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Then & Now

A Sparks said:
Do you think it was a spot of rain on the lens?!!
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No it is a deliberate blur. Have look along the road with streetview, the side views use different cameras and it is stitched together.
goo.gl

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.
goo.gl goo.gl
Anyone can ask Google to blur the view of their house and if Google agrees they will do it.
 
oldMohawk said:
In 1979 Keith Berry took this photo of the corner of Hampstead Hill and Villa Road. His mother always called it 'Bendall's Corner' but he never really knew why. Alfred Kraznerdobsky owned the electrical shop on the left.
View attachment 147597

Today the building is still there - perhaps it is too nice to alter or demolish. The original owner must have liked 'tudor style'. The old flagpole is still on top.
View attachment 147598
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old
oldMohawk said:
In 1979 Keith Berry took this photo of the corner of Hampstead Hill and Villa Road. His mother always called it 'Bendall's Corner' but he never really knew why. Alfred Kraznerdobsky owned the electrical shop on the left.
View attachment 147597

Today the building is still there - perhaps it is too nice to alter or demolish. The original owner must have liked 'tudor style'. The old flagpole is still on top.
View attachment 147598
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oldMohawk, I lived very close to this corner. Just down Villa Rd on the left was the Polar Bear Sweet Shop that I frequented many times as I waited for the bus. Just across on the right was a Milk Bar where we would hang out before we were old enough to go to pubs. Great times and memories, thank you!
 
oldMohawk said:
I've just looked on old maps and GE and it is Nursery Rd on the right .... :)
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Nursery Road is the next road on the right - before the traffic lights - basically where the photographer must have been standing! Grays Road is the one in the photo, next to The Plough and a bit further along past the The Plough is another little side road: North Road.
 
roxalma said:
Nursery Road is the next road on the right - before the traffic lights - basically where the photographer must have been standing! Grays Road is the one in the photo, next to The Plough and a bit further along past the The Plough is another little side road: North Road.
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Hi roxalma,
My understanding of Bob's question in post#1634 is that he was referring to the road immediately on the right which is Nursery Road as I stated in post#1635. Half of the road name is showing and I can just about read it as 'Nurse ...'. The c1914 map below shows the layout and the blue dot shows where the photographer was standing.
oldmohawk :)
download.jpg
 
Richarddye said:
oldMohawk, do you know where on Grove Lane this is? Just for a point of reference for me.
Thank you!
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Hi Richard,
I had some difficulty with this one. I first thought it was at the junction with Antrobus Rd on the left and Philip Victor Rd on the right but eventually decided that the road on the left was Grove Hill Rd and there was no road on the right.
I looked at the layout and the road bending to the right. In 1914 there were fields on the right.
oldmohawk.
 
oldMohawk said:
Hi Richard,
I had some difficulty with this one. I first thought it was at the junction with Antrobus Rd on the left and Philip Victor Rd on the right but eventually decided that the road on the left was Grove Hill Rd and there was no road on the right.
I looked at the layout and the road bending to the right. In 1914 there were fields on the right.
oldmohawk.
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oldMohawk, thank you..........I need to look at a map to get oriented, this must we up to the opposite end from Soho Rd.
 
oldMohawk said:
A postcard view of St Mary's Parish Church on Hamstead Road Handsworth, taken from Church Hill Road.
View attachment 149248

A similar view today and the church is still there but the tower has lost parts.
View attachment 149249
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OldMohawk, great photos, rode my bike through there many time to spot LMS and belonged to the 120th St Mary’s scout troop!
Thank you for sharing....
 
A 1907 postcard view of Lozells Road with St Paul's Church in the distance, Berners Street on the right and Hartington Road to the left. Long ago on my way home from school I must have looked down at those shops from the top deck of a No 5 tram.
LozellPCBerners.jpg

A similar view today and the church building (grade II listed) and most of the building on the corner of Hartington Road were in the 1907 view.
LozellsNow.jpg
 
oldMohawk said:
A 1907 postcard view of Lozells Road with St Paul's Church in the distance, Berners Street on the right and Hartington Road to the left. Long ago on my way home from school I must have looked down at those shops from the top deck of a No 5 tram.
View attachment 151441

A similar view today and the church building (grade II listed) and most of the building on the corner of Hartington Road were in the 1907 view.
View attachment 151442
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Great photos oldMohawk, I like the older one best by far!
 
mikejee said:
Not if they have a picture of your car outside the house of your "bit on the side" !! Being somewhat cynical I would automatically think that something a bit "iffy" was going on in cases like that
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There's this guy who drives one of those concrete mixer trucks, one of his mates tells him that while he's at work his wife has a regular gentleman caller, he watches and sure enough this guy pops out of the house :mad: he follows the guy and sees on the drive of the house he goes into a fine open top Ferrari , backs the truck up and dumps the whole load into the car.

He waits across the street to get the satisfaction of watching the guy's distress, then the guy comes out hops on a bike and rides away.
 
Richarddye said:
A poem to which we can relate



I remember the corned beef of my Childhood,
And the bread that we cut with a knife,
When the Children helped with the housework,
And the men went to work not the wife.



The cheese never needed a fridge,
And the bread was so crusty and hot,
The Children were seldom unhappy,
And the Wife was content with her lot.



I remember the milk from the bottle,
With the yummy cream on the top,
Our dinner came hot from the oven,
And not from a freezer; or shop.



The kids were a lot more contented,
They didn't need money for kicks,
Just a game with their friends in the road,
And sometimes the Saturday flicks.



I remember the shop on the corner,
Where biscuits for pennies were sold
Do you think I'm a bit too nostalgic?
Or is it....I'm just getting Old?





Bathing was done in a wash tub,
With plenty of rich foamy suds
But the ironing seemed never ending
As Mum pressed everyone's 'duds'.



I remember the slap on my backside,
And the taste of soap if I swore
Anorexia and diets weren't heard of
And we hadn't much choice what we wore.



Do you think that bruised our ego?
Or our initiative was destroyed?
We ate what was put on the table
And I think life was better enjoyed.



Author, Unknown ..



If you can remember those days...
Continue to enjoy your Retirement.
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Thank you for your brilliant poem and of course am enjoying my Retirement - likewise to you?
 
Richarddye said:
I am not sure this is the place to ask this, if there is a better place please let me know.

Since I am now almost retired I am re doubling my effort to better understand the Industrial Revolution. I have (and continue) to study Brunel, Boulton, Murdoch, Watt, Trevethick etc., I constantly watch videos/movies on Amazon and get more enthused each time by how much I do not know. As a model I understand Soho Rd, Boulton Rd, Wattville Rd and how they go there, my question: Is there a history somewhere that shows or tells why Hockley, Aston , Birchfield, Handsworth and the other places we know so well; came to be?

Steelhouse Lane the gun & jewelry quarter most understand that but what came first the chicken or the egg. My goal is to try to understand the history of how and what made each section of Brum to develop!

Thank you in advance for your tolerance and understanding..........
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So interesting Richarddye, I would also love to hear about them all too... especially as my mom used to tell me, back in the fifties, that her family once owned Birmingham. Although after many years of research our family history haven't found any link.
 
Pat Sattar-Jennings said:
So interesting Richarddye, I would also love to hear about them all too... especially as my mom used to tell me, back in the fifties, that her family once owned Birmingham. Although after many years of research our family history haven't found any link.
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Pat, there si such a vast amount of history in this area! The more I read & learn the more I need to know. The history, I believe the basis for Mapuche of what we have in 5he modern world. The forum has been a great place to discover much of the history. I just wish my interest was as keen when I lived there! I am sure you will feel the same.....
 
Morturn said:
Well that is an interesting little project you have chosen to undertake. It should keep you busy for the next hundred years or so. A couple of things you may wish to think about are:


Birmingham developed a canal network for ease of materials in and goods out.

The combination of a local source of Limestone, iron ore and coal

Birmingham lifted the restrictions that were imposed by trade guilds


Do bear in mind that when researching history there is no subjective or definitive answer, which to me makes it so much more interesting.
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Mort, just reread this, damn it you are soo right, but thank you :)
 
Pat Sattar-Jennings said:
Thank you for your brilliant poem and of course am enjoying my Retirement - likewise to you?
Click to expand...
Thank you for sharing this brilliant poem. This is exactly how I remember growing up in Aston. What a pity we could not have those days right now. Life was so simple, but enjoyable. Us kids never needed much to keep us happy. Give us a ball, a few bits of string or rope, & we was happy, unlike the kiddies of today. Even with the most expensive phones, computers ect, they are never happy. We were the lucky children in those days. Rarely were we unhappy at what we got. I think this is why, we appreciate life & possessions a lot more than the present generation.
 
In October 1987 a long queue stood by the Inner Ring Road near Moor Street Station. People had been offered the chance to walk though the reopened tunnel between Moor Street and Snow Hill stations and hundreds turned up.
Moor_St1987.jpg

An aerial view of the Inner Ring Road and Masshouse Circus. The head of the queue would be opposite the bus travelling outbound.
Inner Ring.jpg

A similar view today and the Inner Ring is altered and renamed Moor Street Queensway. The Masshouse Circus Island is gone with buildings now there.
Screenshot (229).jpg

The nearest Streetview could get to the location of the queue. The building marked is in the original photo looking newly built in 1987. It has recently been demolished.
MstCP.jpg
 
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