Moseley B13 Magazine July Issue 509

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B13 MAGAZINE

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JULY 2020 ISSUE 509

C O V D N A L A CE C LO IN 3

M SELEY

ANDY WICKETT & BRIAN TRAVERS: IN CONVERSATION ON OUR NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL

BLACK LIVES MATTER:

MOSELEY PROTEST

MOSELEY FESTIVAL: HOW IT ALL BEGAN

BIRMINGHAM TORNADO: 15 YEARS ON

NEWSHOUND INVESTIGATES: DOGS IN LOCKDOWN

MOSELEY B13 MAGAZINE

conversation with Brian Travers from UB40 (pages 8-9). Andy and Brian attended The Moseley School of Art and they chat about their student days on the magazine’s YouTube channel.

JULY20 EDITOR Mark Baxter (editor@moseleymagazine.co.uk) THE TEAM Ian Cook, David Isgrove, Stephanie Silk, Maria Arroja Ferreira, Tipton. Debbie Aldous, Max Jalil, PHOTOGRAPHER Position Vacant CONTRIBUTORS David Spilsbury, Moseley Local History Society, Tessa Lowe, Jobe Baker-Sullivan, Max Jalil.

PROOF READER Jane Barry ADVERTISING Position Vacant SOCIAL MEDIA Position Vacant TREASURER Leanne Holloway (accounts@moseleyb13.com) DESIGN Andy Wickett (andywickett@gmail.com) MAIL Moseley Publishing House Ltd. Moseley B13 Magazine, c/o: Moseley Exchange, 149-153 Alcester Road, Moseley, Birmingham, B13 8JP. ONLINE YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/ UCqC-sOw9T6mBgpj8ox9Ph0Q?view_ as=subscriber instagram.com/moseleyb13mag facebook.com/MoseleyB13Magazine twitter.com/MoseleyB13Mag info@moseleyb13.com www.moseleyb13.com PHONE 0843 289 3665 BOARD David Isgrove (Chair) Stephanie Silk (Editorial) COMPANY SECRETARY Position Vacant LEGAL STUFF Moseley Publishing House Ltd is a non-profit voluntary run company based in England and Wales. Company No. 07786560.

No part of this magazine may be reproduced, in whole or part, without express permission.

All material is believed to be correct at the time of going to print.

WORDS FROM THE

EDITOR

Going out is the new staying in...? Well, we’re not quite there yet, but Moseley is starting to look more lively with shops opening up and the return of the farmers’ market.

Sadly, we are without the colour and creativity of the Moseley Festival this summer, but Ian Cook helps to fill the void a little with his look at the origins of the event in the 1970s (pages 13-15). It’s also 15 years since the Birmingham Tornado hit Moseley and the surrounding area, and Maria Arroja Ferreira recalls the carnage that was left in its wake in 2005 (pages 16-17).

We find the world having to deal with not only the Covid-19 crisis, but also the fallout after the death of George Floyd in the USA, leading to protest and debate based around racism and equality. I report on the Black Lives Matter protest in Moseley (pages 10-11), a peaceful and hopeful demonstration from early June.

We have some exciting news with the launch of the Moseley B13 Magazine YouTube channel and it begins with a video featuring our designer Andy Wickett (Andy is also a musician in World Service and the former frontman in Duran Duran) in

There is some much needed humour with Tommy Quang’s World of Strange (page 30), a spoof-tastic, just-for-fun examination of strange events and phenomena in Moseley.

You’ll never look at teletext, spray tanning or last orders at Patrick Kavanagh’s in the same way ever again.

Mark

OUTLETS

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AandR News (320 Yardley Wood Rd) Drinksville (23 Woodbridge Rd) Greenhill Garage (89-91 Billesley Ln) Indigo Foods (50-52 St. Mary’s Row) Moseley Post Office (149 Alcester Rd) Nima Deli (103 Alcester Rd) One Stop (117 Billlesley Ln) Select and Save (174-176 Alcester Rd) Marks & Spencer (Saint Mary’s Row) The Mix (500,Moseley Rd) Farmers’ Market (Village Green) 2020 PUBLICATION DATES

ISSUE COPY SALE Jan (no issue) Feb 15 Jan Mar 19 Feb Apr 18 Mar May 15 Apr Jun 20 May Jul 17 Jun Aug 15 Jul Sep 19 Aug Oct 16 Sep Nov 21 Oct Dec 18 Nov

25 Jan 29 Feb 28 Mar 25 Apr 30 May 27 Jun 25 Jul < 29 Aug 26 Sep 31 Oct 28 Nov

IN THIS ISSUE

04 NEWSHOUND

07 LOST BUILDINGS 08 ANDY W & BRIAN T 10 BLACK LIVES MATTER 12 ON HERITAGE AND HISTORY 13 MOSELEY FESTIVAL 16 BIRMINGHAM TORNADO

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18 NEWSHOUND INVESTIGATES

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20 PHEW! WHAT A SCORCHER 22 POETRY AND PROSE 24 DAVID GOLEY 26 A MOSELEY MINUTE 28 VICTORIAN WEDDING 30 TOMMY QUANG 31 B13 NEEDS YOU!

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To be continued...

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NEWSHOUND

Tipton, the B13 Newshound Twitter: @B13Newshound / Instagram: @tiptonb13

FARMERS’ MARKET RETURNS ON JUNE 27 WITH COVID MEASURES IN PLACE As we went to press news broke that Moseley Farmers’ Market will be back on Saturday June 27, 2020, from 9am to 2pm. However, organisers have said it will “look different due to COVID regulations”.

It will have only one entrance, although where this will be and what this means in practice will become clearer later.

Open-air markets and car showrooms were allowed to re-open in England on Monday June 1, with coronavirus-related measures in place. As with garden centres (which re-opened in May across the UK), the government says the risk of transmission of Covid-19 "is lower in these outdoor and more open spaces".

Typical measures which have been put in place by other open-air markets include one-way systems for shoppers, hand sanitising stations and signs to encourage shoppers to keep a two-metre distance, as well as the introduction of contactless payments and designated payment and ‘pick-up’ points for orders.

As we went to press the exact measures to be put in place for the next farmers’ market were being worked on. A map on the website https://moseleyfarmersmarket.org. uk/the-next-market/ shows how the market is planned to look on June 27.

Further details will follow.

HIGHBURY STREET WATCH RESUMES PATROLS FOLLOWING COVID PAUSE Highbury Street Watch team based in the west side of Moseley has begun street patrols again in its local area. The Highbury team is one of five Street Watch teams in the Moseley and Kings Heath area.

Like other patrols, Highbury Street Watch had to be halted due to the pandemic legislation, but now with social distancing being sensibly applied the patrol has started back in action. It is hoped other regular Moseley patrols will resume soon.

A spokesperson for West Midlands police said: “ Street Watch makes a real difference to the local communities and especially in these unprecedented and challenging times. We really appreciate their efforts, as I know the wider community do also.”

Street Watch is a community-led initiative based on street patrols carried out by members of the public with no police powers. Groups are managed by a volunteer coordinator who keeps a volunteer list and provides advice, guidance and support in consultation with the local police.

Volunteers patrol in pairs and register each patrol on a website. The neighbourhood policing team can look at the website before the patrols take place. If volunteers spot suspicious activity they report it to the police but do not get involved. Members of Street Watch must be 18 years or older. If you would like to register your interest in participating in Street Watch please email Streetwatch@west-midlands.pnn.police.uk.

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CANNON HILL PARK SEES LOCKDOWN CRIME SPREE, BUT OTHER LOCAL CRIME FALLS Cannon Hill Park is at the centre of a surge in recent robberies, according to West Midlands Police. A spokesperson said the victims have typically been teenagers out using their bicycles in the park.

Offenders have been described as being of varying appearance but what the offences seem to have in common is that there is generally more than one offender.

The Police spokesperson added that if you are a parent or carer of a young person, you should make them aware that they need to be extra vigilant in parks whilst on their bikes as bicycles can be some of the easiest vehicles for thieves and vandals to target.

In spite of the specific problem in Cannon Hill Park, figures provided by West Midlands Police on June 11 show that total crime in Moseley and Kings Heath is down by 20% since April 1, compared to the same period last year.

The biggest reductions in crime were in robbery (down by 59% in spite of the situation in Cannon Hill Park), burglary (down by 57%), knife crime (down by 50%) violence with injury involving persons under 25 years old (down by 45%) and vehicle crime (down by 25%). The exception to the overall picture of falling crime rates in Moseley and Kings Heath was domestic violence, which was up by an alarming 76%.

LAUGHING GAS CAPSULES LITTER MOSELEY’S PAY & DISPLAY CAR PARK Moseley Litterbusters have collected bags of litter containing scores of ‘laughing gas’ capsules (such as those pictured) and balloons, from Moseley’s Pay & Display car park over recent weekends.

Empty silver canisters of nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, have become a common sight in the Alcester Road car park on Saturday and Sunday mornings as well as at other Moseley locations, particularly during recent months.

Taking laughing gas can cause feelings of euphoria, relaxation and calmness, fits of giggles and laughter – hence its nickname. The gas has a legitimate medical use as an anaesthetic and as pain relief during dentistry and childbirth, and it can also be used to whip cream.

However, nitrous oxide also has a drugs-related illegal recreational use. Under the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 it is illegal for a person to sell or give away nitrous oxide for recreational purposes.

In spite of this, nitrous oxide is often used by young people. A survey carried out before the 2016 Act found that it was the fourth most-used illegal drug in the UK. It is not riskfree, as users can suffer asphyxia from inhaling the gas.

As well as the problem at the Pay & Display car park there has been a marked increase in drug-related debris, including empty silver canisters of nitrous oxide gas, in Highbury Park, Windermere Fields, Cannon Hill Park and Moseley Bog, as well as in other places where young people gather. At Windermere Fields the gate to the car park is being locked each evening until the Council staff are able to return to normal duties.

If you are concerned about drug-related activities in your area you can report this to the police via 101, or via the Live Chat on the West Midlands Police website https://www. west-midlands.police.uk/ If you can, it is useful to make a note of vehicle registration numbers and descriptions of vehicles and people involved.

info@moseleyb13.com

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MOSELEY ASHFIELD CRICKET CLUB IN SURVIVAL BATTLE FOLLOWING COVID LOSSES A Moseley cricket club is seeking to raise £15,000 to prevent possible closure following suspension of this season’s matches due to the COVID pandemic.

With cricket suspended and unlikely to resume this season, Moseley Ashfield Cricket Club’s usual income streams have shrunk dramatically.

The Club is therefore reducing expenditure where possible, but with most costs being fixed, the pandemic has left it with a very significant cash shortfall. Unless enough money is raised to cover costs, Moseley Ashfield, which has been playing cricket in Moseley since 1900 and is integral to the lives of generations of Moseley families, says it may not survive.

For those unfamiliar with the Club, it has a long and rich history. In 1901, the founding members of Ashfield Cricket Club formed Moor Green Football Club so that they had something to do in the winter. Over the years, the Club has produced many first-class cricketers, most notably, the England star Moeen Ali. And in recent seasons, the Club has achieved renewed success, with the 1st XI winning back-to-back league titles.

The Club provides opportunities to play cricket for people of all backgrounds, ages and abilities. Four adult men’s teams play on Saturdays and one on a Sunday, and there is a thriving youth section catering for all age groups, from under-nines to under-17s. It also runs ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) 'Get into Cricket' programmes such as ‘All Stars’ for younger children.

The Club recently launched a women’s team and a cricket development programme for women and girls. In addition, its two grounds in Yardley Wood Road and Britannic Park are used by a wide range of schools and community-based cricket teams. There is also a successful midweek business league and Moseley Ashfield is the adopted home of the Old Moseley Arms cricket team.

No matter their age or gender, new members young and old, of all levels and types of experience, are welcome to join Moseley Ashfield Cricket Club. The Club would be delighted to hear from you at macc1900@ hotmail.co.uk If you are interested in supporting the Club, please consider giving to its JustGiving page. At the time of writing, of the £15,000 target £3,230 had been raised, by 53 supporters. If you would like to donate, the page is at: https://www.justgiving. com/campaign/macccovid19

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BIRMINGHAM’S LOST BUILDINGS

During lockdown I spent a fair

amount of time watching obscure early British films, including the gems The Small World of Sammy Lee and the enigmatic Girl with Green Eyes, which had some uncanny resonances with my recent past. I also listened to radio, re-read certain books and, of course, spent too much time on social media.

So I decided to finally develop a longheld idea of mine: a website based on my enduring passion for the loss of our built heritage, specifically in Birmingham.

Mason college c1920

I wanted to mainly concentrate on important lost (destroyed) buildings,

since it seems we are not learning

but thought it might be more powerful

the lessons even now. The legislative

The extensive wrecking of suburban

if it were done in a visual comparative

protections that are in place, such as

house and pub character has saddened

way by placing what was there beside

conservation areas (CAs) and statutory

me over the years, and that aspect

what is there now. History forums, to

listed building controls, are all well

seems to be accelerating (the loss

my knowledge, do not usually do that.

and good, but the reality is that they

of the Woodman PH, shown on my

So I have dusted down some old HTML

are not working anywhere near as well

website, is beyond belief).

files and modified them for new use,

as they could. Little or no enforcement

one building loss that has baffled me

having to adopt new HTML rules which

seems to happen – look at the state of

down the years – especially when I

proved challenging. No web builder

the old tram depot in Balsall Heath.

come across a new picture of it – and I

software for me, all ‘handmade’,

This is the state of most conservation

suppose has inspired the website, was

hence its amateurish look.

areas, but that said, Moseley CAs are

Mason College. It’s hard to understand

The website is really quite modest

surviving fairly intact, maybe because

how we lost that Gothic masterpiece to

but I hope it at least conveys what we

it attracts the sort of people who

a ring road for cars!

have lost. Perhaps we might then think

care about this stuff. And I fear there

more about this and even protest about

is

another fine building facing the chop,

planning coming down the track from

more

worrying

deregulation

of

New development 2020

the current Tory administration.

But the

Compare the view of Mason College shown

in

the

black

and

white

photograph to the view now rearing up – which in turn has replaced John Madin’s Brutalist library that twice split opinion, when it was created and when it was destroyed.

Please visit my website and feel free to respond via the email link on the front page.

Colin Troth Colin's website: www.birminghamslostbuildings.com

info@moseleyb13.com

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ANDY WICKET AND BRIA TRAVER REMINISC BACK TO SCHOOL

From the confines of lockdown, Moseley music mammoths Andy Wickett and Brian Travers catch up over the internet thanks to the videoconferencing software Zoom, reminiscing about their days at the Moseley School of Art...

Andy invited me to the excellent opportunity to be a fly on the wall as these giants of the music industry chinwag about their misspent youth.

Telling us about the unique curriculum at the School of Art, and some quirky characters and hilarious antics. maybe weren’t mature enough to understand right then, but it taught us how to believe in our ideas, and to follow our ideas through,” says Brian.

The school functioned from 1900-1975, teaching Brian and Andy spoke for famous alumni such as Roy an hour and a half, and you can watch the highlights on the brand new Moseley B13 Magazine YouTube channel.

“Moseley Road Art School, it taught us stuff that we 8

Wood, Christine McVie, Ali Campbell – and, of course, Andy Wickett and Brian Travers.

“I’ve got a story about being thrown around by UB40 and put in the bin…

Not you Brian, not you!”

– Andy Wickett teases.

UB40 is a reggae band that was founded in 1978 in Birmingham. They took the world by storm, with more than 50 hits in the UK singles charts. Brian has

TT AN RS CE: O L

called art appreciation.

We’d study contemporary pop artists… as well as old masters!”

including World Service, where i'm the keyboard player. He also designs the layout of Moseley B13 Magazine, and founded the magazine’s YouTube channel.

Andy recently asked Brian to play saxophone on his latest album with his band The XpertZ: an exclusive sample can be heard during the YouTube interview. He then asked toured all around the world me if I could record and write this article, as he’s as UB40’s saxophonist, had quite enough to do and remains a keen visual already for this issue. artist and composer. He Congrats, Andy! is no stranger to Moseley B13 Magazine, having been covered earlier this year about his meet-up with Andy at a school reunion.

In the Zoom conversation, Andy and Brian focus on the eclectic creative curriculum at the school.

Whilst Andy Wickett is best Andy remembers that students would “do known for his early time ceramics, pottery, painting, in Duran Duran, writing graphics, textiles, printing”, ‘Girls on Film’ and ‘Rio’, with Brian commenting, “It he’s also well regarded was wonderful. We had art as a singer–songwriter in history and even a lesson many bands and outfits, 9

For many people the lockdown has been a time to reminisce and catch up, although both of these creative minds admit it’s been impossible to stay still. “Lockdown has just been an incredible time to make music. I’m writing the soundtrack for a movie, I’m involved in 11 projects, it’s a privilege and a pleasure, I’m just honoured to be asked to do anything,” comments Brian.

“I’ve tried to be a couch potato, but I’ve found it too boring,” says Andy.

You can enjoy the full interview by visiting the Moseley B13 Magazine YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube. com/channel/UCqCsOw9T6mBgpj8ox9Ph0Q?view_ as=subscriber

Jobe Baker-Sullivan

Anti-racism events were held in Birmingham city centre in early June with thousands in attendance, many kneeling or raising a fist in a show of solidarity.

BLACK LIVES MATTER Black Lives Matter protests have taken place around the world since the death of George Floyd on May 25 at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.

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A Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest also took place in Moseley on June 4 with several hundred people spread out on all corners of the crossroads of Alcester Road and St Maryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Row. Many held homemade signs and banners and were supported by passing drivers sounding their horns or alarms. There was collective joy when jazz musician Jay Phelps played his trumpet, and he was later accompanied by a banjo player. The demonstration was socially-distanced in most places and many protesters remained on the roadside for several

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hours. The recent toppling and graffiti-ing of statues of slave traders or those considered to have played a part in racism has been controversial, and far-right groups have also taken to the street in response to the BLM movement.

The Moseley protest was certainly a peaceful and thoughtful event, and provided an oasis of hope for equality and a better future.

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The demonstration came 48 hours after the whitewashing by Birmingham City Council of Mohammed Ali’s ‘I Can’t Breathe’ artwork in Kings Heath. The artist had painted the stencil piece on the Acorns Hospice charity shop exterior wall in Silver Street in response to the death of George Floyd. Ali also produced the mural created to brighten up the fences of the derelict Meteor Ford site - part of the artwork was repainted and reused on the walls of the M&S Foodhall car park.

The anti-racism street art was created on June 1, but it had been painted over by the following morning. Ali commented that he was “saddened and disturbed” by the actions of the council. Cllr John O’Shea issued the following statement: “We unreservedly apologise for the removal of this artwork.

Graffiti is a scourge in our

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city and the operative that removed it did so in good faith. There was absolutely no political motive behind this.”

four other neighbourhoods in Birmingham. It was also projected onto a building in Digbeth, and was seen on posters and banners at the BLM protest in Moseley.

The I Can’t Breathe artwork was repainted on Mark Baxter the Silver Street building on the same day of its removal, and added to

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built on slavery as much as on the industrial revolution, with the cotton for the mills, cocoa and sugar for Cadbury’s, rubber for Dunlop and many other commodities all being produced in slave plantations. However, they hardly receive equal coverage in school syllabuses, textbooks or documentary commissions and we learn more about slaves in the Roman Empire than the British one.

What is needed is the opposite of an erasure of history - rather an acknowledgement and acceptance of the history that is already almost erased. Only in that way can we as a society find acceptance and move on. By saying this I am not “anti-British” any more than Germans who acknowledge that the Holocaust was a bad thing are anti-German or Americans who disown segregation are antiAmerican. Yes, the trans-Atlantic slave trade was a long time ago but some of the crimes of Empire are still within living memory, and to view it with such rose-tinted nostalgia is downright dangerous. I am proud of Britain and being British, but not uncritical as it is only through genuine criticism and selfknowledge that we can improve.

ON HERITAGE AND HISTORY

The BLM protests are not about erasing history or toppling statues, but rather about addressing the inequalities based on race that STILL exist within our society. This is evidenced by the disproportionate rate of COVID deaths among BAME individuals, who are also given longer sentences for the same crime, lower pay for the same jobs, lower grades for teacher-assessed work compared to public exam results, and lack of representation in Parliament, the Judiciary and senior management in pretty much all institutions. To take an example the BBC has 15% BAME employees compared with 20% of the population; yet only 10% of its management is BAME, which gives the appearance that some lives are somehow “cheaper” than others. This is not to detract in any way from the other equally bad and just as prevalent inequalities based on class and gender.

Of course, it is easier not to ask these questions of ourselves so the much-needed debate about equality has again been shifted by these deeply elitist institutions to bogus questions of removing statues or blue plaques, interpreting comedy programmes or changing road names and reframed as an attack on British values, 'our way of life' and an Us versus Them culture war, so this running sore is unlikely to heal any time soon. It says more about the local politics of Tamworth, 97% white, that they find it necessary to protect a statue of Robert Peel (founder of the Police) than of multi-ethnic Edgbaston where they left a statue of the same man on the same anti-racist (but not BLM) internet 'hit list' unprotected.

I was brought up to think that 'British values' included tolerance and fair play. However, to the rest of the world, hypocrisy now seems to be added to that list. I would prefer it not to be so and urge you to have the equality debate as well as the statue and history one.

I in no way condone vandalism. However the fact that we choose to have statues honouring people whose only 'virtue' was to make an awful lot of money from human trafficking, death and misery raises questions about our view of ourselves, and yes – it was a long time ago but like all history its effects are here in the present day. This country was

Max Jalil

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MOSELEY FESTIVAL HOW IT ALL BEGAN

As we are sadly without a Moseley Festival for 2020, it seemed like an interesting idea to pause and reflect on how this annual event started 35 years ago.

The year 1975 probably wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t win many prizes for its contribution to the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cultural or arts scene. 1975 was one of those mid-seventies years that followed the 1960s without the same sense of dynamism or direction, and without a sense of anything new. Prog rock was around (if you like that kind of thing) info@moseleyb13.com

but punk rock was still to hit the music and fashion scene in the US and the UK, and things were a little flat at home and abroad.

In Moseley things were pretty flat too.

We were still waiting for UB40 and other local bands to make the big time and even our bohemian life showed a certain stagnation. Yes, there were the pubs and even some live music but the Alcester Road was a bit dead and there were a growing number of empty shops as the economy 13

faltered and national unemployment hit one million for the first time.

However, in spite of these negative signs, there were also glimmers of hope for something new in Moseley. The 1970s saw the opening of a handful of avant-garde retailers. On the Alcester Road, between the Prince of Wales and Woodbridge Road, was the left-wing bookshop Prometheus, and next door was Ben-Etheus which sold clothes, crafts and ethnic goods. Both are now long gone.

The really enduring thing that happened in 1975 was Moseley’s first Community Arts Festival (later to become the Moseley Festival). The original festival involved a phenomenal 7,000 villagers, and featured 40 different sponsored events, all raising money for charities. Author Norman Hewston recalls in his book A History of Moseley Village that in the following year the 1976 festival featured a debate on the

festival and Moseley life by local publican Ivor Bartlett, of the Fighting Cocks, and the village baker John Luker.

Hewston states of the 1976 festival: “One of the features included a Beatles and Stones disco, and even an evening of music from Germany’s Weimar years! Another year the ‘village idiot’ was nominated and he was required to perform certain tasks, one of which was to set up a table and chair and eat a meal in the middle of the road at the junction. Needless to say, this activity was interrupted by the local police.”

Someone who remembers these early days well is Nick Toczek, (pronounced Tocheck) who lived in Queenswood Road, Moseley during the 1970s and set up the festival with other young Moseley residents – John Dalton and Tom Soroham.

Nick was raised in Bradford and had taken a degree in Industrial Metallurgy at Birmingham University (1968–71) where he began reading and publishing his own poetry. Staying on in Moseley until 1977, Nick founded his poetry magazine The Little Word Machine, had several books and pamphlets published by small presses, and toured with his music and poetry troupe, The Stereo Graffiti Show, before moving back to Bradford in 1977.

Nick has vivid memories of the festival’s early years, including the local police interruption of the first festival in 1975, also recalled in Norman Hewston's book.

He explains exactly what happened: “Originally the council and the police objected to the 1975 Moseley Community Arts festival – the whole of it. But I and the other organisers found there were various obscure laws that made it difficult for them to stop it. What we did was assert ‘grazing rights’ on Moseley’s village green and we found someone with some goats and we grazed them on the little piece of grass on the triangle in the centre of Moseley where St Mary’s Row meets the Alcester Road, which we said was our village green.

Nick Toczek'

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“We also found a place between Moseley and Kings Heath that sold garden huts and we persuaded the owner to lend us a hut which we set up on the Moseley village green as a sort of ‘shepherds’ hut’, thus solving our legal problem. And although the council, like the police, didn’t initially like the idea of a festival they did provide help in a curious way.

“The power for the lighting in the shepherds’ hut came from Moseley’s old underground public toilets (now longdemolished) on the green where we managed to find an electricity socket so I suppose you could say the council did support us, albeit unknowingly.”

The first festival was run on a very small budget of about £300 to put on 36 events.

Most people attending early festivals will recall that festival badges that changed each year were worn as a sort of badge of honour, that showed you were part of the local scene.

After the first festival in 1975 the festival gathered a momentum of its own and it just ran year after year with other people getting involved. Nick Toczek stayed involved until 1977 until he decided it was time to leave Moseley and the festival he had helped to create. “In a way I had just been in Moseley too long and done all the things that I wanted to do. The thing that made me leave was when my girlfriend and I became a clue in a crossword in the

Moseley Magazine and I turned to her and said we have got to leave, we have been here too long, people know us too well, it’s time to go.”

So Nick left, but the festival he created lives on and in 35 years only Covid-19 has stopped it and hopefully, just for this year. Moseley festival will be back in 2021. There will probably be no goats or shepherds’ huts but Moseley residents are an imaginative lot and I am sure the festival will return after a year’s absence with something equally creative.

Ian Cook A History of Moseley Village is written by Norman Hewston and published by Amberley Publishing at a special price of £11.99. For further details visit https://www.amberleybooks.com/a-history-of-moseley-village.html Photos: Moseley villagers on the green at the 1976 festival picture courtesy of Amberley Publishing Nick Toczek in seventies Moseley / Moseley Festival badges - picture courtesy of Amberley Publishing / Moseley Festival programme for the 1976 event

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BIRMINGHAM TORNADO: 15 YEARS ON

Corner of Alder Road (credit: John Newson)

This year marks the 15th anniversary of the tornado that swept through Moseley, Balsall Heath and their neighbouring areas.

the same soil – those that can remember what things used to look like, know where to find the cracks that the tornado left behind.

When you walk through down the streets of Moseley and Balsall Heath, it would be fair to say that, at a first glance, there’s no hint that 15 years ago they had been hit by a F2 (Fujita Scale) tornado.

Those that remember it, though, know where to find the scars that were left behind. From the contrasting orange of the bricks that were used to rebuild affected houses, to the shops that never reopened, and the trees that no longer frame our streets or decorate our parks, now replaced with saplings still making roots in

If you’ve ever mentioned this to those outside of our area, or city, it seems like a very niche tale – a twister hitting Birmingham just sounds like a work of fiction, after all – but for those that did experience it, it is something that’ll remain with them forever. One resident, Ann Burness, who “A staff member from the was working at Greencoat opposite side of the building House in Sparkhill at the time, came in and shouted, “Get remembers it well. away from the windows, it’s a tornado!” We then saw it “Quite a few of us were in approaching and all raced for the office on a warm, humid the door. The pressure in the day when we suddenly saw building made it difficult to the sky go very dark and the

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wind had increased – there was a film on the windows so to begin with we didn’t really think anything,” she states, “then it went very black so most of us went to the windows at the back of the building overlooking the car park to see what was happening.” But it wasn’t until a team member working on the opposite side of the building ran over and warned them of the danger that they realised what was happening.

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open the door to the inner staircase.”

As things calmed and they were finally able to leave the building, they were met with a sea of debris strewn throughout the streets, but also an uncomfortable stillness that’s difficult to articulate.

“I live about five minutes away… but that day it took me over an hour to get home, still terrified not knowing if my house had been hit. I still get frightened now when similar weather comes as it brings back that same feeling.”

Although often thought of as a rare event, tornadoes are more common in the UK than you might think, with around 30 being reported every year, though not that often on this scale.

Over the last 15 years most of its effects have been forgotten. New shop fronts mask where old favourites weren’t able to return, neighbours have come and gone, but to those who experienced the tornado blackout on that day, and those who reconstructed what was lost, it’s something that will stay with them forever.

Maria Arroja Ferreira If you were there when it happened, remember to share your stories and photos with us online!

Instagram: @MoseleyB13Mag / Facebook: Moseley B13 Magazine / Twitter: @ MoseleyB13Mag Balsall Heath Park (Above photos - credit: Ann Burness)

info@moseleyb13.com

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NEWSHOUND INVESTIGATES

… DOGS IN LOCKDOWN getting dressed in a frenzy (complete with odd socks) while muttering about his colleagues and preparing an elaborate excuse about the bus breaking down. You don’t need to go to those lengths – just gradually reintroduce some routine and independence into your dog’s life.

Lockdown has clearly been a struggle for you peopley-types, but for us pooches it must look as if it’s been a walk in the park (but only once a day until recently with the government’s guidance). For a start our humans have been at home much more which is a bonus, and they’ve been much more enthusiastic about going out for walkies as an opportunity to escape the house. However, there could be a As much as we enjoy your company, downside as life begins to return to many dogs will have needed a safe spot what you chaps call ‘normal’. to spend some quiet time in an unusually busy household. Adult dogs sleep between Your four-legged friend will have 12-16 hours a day so with family members got used to people being at home for around in the day, we may not have been longer periods and this could lead to getting our usual nap time. If your house separation anxiety with the easing is still fairly busy over the coming weeks of lockdown. You can help your dog then make sure your dog has a safe place, by popping out for short periods or whether that is in the spare bedroom, in pretending that you are going to the utility room or under a desk. work. My human went a little too far with this sham by snoozing his alarm You can get more advice from clock for three-quarters of an hour, pawfectdogsense.com, and animal 18

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behavioural specialist and dog body language geek Hannah Molloy. There are also various calming products and playful distractions (stuffable treats like a Kong can keep your hound focused on something other than their owner’s return) available at Kings Heath Pet Shop if your dog does suffer anxiety during ‘home alone’ time.

Fivelands Vets in Moseley Village can also offer advice.

eyesight is poor based on that jumper he bought for the Christmas party), the show also offers some great ideas for activities such as a dog-friendly cinema in London (see photos of my visit to the flicks)!

The Mockingbird Cinema at the Custard Factory in Digbeth has also offered dogfriendly screenings in recent times. The Barking Hour is on the Jo Good Show every Thursday and can be found on BBC Sounds.

Anna Webb also has her own podcast, A Dog’s Life, and it can be downloaded on all good podcast platforms.

I guess we mustn't forget our furry and feathered friends of all varieties as it hasn’t been easy for them with such huge changes in the home and the wider world.

Pets have been a source of comfort to people during difficult times so let’s make sure they are OK as the planet begins to spin again.

Although not local to Moseley, The Tipton, the B13 Newshound Barking Hour is a weekly feature dedicated to dogs on the Jo Good Show, BBC Radio London. Various guests and resident dog expert Anna Webb offer advice on canine behaviour, dietary issues and all types of mutt matters. They will answer questions by email and have dedicated a lot of recent content to issues based around lockdown.

When more places reopen and it’s finally possible to travel further afield (how come I didn’t get to visit Barnard Castle during lockdown? I’m fairly sure my owner’s info@moseleyb13.com

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PHEW, WHAT A SCORCHER!

Moseley Memories 1947 had begun with the hardest winter in living memory, but it then led to the longest, hottest summer, too. One thing stands out in particular: The Fire.

Living in Warren Avenue, we grew up overshadowed by the large bank created by the excavation of the railway cutting in 1837. Many of the trees must have been over 100 years old and there was plenty of undergrowth around them. We were used to periodic fires down the cutting, where sparks from passing steam trains ignited dry grass and stunted shrubbery close to the lines. Occasionally, firefighters climbed down from Leighton Road to beat them out, but usually they got access from Kings Heath station or down the sides of the bridge there. Trees could not root easily on the steep slopes of the cutting, but the top of the bank was a dense woodland.

One day that summer, after weeks of baking sun and no rain, fires climbed all the way up until they reached the tinder-dry trees. By late afternoon, they were roaring torches above the Avenue, flames going far into the sky, taking their smoke with them. Fire engines arrived HISTORY

and coupled up to hydrants along Leighton, Tudor and Farquhar Roads, and hoses were run up between our front gardens to tackle the main bank, and through the opening opposite Tudor Road to gain access to the top of the cutting.

What now seems astonishing is that so many of us just stood outside, thrilled at the spectacular theatre before us. My brother Alan and I were on our front path and Mom held 3-year old Margaret on the doorstep of number 12, until they decided to go back indoors, away from the radiating heat.

Occupants of the top houses retreated into the road, but no police sought to evacuate the residents.

By 9 oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;clock or so, the firefighters had got on top of it and people could start to complain about the muddy water washing down the road all the way to the Village. By the morning, black skeletons haunted the Avenue as a few men beat down smouldering remnants of the night before. As years went by, renewal was slow because the city air was so polluted at that time, but after the 1957 20

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New Brighton in the late 1940s Clean Air Act, greenery began to flourish.

None of the 1947 trees survived, of course, but the bank became as magnificent as it is today.

That summer went on in what seemed endless sunshine and we had our first family holiday, although our first real one was not until 1948, when we spent a week in digs at Blackpool. Dad, being a railway guard, got a number of free tickets and so we could go all the way to Weston-Super-Mare, Rhyl and New Brighton for day excursion trips, exploring the acres of mud in the Severn Estuary or the sea shells of North Wales. One attraction for Alan and me as we went north was to see streamlined Coronation-class locomotives lined up in the sidings at Crewe to have their casings removed.

The Mersey provided sights such as steamers with Cunard red-and-black funnels, as well as the lugubrious ferries. However, the thing that lingers in the mind is the rotting porpoise on the beach at New Brighton. Some kids said it was a whale, but Dad said it was a porpoise and that was good enough for us. We climbed on it, but not for long; the smell was rather too info@moseleyb13.com

much.

Of course, what seaside places offered, apart from vast areas of water, was candy floss, slot machines and whirligigs, as well as solid promenades and piers, cheeky postcards, ‘Gypsy’ fortune tellers, and odd street acts, like ‘Guess your Age’ (Dad enjoyed that because he always looked several years younger than his real age and got double his money back, while the hustler got a replacement batch of men – and some women – eager to assert their youthfulness too).

Fish and chips were fresher by the sea than those we got in Birmingham. Mom had a thing, though, about their being a ‘common’ food, something confirmed by their absence from snobby Moseley at that time. What was to her a reluctant concession when we went down Ladypool Road to visit her sister, was a treat to us kids.

Being on holiday licensed the unfamiliar. It was summer time and the living was easy.

David Spilsbury 21

HOPE AND RESILIENCE: CROSSING THE LINE There is a little shop across the road opposite my new loved garden flat in quaintly grand Victorian mansion in the borderlands; it stands just on the wrong side of the road to be truly Balsall Heathian: on the lamp-post outside, a flurry of petunias overflows the casing above the sign welcoming you to Moseley; the house itself has a double drive; the welcome sits between the two entrance–exits; enter in before the welcome, from the Heath; walk out the other end and you’re supposedly in Moseley it is always best to be in no-man’s land amidst the mix where everyone belongs and no-one cares where you’ve come from the little shop is a Tardis; packaged, canned, boxed and bejarred to the rafters with more than you can want it is more than a shop but tries to draw the line at becoming a library. “You using my shop as library now?” the afternoon host smiles at me as I flip through a newspaper in search of a poem that might have been printed but he doesn’t seem to mind they don’t mind when I come in each morning desperate for my day’s stock of cigarettes and open up their freezer full of Summer’s ice-pops and meals for one of fish and chips and mushy peas cuddled up beside the chicken tikka helpfully they lift the heavy-laden freezer basket to release the tatty carrier bag that holds two precious ice-packs and swap them for two others to use in the coolbox that serves me as a fridge across the road you don’t find this in Sutton Coldfield from whence I have emigrated it must be a Heathen thing.

I wrote this in September 2013, just a couple of months after making the huge leap across the great North/South divide. Seven years ago. It seems hard to believe. I feel I’ve been here all my life. The best part of it at least, for here I am happy. I was right to feel I might belong here, wherever the mapmakers might decide to draw the boundary lines. It’s always best to be in no man’s land, amidst the mixture where everyone belongs and no-one cares where you come from.

For the past few months, as with everyone else, my boundaries have shrunk, confined by my lack of enthusiasm for walking very far and being hesitant to take the bus. I now live in my house and garden; a place of sparse population; but for how much longer?

The seven-year itch is upon me and as the Alcester Road traffic starts ever increasingly to edge its way back to the old normal, I can feel the traffic jams starting to ooze from their confines. I see the hordes chafing at their bits, dying to start the gallop back to crowding up the pavements and freely dropping litter. I hear the sound of sirens, rusty with disuse, finding their strident voices again, ready to be once again on call, six, seven, eight times a day and I sense the pull to away.

Away to another place. Away to the end of the line. No more borderlands, midlands, middle lands for me.

Farewell Moseley. I wish to be away: to Penzance; Land’s End; by the sea.

Tessa Kate Lowe 22

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:POETRY AND PROSE

Like a caryatid, I stood With my legs glued on In a host country I was brought here from afar; Different hair, different height Foreign I look at Athens; through a glass Like Alice in Wonderland Dreams, Roads, Smells I cry for my loss My life is here My dreams are here Always through the glass Looking at my sisters From afar So far Katerina Chamberlain

WHERE THE HECK IN MOSELEY IS THAT!?

Think you’re an observant, know-it-all Moseleyite? Are you familiar with every nook and cranny of B13? Well, if that’s the case you should be able to spot all of the locations in our gallery of local oddities. Email your answers to: editor@moseleymagazine.co.uk. Answers next month!

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3

DAVE GOLEY OBITUARY Dave Goley was a much loved and valued member of the community in Moseley.

Sadly he died suddenly on 6 May 2020 much to the shock and distress of all who knew him. Dave had had his struggles with mental COMMUNITY

health for most of his life. As a result he was particularly caring of and compassionate towards others who found socalled 'normal' life difficult in this (in my opinion, not necessarily Dave's) rather insane society of ours.

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Dave wrote a very moving and honest short pamphlet in 2007 when he was a student at City College in Birmingham. He titled it 'Just One of Them Things' which sums up his philosophical and accepting nature. www.moseleyb13.com

who knew Dave well through Musical Connections, of which Peter is Director, and Brainstorm, the monthly Open Mic Evening held at The Spotted Dog in Digbeth where Dave was MC for the past five years. With that and the power of Social Media friends, neighbours and colleagues were able to stand along the funeral route holding posies and waving as the cortège passed by.

We were all invited to Highbury Park in the afternoon, where a large tree was festooned with memories and good wishes and where simple bouquets of flowers were placed.

Dave would have loved it all. Especially when Pete Churchill, who is also Musical Director of The Choir With No Name, was encouraged to strut his stuff and conduct the gathering in ‘Lean on Me’ by Bill Withers and ‘Let it Be’ by The Beatles, songs that summed up Dave's supportive nature and his attitude to surviving life.

Luckily Covid restrictions had just been eased to make this a wonderful opportunity, sad though it was, to see and meet people for the first time in months, albeit from a suitably social distance.

My friend Joy went to see the tree only a few days ago.

Weeks might have passed but there were still people there. So are remnants of the bunting, messages and fresh flowers. Dave was a truly kind, gentle, humble soul who touched the lives of others deeply. RIP Dave. You will not be easily forgotten.

We who loved him were happily enabled to share in his virtual funeral on 25 May. Dave's family did not live in Moseley, but knew that all his close connections did, so even though they did not know us all personally they info@moseleyb13.com

got in touch with Birmingham University Social Work Department, where Dave had been involved as a member of the User and Carer team contributing to the training of Social Workers. They also contacted Peter Churchill 25

Tessa Kate Lowe

COMMUNITY

A MOSELEY MINUTE

Debbie Aldous chats with Craigus Andrew had a huge influence because it showed me Barry. Composer, musician and poet are you can break conventional song structures. among the many artistic hats he wears...

This appealed to me because it breaks down musical boundaries and encourages my How long have you lived in Moseley? childlike imagination.

I have been living in Moseley since last July I started to write songs when I was young, I when my parents sold their house and bought used to sit in the bathtub and create. This is a a boat to live on. I then moved to a flat in long time before I learnt to play an instrument.

Moseley. The reason I love Moseley is because The first instrument I learnt to play was a it’s arty, Bohemian, it supports my socialist guitar when I was 17 years old. No, stop, I values, and I also have many friends who live don’t want to confuse you but actually the first around this area and often perform in Moseley instrument I learnt to play was a single note too.

Casio keyboard that my dad bought me when I was a child. This instrument taught me melody.

Where did your love of music come from?

As a young person I thought playing an I didn’t grow up in a musical family; my dad instrument was an elitist thing. I grew up in used to play the guitar, but he stopped playing a working-class family and I thought it wasn’t when I was born so I never heard him perform. something we could do.

What he did do though was to play lots of prog Musically speaking what are you currently rock albums on vinyl in the home. This music involved in?

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I am in a band called Matthew Edwards and the Unfortunates and we recorded an album called The Birmingham Poets. This was released a year ago on a French label following a French tour. I play the omnichord and guitar in the band.

My band is called The Retinal Circus and its ethos is that anyone can play in it. For example, Maja, who is a street busker. I met her and asked her to join us when possible, which she does. The Retinal Circus came about because of the first piece of music I ever composed, in 2008. It was called Quiver, and made me realise I was a real composer, so it was a pivotal moment in my life so far. This in itself came about after not feeling like I fitted into the open mic scene because I had really big ideas.

Quiver was recorded not long after I met a man who does the sound effects and music for The Archers, the longstanding BBC radio soap opera.

We became friends and music collaborators because of our similar tastes and we both used to make noisy soundscape stuff. I asked him if he wanted to record something with me and Quiver was a result of this collaboration. It's a massive cinematic piece of music which was recorded in my bedroom.

Where does the name of your band The Retinal Circus come from?

The name comes from Bardo visions from the Tibetan book of the dead. The name also happened to be the name of a night club in the 60s in Vancouver, where all the big names of the time played, like The Byrds.

Tell me about the music you produce for films...

I have just done the trailer music for a new film called The Pocketbook of Superstitions. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve also produced the music recently for the film Day of a Stranger which is a spaghetti western, and many more.

I also created a score and wrote the poem which is seen at the start of the film called Bella in the Wych Elm. This film is based on the true-life story of a woman whose remains were found by four children inside a wych elm in Hagley Woods.

Where can we find out about your music?

All my music can be heard on Bandcamp. I have 22 albums out at the moment, soon to be 23.

Here is a link to my pageâ&#x20AC;Ś https://theretinalcircus.bandcamp.com/?fbcli d=IwAR3JB0E8dq5clYxsBmCcHZXoooZFKVgUZN MT9_bZ6MUmMttgvPaOnSKwYXw You can also find me on social media: https://www.facebook.com/ MatthewEdwardsAndTheUnfortunates/ info@moseleyb13.com

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A MOSELEY VICTORIAN WEDDING

A Local Victorian Wedding (courtesy of the Owen family)

the brightness of the scene. I think I have rarely seen so many pretty dresses gathered together in one place as I did on this occasion.

They were all works of art, not one ‘dowdy’ costume being amongst them. Mrs Mason’s dress of fawn and green brigade, trimmed with green silk (I believe) was exceedingly attractive, and in marked contrast, but equally as handsome, was Mrs Hookham’s magnificent costume of rich black silk with jet trimmings. The five young bridesmaids looked very bewitching, and a murmur of admiration passed through the crowded church as the bride in her pure white robes, passed up the aisle, followed by her little maids.'

St Agnes’ Church, early twentieth century

‘Tittle-Tattle from Moseley’ in The Dart: The Birmingham Pictorial of Friday 10 July, 1891 gave a wonderful description of the wedding of Miss Kate Hookham to Mr Harry Mason at St Agnes’ Church.

Mr Green, the bridegroom’s brother-in-law, seemed to have his hands full in his character of general manager and director. I thought he looked rather hot and tired, though he preserved a smiling face and a laughing word to the last. ‘Now, madam,’ I heard him say, in a tenderly persuasive voice: ‘you must please move on one side, the ladies cannot possibly

‘I should think the little church of St Agnes never looked brighter or prettier than at Miss Hookham’s wedding. It was beautifully decorated and the brilliant costumes of some of the ladies present added not a little to 28

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get by if you block up the way’. I marvelled that he was able to keep his temper at all under such trying circumstances. The disorder in the church was very great. No policeman was present to keep order. All and sundry were admitted, and the result was confusion and great difficulty in moving about.

‘I was fortunate at Miss Hookham’s wedding on Thursday, to get next to a nice, communicative loquacious little old lady who did her level best to tell me the names, pedigree, and relationship of everyone in the church. When her own knowledge failed her, she would turn to her next neighbour, or lean over a couple of pews to enquire off someone else the exact information I required. It was of no use my politely begging her not to trouble herself, her exertions on my behalf were quite supernatural, and made myself, as well as the people roundabout, not a little uncomfortable. She grew excited once or twice, especially so when the interesting moment arrived when the bridegroom had to repeat the words after Mr Colmore, that made the lady at his side his wife. ‘Doesn’t he speak up well! Well, now I never did anyone speak up so well!’ was the remark she kept repeating in my jaded ear.

‘The fine air of suburb seems to be very conducive to matrimony, and Mayfield Road specially attractive to newly married couples; no less than four in the last two months have settled in adjacent houses, one old bachelor only intervening. What an atmosphere of bliss he must reside in! Enough I hope to make him think of bettering his solitary position’ (The Dart: The Birmingham Pictorial, Moseley Gossip (by Carlotta), Friday 7 August, 1891).

‘Mayfield Road is not the only road in Moseley patronised by newly married couples. I think Kingswood Road may consider itself one of these popular and highly favoured districts.

For some weeks past loads of furniture have been arriving at intervals before one of the prettiest little houses in the road (rejoicing in a ‘sunny’ name), and now the blinds are up disclosing very pretty curtains, and the neighbours are all vieing each other who shall catch the first glimpse of the happy bride’ (The Dart: The Birmingham Pictorial, TittleTattle from Moseley (by Mollie), Friday 14 August, 1891).

I thought Miss Hookham seemed rather nervous during the ceremony, her replies not being audible where I sat. I cannot say the same of Mr Mason, or if he was nervous he did not show it. I thought he looked very radiant and very happy.

A Local Wedding, early twentieth century

Mayfield Road - (East side of Mayfield Road and north of Forest Road junction)

Janet Berry

(The parents of Mrs Alice Rushton (nee Young) who ran the Douro Wine Merchants on St Marys Row)

The happy couple, I believe, left for Scotland the same evening. It is to be hoped they will have fine weather during the honeymoon.

On their return, I understand, they will live in Mayfield Road. info@moseleyb13.com

See our website for more ‘Victorian Moseley in the News’ (moseley-society/local-history. org.uk ). We would love to have photos of your family weddings. Send them to: moseleyhistory@gmail.com.

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TOMMY QUANG’S WORLD OF STRANGE

It isn’t easy investigating the weird and wonderful and I should know – I’ve been at it for many years. There have been false alarms during that time, often due to various miscommunications, and this was probably caused by my overeagerness to find the bonkers and bizarre. I remember arriving at the Coop in Moseley Village with my full ghost-hunting kit after hearing of some odd activity in the store.

However, I quickly realised that they didn’t have a poltergeist and the account of ‘Jaffa Cakes flying off the shelves’ was down to a very reasonable deal.

Man with spray tan

I also ended up looking like a total fool on a live radio show during a discussion about sightings of wild beasts roaming the moors of this county. It became apparent that the ‘expert’ we had booked to talk about ‘Britain’s big cats’ was a vet from Olton going on about the overfeeding of ginger toms.

So, how weird is Moseley and the surrounding area on a sliding scale of the 2010 Cameron and Clegg coalition to 2020’s...well, everything!? Moseley Road does have its own Area 51 (keep your eye out for it when you’re strolling down towards Highgate or on the 50 bus) and the region has its share of UFO and

ghost sightings. There’s also Moseley’s miscellaneous madness and I’ll share a few of these unsolved cases from my absurd archive...

I was put in touch with a Billesley man who claimed to have gained superpowers after having a spray tan in Acocks Green. “Since the spray tan I’ve had incredible strength and the ability to know what people are thinking,” said Eddie Dome.

“I had the Bamboozle Quizspray tan to look my best for a Christmas work do, but I didn’t expect this. When I was in that tanning machine it must have been like Spider-Man being bitten by the spider or the Hulk getting the blast of gamma rays or Super Gran... whatever happened to her.

I’m not going to abuse my new powers – I’ll probably use them for good,” said the nightclub bouncer.

If you’ve seen the terrifying Japanese film The Ring you’ll be left with the disturbing memory of a haunted television. A Dad’s Lane resident claims to have had a similar experience with her TV being possessed by the host of the Teletext quiz Bamboozle. Sheila Pagoda said Bamber Boozler had taken over her TV, even though the Teletext service hasn’t been in existence for some time. Ms Pagoda has stated that Bamber’s questioning has become increasingly personal and existential. “Bamber has complete knowledge of space and time. He asked me how I thought I would meet my end and then revealed the answer. Now I can’t risk visiting Merry Hill’s Primark,” 30

said Mrs Pagoda.

There’s also the alleged time traveller I met in the Patrick Kavanagh Bar on a Friday night in January.

He introduced himself as “Morphy Richards” and claimed to be from the year 2030. He gave me a list of the following shocking future predictions: ● An Oasis reunion ● Kat cheating on Alfie in Eastenders ● Donald Trump behaving ‘rather foolishly’ Mr Richards said he was returning to the year 2030 after last orders at Kavs, but did leave me with a parting gift of a sports almanac for the year 2021. Unfortunately it was stolen by a man wearing a tracksuit.

Tommy Quang If you know of any hairraising, unexplained activity in and around Moseley then do get in touch. Find me on Twitter @WorldofStrange

Patrick Kavanagh Bar

www.moseleyb13.com

info@moseleyb13.com

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