THE KATES HILL PRESS, DUDLEY,
ENGLAND
SYNOPSIS of SECOND CITY STORIES
by GREG STOKES
I was born and bred in the Black
Country, the old, and some would argue the first, industrial region in the
English west midlands. There are as many
definitions of what exactly constitutes the Black Country as there are people
in it. There is one commonality however,
it ay bloody Birmingham. Birmingham is
our next door neighbour whom we are first to deride, and first to protect if
the insult comes from further afield. As
with all neighours, we know each other well. I have worked there, courted there, and
married into a Brummie family. There is far more that binds us together than
the banter would suggest drives us apart.
There are differences however. Birmingham is a huge city of a million souls and at one time a thousand trades. It is truly the regional capital, and the
second city of England, with all the facilities that go with that. It has evolved into a vibrant international
city of the twenty first century. The
politics of the late twentieth century however, the politics of Thatcher, put Brum and the Brummies under the
cosh. The process of social engineering
has been continued under Blair’s New Labour.
Sometime in the mid nineties I decided that I’d put together a
collection of stories all set in Birmingham.
While the stories range from the Victorian period to the present, there
is a theme through to book that highlights the nastiness of Thatcherism as it
affected the city, and the society that Blair, son of Thatcher, is
perpetuating. Some of these stories were
written back in the 1980s. Most of them
however were written between May 2001 and June 2002 when I was undergoing
interferon/ribarvirin treatment for Hepatitis C.
Chocolate George: There’s a guy
who drinks in the Lamp in Dudley, a Brummie who makes
his way over from the city on public transport.
He works for British Waterways.
At the bar one night he told me this waterman’s tale of Chocolate
George, Cadbury’s head boatman who makes fools of two BBC journalists who are
looking for canal stories. Written April 2000.
Visions of Susannah: When John, an
expat Brummie living in Leicester, met Susannah he
thought he’d found his soul mate. An up and coming singer/songwriter, Susannah
was the perfect foil. Then came the
record deal, a dream come true, but it was an illusion, a con. John returned to Brum
in a daze where he chanced upon old friend Steve who runs a mobile disco. He joins the show that night at All Saints social
club. There he meets another Susannah, a
woman facing an early death. Unbeknown
to each other they become the source of each others’ inspiration. Written June
2001
Over the Party Line: I met quite few
people from Moseley around the late 80s.
The level of intense political conviction was incredible and there
seemed to be a left of centre party line that dictated everything, down to the
coffee you should buy. When someone of a
different political outlook puts her hand to writing fiction, and is overheard
relating the plot over the party line, there’s sure to be hell to pay. Written March 1988
Little Drummer Boy: In the 80s the
Yuppies who were getting fat in the City of London had a game called drumming,
a disgusting practice whereby they’d piss on the cardboard homes of homeless
people. Three Yuppies up in Brum for a wedding try to play the game here. Written July 2001
Sad Café: In March
1987 I went up to Newcastle for the weekend on a National Coach out of Digbeth. Sad Café is
based on observations made that day.
Written May 1987
The Vandals: The 1980s saw the
advent of two new practices. Graffiti
art came to cover many a drab wall alongside railway lines. The colourful product was still deemed
vandalism. At the same time terraced
houses with perfectly good brickwork, or even ornate terra cotta, facades were
stone clad. This story asks, who were the vandals? Written July 2001
The Layer Cake: My father in
law, John Mitchell, lived out on the border of Solihull and Birmingham. We used to drive over to see him, passing St
Andrews and then on out to Kitts Green.
It always struck me how the layers of houses changed as the journey
progressed. The Layer Cake starts in a
City Centre back to back hovel and charts a family’s history as they move
through the layers of the city’s housing, depending on how they have fared
socially. By the turn of the millennium
the most upwardly mobile seek the prestige apartments in the city centre, on
the same site that the story began in the back to back hovel. Written December 2001
The Folk Singer: A young middle
class English woman tries to bring the moors of a folk club in to a seshoon in an Irish seaside town. Written March 1988
Kick the Can: On Newcastle Central Metro Station one
Saturday afternoon I saw an old woman kick a can which struck a young boy
rather sharply, turning notions of who is the hooligan on the head. I’ve moved the scene to Birmingham. Written August 2001
Here and There: Originally
conceived with the stark contrast between Newcastle’s Grainger Market and Eldon
Square in mind. There are two cities
side by side, one for the middle classes who are doing alright, and one for
those on low and limited incomes. Based
on observations made in the markets of Brum and Rackhams (Selfridges had yet to open), Here and There
follows the fortunes of two women with the same name through their respective
environments. (The Newcastle version,
Two Cites, has also been completed) Written June 2002
His Dutch Uncle: Britain is a
right wing dictatorship and Birmingham its capital. Every first Tuesday of the month the
President calls, in disguise, at a town house in Mosley, that
is home to Fifi, a lady of the night, and a quiet
unassuming man across the corridor. In
a country in which it’s no longer safe to say anything and it’s considered
unpatriotic to have electricity passed through your privates, what’s going on
is the burning question. Written February 1988
The Social Workers: A social worker
escapes Friday duty to collect her mom from Digbeth. While her colleague extracts a young woman
from domestic violence she waits for a balti in Balsall Heath. One
of the sex workers in the waiting area recognises her old social worker. Unbeknown to each other they now have the
same clients. Written August 2001
Popper States: Two
brothers, Ken McKenzie is an academic social scientist, Tom is a lab worker,
talk about the philosopher Karl Popper.
To the former he is a hero, to the latter a clown. But then redundancy befalls Tom who has to
retrain, and start quoting what Popper states.
Written August 2001
The Owl and the Pussycat: Waiting for a
Chinese one night in Jesmond I espied a cat out in
the street. It was called over by a man
who appeared in the doorway. Its owner of course… but what if things weren’t as they seemed? Written April 1987
Great Hampton Street: Mental
Health legislation in the early part of the 20th century meant that
women could be cast into a lunatic asylum for being pregnant. Many of them would remain incarcerated until
old age. Great Hampton Street tells the
story of one of them. Written September 2001
Mr Williams: On call at Dudley
Road Hospital on a sultry summer night in the 1970s, there is a late visitor to
the biochemistry department. Mr Williams
had worked there years ago, but what was he doing there now? Written September 2001
The Misappropriation: A version of the
theft of the FA Cup from a Birmingham shop window in 1895. Written December 2001
The Curse: A version of the
gypsies curse on St Andrews. Written
December 2001
The Infiltration and the Amuscade: In the 70s big gangs of skinheads fought
for dominance on the streets. When
members of the Smethwick Mob attack their counterparts from Quinton on the Holte, its seen as a sign of the
times, just more football violence. Back
in the 1890s the Peeky Blinders attack Albion
supporters going to the Villa and in the 1990s rival firms the Steamers of
Villa do battle with the Service Crew of Leeds, both a sign of the times. Written March 2002
Summer Frocks: In the winter of
1973 I’d just started work. Someone
proclaimed there was no poverty in Britain any more. One particularly cold night in Winson Green, as I caught the outer circle I saw a young
girl in a thin summer frock. Many years
later I saw the face again. Written
August 2001
The Bus Stop: Back in 1976 I
bought a book about the general strike which was celebrating its 50th
anniversary that year. It would not be
until the 75th anniversary that I read it. This story is based on a little anecdote
about some activity in Brum that appears in it. A manager takes a bus out and the TUC men try
to stop him. Written December 2001
The Tip: As a social
worker I used to have to conduct comprehensive risk assessments. In one interview someone told me about the
lengths his father had gone to to get a buzz. I’ve
transposed that snippet into this story of an old man who gives a youngster a
tip about drug taking – it’s a mug’s game. Written April 2000
The Selection Process: In
the 80s, with unemployment topping 3 million – and that was just the official
figure – a gang went around organising interviews for people from whom they
would then try to take money. The scam
played on people’s desperation to find work.
I first heard of it in 1983 on a visit home from the middle-east. The Selection Process is my rendition of that
awful tale. Written March 2002
No Permission Granted, No
Request Made: Dave brushes with young woman in Cannon Hill Park who is
absolutely gagging for it, he has no doubt.
That evening he sees her again and puts his theory to the test. But there has been no permission granted and
no request made. Written October 2001
The Escape: On a boating
holiday a few years back I saw a low tunnel leading from the canal under Winson Green prison.
A ex member of the SBS uses it to break one of his partners in crime out
of jail. All details about the geography
of the prison are entirely the product of my own imagination. Written December 2001
Turks Blood: The week before
Kennedy was assassinated, my dad had a good win on a
horse called Turks Blood. The tip came
from one of my granddad’s sources over in Brum. Granddad worked at Bloor and Pillars in
Hockley. Written January 2002
The Witness: Pete, an ex pat heads for the last train out of Brum on a Sunday night.
He sees missing it and sleeping on New Street
as an adventure. When the beautiful
Carmen comes onto the station an altogether different adventure unfolds.
Written June 2002
In the Name of St Pat: The St Patrick’s
Day parade in Birmingham is now the biggest in the UK yet in 1974, the city was
bombed – in the name of St Pat. While
there has been forgiveness at a community level, the ones responsible have
never been brought to justice. Written
June 2002
The Darts Match: While in the
north east I read that Armstrong’s on the banks of the Tyne sent battleships to
opposing navies. I conceived this story
of a darts match between the rival workers being used to settle the war instead
of the battleships while up there. I have
transferred the tale to two Birmingham gun factories supplying either side of a
war in Africa. Written
February 2002. The Tyneside
version of the story was written in 2004.
Greg Stokes
Kates Hill, June 2006