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Courtyards and yards of brum

Vixen said:
These are great pictures. I have family who lived at 13 Court 4 House, Sheep St, Birmingham in 1887. Is there any photos of this address? Also is there any way of seeing who lived here at this time 1887? I know my great great grandfather lived here and his son Charles but doing my family tree there is question over whether we have the right wife.
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Unfortunately no photos of 13 Court Sheep St and the nearest I know of is 11 Court Sheep St from post #1036 which you may have already seen.
oldmohawk :)
oldMohawk said:
More plants around a mangle in 11 Court, Sheep Street.
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A cameraman had arrived in 6 Court, Newhall Street and the folks living there look warily at him. A women from round the corner stands hands on hips (power pose) looking on. The lady sitting down appears to be holding twins on her lap.
6crtNewhall1.jpg

The cameraman has moved position for another photo and the lady sitting down does seem to be holding twins.
6crtNewhall3.jpg

In this photo the lady seen in the first pic looks slightly annoyed about the cameraman still being there.
6crt_Newhall2.jpg
images from Shoothill :)
 
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Lady Penelope said:
Crumbs oM, what on earth was keeping the house together on post #1,057. It looks as though there is hardly any mortar left either.
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I often look at these old courtyard photos and wonder what the buildings looked like when they were first built. I've no idea of the building dates but maybe it was before cameras were in general use so there are no such photos.
 
Phil, in the past, has made a number of comments as to how flimsy some of the old houses were
 
It seems there was work improving slum housing at some unknown date as shown in this photo of reconstructed slum housing in 28 Court, William Street, Birmingham. The dark coloured notice under the first bedroom window says 'MoorCroft Cottages' and the notice on the end wall says 'House To Let'. There are many similar photos of houses in different areas.
They look as good as some 'new build affordable housing' I've recently seen although without today's 'mod-cons' and insulation.
28CrtWilliamSt.jpg
shoothill
 
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There are some 'before and after' images of reconditioned slum housing in the Staniforth Street thread.
Images below only visible if logged in to the BHF
oldMohawk said:
Pic 1 (also posted elsewhere on the forum) shows some very poor housing conditions. A wall plaque can be seen on a wall in the street beyond and there are suggestions that it is a war memorial and if for WW1 then the poor housing was obviously there in the early 1920s. There is nothing in this image which identifies the location but the following sequence of photos will.
Pic 1
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Another view of the buildings and lavatory block in Pic 2, still showing very poor conditions and the edge of the wall plaque can just be seen. The original caption with the pic source suggests it is named Bagot St Court.
Pic 2
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In Pic 3 below the buildings on the right have been reconditioned and the lavatory block demolished. The wall plaque can be seen and also part of an Ansells Pub. Apparently there was a project of reconditioning some slum housing in Birmingham but I have not been able to find any information about it. A close look at the memorial suggests there is a vase of flowers on it.
Pic 3
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Another view of the the reconditioned buildings and more of the pub showing. Also a street name shows on the pub wall but is not clear in this jpg image. A low tower-like building with a conical roof can also be seen and looks to be part of the pub. The conical roof can be seen in an aerial photo on the 'britainfromabove ' web site.
Pic 4
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With some photo editing on the original pgn file it reads Staniforth St as shown below, so the pub is the White Hart on the corner of Staniforth St/Bagot St. I've seen this confirmed on an old map but there does not appear to be any available photo of the pub. The house on the right in the previous pics backs on to Bagot St so maybe is why the court is known as 'Bagot St Court'
Pic 5
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dawny58 said:
This house was ours! we lived at 1/12 primrose place. You can still see the initials that my sister wrote on the wall, DL and LL. We slept in the attic. the Abbott's family backed onto our house in the next yard to the right. We moved in 1968 due to demolition. happy days.
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thats great...how lucky are you to have found this photo...

lyn
 
dawny58,

One of my father's relations lived in Primrose Place, but I would have to look it up to find the date. The surname would be SHEPHERD or a similar variant and it would most likely be early 20th Century.

Maurice :cool:
 
This is an amazing thread:) My Dad grew up in house number 5, 779 Bristol Road in Selly Oak (where Sainsburys now is). Their left hand garden wall apparently bordered the Oak cinema car park. If anyone has any photos I would love to see them and show him. We visited the Birmingham back to backs in Hurst St last weekend and it brought back a lot of childhood memories for him!
 
Clairabelle said:
This is an amazing thread:) My Dad grew up in house number 5, 779 Bristol Road in Selly Oak (where Sainsburys now is). Their left hand garden wall apparently bordered the Oak cinema car park. If anyone has any photos I would love to see them and show him. We visited the Birmingham back to backs in Hurst St last weekend and it brought back a lot of childhood memories for him!
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Hello, I've just joined this Forum and the first thing I find is a reference to the house I lived in until I was 9! I lived
at 5/779 Bristol Road with my parents and brother until my father's death in 1963 when we moved to Northfield. I have to say that when I think back it was pretty dire... When you left Bristol Rd, down an alley between the shops you arrived in a courtyard which lead to a path and on to a row of 5 houses ,no 5 being the furthest away next to the cinema car park. The courtyard was often knee deep in potato peelings from the back of the fish and chip shop which fronted onto Bristol Road......no health and safety concerns in those days. I think there was a wash house in the courtyard, but there was definitely the toilet block, which meant a short walk from our house! I remember having a lot of fun playing in the cinema car park and running over the mountains of coke which was stored there. What years did your father live there?..I'm not sure if I have any photos but will have a look.
Regards Pam
 
Hi everyone,

I've just joined the forum as well. I was born in a back to back in 1952 in Skinner Lane, Deritend. Later my family moved out to Selly Oak, but my granny and (numerous) aunts, uncles and cousins still lived in the town centre. Slowly they were all rehoused but I remember going to see my granny and remaining cousins in the city centre, usually on a Saturday afternoon, after a visit to the markets with my mum. My dad worked in a garage called Evans and Kitchen in Hurst Street, and for some years in the sixties and seventies I worked with him in Saturday and holiday jobs before going to university (a family first!) Later in my career I moved to France to work in an international school in Toulouse for 35 years. A few years before my retirement I organised trips to Stratford and Birmingham for our students in the equivalent of year 9. We visited the National Trust back to backs in Hurst/Inge Street. For me the first time was quite emotionally overwhelming, after an absence from Birmingham of nearly forty years. I've been back since and have finally begun to integrate what was a challenging but intense period of my life. We all know what physical challenges we faced in those inner city dwellings , but the love and solidarity I felt as a child from my family and friends have been the sustaining force of my life.
 
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