Although I never worked there, I did go to school in Birmingham, and my 30 years of youth work practice were largely in southwest Birmingham.
The car factory was the Mecca of ordinary young people's aspirations in the 1970s - either that or Cadbury's - where getting an apprenticeship at school-leaving age held the promise of high wages and secure employment.
Many parents of my youth club members worked at British Leyland, as it was then, and their reward was owner-occupation and frequently replaced new cars. Longbridge lay at the heart of a vibrant local economy, a far cry from the deprivation and unemployment that existed in other parts of the city.
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