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Perry Barr Shopping Precinct 1960-9, Lynton Sq

Thanks for the memories. I used to run errands for my gran down here. I think to Fine Fare or was it Lo-Cost? One of the supermarkets anyway. If I remember rightly there was a British Gas shop there too. I used to stop of at a cake shop/cafe on the row of shops on Wellington Rd next to the post office. I can't remember the name of it though, however the cakes were yummy!
 
Wow, thanks for that...I still remember walking around and I loved those steps. Great for jumping down. Here is a shot of the newly developed Birchfield Rd. To the top left you can see the building site for the shopping centre so it's nice to see the complete picture.

https://www.search.digitalhandsworth.org.uk/engine/resource/default.asp?txtKeywords=perry+barr+shops&lstContext=&lstResourceType=&lstExhibitionType=&chkPurchaseVisible=&txtDateFrom=&txtDateTo=&originator=%2Fengine%2Fsearch%2Fdefault_hndlr%2Easp&page=2&records=40&direction=1&pointer=2499&text=0&resource=1668
 
smashing clip topsy and brings back so many memories for me...i used to work in one of the offices in the block that stood in the middle of one stop...there was also a great indian restaurant on the 2nd floor...

lyn.
 
The Baron said:
Any one remember CAPITAL FINANCE in the square, if my memory has not gone AWOL The manager was a Frank Laybourne? & his Sec a Liz Morris, wife of My pal from the ice rink & hockey team at that time, John Morris (Cousin to the Plotnics? of the Eletrical shop Hamstead Lozells) , others who worked at Capital were Mike Heath, Ken Hay (a great Scot).
We all used to be members of the Rugley & District car club & had some great time.
This is a time when my Wife & I not a care in the world so many pals & things to do.
Ho! HAPPY HAPPY DAYS. I hope this will jog more of your memories ?
ASTON
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I did the Rugley and District Motoring Club's 'NightHawk Rally' on 5/6th April 1986.
 
hi, love these memories! I remember the pet shop with the minor bird, the toy shop opposite with an upstairs but I canr quite remember what was up there. The shop which had the famous picture of the cheeky tennis girl proudly on display. Fames, where I had my ears pierced , the cafe inside there aswell. The steps at the back leading down to the car park. I loved it!
 
This thread really brings back memories.
Back in 1964 I worked as a “Saturday girl” in Etam’s. It was next door to Mothercare and just along from Dorothy Perkins.
I was asked to work on Christmas Eve one year and have vivid memories of the men from nearby factories coming in from lunchtime onwards in a panic to buy their wife / girlfriend’s Christmas presents. As the day wore on it seemed they were prepared to buy anything.
What amuses me now is when I asked what size they needed, they would look briefly puzzled and reply “the same size as you love”. Given that I was 14 years old and just over 7 stone there must have been a lot of very small ‘wives’ in Perry Barr at that time! But at least they had a Christmas present.
 
Back in the early '60's, my wife and I would shop in the supermarket there (Was if Finefare ?) we would go with our three little girls and do a big weekly shop, including some clothes for the girls and still get change from a five pound note.
Try doing that today, you wouldn't get much change from £105.
 
Austin K2 said:
Back in the early '60's, my wife and I would shop in the supermarket there (Was if Finefare ?) we would go with our three little girls and do a big weekly shop, including some clothes for the girls and still get change from a five pound note.
Try doing that today, you wouldn't get much change from £105.
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Yes it was Finefare, there was one at the Scott Arms opened later on. I think the car park entrance was next to the Perry Barr Fine Fare, a very dingy hole it was.
 
Hi i remember caretaker at perry barr precinct charlie lived on top floor always tobe found cleaning up green overalls.mitchell
 
Hi everyone
Firstly apologies if this thread has been done before, I'm a new member and still working my way around this forum thingy :)
I was wondering if anyone has any memories of the shopping center which was there before the one stop, I was only young but remember there was a finefare supermarket and a (which I thought was awesome at the time) large sports shop where I got my first pair of proper trainers :)
I remember the brummies speedway track was demolished for this development aswel but you can still see where the pits used to be around the back. There was a tiny record shop right at the front of the shops aswel which could only hold about three people.
I know my Dad has a complete set of photos from demolition to finish which I keep meaning to dig out
Cheers
Ade
 
hello ade and welcome...i remember a lot of the shops and i also worked in the large office block that was at one stop in the early 70s...there is a link for one stop where i have posted a few photos but if you could find the ones your dad has we would love to see them please...enjoy the forum if you need any help just shout..click on link below

lyn

https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/for...of-one-stop-shopping-centre-perry-barr.46368/
 
I certainly remember it had a Maplins, a music shop and quite a nice sandwich shop too
 
Astoness said:
hello ade and welcome...i remember a lot of the shops and i also worked in the large office block that was at one stop in the early 70s...there is a link for one stop where i have posted a few photos but if you could find the ones your dad has we would love to see them please...enjoy the forum if you need any help just shout..click on link below

lyn

https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/for...of-one-stop-shopping-centre-perry-barr.46368/
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Thanks Lyn
My dad was an excellent photographer and was a member of the Aston and erdington club for many years
He has a very comprehensive set of photos of the demolition of the lucas factory which he's donated some photos to books over the years.
But yes I will endeavor to have a sort through and see what I can find
 
ade this is great news indeed because as a history forum we are dedicated to remembering birminghams history..good and bad..my brother took some photos of the lucas gt king st demo which are posted under the lucas thread on the forum but others are always welcome..thanks ade look forward to any you can add:)

lyn
 
ade said:
Hi everyone
Firstly apologies if this thread has been done before, I'm a new member and still working my way around this forum thingy :)
I was wondering if anyone has any memories of the shopping center which was there before the one stop, I was only young but remember there was a finefare supermarket and a (which I thought was awesome at the time) large sports shop where I got my first pair of proper trainers :)
I remember the brummies speedway track was demolished for this development aswel but you can still see where the pits used to be around the back. There was a tiny record shop right at the front of the shops aswel which could only hold about three people.
I know my Dad has a complete set of photos from demolition to finish which I keep meaning to dig out
Cheers
Ade
Click to expand...
Hello everyone - I've just joined this Forum as I've been feeling very nostalgic about where I lived when I was much younger. I remember Lynton Square shopping centre very well as I used to help my mum with the shopping every Friday (I used to push it back on my bike as we never had a car when I was a kid). There was a Fame, Fine Fare and Low Cost. There was a small butchers next to a newsagents in the middle section. Around the corner going towards Low Cost there was a shoe shop and a pet shop and I remember there was a Myna Bird in it. I also remember near this side there was a Burtons (near the steps to the car park) and a decorators shop (I used to get books of sample wallpaper to cover my school books with. There was a Gas shop and an Electric shop where you could go and pay your bills. I also remember clusters of benches to sit on surrounded with round concrete pots - at least 3 of these in the Square.
I also know a lot about the Greyhound Stadium as I was a kennel maid there after school on race nights and weekends, when the kennels were there before they knocked them down. I was also a parader of the greyhounds on race nights every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I worked there from 1975 until 1983 - very happy times.
 
Hi Izzy1703,
A picture of the shopping centre in the Birchfield Road Perry Barr thread below
oldMohawk said:
A view of the previously mentioned Perry Barr Precinct and tall office building. I seem to remember a shop at the far end named Fames ...
index.php
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Hello oldMohawk - I remember Fame very well indeed for not a very nice reason. I was a 4 year old child at the time and was with my mother who was browsing upstairs. She was distracted by a display of something and took her eyes off me and I promptly put my hand in the excalator and very nearly lost my hand. Luckily someone hit the off button but not before my fingers were almost torn away. The manager of the shop took me and my mum to the hospital in town where they tried to repair the damage. I ended up having a skin-graft. This took place in 1967 and I don't remember much of the detail thank goodness but I still have the scars. It was a strange shop - almost a take on a department store. It had a food section downstairs as well as little sections where you could buy carpets and books and jewellery. Upstairs there were other sections like a toy shop and clothes. There was a walkway in the middle which led to a hairdressers and a part where they sold music cassettes and records which joined the tall building. I also remember the caretaker who used to live at the top of the building - he was Irish and very small and used to be a jockey (I think his name was Charlie and he walked with a limp)- he used to pass the time of day with my dad about horse racing and what to bet on at the bookies over the road (opposite Perry Barr railway station) I spent many an hour waiting for my dad to come out of there when I was little - sitting on the step. Once you start thinking of things it leads to other things. I could almost be right there I can picture it so clearly.
 
Izzy1703 said:
Hello everyone - I've just joined this Forum as I've been feeling very nostalgic about where I lived when I was much younger. I remember Lynton Square shopping centre very well as I used to help my mum with the shopping every Friday (I used to push it back on my bike as we never had a car when I was a kid). There was a Fame, Fine Fare and Low Cost. There was a small butchers next to a newsagents in the middle section. Around the corner going towards Low Cost there was a shoe shop and a pet shop and I remember there was a Myna Bird in it. I also remember near this side there was a Burtons (near the steps to the car park) and a decorators shop (I used to get books of sample wallpaper to cover my school books with. There was a Gas shop and an Electric shop where you could go and pay your bills. I also remember clusters of benches to sit on surrounded with round concrete pots - at least 3 of these in the Square.
I also know a lot about the Greyhound Stadium as I was a kennel maid there after school on race nights and weekends, when the kennels were there before they knocked them down. I was also a parader of the greyhounds on race nights every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I worked there from 1975 until 1983 - very happy times.
Click to expand...
Hi Izzy
You have a terrific memory regarding the shopping center, as I was reading it I just found myself going "oh yeah " "oh yeah" :):)
I used to go in after school and have a look around, apart from buying my first proper pair of trainers I also remember buying a very expensive table tennis bat from that sports shop on the corner. Thanks for the post and those memories
Cheers
Ade
 
Hello again. Regarding Fame - the entrance to Fame had a sort of Foyer with a ledge around it which I was just slim enough to sit on as a kid and I used to sit there whilst my mum was buying the last part of her weekly shop - 200 cigarettes from the kiosk which was to the right side of the doorway as you were going in. After that it was the job of balancing the shopping bags on the handle of my bicycle and walking home.
Ade - Regarding the sports shop on the corner - I bought an Aston Villa woolly hat from there. It was only a small shop but it was crammed with goodies like Subuteo and Airfix planes in boxes which you could make from kits and paint with tiny pots of enamel paints. It's funny what you remember from over 40 years ago!
 
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Hello oldMohawk - what a lovely photograph. We always got our decorating supplies from that Bayliss as well. I remember that the shop next to it was like a bric-a-brac shop (which would be a pound shop in today's age) where you could pick up odds and ends and trinkets. We bought some furniture from the big furniture shop on the corner. I think that this photo is the exact place where there is now the Natwest bank, and a Ladbrokes betting shop and a Paddy Power and a Games shop. There is still the little ramp to the side of the furniture shop that was there then. The area directly in the middle of the photo is where the buses now stop. There is also a Weatherspoons pub on the far left I think although I don't remember the name of it (used to be an Argos?).
 
great photo phil remember it well from the 70s when i worked in the tall office block in the middle of the centre...great indian restaurant there as well think it was on the 2nd or 3rd floor ..good days...izzy the old argos is indeed a weatherspoons called the arthur robertson

lyn
 
Gosh, I remember the sandwich shop and Doreen, she lived over Wyrley Birch. Lovely lady.
 
I don’t recall a record shop unfortunately other than a music shop that sold guitar strings and the odd guitar song book. I am thinking that shop may have been near Maplin’s.
 
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