Flickriver

Lickey Hills - The Pools Prior to 1941
            The Postcard

A postally unused Valentine's Series postcard that was printed in Great Britain. The image is a glossy real photograph.

Although the card was not posted, someone has written a message across the divided back:

"7 - 6 - 41.
My Dear Mary,
There is another card
for you.
I think it is a very pretty
one, don't you?
I have some more for
you, but I thought I
would send you one at
a time, to make it more
interesting for you and
something to look
forward to.
With love,
Nada".

The Lickey Hills

The Lickey Hills (known locally as simply The Lickeys) are a range of hills in Worcestershire, 11 miles (18 km) to the south-west of the centre of Birmingham near the villages of Lickey, Cofton Hackett and Barnt Green. 

The hills are a popular country park area, and they afford panoramic views over much of the surrounding countryside.

Ownership of the Lickey Hills

The hills were originally a royal hunting reserve belonging to the Manor of Bromsgrove. Free public open access began in 1888 when Rednal Hill was bought by the Birmingham Society for the Preservation of Open Space.

The Society then presented it to the City of Birmingham in trust. Pinfield Wood and Bilberry Hill were then leased at a nominal rent. Beacon Hill was bought by Edward, George and Henry Cadbury in 1907 and then given to the City of Birmingham. Cofton Hill, Lickey Warren and Pinfield Wood were bought in 1920. 

The final stage in restoring public access to the area was the purchase of the Rose Hill Estate from the Cadbury family in 1923. 

Although fully owned and maintained by Birmingham City Council, only a small part of the Lickey Hills Country Park is within its boundary, the rest being in Worcestershire.

Beacon Hill

On Beacon Hill stood one of the country-wide network of beacons which, before the days of modern communication were used to alert the country to an imminent invasion. 

A tapestry map woven about the time of the Spanish Armada (1588) shows the huge iron basket on top of Beacon Hill where two men kept watch night and day.

During the Second World War, the Army's Royal Engineers built a range of buildings on top of Beacon Hill that were used by Air Raid Wardens, who acted as fire watchers over the south of Birmingham. 

The site was also used by Royal Observer Corps aircraft spotters who activated the air raid sirens for Rednal, Rubery, Northfield, the Austin motors factory and the Austin Aero aircraft factory at Cofton Hackett. 

The range of buildings included a dormitory-rest room block and an open topped toilet range. The latter building, the toilet block still painted in army khaki, was located just under the cover of the tree line and remained in use by the public as late as the early 1970's.

During the extremely cold winters that affected the Birmingham area during the 1950's, the northern slope of Beacon Hill was frequently covered by snow for several weeks each year, and was used daily by hundreds of families for sledging. In recent years milder winters have not produced sufficient snow, and the slope has been reduced in scope by housing development and expansion of the Municipal golf course.

Standing on the apex of the hill is a toposcope which was built to commemorate the gift of the land to the City of Birmingham in 1907 by the Cadbury family. The small castle-like structure that houses it was rebuilt in 1988 to celebrate the centenary of the country park. It is 298 metres (978 ft) above sea level. It provides views of the city, and stands adjacent to the Ordnance Survey triangulation point.

In the Lickey Hills there is an obelisk commemorating the sixth Earl of Plymouth (died 1833) that was erected in gratitude for his work in forming the Worcestershire Yeomanry Volunteer Regiment of Cavalry.

The Lickey Hills in Folklore

According to legend, the Devil and his accomplice, named Harry-ca-nab, used to hunt wild boar in the Lickey Hills, mounted on white bulls.

Operation Josephine B

So what else happened on the day that Nada wrote the card?

Well, on Saturday the 7th. June 1941, Operation Josephine B ended in Allied success when a sabotage team blew up an electrical transformer station in Pessac, France.

Boris Vannikov

Also on that day, Soviet Armaments Commissar Boris Vannikov was arrested for "failing to carry out his duties" and was condemned to death. 

However, as the war with Germany started on the 22nd. June, Vannikov was released on the 25th. July 1941 and then appointed People's Commissar for Ammunition from February 1942 until June 1946.

From 1945 until 1953 Vannikov helped oversee the Soviet atomic bomb project. He inadvertently helped the nuclear scientists Yulii Khariton and Igor Kurchatov by walking close to their test reactor. His body fat reflected enough neutrons to approach criticality.

"My Sister and I"

Also on the 7th. June 1941, "My Sister and I" by Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra hit Number 1 on the Billboard singles charts.

Tony Ray-Jones

The day also marked the birth in Wells, Somerset of Tony Ray-Jones, photographer.  Tony died in 1972.
Taken on: February 9, 2021
Tags:
postcard
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Lickey
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Valentine
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Great
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glossy
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Mary
07/06/1941
1941
54LCK79
Nada
Operation
Josephine
sabotage
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transformer
electrical
Pessac
France
Boris
Vannikov
atomic
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Jimmy
Dorsey
Orchestra
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Wells
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1972 « less
Sets appears in: • UK
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