• 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

Ghost signs of Birmingham

The ghost sign on Carrs Lane is still there, it just mostly covered by the Travelodge hotel building that's there now! No problem Viv.
 
As kid going home to Sparkbook on the bus I used to think it was The Union Gold Storage in Digbeth. Thought it was a bit open to robbery as there were no armed guards or the like. Only in later life did I realize that the only gold was the color that the signage was painted.
Cheers Tim ( the gullible member, still travelling!)
 
Before the Travelodge and Tesco Express were built on Carrs Lane I saw this back in 2010 Horsencart.

J C & J Pool. The building was William Powell & Sons.



J C & J Pool may something to do with Grocery.

As seen in the thumbnail Pte. Harry Phelps, one of their employees lost his life around July 1917.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2089.jpg
    IMG_2089.jpg
    108 KB · Views: 14
DSCN3070 (Small).JPG

I thought that this was a ghost sign which I saw in West Smethwick, near what I call the Spon Croft junction although the Spon Croft pub is long gone. The Kwiksave supermarket chain is long gone having been taken over by Sommerfield which in turn was taken over by the Co-Op although individual stores have probably been sold on to other owners. Then I read Est 2010 and thought, no way, somebody is using the Kwiksave name. As I had dealings with Kwiksave back in the 1970s I started to think that this was not their style. Then I read 7-11 and thought wait a minute, 7-Eleven is an American chain of convenience stores.

The supermarket underneath this sign now has a different name and its opening hours are no longer from 7 till 11 so it is a ghost sign after all.
 

Attachments

  • DSCN3070.JPG
    DSCN3070.JPG
    2.7 MB · Views: 6
Would you consider this to be a ghost sign, Birmingham Corporation Tramway & Ominbus Dept - now the Birmingham Central Bus Garage of National Express West Midlands on Adderley Street in Digbeth.





 
Yes Ell. I think it is. Hard to date that one on the basis of the building. Looks more modern, but the fact that it says 'omnibus' must make it 1910/20?s Viv.
 
The Marlborough pub at the junction of Montgomery Street and Anderton Road. No longer a pub, looks like it's flats, but several signs of its former life. The pub name, M&B and Tetley Bitter signs still visible. And a lovely multi- faced clock on top. Viv

image.jpeg
 
Mayfair Place, echoes the long gone Mayfair Cinema on College Road, Perry Common. Viv.

image.jpeg
 
Not sure whether this has been shown before ( maybe I have?) The old Burton shop in Erdington high street
 

Attachments

  • burton2.PNG
    burton2.PNG
    337.1 KB · Views: 14
  • burton.PNG
    burton.PNG
    346.6 KB · Views: 14
This one is on Washwood Heath Road. Was a sign for a builders merchants. The premises are still those of a builders merchant. Viv.

image.jpeg
 
I pass this sign many times and obviously do not follow the advice I give when leading guided walks to look up above the shop fronts because I have no recollection of this sign. It was only looking at an estate agent's property particular that I saw it. The advert for Dormie Dress Hire. I had forgotten that this used to be a gentlemen's outfitters shop from where I used to hire a dinner jacket.
Bearwood Road.jpg
Acknowledgements to Allsops, Estate Agents.
 
Tenpin Bowling ghost sign on the now being demolished for a Lidl supermarket former bowling alley in Stirchley, near the Pershore Road.

 
Good find Ell before it totally disappears. How this building changed in use over time ...... Presume the (demolished) sign is part of that in the second image below. Viv.

image.jpeg
 
I saw it from the 45 heading to town, but was on the wrong side of the bus, I later got another 45 back to Stirchley to take my photos of it. It might date to the 1950s or '60s.
 
I can remember going with my mother to the shop to have them recharged. Actually i think they exchanged them for a charged one, rather than charged the one that was taken.
 
Thought I'd found a good book on ebay - "Fading ads of Birmingham", but after looking at details realised it was Birmingham US, not Birmingham UK
 
Former Co-op building at the junction of Aldridge Road and Old Oscott Lane. Note 'BCS' stone on the parapet. Viv.image.jpeg
 
Thought I'd found a good book on ebay - "Fading ads of Birmingham", but after looking at details realised it was Birmingham US, not Birmingham UK

not to worrry mike...a fews years back i was given a book on birmingham...great i thought until i realised it was the usa birmingham:D
 
Two spotted along Stratford Road (via Google Streetview). These are both almost opposite Inglewood Road. Viv.

image.jpeg

image.jpeg
 
Back
Top