My grandparents used to live off Abbeydale Road where I can clearly remember the rag n' bone man shouting "any old rags" as he stood with his cart on the corner of their street.I am guessing that this would've been in the late 60's but not so sure.Can anyone remember seeing the rag man any later than this?

Hi' i lived around there in the 70's. There were two blokes, i beleave they would hire carts from Collins rag n' scrap yard on Hill st' then return with their gains and get paid.

one of the old geezers was called tosh coppley

i think i remember seeing these two rag men in the 60s around the abbeydale / broadfield road area , does anyone remember were they brothers ? i seem to remember they were both very small blokes less than 5 foot tall like a couple of midgets

They were small' one was tubby and wore a trilby type hat. The other had darker thinner features. The latter i have seen around Nether edge probably up to a few years ago(with the cart).

There were tatters hiring barrows from Collin's scrap yard in Hill Street in the mid eighties.

I remember them cashing up in 1987.


Happy Days!

I'm sure there's still at least one operating in the area.

Smallish chap, in his 60s, pushing a wooden hand-cart.

Saw him at Nether Edge crossroads not long ago.

For some reason I though their premises were off London Road near The Sheldon pub.

There used to be two of them. Don't know if they were brothers or any relation.

The one I've not seen for a couple of years used to walk up the middle of the street, pushing his hand-cart, and shouting 'Iiiiiron' at the top of his voice.

The yards where The rag men took whatever they collected were known as marine store dealers anyone does anyone know why.:confused: When the ragman came round in the 40/50's it was quick have we any old clothes mother the usual answer was that we where wearing them, or using them to peg a rug.

When i was about 12 i used to wag school to go totting with the rag man.Iwould drive the horse slowly up the roads while the 2 ragmen would be up and down peoples yards totting.Dinnertime would see me outside a pub somewhere "holdin hoss" while they had a pint or two. the horse would get his nosebag and a Mars bar for a treat and a drink.Not all the totters were good to the horses though.

I remember when I was about 8 or so, there was a rag and bone man that use to come around where I grew up in Highfields.

He was an elderly gent then and that was some time ago maybe in the mid eighties.
He had a wooden cart that had the fat wheel barrow type tyres. He always had the same clothes a grey long overcoat and a peak cap.

Funny how things like this stick with you all your life!

The rag and bone man I mentioned earlier in this thread has just passed my front door.

Wearing coat and flat cap and pushing a home-made wooden barrow.

He's still in business!

I think this may be a photo of him.

http://www.ronsandersoncollection.com/people-black-white-photo-gallery.asp?page=4

Theres a memory I had completely forgotten about - the rag and bone man! We used to get one every so often in birmingham. I remember my dad telling me not to leave my bike on the street when he was about or he'd ave it away

Didn't the rag & bone yard be near the Heeley Baths,I remember it from years ago,might be wrong it is a long time ago.

The yards where The rag men took whatever they collected were known as marine store dealers anyone does anyone know why.:confused: When the ragman came round in the 40/50's it was quick have we any old clothes mother the usual answer was that we where wearing them, or using them to peg a rug.

As far as I can make out Marine Store Dealer comes from the people who used to recycle junk from shipping, old rope etc.
Sounds a bit posher than rag and bone man.
Also love the term Mudlark this one seems to have been nearer the bottom of the social scale, and one up from the workhouse.

The rag and bone man was my grandad John Collins and he used to hire out the hand carts to the rag men.As children my brothers and sisters and i were so embaressed when people ask if that was our grandad,but am now really proud to think of all the memories people have of him.

claire you are right to be proud of your heritage. Many children received joy from the rag and bone men - balloons, 'magic' colouring books, even goldfish. Often they were children who would have received few or even no other gifts or surprises.

Now we just bundle everything up and deposit in a dump bin for used clothing and textiles!!