Gilbert W Hyde - My Dad
Gilbert was born 28th June 1916 in Kings Norton, Birmingham.
The following is both an introduction to Dad and a potted history of his life. I will be writing separate articles about each of the featured events.
His Father
His Dad Ephraim William Hyde (born March 1887 in Dudley, Worcestershire), I discovered after Dad passed away, was one of three brothers and from a family that originated from the Sedgley area in what is today called "The Black Country". At the time it was in Staffordshire, today its part of the West Midlands.
His Mother
Gilbert's Mother, Alice Maud (nee Davies) was born in September 1877 married Ephriam in Aston, Birmingham. At the time Ephraim was staying with Aunts who ran a Tobacconists shop on Lichfield Road, Aston. He was actually staying in Villa Road, Aston - a road that since that time has changed dramatically meaning that the actual address no longer exists. The marriage was at a church in Aston.
Barrow's Stores
At the time of the marriage, Ephraim was working for Barrow's a then famous prestigious tea merchant & grocer in Birmingham (they were to Birmingham what Fortnum & Mason's were to London). Barrows was started by Richard Cadbury Barrow, nephew of John Cadbury, the founder of Cadbury Chocolate. Barrow's was bought by the Key Markets division of Fitch Lovell in the 1960s and the name was discontinued.
Kings Norton
After the marriage in Aston, Ephriam & Alice moved to Kings Norton (a then as now a fashionable suburb of Birmingham), where my Dad Gilbert was born. They stayed in Kings Norton until Ephraim left Barrow's employ and moved to Harborne, Birmingham in (I think) 1922.
17 High St Harborne
Ephriam rented the property at 17 High St, Harborne from the Vickers family who were operating a bakery immediately behind the property in Grays Road. 17 High St was a 3-storey building (4 if you include the half basement) that had a shop on the ground floor and living accommodation above. Ephriam opened the shop as a Tobacconist & Newsagent and the business was (even then) called E.W. Hyde & Son.
Royal Air Force
In 1939 before the start of WW2, my Dad volunteered to join the Royal Air Force and went to Cardington, Bedfordshire* to enlist and do his very basic training & get kitted out with the uniform etc. Following that basic training he was transferred into the Royal Air Force Reserve and sent home & told he would be called up for actice duty when needed.
* Cardington had been built originally by Short Brothers duting World War 1 as an Airship building works and famously (still) retains it's iconic wooden Airshiop sheds. The Station was taken over by the Royal Air Force, following the end of WW1 & turned into a training establishment to serve the "Midlands" (of England).
Dad was called up in 1940 and promptly sent to Porthcawl in South Wales for more training. During that training, they found out he had an apptitude for hand held weapons (rifles, shotguns etc) and he was quickly moved sideways into the School of Musketry (yes that is what it was called) where he learned how to shoot a whole range of weapons and more importantly how care for them. And he hearned the art of how to teach what he had learned to others and became, for a period an Instructor at the School of Musketry.
At one time it was suggested he became an Air Gunner but he was found to be medically unfit for this duty (he had a perforatted eardrum). Therefore, he remained with the School of Musketry and became part of what during WW2 was known as Airfield Defence, which he did until February 1942 when the Royal Air Force Regiment was formed specifically to protect all RAF installations (his perforatted eardrum would mean he failed the selection for the Regiment).
After the School of Musketry & Airfield Defence duties, Dad retrained as an Airfield Fireman and stayed with that skill until the end of the war. Until 1942 he was based in South Wales and had a few fine tales to tell of Sunday's out on the Mumbles Electric Railway, which went along the coast from Swansea port to Mumbles Pier.
Eventually, he was posted to Mona in North Wales where he stayed until the end of the war (apart from 2 postings tot the Isle of Man).
However, there were a couple of a short sojourns to the Isle of Man. At one time, he reverted to being a School of Musketry Instructor and was tasked with training the crews of the RAF Air Sea Rescue (fast) Launches that were based at Ramsey Pier, in the proper handling, care & fireing of the paired .303 in machine guns mounted either side of the wheel-house and a single 20mm Oerlikon cannon fitted on the rear deck.
In 1945, he was based at St. Andreas Airfield, Isle of Man. Interestingly, St. Andreas at that time was home to 11 Air Gunnery School with Anson and Martinet aircraft. What Dad actually did at that time I currently don't know - more research is needed.
Royal Air Force Association
After WW2 the Harborne branch of the RAFA was formed and Dad went to the regular dances they held in the upstairs room of The Junction Inn in Harborne High St. Incidentally, I used to go to rock band gigs in the same room in the late 1960's - early 1970's. Dad started to court Alice, my Mom, at the RAFA dances and they eventually married in 1952.
Alice May Hyde (nee Priday) - My Mom
Alice was born 28 May 1917 in the small village of Weobley, Herefordshire and she continued to live there until 1921 when her family moved to Birmingham and her father took up the post of gardener at Harborne Industrial School in Balden Road. The family also lived in Balden Road and it was from the family home that Mom left to go to St Faith & St Lawrence Church in Court Oak Road for her marriage to Dad. Mom is part of a large family, with a history going back to the 1700s.
Shop Owner
When Mom & Dad got married, Ephriam moved out of the shop at 17 High Street and bought a new home in Quinton Road, Harborne. He effectively relinquished control of the shop to my Dad. Mom worked in the shop alongside her husband. Dad was listed as a tobacconist/shop owner when I was born in August 1953.
Harborne Village Social Club
After the RAFA, Dad moved onto Harborne Village Social Club & Institue, which was originally established in 1930's Harborne. The Club (as it was always known in my family) operated from premises in the High St, which at one time was a garage. The actual building disappeared in the 1960's redevelopment of the High St. It was located more or less where Boots the Chemist currently have their store. The Club moved to the old "fleapit" cinema in Serpentine Road and it still operates from there today. Dad served The Club for more than 50 years, many as President and later as a Trustee. It was at The Club that Mom & Dad carried on their dancing. It was at The Club that Dad honed his dart, domino and particularly snooker playing skills. And it was at The Club that he taught all these things to his son - me!
North Road, Harborne
In 1960 Dad bought a small terraced house in North Road and soon after we decamped from the upstairs rooms above the shop. Not long after that, Vickers (the Bakery owners & landlords) took over the upstairs as offices and the shop was converted to a lockup. North Road had a small garden and a bit of a lawn where I played as a child. Although only literally around the corner from the shop I was closer to the other kids of the neighbourhood and it became a lot easier to go out and play with them on the old St Johns Church bomb site and all the other local play sites. Eventually, after Mom passed away in 2009 I inherited the house and continue to live here.
Radio Hobby
Dad always had an interest in scientific matters, particularly radio building and operation. He collected a number of magazines on the subject and at one time the house was full of part built radio equipment and the components needed. He did build the first Radio Gram we had, it was in the lounge at 17 High St and when we moved to North Road it came with us, although it was never used here.
Cars
Dad always bought second-hand cars, mainly because he never made enough out of his business to afford brand new ones. However one of his gems passed onto me was "buy a second-hand car from a source you can trust - and let the first owner sort out the problems". Not as daft as it first sounds and when considered along with the standard of the vehicles produced in Britain during the 1950s, 1960s & 1970s, it makes a lot of sense. I remember Dad having a Canadian Ford V8 Pilot he took over from Ephraim (Grand-dad) when Ephraim got too old to drive it safely. After that, it was a Rover 100. Then a Ford Cortina 1600 GT which he had until it was wrecked on a Welsh road in the 1980s. After that Dad had a Marina, Citroen and finally a Ford Escort. Dad stopped driving in 2003 when Mom said she would never get in a car with him again - his ability to concentrate was taken over by his disease - bowel cancer.
Trips out
Almost from his birth, Dad was taken on "trips out" by Ephriam & his Mom. Dad told me of his earliest memory of a holiday being when he was taken by his Mom & Dad to Fairbourne, North Wales. They went by car all the way, stayed in a guest house and he had memories of exploring Fairbourne and the area with his Dad including walking across Barmouth Bridge as a steam train trundled over it. After I was born, trips out were made on Sunday afternoons (the shop was open 6 1/2 days a week). We travelled initially all over Worcestershire but as time went on (and I got older) the trips extended into Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wales and on one memorial half day to Morecambe in Lancashire (and a fairly rapid return over roads with no upper speed limit).
Railways
Dad always had a love of railways, something he passed onto me. Although he was not a trainspotter, he did marvel at the engineering used in railway operation.