Happy Black Country Day! 🏭🥳🍻

We were all just good friends.

Although some of my friends marry KESS boys later on.

I bet you did, you minx!

My DBs went to a KESS Grammar School, * FannyCornforth* 🙂

And I knew a lot of boys who were pupils there too 😁

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202307/medium-740984-324fb003-f931-4eee-b45a-bc13bdd003d8.jpeg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202307/medium-61386-2e32a40b-c77d-4bdd-984e-0be41488fbe4.jpeg

Thanks Calli

Well I never! I’ve just learned that legendary horror film director James Whale was born in Dudley in 1889!
There is a memorial statue to him outside Dudley Cinema.
He went to The Blue Coats School

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Whale

FannyCornforth

Callistemon you’re right about KE colleges, I’ve often thought the same.
I wonder why there are so many? 🤔

King Edward VI, during his brief reign, founded grammar schools for boys and the charitable trust has built more, many during the Victorian period I think.

Two more for the Hall of Fame, if they haven't been cited already:

Gwen Berryman (Doris Archer, matriarch of the Archers for many years)
Rachel Heyhoe Flint (Captain of English Women's Cricket Team)

I’m a bit confused about Lynott.
He was born in West Brom but is Irish.
This is the bust. It’s blooming awful

Callistemon you’re right about KE colleges, I’ve often thought the same.
I wonder why there are so many? 🤔

Wow! I didn’t know about Sue Nichols or Phil Lynott!
Especially the statue. I’ll have to look it up.
I thought that Phil was from Ireland

Kate1949

Sue Nicholls (Audrey from Corrers) was born in Walsall as was Noddy (Neville) Holder.
Meera Syal is from Wolverhampton.
There is a statue and a bust of Phil Lynott in West Bromwich. Neither very good (in my opinion).

Sue Nicholls is actually rather posh, her father was an MP, Lord Harmer Nicholls.
Some of my college friends went to the same private school as The Hon. Sue Nicholls. 🙂

Yes Kate. I remember the queue winding down the staircase in Lewis's. They also had a garden on the roof. The building is now a Wetherspoons.

Yes Kate1949 I too used the visit Father Christmas at Lewis’s. One year was magical for me. The staff opened a door and there was a sleigh which all of us kids piled into. They closed the door and their was music and I think a film as if the sleigh was moving, then the doors on the other side opened up and there was Santa waiting with a bag of gifts. That memory has been imprinted on my memory for 70 years !!

Finally a lovely boyfriend (who I am still in touch with) bought me a lovely white broderie anglaise nightie from Netawear. My father was who was usually kind and placid was incandescent with rage at this gift, how things have changed. 😡

Lovely surprise to see a BC thread, I'm an ex pat too. Born and bred in Dudley and close family still in Dudley and Lower Gornal so I visit often. My family went to the BCLM last week and saw the new 60s Street. Said it was very good. Personally I hoped it would have included either a Cranages for the meringues or a Robinsons for the coffee buns 😉

Sue Nicholls (Audrey from Corrers) was born in Walsall as was Noddy (Neville) Holder.
Meera Syal is from Wolverhampton.
There is a statue and a bust of Phil Lynott in West Bromwich. Neither very good (in my opinion).

FannyCornforth

Callistemon21

Robert Plant (West Bromwich and went to Stourbridge College Of Art
He moved near here too, perhaps he was following me round the country!! 😂

I’m pretty certain that he went to King Edward’s Sixth Form, Stourbridge, opposite The Mitre, my favourite watering hole as a teenager.
I almost went to KE to do my A levels but chose Halesowen College instead, as it was a lot more easy going.

There must be quite a number of KESS schools.
He was a very busy King, considering he was so young.

Stourbridge was quite the place to be in the early 90s.

I remember going on a tour of Stuart Crystal.

Josie Lawrence is an old mate’s Aunty. Her real name is Wendy.

Her nephew was one of the bass players in Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, if anyone remembers them.
They had a few hits in the early 90s and were on TOTP a lot.
The other bassist was my ex boyfriend.
A lot of their songs were about me!

The Wonderstuff and Pop Will Eat Itself were around at the same time and from Stourbridge too.
I used to sort of know some of them too.

Stourbridge was quite the place to be in the early 90s.

Frank Skinner was my a level English teacher at Halesowen.
He was also a neighbour for a while.

(For the benefit of any GNers who haven’t heard this story a dozen times previously 😉)

Callistemon21

^Robert Plant (West Bromwich and went to Stourbridge College Of Art^
He moved near here too, perhaps he was following me round the country!! 😂

I’m pretty certain that he went to King Edward’s Sixth Form, Stourbridge, opposite The Mitre, my favourite watering hole as a teenager.
I almost went to KE to do my A levels but chose Halesowen College instead, as it was a lot more easy going.

FannyCornforth

Thank you Jane!
Where is Mr Jane from?

Mr Jane is from Great Bridge then Tipton.

Jane43

I was just trying to think of celebrities who came from the Black Country. I came up with Lenny Henry (Dudley), my mother-in-law used to work with his mother, Josie Lawrence (Quarry Bonk) - remember her character Florence From Cradley, Cedric Hardwick (Lye). Robert Plant (West Bromwich and went to Stourbridge College Of Art. There was a famous footballer Duncan Edwards who was born in Dudley but sadly died at 22 in the Manchester United air crash. I can’t think of any more but there must be lots.

Denise Lewis (West Bromwich)
Frank Skinner
Phil Lynott

Robert Plant (West Bromwich and went to Stourbridge College Of Art
He moved near here too, perhaps he was following me round the country!! 😂

Kate1949

We used to queue up at Lewis's to see Father Christmas. He had a sidekick Uncle Holly who used to help out when the queues were too long.

Perhaps it was there.
I wonder if it says on the back.
I don't look very happy.

Callistemon21

I have a photo of me sitting on Father Christmas's knee in Beatties.

C&A Modes was my go-to shop when I was a teenager!
I can remember when the Mander Centre was built.

The 1960s, known as the swinging sixties, saw an influx of famous pop stars, who performed at the Gaumont on Snow Hill, including Gene Vincent who appeared there in 1960, The Beatles who were there in 1963
I was there when The Beatles performed!

My friend and I had tickets to see Gene Vincent at Brierley Hill Town Hall, it was probably in 1963 but he didn’t show up, we never got our money back so we were gutted. Lots of famous acts performed at The Plaza in Old Hill, I know The Beatles did because a girl I worked with went to see them there.

FannyCornforth, Thank you for the wonderful picture of the Beehive.
Does anyone remember the ricketty lift? and the sales assistant used to put the money in a metal tube, that ran above your head.
I wonder what year Jasper Carrot worked there?