Catherine Goodey (nee Bailey)

Email:
mistymorn@cwcom.net

Lived in:
1959 - 1974

Lived at:
64 Sundown Road

Attended:
St. Josephs/St. John Fisher/City (6th Form)

Now lives:
Beckenham, Kent

Occupation:
Teacher

Remembers (people):
From school, the teachers: Miss Coultish (because of her nails and those slaps!) and Mr Snell; and all 12 of the teachers from St. John Fisher - the school was so small at the opening, I seem to remember it being like an extended family. Friends, particularly Rosemary Herraghty, with whom I went to ballet lessons on Retford Road, near where she lived; Diana, who went to St J's, though lived on the Stradbrooke Estate - she had a long and envied pony tail, I recall; Pat who went to Athelstone Schoo l and who lived on the corner of Sundown Rd and Bramley Hall Road; and Sandra who lived next door for a time are all fondly remembered. Peter B., too, who lived a few doors away - I seem to remember he kept mice at the back of his house. There were many more people who went to St John Fisher 1966 - 71, and City 6th from '72-'73 - too many to mention all, but I particularly recall Catherine C., a school friend who lived in Staniforth Road who, the last time I saw her, was a! bout to train as a PE teacher.

Remembers (places):
The annual fair, the woods just before the Parkway was built, but mostly the woods and fields at the back of Bramley Estate: our garden led straight into the fields, so this was my playground, and spent hours collecting water snails from the pond, jumping over the stream, cycling over the old slag-heap hills and, in the winter, squeezing under the barbed wire to sledge down the cowfield. I remember that the field had a rather sloping but flat area where the boys used to play football, and lots of shrubs up by the cabbage field that made great "dens". On adventurous days, we used to walk through the woods and follow the valley to Woodhouse, and once, went the other way on a very precarious walk to "the bottom shops", which meant edging along a very narrow ledge with the fear of falling into the stream - it seemed far below. The field was full of blackberry patches which we would pick and eat- any that made it home were quickly made into rich, red jam. In November, we collected firwood and had imprompteu bonfire night celebratins, with grown-ups bringig fireworks: an informal community event. (Aside - I took my own children to the woods a couple of years ago to show them my old haunts, and was amazed to find that there was knee high grass on the "football" field and the wide and well established paths of my youth were completly overgrown:we had to cut our way ! out onto Sundown Place. We spent an afternoon there, walking from St. Marys, through what is left of the farm, into the woods in the valley, and back via Sundown Road, but not once did we see a child playing there, not even accompanied. What have we done to our children?) I remember lovely summer days, and plenty of cold, snowy winter ones, too, walking through the Grange on the way to school. Like lots of people, I remember going to the Saturday afternoon childrens "pictures" at the Plaza - I think it was 9d to get in, and another 9d for the ice-cream. Speaking of sweet things, the Herbalist at Handsworth has lovely sweets - trays of 2 and 4-for-a-penny delights, but the real treat was when Bon-Bon's installed a candy-floss machine. Another treat; missing the 52 bus to town, so 'having' to go to the milk-bar in the back for Horlicks or hot Vimto on a cold winter morning. Oh, and hot Vimto at High Hazels, too. And the Easter Parades at High Hazels, with the floats and Easter Bonnet competitions, were wonderful. The building of the "hole in the road" seemed to take forever, and there was a great exitement and sense of the exotic when the World Cup semi-final came to Sheffield and there were foreign newspapers on the stands!