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Thread: TENNIES REUNION...Speke Road Gardens Re-union friday 18th June 2010

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    Senior Member fiftyfive's Avatar
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    Red face TENNIES REUNION...Speke Road Gardens Re-union friday 18th June 2010

    If anyone lived or knows anyone who lived in the Speke Road Gardens....Garston Tennies.
    there is a Re-union on Friday Night 18th June 2010 at the Burnsall Club ( LMS Club) in Burnsall Street , Garston,Liverpool L19.....starts 8pm .............. C U there
    allan

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    Re-member Ged's Avatar
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    I went to our local one (Gerard Gardens) last Oct and it sold out in a week with unfortunately others who couldn't get a ticket and the facebook group set up is just 40 short of 1000 members. I wonder if Brian Daley will make this as an ex resident.
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    Creator & Administrator Kev's Avatar
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    RE: Garston Tennies. I never lived in them but often knocked around them. I remember just before they were to be knocked down, there were very few residents left in them, so we decided to play in the lifts. We all decided to pile in one with our bikes and see what happened, we were about 10 at the time. As the doors closed, the lights went out. I'll never forget us screaming and shouting for which seemed like ages.

    Imagine our relief when the doors finally opened, we were greeted by a lovely old lady who informed us that the lift was broke.

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    Senior Member lindylou's Avatar
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    you must have been terrified !

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    Martin hmtmaj's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kev View Post
    RE: Garston Tennies. I never lived in them but often knocked around them. I remember just before they were to be knocked down, there were very few residents left in them, so we decided to play in the lifts. We all decided to pile in one with our bikes and see what happened, we were about 10 at the time. As the doors closed, the lights went out. I'll never forget us screaming and shouting for which seemed like ages.

    Imagine our relief when the doors finally opened, we were greeted by a lovely old lady who informed us that the lift was broke.
    So you are one of scallywags who used to terrorise us old dears Gertcha
    Started the Old Swan Website:

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    Creator & Administrator Kev's Avatar
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    I was a good boy back then and still am

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    Senior Member brian daley's Avatar
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    I looked at this posting and my heart actually skipped a beat, I would have loved to be able to come but, unfortunately, I have a whole raft of test's and medical examinations going on at the moment. I can't wander too far, I get paged to go and get,scanned ,probed and mri'd. But gee,I would have loved to be able to go there. Can anyone pass on my apologies?Or,better yet take along my photo and ask if anyone remembers this kid from 1955? I hope that all who attend have a wonderful time, I'll look forward to reading about it,
    Brian Daley
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    Re-member Ged's Avatar
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    Lifts eh - posh or what. I don't think the Gerard Gardens ones worked for more than 10 years after being installed in 1950.

    www.inacityliving.piczo.com/

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    Martin hmtmaj's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by brian daley View Post
    I looked at this posting and my heart actually skipped a beat, I would have loved to be able to come but, unfortunately, I have a whole raft of test's and medical examinations going on at the moment. I can't wander too far, I get paged to go and get,scanned ,probed and mri'd. But gee,I would have loved to be able to go there. Can anyone pass on my apologies?Or,better yet take along my photo and ask if anyone remembers this kid from 1955? I hope that all who attend have a wonderful time, I'll look forward to reading about it,
    Brian Daley
    Brian,
    I was wondering if you'd be going or not.
    It's a pity you can't make it.
    I hope anyone off here who is going, takes along your tales of growing up around there along with them.

    Martin
    Started the Old Swan Website:

    http://oldswan.piczo.com/?cr=5

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    Senior Member Norm NZ's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kev View Post
    RE: Garston Tennies. I never lived in them but often knocked around them. I remember just before they were to be knocked down, there were very few residents left in them, so we decided to play in the lifts. We all decided to pile in one with our bikes and see what happened, we were about 10 at the time. As the doors closed, the lights went out. I'll never forget us screaming and shouting for which seemed like ages.

    Imagine our relief when the doors finally opened, we were greeted by a lovely old lady who informed us that the lift was broke.
    "Lifts"!!! Not in my time Kev! I was there from 1939 until 1950! no lifts then, where did they put them? And like Brian, I too am unable to attend (But would have liked to) too far for me to travel!!!

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    Senior Member brian daley's Avatar
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    Since reading about the re-union my mind has been deluged by memories of the place I once called home.
    Coming from a cold water lodging in Toxteth, Speke Road Gardens seemed like paradise,from the red tiled roofs and the biscuit coloured brickwork,the georgian type window frames ,scarlet front doors with the elegant brass letter box and door knocker,the whole building sang of solidity and safety,I felt safely at home.
    The tenements had been opened in 1929, a fact I learned from the date marked on the drain boxes by the eaves. For a child ,that was in the olden days. We arrived there in 1952, shortly after Norm left,the first of the second generation. There was an heirarchy and a sense of order,the parents ruled the roost there ,you never gave cheek to an adult,if you did ,word would soon get back to your family and your dad would soon sort you out. After your parents ,the caretaker was the next person you obeyed;he was a person of respect and was responsible for the upkeep of your square. Each square had its own gang, at the head of which was the eldest teenager, the head of our squares gang in 1952 was a youth called Ronnie Jones. He would organise our games,"kick the can", "relieveo" ( or,rallyo, the name changed in the late '50's). This was in the pre tv years, and a kids place was in the play ground or on the green. We had lots of chasing games and would improvise when the need arose.
    We were very territorial, we hardly ever played in another square,they had their own gangs and we sometimes fought them, not in reality, we would have battles in which we would play Japs and Commando's ,or cowboys and Indians; there times when we would make alliances with the other squares,like when kids from down the cinder path,or under the bridge came to rob our bonfire wood. Then we would unite and go and get our firewood back. Our games hardly ever strayed beyond the boundary of the accepted norms of behaviour,we were always overlooked by our parents who used to watch from the balconies. They would lean on the balcony wall,chatting to the neighbours while keeping an eye on us.
    There were no committees ,or parent groups, just the elders looking out for the young.
    We belonged to a kind of extended family, the elders organised the upkeep of the immediate living areas, the flights of stairs, up and down from your landing, were the responsibility of the families adjacent to them, my mum took it turns with our neighbour on the other side of the stair well to keep the stairs ,and walls ,clean . They cleaned them by scrubbing on their hands and knees. Woe betide any kid caught chalking on the walls. We could chalk on the pavement in the square, how else could you play hopscotch?. On rainy days, the stairs became our clubroom, there we would sing the latest hits that we had heard on the radio,play "True,dare,kiss or command" or "Postmans knock", that's how some of us got to kiss our first girlfriends. On summers eve's those squares would ring to the sounds of laughter and, when night began to fall ,the cries of mothers began to be heard as they called out to their children to come home for bed.
    My family left the Gardens in 1960, in those short eight years ,changes had happened which led to a loss of the old order. The newer arrivals would not join in with the cleaning of the stairs, graffitti began to appear on the walls and litter was left unpicked. I had to go back there in 1970 and was shocked at the dilapidation, there was a mass of grafitti ,in different coloured paints,not chalk, the swings in the play ground were vandalised and broken glass was strewn in the road. I almost wept, gone was that place of safety, the place I had known as home. When I was back up in Liverpool ,in the early 80's ,or very late 70's, I took my children to see the place that marked me for life. It was in the process of being demolished, our old block was reduced to a pile of rubble, and I stood amidst the heaps of bricks ,my ears filled with the sounds of that distant childhood, and gave thanks for having known it at its best.
    BrianD

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    Senior Member The Gardens's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by brian daley View Post
    Since reading about the re-union my mind has been deluged by memories of the place I once called home.
    Coming from a cold water lodging in Toxteth, Speke Road Gardens seemed like paradise,from the red tiled roofs and the biscuit coloured brickwork,the georgian type window frames ,scarlet front doors with the elegant brass letter box and door knocker,the whole building sang of solidity and safety,I felt safely at home.
    The tenements had been opened in 1929, a fact I learned from the date marked on the drain boxes by the eaves. For a child ,that was in the olden days. We arrived there in 1952, shortly after Norm left,the first of the second generation. There was an heirarchy and a sense of order,the parents ruled the roost there ,you never gave cheek to an adult,if you did ,word would soon get back to your family and your dad would soon sort you out. After your parents ,the caretaker was the next person you obeyed;he was a person of respect and was responsible for the upkeep of your square. Each square had its own gang, at the head of which was the eldest teenager, the head of our squares gang in 1952 was a youth called Ronnie Jones. He would organise our games,"kick the can", "relieveo" ( or,rallyo, the name changed in the late '50's). This was in the pre tv years, and a kids place was in the play ground or on the green. We had lots of chasing games and would improvise when the need arose.
    We were very territorial, we hardly ever played in another square,they had their own gangs and we sometimes fought them, not in reality, we would have battles in which we would play Japs and Commando's ,or cowboys and Indians; there times when we would make alliances with the other squares,like when kids from down the cinder path,or under the bridge came to rob our bonfire wood. Then we would unite and go and get our firewood back. Our games hardly ever strayed beyond the boundary of the accepted norms of behaviour,we were always overlooked by our parents who used to watch from the balconies. They would lean on the balcony wall,chatting to the neighbours while keeping an eye on us.
    There were no committees ,or parent groups, just the elders looking out for the young.
    We belonged to a kind of extended family, the elders organised the upkeep of the immediate living areas, the flights of stairs, up and down from your landing, were the responsibility of the families adjacent to them, my mum took it turns with our neighbour on the other side of the stair well to keep the stairs ,and walls ,clean . They cleaned them by scrubbing on their hands and knees. Woe betide any kid caught chalking on the walls. We could chalk on the pavement in the square, how else could you play hopscotch?. On rainy days, the stairs became our clubroom, there we would sing the latest hits that we had heard on the radio,play "True,dare,kiss or command" or "Postmans knock", that's how some of us got to kiss our first girlfriends. On summers eve's those squares would ring to the sounds of laughter and, when night began to fall ,the cries of mothers began to be heard as they called out to their children to come home for bed.
    My family left the Gardens in 1960, in those short eight years ,changes had happened which led to a loss of the old order. The newer arrivals would not join in with the cleaning of the stairs, graffitti began to appear on the walls and litter was left unpicked. I had to go back there in 1970 and was shocked at the dilapidation, there was a mass of grafitti ,in different coloured paints,not chalk, the swings in the play ground were vandalised and broken glass was strewn in the road. I almost wept, gone was that place of safety, the place I had known as home. When I was back up in Liverpool ,in the early 80's ,or very late 70's, I took my children to see the place that marked me for life. It was in the process of being demolished, our old block was reduced to a pile of rubble, and I stood amidst the heaps of bricks ,my ears filled with the sounds of that distant childhood, and gave thanks for having known it at its best.
    BrianD
    Great piece of writing Brian, something I am sure will resonate with all former residents of the tennies throughout the city.

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    Senior Member Norm NZ's Avatar
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    Great memories eh Brian? although a decade earlier it was very much the same in my time there, I lived in the 'first square' you were in the 2nd, and I too remember all those area's, and in my time the easy access to the 'Avenue' and all that area from there to Hunts Cross, or Speke, the fields, stream, ponds etc that occupied the land where your school, and Highbank Drive estate was built, a greaat play area for kids, we did'nt hang around streets looking for some mischief to perform there was too much to do, and such a large area to explore. It's only in later years that you realise what a great place it was.

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    Senior Member Norm NZ's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by fiftyfive View Post
    If anyone lived or knows anyone who lived in the Speke Road Gardens....Garston Tennies.
    there is a Re-union on Friday Night 18th June 2010 at the Burnsall Club ( LMS Club) in Burnsall Street , Garston,Liverpool L19.....starts 8pm .............. C U there
    allan
    Does anyone have a report re this re-union? I'd love to know the details!!!!

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    Senior Member Norm NZ's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Norm NZ View Post
    Does anyone have a report re this re-union? I'd love to know the details!!!!
    Just thought I'd try once more!!!

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