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Icknield Street Alert!

Charlie

Charlie

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
According to today's B'ham Mail a row of back-to-back houses, numbers 111-120 Icknield Street, are to be demolished to make way for a major £160 million hotel, office, flats, bars and workshop development. This is despite English Heritage and the Victorian Society's efforts to have them restored. The Council's Planning Committee have decided that the houses have no historical merit and should be bulldozed! They say it would be impossible to restore them because of their present condition.
The only ones I can think of in Icknield Steet are a row of derelict small shops that are almost on the corner of Warstone Lane/Icknield Street. These have been in a terrible condition for many years and are boarded up, so why was nothing done earlier to preserve them - as they did in Inge Street? I didn't realise they were back to backs. I shall try to get there with my camera asap.
 
Well Charlie if they can demolish the Mint next door its always been on the cards.:(
 
I have drove past some time ago and they have refurbished some of the buildings on the corner so I don't understand why they can't carry on and do the rest, as for these back to backs thay have more historical value than the ones at Inge street (are houses and shops combined) as the ones in Icknield street are really back to backs in the true sense of the word,
 
This is so sad. It is of historical interest to all "Brummies". Our heritage.This makes me so very angry.

Makes you wonder if there are any "backhanders" - after all £160 million pound hotel, office, flats, bars and workshop development, paid for by redevelopers, must make a tidy sum for the council re planning fees, building regs etc etc.

Whereas maybe the council are thinking they wont make anything (even have to contribute) to restoration.

Good job the Egyptians didn't think the same re Pyramids, Valley of The Kings and Queens etc etc.(Egyptology is my passion).

Fay
 
I feel sad too. This area has been neglected for years. I have as most of you know a lot to do with Key Hill Cemetery also on Ickneild Street. The final resting place of many of our great industrialists. What a mamouth task just to get the place looking better. An upward struggle in an area of drug abuse prostitution and all that is seedy. If it has to be that these houses are demolished I do hope for the sake of the locals the work will improve the area. I was devastated when they demolished Birmingham Mint. So I hope that this building and regeneration will help to maintain Key Hill and Warstone Lane cemeteries and this area around Hockley. So much history is contained in this historic edge of the Jewellery Quarter.
 
There are many flats...sorry, apartments (!) lying empty in the Jewellery Quarter. Mainly young singles/couples buy these places but move on after city living palls or they want a semi with a garden for their family. Many are also empty because of the 'buy to let' market falling. On top of the increase in mortgage payments now, I can't see this development being an asset to the Jewelley Quarter. Who's going to be there to use these (no doubt expensive) facilities? You're right, the Council don't care - just get the revenue in and let the developer worry about these issues.
They learned nothing from the mistakes of the sixties, did they? Empty promises.....
 
icknield st back to backs

Being involved with the Inge St back to backs I was interested in this report and went down to see them. They had all finished up some years ago as shops. Those on the corner had been a pork butchers -Stoddards- and these 3 have been renovated as shops. The remainder had been cafes etc and are now just derelict. I personally dont think they are worth saving and are in a far worse condition than those in Inge St. I took some photos but i cant seem to get them attached
 
icknield st back to backs

whos a clever boy then!! will try another
 
Thanks for the photos KenH. I appreciate they're in a dreadful condition NOW and probably beyond saving - but why have they been allowed to get into this state? Surely something could have been done some time ago when there was a chance of renovation. They've been in this condition for years. I wish English Heritage had got involved earlier and stumped up some money then.
Everyone was saying that the Inge Street houses were the last surviving back to backs in Birmingham, evidently that wasn't so (and Chris Upton pointed out some more in the Newhall Hill area of the city, but I think these had been converted to offices or workshops - but look in fairly good condition).
As Moma P says, I just hope the developers will agree to put money into the preservation of this historical area, so something can be done to keep Key Hill and Warstone Lane cemeteries cleaner and safer. This could be part of the trade-off agreement. There's always a trade-off in these situations, isn't there? New roads, lights or other things the council can get done without spending any of THEIR cash?
Charlie gets down off her soapbox and collapses into comfy chair!
 
I wonder if we will see a mysterious fire that tends to befall historic buildings when attention is drawn to them.:rolleyes:
 
I remember the one on the corner in KenH's second photo (Warstone Lane/Carver Street?) from when I worked at Toye Kenning and Spencer in Warstone Lane. Didn't it used to be an abbatoir? Probably belonging to Stoddards that Ken mentions. And on opposite corner (derelict land now) of Warstone Lane there was a cafe where I used to get the morning bacon sarnies.
The ones that have been renovated look good, don't they?
 
Correct Charlie,
The abbatoir was located where the 'Gallery' is shown in the photograph.
The reserve man at Kenyon Street Police Station would make a daily collection of meat, in the mid fifties, to feed the bobbies there.
Will.
 
Well done Kenh for the pic's of Icknield St shops, I was shocked to see the B'ham Mint gone when I last drove past, our first place was 1/222 dead opposite and they went years ago, sad to see a car occupying the space where we had so many good times. It was a bustling area in the early sixties and the big Lino shop did well there. Should it be saved? not just for nostalga's sake I'm afraid but neither do I fancy everywhere covered in Office blocks and Flats, sorry, Apartments either.
 
I read yesterday that Birmingham City Council is going to apply to have the Jewellery Quarter designated a World Heritage Site, putting it on a par with the Eiffel Tower etc. If it means more money for restoration I'm all for it!
 
Well said Charlie 8) Hopefully the illustrious Council will win the designation
of the area as World Heritage Status,,,, then spend some of Our money,,
on restoration of Key Hill & Warstone Lane Cemeteries,,
Very important areas of Birmingham & Jewelry Quarter history
sadly left in neglect for many years,,
Heritage status would surely bolster the efforts of the valiant few
who are involved & trying to improve the above mentioned
for the benefit of All , Cheers John Y :)
 
Such good news Charlie. I really didn't know the Jewellery Quarter when I lived in Brum, and I guess I'm not the only one. There was never a reason to go there until I started on my family history in 1980 and found my gt grannie Ellen Wilkes, who died as a young mother, was buried in Warstone Lane. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and since then I have made up for all of those years, I even take my 1940 watch to a Jeweller who gold solders it for me.:)
 
On the subject of the Mint in Icknield Street.

Attached to the premises and part of their security was a private security firm run by a Bill Johnson.
As a form of advertising, Bill, had produced, by the Mint, his visiting 'card' medallion.
On the face that I post here one can see a bevel in the centre. This would be placed face onto a pub counter/table and spun. On the opposite side was an arrow and the words "You pay" Those to whom it pointed were expected to get the next round in. Must be honest this little item had more beer bought for me over the time for I had the correct balance of the spin to ensure I was never in the chair.
 
postied said:
I wonder if we will see a mysterious fire that tends to befall historic buildings when attention is drawn to them.:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

CAMDEN FIRE it was reported that a few weeks before that 300 market traders were told that they might have to move due to redevelopment?
 
Only just seen this subject as I'm a new member and an ancient 'silver surfer'. My great great grandfather and family lived at 6 back of 114 Icknield st in 1881,so I'm very dismayed at forthcoming demolition. Went to look at the site in November but coudn't see much of 'ancestral home ' as it's difficult to get round the back of block.Wonder if anyone has more info, memories or photos of the area in later years. Names I'm researching Lewis Bond Butler Loader
 
Have only just seen this thread, but Charlie mentions a cafe on the corner of Warstone Lane and carver St. Here is a photo of it in about 1972. Sheila might find it in interesting

Mike


18B__Georges_Cafe_108-9__Warston_Lane2C_corner_carver_st_.jpg
 
Thank you so much for posting that picture of the cafe. Bought back lots of memories of bunking off work at TKS in Warstone Lane to go and get bacon sarnies and doughnuts for the office. Did they really taste better then? Yes, of course!
 
Thanks For Picture And For The Memories Of The Old End Many Years Before That Was
Rebuilt That Cafe Used To Be Stoddards The Butchers Meat Shop And It Used To Supply The Meats To The Other Shop Up Across The Road Yards From The Spring hill Libary And Next To Old Sidney Clegg,s The Fruit ShopAnd The Pawn Shop And A Iron Mongers
And The Number Eight Bus Used To Stop Right Out Side There Shop, I,M Just
Wondering Wether The Public Toilets Are Still Standing At The Bottom O
 
I am researching my grandads background and I was born at No 2 Icknield place Iknield street and my grand parents graves are in Key Hill cemetary. I also lived in Heaton Street during the second world war before moving to Brunswick Road Spark Brook
 
The old houses provided meager shelter me-thinks but after saying that some of the history should be retained. Not to do this is very short sighted in my opinion. People will want to see the history in the years ahead even after the modern buildings are gone. Where else in the world could you possibly tour the home of the industrial revolution and the working places of those involved...Watt, Boulton... The first practical steam engines and the scientific notion of mechanical HORSE POWER were developed here not a half mile almost from where I was born in Summer Lane.
 
Thanks to all who posted comments re this area. loved the pic of butchers -where are these old companies like Stoddards nowadays ? No. 107 was a butchers on the 1881 census,maybe the original Stoddards.Happy Christmas to all Brummies and keep posting !
 
Re: icknield st back to backs

kenh said:
Being involved with the Inge St back to backs I was interested in this report and went down to see them. They had all finished up some years ago as shops. Those on the corner had been a pork butchers -Stoddards- and these 3 have been renovated as shops. The remainder had been cafes etc and are now just derelict. I personally dont think they are worth saving and are in a far worse condition than those in Inge St. I took some photos but i cant seem to get them attached
Click to expand...
I see that you were involved with the Inge St houses.I'm curious to to know how the Icknield St houses were built in relation to the shops(which were there at 1881 census ).For instance ,there were 8 at the back of No.114. Were they at right angles to the shops,have you any more photos. I've seen Inge St but the layout was obviously different.Were they 2 or 3 storey? I couldn't tell from my visit.
 
A.Willoughby said:
On the subject of the Mint in Icknield Street.

Attached to the premises and part of their security was a private security firm run by a Bill Johnson.
As a form of advertising, Bill, had produced, by the Mint, his visiting 'card' medallion.
On the face that I post here one can see a bevel in the centre. This would be placed face onto a pub counter/table and spun. On the opposite side was an arrow and the words "You pay" Those to whom it pointed were expected to get the next round in. Must be honest this little item had more beer bought for me over the time for I had the correct balance of the spin to ensure I was never in the chair.
Click to expand...

Hi Arthur,
You never did put your hand in your pocket, with or without the medallion,
when you were at Kenyon Street. Regards 'C' 57.
 
George, C57
Sorry there must have been two of us who kept our hands in our pockets for this is not Arthur. Trying to remember an Arthur, but one thing I do know, I never drank with him if his pockets were so deep.
Cannot now recall your collar number but with my grey cells fast going - tell me something new. Was there 58 to 61 including CID.
Will.
 
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