One Brummie teenager was in the Tavern in the Town on a Thursday night, excitedly handing out tickets to her housewarming party.
The other was walking past the Mulberry Bush with his mate, looking forward to becoming a dad.
But Maxine Hambleton, 18, never made it to her party and Paul Davies, 17, never met his son.
They were among 21 people killed and 220 injured in the Birmingham pub bombings on November 21,1974 – an IRA atrocity that, 50 years on, remains the biggest unsolved mass murder in British history.
Six Irish men – Paddy Hill, Johnny Walker, Richard McIlkenny, Gerry Hunter, Billy Power and Hugh Callaghan – were each given 21 life sentences when they were convicted in 1975. But they insisted they were innocent.
Finally, at a third appeal, the men, dubbed the Birmingham Six, had their convictions quashed and on March 14, 1991, they were freed after more than 16 years behind bars, victims of a shocking miscarriage of justice.
But for the families whose lives were ripped apart on that terrible day, there has been no closure, no justice.
Paul Bridgewater, 49, was named after Paul Davies, the dad he never met, who was killed alongside his pal Neil “Tommy” Marsh, 16.
Sixty-one-year-old Julie Hambleton’s sister, Maxine, had just returned from grape picking in France with her friend Jane Davis, who was also murdered. She had been looking forward to her house party, having moved in with two of her brothers.
Sharing 50 years of grief has made Paul and Julie so close that she describes him as her “adopted baby brother”.
Sitting in her home, only a few miles from the scenes of the bombings, her eyes brimming with tears, she tells the Mirror : “We have a bond that runs deep. Paul and I are more than friends. We have an unspoken connection.”
Paul adds: “Jools is like my big sister – I love her. She makes me smile.”
They are far from alone in their grief. Together with her brother Brian, Julie formed justice4the21, a group of campaigners demanding that the terrorists responsible for the heinous attack are brought to justice.
“We’re one big family and having their support does help, because we’ve all lost someone and know what each other is going through,” says Paul.
But the campaign is not an easy one.
The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act was introduced in 2023.
It means that perpetrators of crimes committed as a result of the Troubles have immunity from prosecution if they co-operate with truth recovery. It also limits civil cases and inquiries.
The Troubles refers to the period of conflict between the predominantly Catholic people of Ireland and Protestant British, which started in 1968 and ended with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. The group has been campaigning for justice for 15 years and refuse to give in.
Julie says: “We have to fight because we know for sure the British establishment isn’t going to do anything.
“If they were, they would have done it in 1991, when the Birmingham Six were released on appeal. We have had to fight at every single juncture. If the state had nothing to hide, campaigns like ours wouldn’t exist.”
Paul was born three months after the attack and says his 19-year-old mum “never really got over it”. “Growing up, I always felt like there was something missing,” he says. “I can’t tell you how much I wish I’d got to meet him. My grief is always going to be raw. From the stories I’ve heard, I think we’d have got on so well.
“We both love Aston Villa FC and we share a similar dress style – a love for hats and Adidas trainers.”
Aston Villa have raised thousands of pounds to help the justice4the21 campaign meet its legal fees, as have Birmingham City FC, West Bromwich Wolves and the Yorkshire Lions.
KRW Law is representing the families on a pro bono basis, while the Birmingham Irish Association has also helped out. “Knowing the truth would give us peace,” explains Paul. “I’m one of the youngest in the group but I’m 50 next February. Are we all going to die without getting answers?”
Julie says: “My mum had to identify the remains of Maxine’s body – no mother should have to do that. I say ‘remains’ because the horrific truth is most of her body was blown away.”
On Thursday, it will be 50 years since the pub bombings. Julie, Paul and other relatives will meet at 5pm for a memorial service at St Philip’s Cathedral in Birmingham.
Families will also go to the 15ft steel tree sculptures, which were erected in 2018 outside Birmingham New Street Station, in memory of the victims. “We will be hanging off each other,” Julie says, squeezing Paul’s hand. “The 50th year is going to be significant and poignant, we’re going to really feel it. I’m 61, the pain never goes away.
“We don’t want an apology, we don’t want money, we just want answers. If the Birmingham Six didn’t do it, then who did?”
Photos by Jonathan Buckmaster.
