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Street furniture

mikejee said:
The phone box looks very like the No 1 box shown at https://www.the-telephone-box.co.uk/kiosks/
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Yes Mike. Definitely a Birmingham K1 box. Can't imagine what they were like inside but they certainly looked good on the street. A nice design. Re. Roly 's earlier comment about the street lamp light fitting with its own road name on it, if this junction had some importance, it does make you wonder why the phone box was located so close to the lamp. What was going on at this road junction? Viv.
 
Post 225. If one looks at this RIBA picture OF the Odeon Perry Barr (and is able to enlarge if by further clicking) the 'thing' is a portable display unit for publicity items too numerous to fit in the standard wall-mounted boxes

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You're right there Nico. Less packaging and less street food containers etc. But I suspect the RIBA Odeon photo was a promotional photo. I also think airbrushing was possible even then, but could be wrong. Viv.
 
Two photos of Erdington Six ways possibly 10 plus years between them ....
In this 1st photo c1914 not a lot of street furniture although nice double gas lamps on the tram wire pole and the Queen's Head is guarding it's forecourt with bollards and A.F.Butler is the licencee.
1914c-SixWaysErdington-600-50.jpg


This 2nd photo (looks 1920s/1930s) shows more street furniture. A telephone fire point on the island, unusual frames around the lamps of the street lights, one in front of the Archers shop and the other in front of the church. The double lamps on the tram pole have been replaced with different designs, maybe electric, the one on the island looks electric. The Queen's Head still has the bollards and Sam Cole has taken over.
SixWaysErd.jpg
 
oldMohawk said:
As previously mentioned, Perry Barr had it's share of telephone fire points see one on the left. My friend 'Google' has told me the film 'Kate Plus Ten' is a 1938 thriller ....
OdeonPB.jpg
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Superb! It would be 1938. The Lovely lamp-post (of Handsworth UDC origin) has very recently lost its arc lamp and has been replaced by a GEC "box" lantern burning a then state of the art 400w MA discharge lamp. Interestingly Birmingham did not possess any electric street lighting until it took control of Handsworth UDC!
Kinematic buffs may prove me wrong here but wasn't this Oscar Deutch's very first cinema? and wasn't the name ODEON a corruption of the greek name ODEION meaning theatre? (contrary to the urban myth that odeon stood for Oscar Deutch Entertains Our Nation)
 
Vivienne14 said:
You're right there Nico. Less packaging and less street food containers etc. But I suspect the RIBA Odeon photo was a promotional photo. I also think airbrushing was possible even then, but could be wrong. Viv.
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I agree. I have a picture of Denbigh on a market day and the road surface is pristine. Completely unreal !
The picture comes from the huge Francis Frith collection and airbrushing is very common on their pictures.
 
Turning our attention from pavements to looking up at what's above! These suspended street lamps seem to have illuminated the whole of Corporation Street. Surprisingly it doesn't look like they were installed along New Street. Wonder why that was. Don't know how they worked, but they seem to be wired into the buildings on either side. Probably a good use of space and saves on pavement space. But they didn't survive of course. Viv.

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Seems like a few cities could take a leaf out of Worcester's book.

Thanks Oldmohawk. Couldn't quite work out where the New St photos are on the linked thread. Thought it might be a Phyllis Nicklin photo but every time I tried to download the link it crashed. So I've dug out a couple of photos and you're absolutely right about the New Street suspended lights. Thanks.

On the second photo there looks to be a few lamps missing.

Viv.

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Viv. They were catenary wired to save space as you rightly said. If you looked carefully at the buildings where the wall mounted "roses"were there was a little control box which housed the fuses and solar clock. During the war alternate lanterns were removed (rather than remove the bulbs!). In the Fifties these were replaced with newer fittings burning a wapping 750w tungsten lamp! Around 1980 they were converted to 400w mercury lamps but didn't last much longer as they were taken down, I think, mid 80's. Can't imagine why New Street wasn't fiited so?
 
Thanks Roly. Had no idea these were still around in the 80s. Walked up and down both New St and Corporation St every day in the 70s and 80s and never once noticed them. But I suppose I always had my mind on what was in the shops, not what was up above. Viv.
 
I've always been fascinated by these type of street lamps as well as what I used to call "swan neck" types and am aware that they are all being replaced. I was over at Brandwood Cemetery last week and was amazed to see some had survived within there. By the way, can I ask, Roly, how you came across your information regarding the "Hatfield"? Do you have any further information on Birmingham street lights/ furniture?
 
I've pulled out a few photos for you of Hatfields Guyarab. These were found amongst the Keith Berry photographic collection. Viv.

Aston Road and Alum Rock.
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Heathfield Road and Ninevah Road.
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Handsworth and the Jewellery Quarter.
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Holte Road/Station Road and Village Road.
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What a big street lamp that is. Must have given off plenty of light. Certainly gives a sense of a place to meet, a focus - but soon to be replaced. Just to the left of the lamp top is a telegraph pole. Mostly disappeared these days, but occasionally you can find an old row of houses that still have these. Viv.
 
Absoluteley right, I again used to like the old telegraph poles; they had so much character. They bury the lines underground now don't they?
 
I'm pretty sure wicker/cane handcarts, similar to those in the picture, were in use in New St station in my childhood.
 
They were certainly still used for Laundry from hotels and such.
 
I did transport as a project at junior school around 1967 and I remember the wicker carts being horse drawn, used by delivery men. The carriage names I am a bit fuzzy with but I remember 'gig' and something like 'whisky'?
 
Can't work out what the white ball might be either. Maybe a bit of excess concrete. But if you look carefully you can see another at the foot of the next set of bollards.

This 1965 photo looks from the opposite direction and has a truckload of street furniture. This is New Street on the cusp of change. On the one hand we still have the 1934 overhead lights. But to the extreme right there's an ultra- modern stick type lamp. It looks like it has it's own litter bin attached.The island (centre) looks a little cluttered; I think it has a police phone box and striped traffic lights. This junction seems to have had it's fair share of traffic lights. Viv.

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The ultra modern "stick" lamp is a Revo "Festival" column and lantern. Again these were designed by Birmingham PWD in liason with Revo and as their name implies they were made in 1951 for the festival of Britain. Quite classy for their time - using low pressure mercury lamps (flourescent tubes). Some still exist on the site that used to be Old Square.
 
guyarab said:
I've always been fascinated by these type of street lamps as well as what I used to call "swan neck" types and am aware that they are all being replaced. I was over at Brandwood Cemetery last week and was amazed to see some had survived within there. By the way, can I ask, Roly, how you came across your information regarding the "Hatfield"? Do you have any further information on Birmingham street lights/ furniture?
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Hi GuyArab.
My favourite lamps were the Revo "Moseley" columns with the elliptical "clock box", large swan-neck bracket complete with wrought iron scroll, stepped top lantern with a glass acorn bowl. These delightful brackets (mid 30's) were all replaced by 1981. I used to have a complete 1937 column and bracket but sadly the column was left at mum and dads house (They died quite quickly of each other and a very unsympathetic council wanted the house back).
Fortunately, back in the late 70's, I was given a camera for my 13th birthday so I went around the city taking pictures of these lovely old lamps before they disappeared. Hopefully very soon I'll be getting a photo/slide scanner so I can post photos , if anyone is interested in seeing them.
I've thought about writing a book on Birminghams street lighting but it's all time consuming - I am already compiling a couple of books on the history of Birminghams Tram and bus services so it will be a while yet!
I've been fascinated by street lamps since a very little boy and most of my knowledge i've picked up from various sources over the last 40 years. Clair Pendrous (I'm pretty sure she is on BHF under a different name) has a fantastic web site called "Midland counties streetlighting" There are a few links from there i.e Simon Cornwell.
If you need any more info just let me know
Roland.
 
oldMohawk said:
They could have put a simple street lamp on the island but the council lighting dept had this one hand-crafted and there it is.
Can't think what the white thing is in front of the bollard - no litter elsewhere - but the streets were hand swept in those days.
Image6_on_the_left_is_Worcester_st_City_Center.jpg

Original pic in https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=8484&p=423093#post423093
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I think that the "white thing" is simply to prevent cart wheels from hitting the bollard.

There aren't many of these lovely old pictures that don't have a copper lurking somewhere in them !
 
While pondering the arrangement of the barrels on the brewer's dray, I noticed the overloaded cart in the distance.
I take it the driver didn't expect to encounter any low bridges en route !
 
Thanks Roly and Maypolebaz.

I like the Revo 'Festival' lamps even more now that I know they were designed with the Festival of Britain in mind. It must have been a time of real hope for the future after the war years. Yes Roly, you're right, they ARE still in The PrioryQueenswayOldSquare - or whatever it's called these days!

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Maypolebaz, thought that heavily loaded cart was a bus! They certainly used that cart to it fullest extent. Viv.
 
Although I am unable to enlarge the picture beyond what my browser can do I do not believe that the cart is overloaded. The apparent overloading, I believe, is due to something behind the cart on the building, or part of the building, behind it.
Those with good eyesight may care to chip in here.
 
Surely this traffic island at Five Ways Edgbaston must win the prize for having so many different items of street furniture in one place, Flower Tubs, Statues, Bollards, Lamp Posts, Horse Trough, Drinking Fountain, Benches, Street Lighting, Tram Wire poles, they are all there. Oh yes I nearly forgot The Clock.
 

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