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They Were Caught In Our Old Street Pics...

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Oldmohawk.in 1953 while at Lea Village Sec Mod,we joined up with Hope St school at 11 -00 at night at New St station.We arrived at Folkstone Station at sometime early next morning caught a ferry to Boulogne At Boulogne we caught a train (with wooden slated seats )to Paris.And got to our School in Bourge Le Reign on the outskirts at 7-00 next day.At night
 
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oldMohawk said:
Easy Row and Edmund Street and two policemen have time to pose in the pic. Adverts show folk could drink Rowntree's premium cocoa drink at breakfast and a choice of three different beers for the evenings.
For those with leisure time the London & North Western Railway advertise 'Day Trips' to Paris.
Folks with less time could visit Bell Vue Zoo in Manchester or the delights of Blackpool.
Adverts for three different starches which could help to keep clothes wrinkle free during the railway journeys.
'Miss Langtry' is mentioned in one theatre advert. Could she have been the famous Lily?

View attachment 135047
Click it to enlarge and read the ads. Because of old cameras limitations fast moving folk showing as blurs have been digitally edited out.
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I love these old photos a slice of life, I would have liked to see the guy who put up that M&B sign that's a long way up a ladder and a roll of paper
 
Radiorails said:
I wonder if the place with the poster was a recruiting office?
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Would the Navy and the Army have a joint recruiting office? There was a film with that title and its producer had it shown in The Midlands saying, "“With the aid of these pictures it was made possible for people to realise what life in the Services is like, and in the Midlands, where many had never seen a ship and some not even the sea, the films aroused intense patriotic feeling and stimulated recruiting. "
 
It's quarter to two on the clock and I wondered whether they would get off at Villa Road then catch a No 5 towards Witton on the way to Villa Park although they were leaving it a bit late for a 3.00pm kick off ... but maybe it was something else .... :)
 
The trams carrying destination boards, rather than the later route number 23, date it prior to 1915. The Handsworth tram route operated by the corporation took over from cable trams in 1911 but did not get a replacement track until 1912. I suggest the date is between the two dates - 1912 and 1915.. The tram would be pretty new then, being put into service after 1911. It survived until 1950.
Lots of old adverts in the photo: Exmoor Hunt Mixture tobacco, Players Navy Cut, Hovis. I wonder what the two policeman are looking at? I don't believe they could see the clock from where they are stood as the roof line could obscure it.
 
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Perhaps there has been some sort of meeting or event and the men boarding the tram are on their way home.
 
oldMohawk said:
Perhaps there has been some sort of meeting or event and the men boarding the tram are on their way home.
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could be phil as the large building is the council house...not very good with trams but is that the back of them we can see

lyn
 
oldMohawk said:
It's early afternoon long ago on Soho Road and crowd of men in this pic are eager to get on that tram ... football match maybe ... the tram in front looks packed and some sit on the balcony.
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I may be wrong but to me this appears to be the end of the line. Look at the tracks and the one on the left merges with the one on the right, indicating the trams on the right track shuttle across to the left and return from whence they came. Thus this must be a terminus. There appears no track on the left foreground. A nostalgic scene. Even better than the trams in Hong Kong. OldBrummie.
 
The same place on a different date with lots of folks in this pic quoted from the Electric Trams thread.
oldMohawk said:
A tram event in Soho Road by the old Handsworth Council House.
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Information about the above image in quote below.
Radiorails said:
This picture can be dated to 1st. July, 1911 when electric trams replaced the cable cars.
Cars 230 and 225 were built in 1907 and the class got top covers by 1925. Most were withdrawn between 1930 and 1937 except a few which got bow collectors and were used on the 32 Lodge Road route until 1947.
The car with the top cover is 325 which is just a few months old.
A similar car is 395 which exists at the Think Tank.
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Astoness said:
could be phil as the large building is the council house...not very good with trams but is that the back of them we can see
lyn
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Hi Lyn,
The trams had no 'front' or 'back' and could be driven from both ends because they could not be turned round. When the tram being boarded moves off towards town, the tram on the right comes forward to just past the 'cross-over' and the driver goes to the other end of the tram and drives it across to the other track. Note the overhead line going across.
OldBrummie also explains it in his post#2718.
Phil
 
DavidGrain said:
The tram is heading into the City Centre so it would not be a football tram. The tram was starting from there according to the destination board.
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"Handsworth" as a destination could be as far out as the New Inns public house. The tram track is not from the cable trams - there is no central 'slot' for the gripper to access the cable, so its track laid after the original was lifted. The car in the distance, also heading for Birmingham, has a roller blind destination above the driving position, which Birmingham cars did use for a while, as per this postcard of car 46 on the Bolton Rd service.

Tram 46 Bolton rd.jpg
 
oldMohawk said:
The traffic lights have failed and a policeman has the awkward job of controlling traffic on Five Ways. He's only got white covers on his sleeves, 'hi-vis' jackets had not been invented back then. The car behind him almost brushes his back, and it isn't a Ford and I can't see the driver's hat. I remember driving in those sort of jams and often glared at a traffic cop when I thought he was favouring traffic from other directions.

The lady in the white coat looks bemused by the scene....
FiveWays-HagleyRd1966.jpg
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the MINI in the middle was COUNCIL CAR you can just see the coat of arms on the door.
 
I often use the pdf in the post below to find my favourite pics in this thread ... try it and it might work for anyone ... :)

They Were Caught In Our Old Street Pics...

#45, I don't know who the bloke in sun glass's is escaping from but "LOOK" at the 'Mk1 E Type', worth a fortune now in that condition. paul
birminghamhistory.co.uk birminghamhistory.co.uk
Its a pdf file so it can saved it in a computer.
 
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Are we looking at the notorious 'Running Man' photos again? I can't see him on the Five Ways picture as the right hand side has been cut off.
 
Vivienne14 said:
It could be a nanny in the photo. They often wore shirt, ties etc. I remember our old pram. Great big thing, green, grey and chrome with amazing suspension. My dad looked after us after I was born because my mum had to go into hospital. I too was ill so he had his hands full. No paternity leave in those days. Doubtless he was seen out and about pushing me around in the pram in the 50s. But as you say, not a common sight even at that time. Viv.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
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We are in 2019 and nothing's changed..
 
Wrong city and time for Norman. :) The uniform worn by constables, I believe, was more of a tunic style at the time rather than a jacket.
I have the idea that the man (supposedly with 'phone) is actually touching his head, as many people do when trying to find an answer to an asked question. I notice that even back pre WW2 road closures, due to road works were a motoring inconvenience. The Erdington route tram was in the more pleasant (in my view) pre 1946 livery.
 
The policeman is wearing a belt outside his coat which would imply to me that it would be a tunic buttoned up to the neck, The jacket style came in after the war, I believe in the late 1950s. Living as I did on the city boundary with three different police forces within yards of my parents house, I remember the Birmingham City police were the last to allow shirt sleave order in hot weather. I also remember the newspaper report about the Birmingham Police no longer having separate uniforms for night and day duty.
 
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