Laurence Ince
17 Oct 2016
[This had been brought forward from April 2017 due to Joy Woodall’s indisposition. The talk was interactive, with members offering their own memories. The cuttings had been received from the Secretary of Crediton Local History Society who had lived in Solihull as a child]
The first of the 12 newspapers on which the talk was based was The Solihull & Warwick County News of 22 July 1952. The advertising in that, and the other newspapers up to 1954, was fascinating. Entertainment featured frequently: there were at least three schools of Dancing in Solihull. The Tudor Cinema in Knowle was still operating (with its bench seating remembered by David Patterson) before being turned into a garage – which itself was replaced in 2014 by apartments. The Knowle Community Association promoted Revels in Carnival at which a subsequent report stated “there was a pronouncement of benediction by the Vicar”. In March 1954 the Solihull Society of Arts was promoting Family Affairs with tickets at 3/6d (17.5p). Solihull Carnival Day on Saturday 29 May would include ‘a sheepdog presentation’.
What may be loosely defined as Facilities included a quilt recovery service; a lawn mower service offered by Rayners, ironmongers, then of 7 Warwick Road, Olton, before they moved to into Mell Square. Electrical offers included an immersion heater at 10s (50p) per quarter, and a Frigidaire for sale at 74 guineas, reduced from £89-19s. Cossor TVs with a 17ins screen were advertised by F.R.Williams on the Stratford Road. Names familiar today were Treadwells of Shirley, paint & wallpaper merchants; and the Forest Hotel in Dorridge houses were often advertised by estate agents who never quoted an asking price, and by individuals who usually did – eg a detached in Buryfield Road was £2,200 in 1952, and one on Warwick Road £3,250 in 1954. Bottled “pure mineral water” was sold under an Archer Arden label (the source was likely to be near Meriden), and the early days of ‘new foods’ were featured by advertisements: instant coffee from Nescafe, and frozen asparagus, sprouts, etc from Birds Eye. The agricultural environment was reflected in Karswood’s Pig Powders (12 for 1/6d) used for worming pigs. Ladies underwear advertisements with illustrations were frequent, eg by W.G.Warden in Solihull High Street. One was for the girdle ‘Sarong’ that “walks and does not rise up”. Another by Capon Ltd in Poplar Road was for nylon bras with broderie anglaise.
There was, of course, news. On 21 February 1954 a timetable for Princess Margaret’s visit for Charter Day on 11 March was published. She would arrive at 10.30am at Solihull Station (although members recalled that she had flown into RAF Honiley beforehand). A report after the visit, with many pictures, showed Penelope Mell presenting her with a bouquet of orchids. A loud bang during the ceremony in the Odeon Cinema, Shirley (the only venue large enough to accommodate the event) had been totally ignored. The newspaper headline on 6 February 1954 was ‘Crime in Solihull – the Biggest Increase in the County’. The previous 12 months had had 196 crimes, compared with 134 previously: most of the miscreants came from outside the Borough, mainly Birmingham. The crimes included bicycle infringements, eg not stopping at halt signs for which fines of 10s – 15s were imposed.
Local history featured occasionally. A Miss Paterson appealed for such books to pass on to Solihull Library. An article about local stately houses started with Grimshaw Hall. The section on Libbards Hall explained that the name came from the leopards depicted on the Hawes’ family coat of arms, which at one time had owned it as well as Hillfield Hall.
There were daily air services from Elmdon Airport to Southend-on-Sea for £5-10s and Ostend for £13-2s. A Ford Popular car cost £275 (or £130 with the rest paid over 18 months) at Bristol Street Motors in Birmingham. [This was a pre war design which was now being mass produced]. A news report revealed that Solihull Council had bought some lorries, second hand, and was converting them into fire engines.
In May 1954 there was a double column advertisement to ‘Join the Home Guard Now’. Recruiting meetings were to be held at Solihull Motors, Shirley Odeon Cinema, Knowle ‘near the church’ and Solihull Carnival Ground, to join the 3rd Warwickshire (Solihull) Home Guard Battalion. The men would not be paid – but the officers would be, and it was the cost of these that led to the initiative (due to growing fear of Russia) being abandoned after a year or so.