The Top 'Rec'

Click to enlarge.

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.