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    Steam Locos

    As an occasional spotter at Snow Hill, I got fed up with seeing Little Linford Hall everytime I went there. Same with 2-6-2 tank 4111 (IIRC) also a Tyseley loco. If only one could see them there now!
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    Steam Locos

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    Colmore Depot Birmingham

    There were many interesting dealerships in Birmingham. My own first car, a blue Morris Mini, came from Colmore Depot when new. reg. no. 147 BOA and I acquired it in 1965 when i lived in Kidderminster. As a Brummie born & bred, I was very happy when I started working in Birmingham the following...
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    Lewis's Department Store

    Yes, Vivienne, he looks like a slightly unsavoury amalgam of W C Fields and Oliver Hardy. Quoting WC Fields, "I love children, but I couldn't eat a whole one!" Nuff sed!
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    Snow Hill Station

    I notice that the earlier photo showed that the Taylor & Challen name was lower down while the Derwent Foundry name was up top. In the 1961 photo these names appear to have been switched round, with a freshly painted Taylor & Challen up top. As far as your query about trains going to Blackpool...
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    Lewis's Department Store

    The van is actually a Ford Thames ET7, going through the memorable site of the Minories, but I surely do remember seeing smaller local delivery vans (where I lived in Yardley Wood) and I'm prettyy sure they were small Commer vans. Happy days!
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    Snow Hill Station

    A classical example of a Staffordshire knot, no doubt from a time when Darlaston was in Staffordshire!
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    Cadbury's Bournville Factory

    Great to see this thread on Cadburys. My grandfather Percy Davis had a job as an electrician in the factory, and was also a trade union official (ETU). After he was widowed in 1935, he became engaged to a colleague Rosa Davies, but he himself died in 1939 before they could marry. His daughters...
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    MEM Tyseley

    I visited the offices of MEM from time to time as part of the audit team from Peat Marwick. About 1968-70. It's a way of life that's long gone now; very deferential and paternalistic. That's not a criticism, just an observation.
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    Steam Locos

    Very atmospheric and a happy reminder of spotting at New Street in the 1950s. This is the "Midland side" and was always quieter than the "North Western" side, which always seemed to have something happening. Walking into old New Street from Stephenson Place past the "Moss Gears" display and...
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    Steam Locos

    We are very fortunate that there are 3 preserved members of the King class surviving, 6000, 6023 & 6024 out of the original class of 30. I remember seeing them at Snow Hill before they were summarily withdrawn in 1962. They were certainly the largest 4-6-0 locomotives in this country (at 89...
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    Lewis's Department Store

    I was horrified when as a youngster in the 1950s I saw the vandalism of great old buildings taking place. I had hoped that wiser counsels would prevail these days, but it would seem the same process is happening even now!
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    Snow Hill Station

    Well said! It's very sad to see the way a priceless national asset was squandered in the name of progress. If only the same wise voices which saved St. Pancras from the same fate had been able to save Snow Hill, then we would all have been better off, if only because there would have been no...
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    Royal Orthopaedic Hospital (cripples Hospital)...the Woodlands, Northfield

    Thanks Pedrocut for your quick reply, Your first comment comes as no surprise, because I know she loved playing golf. Your second comment, however, makes me think WHAT!! So far as we in her family were aware, she remained a spinster all her life, so news of her marriage (in her 40s) comes as...
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    Royal Orthopaedic Hospital (cripples Hospital)...the Woodlands, Northfield

    Hi Pedrocut Can you shed some light on how you know she was a golfer? Is there a NWGC thread somewhere?
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    Kynoch's I M I 1950s Onwards

    Thanks for that. Just not quite sure how to respond. It seems like a couple of my interests (railways & IMI) have come together.
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    Steam Locos

    Could it possibly be that the "custodians" of our rail network have slimmed down the network to such an extent that there is no slack (spare capacity/sidings/loops) anywhere to permit dealing with problems. The train in front has broken down and we can't get past! Durrh! I rest my case, because...
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    Steam Locos

    No, I think we have to be realistic about the preservation movement and we should be grateful that there are so many people in the movement who are prepared to put in the time and effort to ensure that locos and stock are as well maintained as they are. I suspect the standards of safety applied...
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    Steam Locos

    It is good that City of Birmingham has been preserved as part of the National Collection, but I have to ask whether it's current guardians are serving it well. It is still in the paint job that it got when it was sent for its final "resting place" at the then Science Museum in Newhall Street. I...
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    Steam Locos

    That advertising slogan takes us back a while!
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