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Then & Now

oldMohawk said:
Another view of Bakers and no traffic ... must be Sunday !
Bakers.jpg
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I think the father of a girl in my class at Birchfield Road Juniors worked in that butchers shop, also another girl and her family lived in a flat above. I seem to remember you went through the door in the big wooden gate to get to it.
 
a great memory sparks...there is no doubt i would have walked the length of birchfield road from where i lived in villa st many times when our mom and dad took us to perry park..we walked everywhere as you could not get the big prams on buses back then...i do have family photos of us walking up the aldridge road with fishing rods...happy days

lyn
 
Richarddye said:
Bakers on the left in the old photo is a butchers shop. I used to work for the one on Soho Rd after school and full time in the summer. Every once in a while I would go help out at the Perry Barr store, I used to deliver meat on a trade bike...…..I hated that traffic in the afternoon which was when many people would call and ask for their order to be delivered!
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Never heard the term "trade bike" we just called them a Co-op bike small front wheel with a wicker basket above
 
Richarddye said:
Bob, the one I used to ride had both wheel the same size, 26 dia by (I think) 11/2 oversize tires with big steel tubular frames on the front and back for packages. they were like tanks1
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I had a old police bike that weighed a ton had a built in lock at the top of the forks, I used it to deliver groceries from my mums shop.
That's when coppers were men before they got a Panda .
 
Radiorails said:
Other retailers, who usually had many shops, had these bicycles. Wrensons for one, so not limited to the Co-Op.
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We used Co-Op bike as a generic term I recall the butcher having one
Poor kid who worked at the Co-op on our street was the brunt of our pranks all the time.
We lived just off the Lickey Road so lots of hills, the guy had to push the bike up some roads as the bikes were so heavy, we would follow him wait while he had the box of goodies at the front door then steal the bike and ride it down the hill.
Other times if he had a couple of orders we would swap items around, great fun for me as the Co-op was my mum's competition.
 
We've talked about those bikes before on the forum, we called them errand boys bikes, I rode one in my first job collecting parts for the garage workshop from main dealers all over the city, the one I rode was made by Gundle Cycles in Great Hampton Row.
If you search for Gundles on here you should find a thread about them.
 
Ref oldMohawk's Post #965 …. I've previously seen that photo dated as 25 July 1883 which was the royal visit for the official opening of the General Hospital.
 
I believe the 1883 date is not correct for a couple of reasons. The first being that horse trams did not commence from Old Square until 1884, steam trams a few months later. The tracks go beyond Old Square, further along Corporation Street, which could mean after 1907.
The gentlemen's attire seem much later than the 1880's.
 
Robert Ensor (bob) said:
Never heard the term "trade bike" we just called them a Co-op bike small front wheel with a wicker basket above
Click to expand...
Eric Gibson said:
We've talked about those bikes before on the forum, we called them errand boys bikes, I rode one in my first job collecting parts for the garage workshop from main dealers all over the city, the one I rode was made by Gundle Cycles in Great Hampton Row.
If you search for Gundles on here you should find a thread about them.
Click to expand...

This is one type of trade bike...……..The one I used ride had two large wheels and a carrying area front and back, not quite as large as in this picture.
a0661eedfaf846c13d377fe3b12ea5e5--s.jpg
 
I would much rather see the old trade bike painted like the Co-op, Mason's or Dewhust's I understand what's gone on and why.

As someone who was a museum curator I was always looking to present exhibits in a true light

I would have loved to see the bike in a real world condition, right after some kid rode the crap out if it in a Saturday trying to get all the delivery's done
 
Robert Ensor (bob) said:
I would much rather see the old trade bike painted like the Co-op, Mason's or Dewhust's I understand what's gone on and why.

As someone who was a museum curator I was always looking to present exhibits in a true light

I would have loved to see the bike in a real world condition, right after some kid rode the crap out if it in a Saturday trying to get all the delivery's done
Click to expand...
Bob, this should be more like it!

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Richarddye said:
View attachment 137890

And yes, there is a museum!
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Of course there is a museum there is always someone looking for the "then" it never surprise's me the number of folks that want to hold collect steward our history and the range of things people will collect and display.
The trade bike takes you back to your to your youth and brings back long forgotten memories.
This very site for me is a museum with a narrative.
 
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