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Sutton
Coldfield in the Forties is a rich tapestry of many individuals' precious
memories and photographs supported by local newspaper reports of the
decade.
There are recollections of horse-drawn bakery and laundry services,
Whit-Monday parades and, as a prelude, the Luftwaffe's 1939 aerial reconnaissance
picture of the Balloon Barrage Centre.
A number of contributors provide memories of air-raid shelters, rationing,
the R.A.F. 216 Ralph Reader W.A.A.F. Gang Shows and both V.E. and V.J.
celebrations.
Couples share their stories on early post-war weddings, the lack of
housing and the maternity bed shortage. The opposing views on the emergent
N.H.S. expressed by Sutton's G.P.s and dentists are compared with Sutton's
first full-time surgeon.
As the war finished, a vision of the future developed - folk describe
the additional school provision, the new NHS developments, the Falcon
Lodge Estate and the developing sporting and leisure provision.
The
big event of December 1949 saw the commissioning of Sutton's B.B.C.
T.V. transmitter for the Midlands which brought visual pictures of the
outside world into many local homes.
The era concludes with a 1950 aerial picture of Sutton Coldfield and
George Gilbert's contemporary paintings of Sutton scenes (owned by Sutton
Library).
Also of interest:
Sutton Coldfield In The Fifties
(Part 1 - The Early Fifties)
Sutton Coldfield In The Fifties
(Part 2 - The Late Fifties)
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