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At the age of 18 in 1955, I migrated to Australia with my parents and sister. Now my children and grandchildren want me to compile some sort of journal about our lives before we migrated. This in itself is fairly simple, but I have very few photographs for illustration.

Although 53 years is a very long time, there is a remote possibility that one or two of your readers will remember me and would be kind enough to send me some pictures of the district, or even pictures of themselves, by email.

I lived first in Ashleigh Road, and then City Road, Oakham, near Dudley (which, I believe, is now called Tividale).

I went to City Road Primary School from 1942-1948, then from 1949-1951 attended Blue Coat Secondary Modern School, Bean Road, Dudley, which is in Dixon's Green.

After that I went to Dudley Technical College, the Broadway, Dudley, from 1951-1953. I was then employed at Accles & Pollock, Oldbury until we left England.

I visited England in 1988 with my Father (who was 80 at the time) and I did take a few photos then, but was disappointed to find that the Blue Coat School had been demolished due to subsidence. This was a pity as it was a beautiful blue stone building with a magnificent front entrance. Maybe someone has a picture of it before it was demolished.

Holy Cross Church in Ashleigh Road, was built when I was about nine years old, and I went there for a few years. Later I attended Darby's Hill Mission at the top of City Road, then when a teenager attended St. James Church, St. James Road, Oldbury.

Using the Google maps, I have travelled down all the streets in Oakham, Dudley and Oldbury and have picked out the various houses of my old friends and the places we frequented. It was a lot of fun to find out that all those places still exist.

My email address is: tedjoan@justinternet.com.au, and if anyone is willing to forward some photographs, I would be very grateful and probably remember their names too. I still have a class photograph of Blue Coat School with all the names written on the back Also, in a little old notebook, I have a list of all the girls who were in my class at Dudley Tech. After a bit of brain torturing, I can still remember 39 names of the 48 who were in Mr. Bates' class in 1948 at City Road School. Hoping to hear from someone.

Joan Huybens (formerly Joan Haynes) 9 Studley Street Mulgrave VICTORIA, 3170 AUSTRALIA

2:19pm Friday 11th April 2008

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