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Post by Horacewimp on Jan 14, 2017 19:16:12 GMT
Where I LiveFor this weeks magazine I will give you a short passage on where I live. I was born, grew up and still live in Sutton Coldfield. The town is some 6-7 miles North East of Birmingham City Centre, not that us long standing residents like the Birmingham connection. Sutton Coldfield has a main town centre but also incorporates a number of other smaller areas, Wylde Green, Mere Green, Four Oaks, Walmley and Boldmere and a few others. When I was born in the area of Four Oaks, we were classed as living in Warwickshire and Sutton Coldfield had its own Town Hall, this all changed in 1974 when it was amalgamated into the City of Birmingham and became part of the new county of West Midlands. Sutton Coldfield residents didn’t like this and are still campaigning for independence. The towns full name is The Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, this is after a 1528 charter from King Henry VIII. Bishop Vesey who has a school named after him in the town, which I attended, secured the charter. The town is build around Sutton Park which is one of the largest urban parks in the UK, this can be pain as to travel anywhere by road you have to circumnavigate this park. I currently live in the area called Wylde Green, but have also lived in Sutton Coldfield town centre, Four Oaks, Whitehouse Common and Walmley. For further reading please see the below links:- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutton_Coldfieldvisitbirmingham.com/birmingham-areas/wider-birmingham/sutton-coldfield/www.suttoncoldfieldtowncentre.co.uken.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wylde_Green
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Post by Helmut83 on Jan 14, 2017 20:09:28 GMT
Thumbs up, Horace, interesting review of your hometown.
I had the pleasure of briefly seeing the area and remember a few facts you told me about it, for example the fact that the town used to be independent and was then joined to Birmingham. The houses in your particular area were very beautiful and green, with lots of flowers and impeccable gardens, and it seemed to be a relatively calm area compared to Birmimgham.
I also vaguely -and surely not precisely- remember you told me you and your family used to say "we are going to the town" when you were going to Birmingham and referr to Sutton with a more important word like "the city", when logic dictated it being the other way round.
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Post by Horacewimp on Jan 14, 2017 20:18:07 GMT
I also vaguely -and surely not precisely- remember you told me you and your family used to say "we are going to the town" when you were going to Birmingham and referr to Sutton with a more important word like "the city", when logic dictated it being the other way round. Thats right, when we are going into Birmingham we always say we are going to town (even though Birmingham is a City) I think this is said throughout B'hams suburbs. If we are going to Sutton, Boldmere, Four Oaks etc we will just call them by their correct names, except for Wylde Green when we will say we are going up the road (well in our house this happens)
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Post by Helmut83 on Jan 14, 2017 20:23:31 GMT
Yeah, that was it. The details were a bit blurry but the essence of the story was there. BTW, why is it that all people in the area seem so desperate to not be mistaken with Brummies or taken as one of them? wolvesgirlgonewild is the same, if by mistake you happen to say she's a Brummie she'll bite you. Is being from Birmingham such a terrible thing?
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Post by unomusette on Jan 14, 2017 20:47:40 GMT
Well, a certain Mr Lynne is pretty proud to be a Brummie
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Post by Horacewimp on Jan 14, 2017 20:50:35 GMT
Is being from Birmingham such a terrible thing? It is when you are from Sutton Coldfield, we are snobs and would prefer to still be in Warwickshire
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Post by Helmut83 on Jan 14, 2017 21:21:19 GMT
Well, a certain Mr Lynne is pretty proud to be a Brummie Is he? Once he caught fame and money he bought himself a chalet in Los Angeles and only went back to Birmingham to receive a few awards.
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Post by unomusette on Jan 14, 2017 21:35:55 GMT
This is true, his actions say he doesn't care but he's always on about his roots you must admit. Can you be proud of where you come from but prefer to live somewhere more pleasant if you can afford it? I think lots of people dream of moving somewhere like California or the Carribbean if they won the lottery, or at least they'd spend a lot of their time travelling. If I became suddenly rich I'd be straight off to to the Cote d'Azur but I'd still bore everyone about how Welsh I am. Whaddeyer mean, like I do here?
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Post by Helmut83 on Jan 14, 2017 21:52:31 GMT
Valid point, Uno.
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Post by queenofthehours on Jan 15, 2017 15:23:23 GMT
Does this mean Sutton Coldfield is more Black Country than Brummie? Or is it the wrong area? I'm really interested in the West Midlands subject as a massive chunk of my family tree is from the area.
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Post by Horacewimp on Jan 15, 2017 16:08:19 GMT
Does this mean Sutton Coldfield is more Black Country than Brummie? Or is it the wrong area? I'm really interested in the West Midlands subject as a massive chunk of my family tree is from the area. Perish the thought no we are not Black Country that's more west of B'ham heading towards Wolverhampton and Dudley Sutton Coldfield used to be in Warwickshire and we still like to think it is, either Staffordshire or Warwickshire we don't really mind.
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Post by wolvesgirlgonewild on Jan 15, 2017 23:18:11 GMT
queenofthehours Ah what's classed as The Black Country is a very controversial topic as there are no set boundaries and you can never get anyone to agree on what's classed as The Black Country. But I have been To the Black Country Museum and what they class as The Black Country is Dudley, Bilston, Walsall, Wolverhampton, god forbid Sandwell which includes ahem West Brom (bleugh), Wednesbury and Tipton (where the legendary Wolves footballer Steve Bull is from!). Baggies (West Brom) fans (or s-h-i-t fans as we Wolves fans call them) say we're not part of The Black Country, alas we don't speak as broadly as perhaps Dudley but we had a lot of industry, why Wolverhampton was known for its motorcar industry and Wednesfield where I'm from is known for its making of animal traps. As for you Horacewimp! Nothing wrong with The Black Country (except West Brom of course *goes to be sick again*), Black Country girl and proud!
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Post by wolvesgirlgonewild on Jan 15, 2017 23:19:56 GMT
Yeah, that was it. The details were a bit blurry but the essence of the story was there. BTW, why is it that all people in the area seem so desperate to not be mistaken with Brummies or taken as one of them? wolvesgirlgonewild is the same, if by mistake you happen to say she's a Brummie she'll bite you. Is being from Birmingham such a terrible thing? That's because Wolverhampton is a different area to Birmingham! We're part of The Black Country they are not!
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Post by wolvesgirlgonewild on Jan 15, 2017 23:21:46 GMT
Though I think Horacewimp Sutton Coldfield is part of Birmingham, in 1974 to be precise. Think they fiddled about with the boundaries a lot in the 70s!
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Post by Horacewimp on Jan 16, 2017 8:20:53 GMT
Though I think Horacewimp Sutton Coldfield is part of Birmingham, in 1974 to be precise. Think they fiddled about with the boundaries a lot in the 70s! We are not part of Birmingham as such, Birmingham is not part of our postal address. When the boundaries changed we went from being in Warwickshire to the West Midlands.
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