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Old street pics..

Bernie, #2971 is a good reminder of the Colonnade (is that how it's spelt?) and of that lovely fountain which used to change colour at night. There used to be a massive Christmas tree every year too.
Thanks for a lovely memory! How it's changed now that the Library is there.
rosie.
 
Hi Bernie, Highfield Road, Saltley was my route to school when I was attending Leigh Road school Washwood Heath that was in 1942-43, before going to Handsworth Tech.

Reg
 
I went to Leigh Rd, too, around the same time and knew Highfield Road up as far as the top of the Rock anyway and I can't for the life of me remember that bend. Highfield was a straight road except for a bend over the railway bridge just before Washwood Heath and I don't think this is it. So pretty sure this is not Highfield Rd.
Might be Nansen Road just below the junction with Highfield. The houses and wall on the right are still there in some form maybe. Even a lampost. Yeah, Leigh Road was a direct route to Handsworth Tech....good bike ride though. You would, of corse, have known Cherry St. and St. Phillips and West Brom old busses very well. Perhaps it was still trams in your day.
 
"I went to Leigh Rd, too, around the same time and knew Highfield Road up as far as the top of the Rock anyway and I can't for the life of me remember that bend. Highfield was a straight road except for a bend over the railway bridge just before Washwood Heath and I don't think this is it. So pretty sure this is not Highfield Rd."

I think it may be, the attached pic is off google earth and it is looking towards Alum Rock Rd from just over the railway bridge. There is a new build on the left which is the corner of Glenpark Rd that replaces one of the houses on the original pic.

Terry
 

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rosie said:
Bernie, #2971 is a good reminder of the Colonnade (is that how it's spelt?) and of that lovely fountain which used to change colour at night. There used to be a massive Christmas tree every year too.
Thanks for a lovely memory! How it's changed now that the Library is there.
rosie.
Click to expand...

I was sorry when we lost the old war memorial gardens with the replacement by Centenary Square. The colonnade has been rebuilt in the grounds of the bombed St Thomas church on Holloway Head.
 
I remember the Railway Bridge quite clearly, just before it, going towards Washwood Heath Road, there was a Greengrocers, on the right, and one thing that has always stuck in my mind is that he had a notice saying "Rabbitt's" (as spelled) for sale. I always wondered where he got them from, whether they were tame or wild it didn't say. Strange how silly little thing stay in your mind.Regards travelling to Handsworth Tech. living in Bridge Road At the top end of Bowyer Road I used to catch the No.8 Inner Circle change at Hockley and catch another bus going up Soho Hill, I remember the West Brom buses but not trams.

Regards Reg
 
I used to walk down Highfield Road every day to work in the early Forties and like RUPERT I o not remember a bend in the Road
 
Hi all I didn't really look at the picture very closely because it had a caption included but your right it's not Highfield Road as you say Rupert probably Nansen Road . I do remember the trams Rupert but the only one I can remember going on was to the Lickey's ' Hi Rosie and David IT is sad that they're gone and worse to see what's replaced them the Peace Gardens always seem full of down and outs drinking cider
 
berniew said:
Hi all I didn't really look at the picture very closely because it had a caption included but your right it's not Highfield Road as you say Rupert probably Nansen Road . I do remember the trams Rupert but the only one I can remember going on was to the Lickey's ' Hi Rosie and David IT is sad that they're gone and worse to see what's replaced them the Peace Gardens always seem full of down and outs drinking cider
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Bernie, I think it is Highfield Rd. A friend of mine used to live in that row of houses that curve around to the left. Also the end house is quite larger than the other terraces and you can see this in your picture and google maps, the road to the left is Glen Park Rd :emmersed:.
 
terryb18 said:
"I went to Leigh Rd, too, around the same time and knew Highfield Road up as far as the top of the Rock anyway and I can't for the life of me remember that bend. Highfield was a straight road except for a bend over the railway bridge just before Washwood Heath and I don't think this is it. So pretty sure this is not Highfield Rd."

I think it may be, the attached pic is off google earth and it is looking towards Alum Rock Rd from just over the railway bridge. There is a new build on the left which is the corner of Glenpark Rd that replaces one of the houses on the original pic.

Terry
Click to expand...
I remember the houses being replaced with the new build, they were in quite a sorry state and were demolished.
 
You could be right Brumgum the gable end of the house visible on the right may be Mathouse Lane strange little road , but the bend on Highfield does look a bit severe
 
Concerning Highfield Rd Saltley, these three images might sort it. The photo of Highfield Rd shows it was pretty straight for as fat as can be seen. The map shows that the road made a slight curve before the railway but in fact in the other direction as to the one in Bernies photo. The final photo of the other end of Highfield Rd and the railwat bridge with the curve in the road.
 

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Looks about right to me Brumgum looks like the house on the corner of Malthouse has been demolished or renovated because the roofline's different but Glenpark is identical
 
Yep, looking at that I am sure you guys have it right. It just looked too sharp a curve to me in the old photo but not so. Funny now, the old photo has more of a feel of Highfield now, after comparing, than Google does. Yeah...Malthouse Lane and the houses on the immediate right were larger ones set back and higher. If you look at some old maps, I think there was a windmill just a little way up the hill in Malthouse Lane. I seem to remember some old building there. It's sails would have rotated long before. Might have been the highest spot around those parts. Don't know if the nicer houses (with bathrooms) on Glenpark were there at the time of the photo, probably not. Used to go whizzing down there on a small tricycle on the sidewalk with a friend standing on the back and holding on to my shoulders. No brakes and no fear in those days. Thanks for delving into it.
 
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