Albert Road by Sylvia Sayers
Albert Road was a road that played a very important part of our lives growing up
in Aston, firstly to look after our health there was Albert Road School Clinic,
I can still remember with dread having my milk teeth taken out there, no wonder
we grew up with a fear of dentists.
Many under-nourished children also went there for sun-ray treatment, anyone
remember that.
I also remember when I was in the Senior Girls at Burlington Street School we
went to Albert Road School for cookery lessons, where we wore our handmade and
embroidered aprons and hats, these had a broad band at the front which was
embroidered and had elastic threaded through the back to keep our hair out of
the food.
Another thought I think we also did laundry there, I definitely recall ironing,
all so we could grow up to be good little housewives like our mothers.
At the other end of Albert Road on the corner of Witton Road was the wonderful
library, which in a previous life had been the Council Offices for Aston before
it was incorporated into Birmingham.
There was a wonderful wood staircase leading up to the Reading Room where the
old men of the day would go for warmth and to read a large selection of
newspapers. Wwe slid down those bannisters many times, luckily we were never
caught.
In those days you had to be very quiet in libraries and could only go in to
choose your books if you were registered, I was, but some of my friends were not
and on one occasion I had to get some books for my mother too and I told a
friend to ask for mystery books, she asked for history books, and my mom hit the
roof when I got home, and I had to take them back the next day. Sylvia Sayers