Walsall: A place from my past

Connecting with a past

One week in July, I decided to make a journey to a place I first saw when I was born, then last went to some 18 years ago.

I have an affinity for Walsall for so many reasons, many childhood memories and even though it is possible my early birth was consequent on the stress of my parents moving house just two days before from London, it just presents a sense of exclusiveness that one was not born in London.

For the way Walsall is pronounced, many confuse it with Warsaw but I was not born in Poland and hence I have to tell people it is near Birmingham if they know nothing about the geography of England, West Midlands or the Black Country.

Seeking ghosts of the past

However, as I arrived in Walsall, I thought I would try to trace a family I once knew. Her kid sister always took me boating at to the Arboretum, she, the big sister was married to a family friend and they had two girls who I last saw in 1978 in Nigeria before they separated and she returned to the United Kingdom with her girls soon after.

Searching through registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, with just the knowledge of the name of the family friend who was married in England, I was able to obtain the maiden name of the sisters, then their dates of birth, the second marriage of the elder sister and then the trail ran cold.

The pleasures of the past

For the week I was in Walsall, I visited the places where we lived; all still standing buildings saved for posterity whilst on the other side of the road, the old row of houses had been demolished and replaced with new buildings.

One place I wanted to see was the Arboretum, it had a boating lake and I remember beaching my boat the last time I was there, but when I got there, it was quiet, no boats and the only life on the water were ducks and swans.

Apart from being a park and conservation area, a place to probably meditate, what made the Walsall Arboretum fun had been taken out of the place because some years ago a boater fell in the lake and drowned.

A boating tradition of decades going back in my memory to the 1960s of the enjoyment of life and happiness ended by reason of an unfortunate incident before the health superintendents waded in and decided this simple pastime was unsafe.

Holding back the day with the past

My view was erect a memorial for the dead, put up signs and warnings but do not take away the pleasure, though it is suggested the mismanagement of the place and insufficient funds might have been the death knell for that kind of excitement.

I walked around the park, took many pictures but the idyll that Walsall once represented was no more what I saw, I was saddened and crestfallen but the desire still remains to be laid to rest in the town of my birth.

Places change, people move on, history becomes a series of yesterdays stretching back in time and the moment is what we have to enjoy what is there, Walsall remains dear to me and the memories I have of the place might fade but will never be forgotten.

The kid sister who at times was baby sitter, chaperone, governess and big sister has a name that exemplified the enchanted childhood – Joy!

Thank you, Walsall.

My Walsall Slideshow.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

My own history began on the 21st of December, 1965

Words and names

As I was told a few years before, I really was not expected the day I arrived and I did not get to go home until two months later.

Meanwhile, the somewhat accidental parents set about preparing for my arrival home and not three weeks after, the Registrar of Births and Deaths in the Walsall First sub-district typed in four names the first from my paternal grandfather, the second from my father and the third from my mother and my surname - meaningful and interesting as I began to master the Yoruba language.

Yes, I was a boy born on the Twentyfirst December 1965; the date was spelt out in words on the certificate of birth and thus began the documentation of my history.

Thank you all

So, today, after a time that has been eventful as it has been interesting, I find myself, 47 years young thankful, grateful, blessed and favoured in more ways than I can find words to express.

For the life I have lived, for the successes I have seen come and go but with undiminished hope of even better things to come, I have much to be happy for.

I have family, relations, friends, acquaintances and well-wishers who have sustained me through times that many hearts would have failed to see through, I have people who believe in me, people who trust me, people who lift me, people who praise me and people who honour me, all beyond anything I could ever deserve; why would I not be full of gratitude.

And thanks again

To God the strength of my life who gives me reason to expect beyond what I can imagine, I thank God for my wonderful 47 years and I thank you all for celebrating it with me – all your messages have been amazingly comforting, your generous help has been more than timely and for each year I get to see the glorious 21^st of December again thank you for being my friends.

I am still standing – Cheers!!! 

Walsall born in Warsaw pact

Cities, names and airports

Once and for all, I decided to deal with the confusion especially when a silly immigration officer at London Heathrow Airport was trying to be smart and catch me out by asking if I was born in Warsaw when it says Walsall in my passport and then saying Walsall, London?

Walsall is near Birmingham; sometimes these people really make you want to blurt out a derogatory expletive followed with a throttling of the neck.

But then, the many times I have said I was born in Walsall, people have automatically said Warsaw, Poland and I have had to explain why the cities sound alike but are almost a thousand miles apart.

So having a long weekend from work because the company has compulsory holidays on Friday and Monday, my mind went into overdrive as to what to do this weekend.

Get off the beaten track and do something new, I thought, check for a good Accor hotel and then flights, by the time I knew it, the hotel taxi was picking me up from the Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport (Formerly Okecie Airport) at the spanking new Terminal 2.

This place was not like that dreadful, rotten, horrible and atrocious London Heathrow which is patently not fit for purpose, the atmosphere was easy only that we missed strains of the piped music of Chopin.

I should start planning my itinerary though I would not be able to do either Auschwitz or Treblinka which are miles away from Warsawa, but I would do my best to get a good view of the Poles and hopefully would not run into those twins.

Birthdays - A lot more people were involved

Escape the Claustrophobia

So many things make the day one was born rather unique and very interesting. Christmas came very early for one's parents but one did not spend Christmas with either of them.

As students in England then, mother had arrived to join her spouse just six and a half months before; the rest is history. One is no master of suspense, so here goes.

One was born at about 27 weeks, after a Caesarean Section, one was told. [Google, yes one did mean Caesarean Section and have never meant to search for Caesarean Section].

In 1965, 27 weeks was considered rather precarious and the borderline of viability, well one is now 38.

One's take on premature birth

• No birth is premature, especially if you are no more a foetus but a baby
• For some babies, 40 weeks is just over-indulgent [Absurd suggestions that gestation human gestation periods should be 21 months]; I will say, I was claustrophobic and wanted out
• OK, one only just fitted in one hand, but many saw the sense in making sure one realised one's intentions of living
• No further research is done on early babies once they begin to thrive
• It is possible the year-cycle of early birth babies is shorter than that of full term babies

Going on the last assumption, in full-term years, one would is 38 however on one's terms, one might really be rather sprightly 56 years and 3 months. The birthdates being a movable feast of recurring intervals.

Apart from the birth throes of mother, one was in incubation for another 2 months until February the 19th when one was allowed home.

One medical allusion to that day was when at eight the optometrist [compare with optician and ophthalmologist] in spite of the large amount of light shone in one's eyes at birth; one's sight should improve with age. One only found out about that kind of improvement 2 days ago.

One might not have been a bouncing baby boy, but one was still a bundle of joy tinged with anxiety, which prayerfully gave way to the life one has now lived.

Names

It is no surprise one's given name connotes heroism the gift of one's paternal grandpa. Eventually, one ended up with about 20 names. The Yoruba culture of Western Nigeria gives their children meaningful names based around the circumstances of birth.

The Yoruba given names supposedly have a psychological influence on the bearer; at times, certain observers have suggested people can exhibit characteristics of their names. The extensions to names are encouraging works of literary value recited by grandparents called Oriki.

On further research, it is interesting to see that quite a number of Japanese names look and sound very much like Yoruba names, considering we have no known historical or cultural links.

Aki in Japanese means autumn or Autumnal prefixes names like Akinobu, Akinori, Akiyuki and so on. There is a possibility that one possesses some the characteristics of the Turkish variant of Akin.

On a visit to Hungary a few years ago, the chauffeur from the airport had one's name card expecting to see a Japanese tourist, imagine his shock and surprise.

This presents an opportunity to thank the staff of Manor Maternity Home, Walsall [Vandalised by the Tory Health Deforms of the 1990s] and the Brooklands Hospital Marston Green, Birmingham for their hard work of love and care on that beautiful day in December 1965.

One will have a happy birthday.

The Dutch Experience

One is impelled to revisit an issue that came up earlier about stores and customer service. Having just spent nigh on €1,000 on equipment, which included the Dyson DCO8 Allergy+Carpetpro, one required the simple assistance calling a taxi and moving the goods to taxi rank.

In the typical nonchalant Dutch attitude, one was informed no such service existed and one had to do it all alone. Guess what happened when one asked for one's money back?

When one purchases to the tune of a €1,000 from a large electronics store like Media Markt, it should come with an implicit customer service and help offer; you never have to ask in the UK.

Postscript

Yoruba

Here are a number of websites pertaining to Yoruba names and culture.

Nigerian names and origins

Orisa Yoruba Names ISBN 0964424754

Learn Yoruba Names

Without Prejudice - The Manor Hospital

Rebuilt and renamed Manor Hospital as part of the first tranche of National Health Service reforms in 1991. Some of the stories are hardly what the people of Walsall were accustomed to in the 1960s.

The introduction does not include the history of a pre-existing hospital on the site.

Hospital from hell

The Guardian - The facts behind the figures that damn Walsall