• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team
  • HI folks the server that hosts the site completely died including the Hdd's and backups.
    Luckily i create an offsite backup once a week! this has now been restored so we have lost a few days posts.
    im still fixing things at the moment so bear with me and im still working on all images 90% are fine the others im working on now
    we are now using a backup solution

Westhill College Selly Oak

I lived next door to the college on Weoley Park Road until 1973. Do not recognize the building in the photo, which may be the side facing away from the road. I believe the college closed in 2001 and subsequently the college buildings were demolished and houses built on the area.
 
Bob Hughes said:
I lived next door to the college on Weoley Park Road until 1973. Do not recognize the building in the photo, which may be the side facing away from the road. I believe the college closed in 2001 and subsequently the college buildings were demolished and houses built on the area.
Click to expand...
I moved in 1976 to Weoley Park Road and yes its certainly different now - we backed onto playing fields then.
 
carolina said:
I moved in 1976 to Weoley Park Road and yes its certainly different now - we backed onto playing fields then.
Click to expand...
What number did you live in?? My parents were still living in number 45 in 1976. I watched the playing fields being done with heavy equipment.
 
There were several Westhill Colleges around the area, if you Google it it shows at least 4 different old buildings. The one I remember was on the Bristol Road by the Yatching pool, us kids used to sneak into the grounds at night
 
This has appeared on a Facebook page devoted to unknown buildings, and identified as Archibald house, Westhill Training college. I have lightened it

Archibald House . Westhill Training College, Selly OakA.jpg
 
mikejee said:
This has appeared on a Facebook page devoted to unknown buildings, and identified as Archibald house, Westhill Training college. I have lightened it
Click to expand...

Compared to the photo further up it gives the impression that this one is much earlier as the other is covered in Ivy ? which has only just started to grow in several places
 
Came across this photo showing the front of the college facing Weoley Park Road as I remember it in the 1960's and early 1970's. The tall tree visible above the roof of the college was the tree in my parents' back garden at 45 Weoley Park Road.
 

Attachments

  • Westhill College.jpg
    Westhill College.jpg
    590.7 KB · Views: 19
Bob Hughes said:
Came across this photo showing the front of the college facing Weoley Park Road as I remember it in the 1960's and early 1970's. The tall tree visible above the roof of the college was the tree in my parents' back garden at 45 Weoley Park Road. They were lovely long gardens backing onto playing fields
Click to expand...
 
Bob Hughes said:
Came across this photo showing the front of the college facing Weoley Park Road as I remember it in the 1960's and early 1970's. The tall tree visible above the roof of the college was the tree in my parents' back garden at 45 Weoley Park Road.
Click to expand...
Far be it from me to disagree with you ...............but this photo is of Middlemore Homes child emigration centre. I delivered newspapers all along Weoley Park road during the late 50's early 60's and am fairly sure of this. The inscription confirming this on the portico was ground off much later to hide the history of the building. At the rear of the main building a home for single mothers was constructed and much later used by the Probation Service. Couldn't tell you if I put pants on this morning but I have clear memories of the 1950's.
 
Selly Oak boy. said:
Far be it from me to disagree with you ...............but this photo is of Middlemore Homes child emigration centre. I delivered newspapers all along Weoley Park road during the late 50's early 60's and am fairly sure of this. The inscription confirming this on the portico was ground off much later to hide the history of the building. At the rear of the main building a home for single mothers was constructed and much later used by the Probation Service. Couldn't tell you if I put pants on this morning but I have clear memories of the 1950's.
Click to expand...
I would agree, I can remember sorting out a lot of my clothes when moving house, some bags to go to the home and others which I wanted to keep, unfortunately, my ex took them all upto the home. They must have been chuffed when they opened the black bags
 
Hi Selly Oak Boy. I lived on Weoley Park Road between 1952 and 1973, next door on the west side of the college. To the best of my recollection the photo is correct for the Westhill College that was on Weoley Park Road. Used to walk past the college every morning going to school between 1958 and 1970. I remember the grassy expanse between the college building and the road as there was no service road in front of the college. The attached URL for an article on the Middlemore Emigration Home says that it became the college after 1955 until the building was demolished in 2004. http://www.formerchildrenshomes.org.uk/middlemore_emigration_homes.html
 
Bob Hughes said:
Hi Selly Oak Boy. I lived on Weoley Park Road between 1952 and 1973, next door on the west side of the college. To the best of my recollection the photo is correct for the Westhill College that was on Weoley Park Road. Used to walk past the college every morning going to school between 1958 and 1970. I remember the grassy expanse between the college building and the road as there was no service road in front of the college. The attached URL for an article on the Middlemore Emigration Home says that it became the college after 1955 until the building was demolished in 2004. http://www.formerchildrenshomes.org.uk/middlemore_emigration_homes.html
Click to expand...
Thanks for the link. We are both mostly correct then. I know that Westhill College was situated on several sites around that vicinity including down College Walk on the other side of Bristol Road. Slight digression, do you recall the two large detached houses on Weoley Park Road at its junction with Bristol Road that were used to house delinquent lads, a sort of pre-borstal institution , mid 50's ish ?
 
I do recall the two large detached houses and was somewhat friendly with the son of the owners of one of the houses. This was probably back in the early 1960's, 60 years ago. I believe the boys name was Seth Martin. Have been living in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia in Canada since 1973. Last time I visited Weoley Park Road to look at number 45 where I lived until 1973, was probably in the mid-1980's. You said you delivered papers on Weoley Park Road. Do not know if you delivered to number 45. If you did, do you remember the small cannon in the front yard??
 
I studied at Westhill College of Education in the early 1970s. The building pictured housed our library, lecture rooms, art studios and gym. It was also the only building on the campus where a uni bar was permitted; all the other college buildings were on Quaker land.
 
Smiffy83 said:
I studied at Westhill College of Education in the early 1970s. The building pictured housed our library, lecture rooms, art studios and gym. It was also the only building on the campus where a uni bar was permitted; all the other college buildings were on Quaker land.
Click to expand...
Did you know a Brian Adams when you were at the college???
 
Selly Oak boy. said:
Far be it from me to disagree with you ...............but this photo is of Middlemore Homes child emigration centre. I delivered newspapers all along Weoley Park road during the late 50's early 60's and am fairly sure of this. The inscription confirming this on the portico was ground off much later to hide the history of the building. At the rear of the main building a home for single mothers was constructed and much later used by the Probation Service. Couldn't tell you if I put pants on this morning but I have clear memories of the 1950's.
Click to expand...
The home for single mothers has been a Womens probation hostel called Crowley House. I worked there in the early 1990’s. Westhill teacher training block was at the start of the drive on Weoley Park Park Rd, since demolished and replaced with swish detached houses and St Marys Church was located at the rear of Crowley House.
 
I have just realised that the photo opening this thread is not Middlemore House, it is Archibald House (I plead old age for my mistake). The photo that Bob Hughes posted is Middlemore House, formerly on Weoley Park Road.

Archibald House is at the far end of the campus to Weoley Park Road. It was used for student accommodation in the 1970s. It is now part of the University of Birmingham and I believe is used for teaching drama and has been used to film 'Doctors'.
 
Last edited:
Was this Westhill College run by a religious sect. I only ask as I worked onsite on more than one occasion as a BT engineer.
I found it a bit of a strange place to work.
 
Terence David Lines said:
Was this Westhill College run by a religious sect. I only ask as I worked onsite on more than one occasion as a BT engineer.
I found it a bit of a strange place to work.
Click to expand...
Westhill was founded by Quakers and the campus is or was on Cadbury land, and retained an ecumenical Christian ethos.


There are several lovely art and craft cottages on the campus, and I understand that Birmingham University is allowing them to become derelict. What a shame.
 

Attachments

  • the-close-at-westhill-college-1.jpg
    the-close-at-westhill-college-1.jpg
    70.2 KB · Views: 7
July 1923, Birmingham Gazette, part of an article concerning Sunday Schools. The college may have been started around 1915 ?

99782F17-F096-4B47-977F-771BC2D9E6C9.jpeg
 
According to Michael Harrison's book "Bournville", Westhill was founded in 1907 by George Hamilton Archiobald
 
Smiffy83 said:
Westhill was founded by Quakers and the campus is or was on Cadbury land, and retained an ecumenical Christian ethos.


There are several lovely art and craft cottages on the campus, and I understand that Birmingham University is allowing them to become derelict. What a shame.
Click to expand...
This should make you smile. A cable had gone faulty under one of the buildings. We could not get rods through to pull a new cable in at the time, so we used an interruption cable. This we planned to cut into the good cable on one side of the building run it up the wall across the roof down the other wall and cut into the good cable and bypass the fault. This we started to execute. We got the cable onto the roof. The other engineer who shall remain nameless took it across the roof. I took the ladder round to the other side of the building and was supposed to set the ladder up and bring the cable down. When I got to the other side of the building, Chris that’s what we will call him was stuck head first in Rhododendrons bush. He was unhurt. Two feet to the right and he would have landed on a slab pavement.
 
George Hamilton Archibald was a Canadian who came to England in 1902 and lectured upon the need for teachers of religion to be at least as well-trained as teachers of secular subjects. George Cadbury invited him to take charge of the newly-formed Bournville Sunday School.

In 1907 West Hill Training College was established at West Hill House with the financial backing of the Cadbury family, George being founder and first principle.
 
Pedrocut said:
George Hamilton Archibald was a Canadian who came to England in 1902 and lectured upon the need for teachers of religion to be at least as well-trained as teachers of secular subjects. George Cadbury invited him to take charge of the newly-formed Bournville Sunday School.

In 1907 West Hill Training College was established at West Hill House with the financial backing of the Cadbury family, George being founder and first principle.
Click to expand...
Not good for an atheist like me, perhaps that is why I always thought there was something strange about the place
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top