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Broad Street

hi folks just sorting out some photos of broad st to post ...this is such a long thread to go through so i hope there will be a few new ones...as someone once said to me...better to have some twice than not at all :) back soon

ln
 
In the pictures above, the one of the billboards, two questions, is the car a Lanchester, and the shop to the left, Marshall and Snelgrove were they in Broad St before or after being in New St. or even the same time!
 
The Marshall and Snelgrove shop in New Street was built 1938 but not completed until 1956. We know that that area at the bottom of New Street was severely bombed during the war. I cannot find a date for Marshall and Snelgrove opening their Birmingham branch but I would guess from information on the Wikipedia page for Marshall and Snelgrove that it would be between 1925 and WWII. However I have always thought that the building, Transport House, always looked more like a department store than an office block.
 
DavidGrain said:
The Marshall and Snelgrove shop in New Street was built 1938 but not completed until 1956. We know that that area at the bottom of New Street was severely bombed during the war. I cannot find a date for Marshall and Snelgrove opening their Birmingham branch but I would guess from information on the Wikipedia page for Marshall and Snelgrove that it would be between 1925 and WWII. However I have always thought that the building, Transport House, always looked more like a department store than an office block.
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Thanks for posting lyn.
Broad Street was more welcoming before they started the changes in the late sixties, I never knew from one day to the next where the bus stop was going to be to catch a connection for the number 1 bus! (Usually ended up walking to the one by Faulkes Furriers.)
My favourite fountain too, and one of Church of The Messiah with horses and carts in front, where Nan & Grandad married in 1909 and Dad was baptised there too.
rosie.
 
rosie said:
Thanks for posting lyn.
Broad Street was more welcoming before they started the changes in the late sixties, I never knew from one day to the next where the bus stop was going to be to catch a connection for the number 1 bus! (Usually ended up walking to the one by Faulkes Furriers.)
My favourite fountain too, and one of Church of The Messiah with horses and carts in front, where Nan & Grandad married in 1909 and Dad was baptised there too.
rosie.
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no probs rosie...always happy to share photos if they are of interest to the forum :)

lyn
 
This almost looks like a different building, but I’m fairly sure it’s the same one as in the modern (Streetview) image. The building must have had considerable alteration, especially at ground level. Viv.



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I have not been in the area for sometime for obvious reasons although I do intend to go there as soon as possible because a lot has changed since I was last in Broad Street. Because of this I am speaking from memory but I am sure the date over the door is something like 1867. Unless there was wartime bomb damage I cannot see the point of the major changes to the building.

After Barclays closed this bank branch, the building became a restaurant with the name Left Bank which really amused me. After that it appeared to become some sort of burger establishment and much more down market. It looks closed in the Google view.
 
mikejee said:
David. Have tweeked it a bit, and it looks like 1836, which cannot be correct

View attachment 152779
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Thanks Mike. As I was writing, I thought I had not got it right. I was sure there was an earlier date. The date of 1936 was the date of the formation of the Birmingham Town & District Bank with offices in Colmore Row. So the date 1836 was the date of the formation of the bank not the date of that branch in Broad Street.
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I should have looked at that the British Banking History Society website, after all I am a member.
 
I wonder if the first photo from the builder's journal was what they wanted to build and the second what they actually built.
 
I also wondered that Eric but came to the conclusion that it actually looks like a photo. Could they have actually produced a realistic mock up image like that in 1900 ? I don’t have any write up for this as it was an image for sale on eBay.

Perhaps it was in the journal because the building was remodelled for some reason ? Viv.
 
I have enlarged the picture on screen and I can see shadowy buildings behind which makes me think that the ink from the reverse of the page is showing through. I can't see an architectural magazine publishing mock ups as surely they would be showing the finished work.
 
when a boy, my dad often took me to the "Hall of Memory",, explaining what it was, why it had been built, I found the interior, peaceful., though very dark and cool, its Solemnity has remained with me to this day. We would sometimes sit in the beautiful grounds, and admire the flowers, or imposing white exterior. We also went to the services of the poppy Sunday, and the parades, I thought them marvelous, of course there were many W W 1 veterans still alive then. I enjoyed seeing the photo's, in this thread, brought back many happy memories. Paul
 
A parade of the Girls Training Corps in Broad Street. Is the structure to the right the Peace Garden Colonnade (moved to St Thomas’s Church Bath Row) ? Therefore are the buildings behind the Colonnade those that were demolished to make way for the Convention Centre in the 1980’s ? Viv

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Source: British Newspaper Archive
 
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Yes Paul - the white arched building to the right looks to me like the Colonnade in the Hall of Memory Gardens which was moved to St Thomas’s in Bath Row (Peace Garden). But the buildings behind it must all have been demolished. Viv.
 
Interesting picture. I wasn't aware of such an organisation but after a quick look on google I discovered that it was formed to give young females training in skills they would need if they joined any of the military forces. Presumably the Army, Sea and Air cadet forces were only open to males?
 
I am astonished, Viv, that it was demolished , in the 50's and 60's was a place of calm and serenity in a busy city, went with my dad as child, and saw the memorial to the brave men and women who died for our country, it was always with quite a few old men, sitting quietly on the seats in the sunshine, and the most beautiful gardens, flowers and lawns, so very sad. Paul
 
paul stacey said:
I am astonished, Viv, that it was demolished , in the 50's and 60's was a place of calm and serenity in a busy city, went with my dad as child, and saw the memorial to the brave men and women who died for our country, it was always with quite a few old men, sitting quietly on the seats in the sunshine, and the most beautiful gardens, flowers and lawns, so very sad. Paul
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paul at least the hall of memory is still there but who knows for how long...nothing is safe these days

lyn
 
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