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great king street in the 50's

johnpress

master brummie
Hi folks , I'm john stone , I was born at 3 back of 213 great king street in June 1950 . My house was right next door to the bell pub and next door to me , lived the sewels who ran the paper shop . Opposite was another pub possibly called the George and dragon ? , and on the two opposing corners were a butchers and a café . As you went down great king street towards Lucas's on the right side , just below the butchers , was a welding factory which was next door to my aunt Jane and uncle albert (my moms brother) . just a few yards below them was the hall where the boys brigade used to meet . It was run by a high court Jude named Judge Finimore , I used to throw the outside mains light switch when they used to meet and plunge the place into darkness , I was just a mischievous 8 year old at the time . On the last corner was another café , and I recall a large Twinnings tea advert painted on the wall above the door , it was the one with a girl drinking a cup of tea wearing a large black and white dress wearing a hat . On the opposite corner was the queens pub . Does anyone share the same memories ?
 
hello john and welcome to the forum...thanks for sharing some of your memories of gt king st..if you have any old photos of around there we would love to see them

lyn
 
Hello John welcome to the forum. I enjoyed reading your post and look forward to hearing more of your memories of the area :adoration:
 
Sadly I don't have any pictures , I was hoping to see a photo of the entry to my house 3/213 , which is on the right side as your going up great king street , theres a shop just a few yards from the bell pub that was on the entrance to my entry , it's just before you get to new john st . I must admit that I am finding the site difficult to navigate around , I only managed to reply because I clicked on the link when I received an email off you
 
hi john you are doing fine...it always takes time to find your way around a new forum...im afraid photos of gt king st are a bit thin on the ground but i will keep my eyes open for you...what schools did you go to ??

lyn
 
I started my school years at was was harry lucas but it was called burbury street school in the mid 50's , I then went to anglesley street school for a few years , then went back to what was then harry lucas and remained there untill I was 15 in 1965 . I do find the site difficult to navigate around , the only way I could reply to you was by clicking on the link on my email , otherwise I just don't know how to get back to a specific page . Are you local and what school did you go to ? where did you live ?
 
hi john i was born in paddington st just off summer lane moving to villa st when i was about 6...went to farm st infants and juniors and then onto lozells girls school...anglesley st school is still there..

lyn
 
Hi John,I think this newspaper cutting shows the stretch of Gt King street during demolition in the 60s.moss
 

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Although paddington street is just a 10 minute walk from great king street , it would have been like climbing mountains and crossing rivers for a 6 or 7 year old boy to get there . As you probably realise , we lived in a very confined area and didn't venture far out of it . Yes , anglesly street school is still there , it's one of the few remaining parts of my childhood / youth that still remains , it sadens me thats it's all gone but the memories are still vivid
 
Thats a fantastic picture ! thank you so much for posting it , i would love to see the same aspect but from the butchers side looking down towads Lucas's . I have been to the central library many times looking for photos of a specific place , and although they have a great array of photos , they dont have one of my entry etc . I sugges you go there and sound them out , you wont be disappointed
 
John, This is the best I can do for Great King St three corner photos and two of those public houses.
 

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At least that puts my mind to rest about the name of the pub ........... it WAS the george and dragon , the photo was clearly taken from the bell which i lived directly next door to around the back . Thank you for your post , im getting closer by the day to seeing my entry leading to my house , which was 3 back of 213 great king street
 
Phil, do you know who holds the copyright for the 3rd pic (with the 2 ladies talking). I would like to do a painting based on that one . Eric
 
Thats a fantastic picture ! thank you so much for posting it , i would love to see the same aspect but from the butchers side looking down towads Lucas's . I have been to the central library many times looking for photos of a specific place , and although they have a great array of photos , they dont have one of my entry etc . I sugges you go there and sound them out , you wont be disappointed

hi john..unless you already know this a little tip for you when you next visit the archives at the library...ask them to search through their public works dept photos and also the regeneration of birmingham photos...the public works dept took pics of most of the streets before demo and this is where i found pics of paddington st last year including one of the house where i was born...as these photos do not usually come under the data protection act you should be able to get copies from the library or take pics of them with your camera for a small charge...



lyn
 
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Great King Street

Hello all.
Im posting this on behalf of an elderly friend .His mother lived on the above street and worked for lucus..but had seen many photographs of the factory's but however has never seen any of the housed end of the street .
Has anyone ever came across any pictures of Gt Kings street houses or could you point me in the right direction to do so..I have looked on this site but havent come up with any as yet.

Any help would be most kind.

All the best

Paul.
 
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hi folks as you know photos of this street are so scarce...all we have has been posted but i do have a new one to add...gt king st at the corner with barr st

lyn

great king st from barr st.JPG
 
another one...dated 1952..girls marching up gt king st...joseph lucas building behind themgreat king st 1952.jpg
 
another one...dated 1952..girls marching up gt king st...joseph lucas building behind themView attachment 111776
The girls are members of the Girls Life Brigade attending a district service at the People's Chapel. Carrying the district colour is Barbara Watkins (now Sabin) with colour party Eileen Mullett (on right) and I think Sylvia Clarke. Now called the Girls' Brigade the 14th Birmingham company still meets at the People's Chapel, which is now located further up Great King Street.
 
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Hi folks , I'm john stone , I was born at 3 back of 213 great king street in June 1950 . My house was right next door to the bell pub and next door to me , lived the sewels who ran the paper shop . Opposite was another pub possibly called the George and dragon ? , and on the two opposing corners were a butchers and a café . As you went down great king street towards Lucas's on the right side , just below the butchers , was a welding factory which was next door to my aunt Jane and uncle albert (my moms brother) . just a few yards below them was the hall where the boys brigade used to meet . It was run by a high court Jude named Judge Finimore , I used to throw the outside mains light switch when they used to meet and plunge the place into darkness , I was just a mischievous 8 year old at the time . On the last corner was another café , and I recall a large Twinnings tea advert painted on the wall above the door , it was the one with a girl drinking a cup of tea wearing a large black and white dress wearing a hat . On the opposite corner was the queens pub . Does anyone share the same memories ?
Hello John,

generations of my direct, maternal ancestors lived in your house in Great King street for about 100 years, approximately from 1839 - 1939. They were probably its first and only residents up until they vacated it. My late mother told me that in winter one could quickly dry washing near the internal wall which backed onto the Bell pub as they had a big fire. There was a well in the yard. When she heard it was to be demolished, as a child, she took me to see it. My memory is a bit vague as it was so long ago but we went down the entry and turned left and it was in the corner if I recall correctly. She asked the lady who answered the door if we could go inside so I could see it, but she clearly wasn't comfortable with that, unsurprisingly, and said that her husband was asleep as he was a fireman who worked shifts so it wasn't convenient. I do have a picture of the entry that you requested if you are still interested.
 
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