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Somewhere in Saltley

Trying to pin a date. Charles W Selby
1908 directory
1793362051864.png
that turns out to be a "Provident" agent as he is on 1911 census

By 1915 he is listed as a photographer at 434 Alum Rock Road
 
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If it is in the locality of St.Marks church maybe I could manage a guess that location of the church parade would be where the job centre is now. On that side of Washwood Heath Road there have been many new buildings put up in recent years. The parade would have been held in a place that was open ground plus trees and likely close to the church.
Just my conjecture, of course.
 
Well spotted Janice, I was looking for a map yesterday showing the original building but couldn't find one.

I think the job centre is the original building with a change to the roof and double windows added to the centre section.
 

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Another suggestion to add. This building (Highfield School ? ) on Highfield Road also had a spire. If this is today's primary and nursery school, it no longer has a spire. The photo was also taken by C W Selby of Alum Rock Road.

Screenshot_20261031_190918_Chrome.jpg
 
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I agree with Lynn that the house is in the grounds of the house and not on a road. The people are standing on a raised driveway/pathway and it is without any perimeter fencing.

And I'd expect a house of this size to have a name and to be named on maps. There's a plaque/writing/inscription above the house entrance (house name?), but it's impossible to read the name.

There's also a flag - is it attached to the house? That's why I originally suggested perhaps the house was being used for military purposes.

There's a covered table (?) in front of the reverend which suggests to me some sort of ceremony. Some of the people are holding song sheets.
 
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That makes more sense to me.

A few things have been puzzling me since we thought it was Highfield Road -
  • the absence of any large buildings along that road apart from the job centre which seems to have been built far too late for it to be in a photo with the clothing beig worn.
  • why people would be standing alongside a road with people clearly visible on both sides
  • what would a reverend be doing standing by a roadside
 
the 1937 map on post 12 shows a line of houses to the left of heath house..st view shows they are called heath villas...looking at todays st view below i think the private road marked is what would have been the entrance to heath house..lyn

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pjmburns said:
That makes more sense to me.

A few things have been puzzling me since we thought it was Highfield Road -
  • the absence of any large buildings along that road apart from the job centre which seems to have been built far too late for it to be in a photo with the clothing beig worn.
  • why people would be standing alongside a road with people clearly visible on both sides
  • what would a reverend be doing standing by a roadside
Click to expand...

I've seen similar images of the time. Blessing troops who assemble in the road before marching off to war maybe.
 
That's interesting Bob. The majority of onlookers are women. Most men are in uniform. The sgt-major (?) right appears to be reading something and is most probably facing other soldiers (you can just see the end of a cane - presumably another officer - captain or lieutenant?). Maybe someone more informed can tell the rank of the soldier on the right.

I'm beginning to think more and more that the house in the background has a military connection if only during wartime - in this case 1914-1918. For a gathering like this, you'd expect to see people watching from the windows. I can't see anyone.
 
so are we ruling out the photo being taken at heath house highfield road?..where ever it is it looks like cast iron benches were available for the ladies to sit on.. only assuming that the spire in the photo is that of st marks church the only other large house i can see on this map is a house called the mount which is to the right of the tram depot

lyn

 
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