Ivy was born on the 22 November 1914 at 8 back of 225 Heneage Street, Ashted, Birmingham, she was the 13th born of 14 children, and Ivy always claimed that she was unlucky because of this. Born to Joseph Allen a railway engine painter and Elizabeth, (nee Crees the daughter of Emily Crees), she probably attended Dartmouth Street School until the age of fourteen and then went to work at an Umbrella factory in Ashted Row. Ivy met Walter Pickering a capstan operator at the BSA and they were married on the 20th April 1935 at St Saviours Church Saltley. They lived for a while with Walters parents Arthur and Elizabeth (nee Gill) in their home at 6 Boland’s Terrace, Landor Street, where their first child ‘Alan’ was born.
In about 1938 they moved to 193 Kelynmead Road, Kitts Green, where a second son ‘James Robert’ was born in November 1940.
Walter was offered a job in Stafford and he went there alone to check it out and was then joined by Ivy and the two boys soon afterwards. They went to live at 16 Russell Street, Stafford where their third and last child ‘Betty Ann’ was born in December 1941.
The marriage was having difficulties and in 1942 Ivy and Walter parted, Ivy moved back to Birmingham with her three children, she was able to take up temporary lodgings with (thanks to her kind offer) her sister in law Violet Pickering at 103 Arden Road, Saltley, where she remained for a few months until she was given a council house at 2 back of 11 Weston Street, Nechells.
2/11 was a back to back type house in a large yard that housed 10 families, it was a blue brick yard and they were lucky to have the use of one of only three brew houses in the Yard, this contained a copper boiler and the washing was done in a tub with a dolly.
There were six outside toilets in the yard which all of the people in the 10 families had to share.
With only a small sum coming in from Walter, Life was very hard for Ivy so she applied for and got a job at L H Newton’s, a factory just off Nechells Green where she worked for several years during the late forties and throughout the fifties until she finally left and went to work at a small engineering firm in Argyle Street off Cuckoo Road.
Due to the future redevelopment of Weston Street and the surrounding area. they were rehoused in 1961 to flat 5/135 Cromwell Street, Nechells.
Ivy was a very good darts player and played for the ladies team of the Eagle pub on the corner of Weston Street and Scholefield Street.
Ivy also played darts for the Ladies team at Johnny Wrights.
Ivy passed away on the 27th May 1966 at the tender age of 51 in the General Hospital due to a Subarachnoid Haemorrhage.
If Gold Medals were handed out today our Mom Ivy would be top of the list.
Ivy was born on the 22 November 1914 at 8 back of 225 Heneage Street, Ashted, Birmingham, she was the 13th born of 14 children, and Ivy always claimed that she was unlucky because of this. Born to Joseph Allen a railway engine painter and Elizabeth, (nee Crees the daughter of Emily Crees), she probably attended Dartmouth Street School until the age of fourteen and then went to work at an Umbrella factory in Ashted Row.
Walter was offered a job in Stafford and he went there alone to check it out and was then joined by Ivy and the two boys soon afterwards. They went to live at 16 Russell Street, Stafford where their third and last child ‘Betty Ann’ was born in December 1941. 
With only a small sum coming in from Walter, Life was very hard for Ivy so she applied for and got a job at L H Newton’s, a factory just off Nechells Green where she worked for several years during the late forties and throughout the fifties until she finally left and went to work at a small engineering firm in Argyle Street off Cuckoo Road. 
Ivy was a very good darts player and played for the ladies team of the Eagle pub on the corner of Weston Street and Scholefield Street.
