowe) who lived at 12 Kingsley Road and 49 Kingsley Road.

About 1950s

Above: A Summer Fete at the Top Rec. Pictured are George (Jimmy) Riddell (left) and Peter Savory (right) on the greasy pole stall. Thanks to the Savory family for the photograph.

See more about Woodlands Park Bowling Club (situated in the top 'rec') here.
See more about the Tennis Club, now gone, here.

Thanks to Brian Court & Pete Done for the photographs.

*1: From the 1909 prospectus.
*2: From Birmingham Daily Mail, 5 July 1909.

The Tennis Club

Click to enlarge.

From the beginnings of the Tenants Estate in the early 1900s there was provision for a range of sports on the top 'rec' (between Kingsley, Woodlands Park and Northfield Roads), including a bowls green and a tennis court. Clubs formed to utilise both, which flourished, but by the 1990s membership of the tennis club had waned, the court had become run-down, and, despite interest from Kings Norton Boys School, it was decided to remove the court and replace it with a second green for the bowls club.

Due to its closure, and the court being removed, not much is known of the club, but the photo (above) shows some of the members in the early 1950s. They are, from left to right, Bill Tallis, Vic Clark, Hetty Willetts, Grace Clark, Charlie Evans, Arthur Hodgkins, Marjorie Parker and Alison Hodgkins. They're standing on the Quadrangle, outside 30 Kingsley Road, where Alison grew up; the visible house being 34 Kingsley Road.