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Aston Pictures

Hi Dave, Ring-a-ding-ding.... theres the 'Gents' in all it's glory, I wonder if it's still standing, just after the war, when the Villa were at home people were walking 5-6 abreast 'cause there wasn't enough 3X's to take them back into town, and it was quite common to see a queue of men waiting to make use of it's facilities. Don Clive
 
Hello Dave
can you repost the photo of Aston Brook on #331 as I cant open it.
Don Dad would love to chat to you, his email address I will send you, if I can find out how to do it. I love this site!!!!!
regards
Amanda
 
Hi my family originate from Bilston,aston,ettingshall,erdington

i have st johns villa,wylde green and aston manor as a few names of places they lived i was wondering if you had pictures of these areas or any other areas the wood-woolley family lived also known as woolley would be much appreciated.....

keep up the good work..x
 
HI All, Does anyone have any info or images of Mrs Kelcher or her daughter Ivy, a Millliner in Lozelles or Wheeler St? My Great Aunt Winifred Simkiss used to work for her in the shop in the 1940's for years and years but we don't know what the Shop was called so struggling to find any info about it. Ivy inherited the shop and later moved premises to Bolmere nr Sutton Coldfield . Many Thanks.
 
Would this be the shop (s)?

1940-44 Kelcher Albt. W. who. milliner, 290 & 292 Wheeler st
1940-44 Kelcher May (Mrs.), milliner, 290 & 292 Wheeler st 19
1949-50 Kelcher Albt. W.; wholesale milliner, 292 Wheeler st .19.
1955-62 Kelcher May (Mrs.), milliner, 1 Chain walk 19.
1963-67 Kelcher M. (Mrs.), milliner, 43A, Lozells rd 19
She has gone by 1969 . Sutton addresses would not be in the Birmingham directory then.
before this period they were also at Gravelly hill, but seemed to alternate between the shops.
Mike
 
mikejee said:
Would this be the shop (s)?

1940-44 Kelcher Albt. W. who. milliner, 290 & 292 Wheeler st
1940-44 Kelcher May (Mrs.), milliner, 290 & 292 Wheeler st 19
1949-50 Kelcher Albt. W.; wholesale milliner, 292 Wheeler st .19.
1955-62 Kelcher May (Mrs.), milliner, 1 Chain walk 19.
1963-67 Kelcher M. (Mrs.), milliner, 43A, Lozells rd 19
She has gone by 1969 . Sutton addresses would not be in the Birmingham directory then.
before this period they were also at Gravelly hill, but seemed to alternate between the shops.
Mike
Click to expand...


Thanks so much Mike this info is Great - I didn't know about the Gravelly Hill Shop.
 
I understood you were interested in th eLozells shop only if you want further earlier details, then let me know
Mike
 
Re #256, 2 is Porchester st, 4 is looking at Wheeler st Gerard st junction from rear of demolished site of Cadwalladers shopfitters,look at the sign above shop, top right,sure this is what was Crabtrees.Check against pic on #287.
 
Hi John
I was wondering what program you used on the photo of the lady in the street with the broom. i have a program to increase the pixels and i use paint shop pro. But i was impressed in the quality of the
photo and wonderd which one you used. I am doing my fam tree and have some old photos to work on.

thanks Eric
 
stars said:
Hi John
I was wondering what program you used on the photo of the lady in the street with the broom. i have a program to increase the pixels and i use paint shop pro. But i was impressed in the quality of the
photo and wonderd which one you used. I am doing my fam tree and have some old photos to work on.

thanks Eric
Click to expand...

Hi Eric, I used Adobe Photoshop on that pic. As I remember, I changed it to black and white and then re-coloured it by hand with curves adjustment layers.
 
Hi John
Thanks for your quick reply. I use adobe paint shop pro 9, but still learning how to use all its features. I will have to have a play with the curves ect. I like to get old photos and try to inprove them.
Many thanks again john
Eric
 
Hello and thank-you for photos which do bring back some memories of my teenage years :)

The second photo with the taller old buildings in the background reminds of Pickford Street in Digbeth, i worked ( albiet very briefly) for SGB Scaffolding, i began work in 1979, The streets were still cobbled then, i dont know if thats still the case now.
 
hi guys
many thanks ray and eric and stars for all your inputs on the aston pics and of course
good old aston x my play ground of wonder full childhood memories
and of my family memories the one with the golden x where dad run for the dodds for near forty years died in 1958 and the hoarding on the other side was my grand fathers shop for decades wich was owned by the jelfs for about the same time and the old bank which in yester years was a birmingham
municipal bank where i deposit my very six penny peice given to me by my aunti maud smart whom died a couple of years ago now from white house street and she worked the box office at the astoria picture
house which you can see was before the B RMB studios and of cours the ATV Sstudios
and across the rd was the old wrenson shop where a mrs cowdrill was the manager
and the Ansells new office front i remember the old shops they demolished before they built there front
and the shops that was there before they built there entrances for the horse and cart entrances
such memories thanks astonion
 
Hi Maurice,

My mum lived in No. 10 Stretton Road which is the picture above, her name was Ann Birbeck. I think people get mixed up with it being a Street or a road, but the ine in Aston is Road. What are you attachments to this road out of curiosity.

Thanks
Sarah
 
My first job was opposite Stretton Road,on Chester Street,making and repairing scrap bins,it was on the premise,s that were the old meb,and had a stairway that led to the main building on Rocky Lane,that was then a steel stockholders,European Steels.
 
Sarah. Ive just noticed you say your Mom lived at No.10 Stretton Road. We share a connection there, in that my Grand-parents also lived there for many, many years at No.22. They where the Morleys. Amazing what you find on this site isn't it ?
 
Thanks Ray, my father used to go up Holborn Hill with his horse and coal cart to serve his customers there and in Long Acre. Later, when he bought a lorry, I used to go with him to drag the bags of coal to the side of the tray to make it easy for him and saved him from having to keep climbing up. All coalman's sons started like that. Regards, David.
 
Hi Sarah and BazzM,

I lived at 3, Stretton Road from my mariage in March 1950 to November 1954. We lived with my wifes' grandmother Mary Giddings.
I cannot remember many of the folk who lived there.

Old Boy
 
Another old resident of Stretton Road. At this rate we will soon have everyone that lived there on here. Welcome Old Boy.
 
Anyone remember standing outside the pictures in Victoria Road asking someone to take you in when it was an 'A' picture? When I was a kid, and couldn't get in, I used to pick a young a fellow with a girl and look at her very sadly when asking and invairably out to impress his love the fellow would take my money and walk me in. Once inside I went my own way. Sometimes I'd get taken in for nothing and spent the money with the ice cream girl, the one with the torch. Regards, David.
 
I use to do that David at villa cross with the James Bonds films...... they were always an A film
never failed . ragga ...........
 
hi ray
have you got one of thompsons and astons the cake shop next door on the lichfield rd and may be a clipped cromwell terace before it was demolished
ray on the subject of cromwelll terrace does any body rememer roughlly when that section of the terrace was demolished i would dearly loved to know
our house was a one up and down eight kids mother and father living next to the brants and the marshalls and the girl fried facing was jenny gough and her cousin was carol gammage
we are all old timers now but i would loe to hear from any one of them and meet up with them oh one other person i must mention is my best old mate colin gaskin at no I
the thing we got up to evenchased down the entry by denises grand father if he was siting out side by the mangle wich was always out side is house windows
all the year around it was the big bertha one my mates parents was sammy and irene gaskin does any body remember them
he had a couple of sistrs one i always is sandra we both joined the army he followed in his dds foot steps and went into the tank reg i went intothe 1st battlion of waricks
we both met up eventualy traing in the wittington barrcks lichfield beforewe got posted it would be grea to meet up again after all these donkeys years
i beleive sam and the mother and the girls movd to tower rd aston and hey all worked at the good old H P sauce factory at the cross
i would like to gt som fed back on this one if its possible best wishes Astonian
 
anyone got got a photograph of the large policeman wall mural on the wall of a shoe and boot repair shop, that used to be on park lane aston, i remember this as a child in the sixties, and do we know when this was demolished.
 
HI MANSFEILDER
YES IT WOULD BE GREAT IF SOME ONE COUYLD A PIC OF THAT HUGE BOARD WITH HIS BIG FOOTED BOOT
THAT WAS THERE IN THE LATE FORTIES AS I RECALL IT TO MY INFORMATION THEY STARTED TO KNOCK DOWN PARK LANE AROUND SEVENTY ONE UPWARDS
AND IT WAS OUT SIDE THE COBBLERS AND IN FROMT OF SOME YARD TERRACES THAT HAD HOUSE UP THERE A FAMILY OF Mc CRAYS LIVED CLOSE TO BY
AND GEORGIE WOODS FAMILY AS I RECALL THEM FROM MY EARLY LATE FORTIES AND THE NO 8 BUS GOING TO THE CROSS WOULD STOP THERE JUST SHORT OF THE BLACK HORSE PUB BEFORE STOPPING OUT SIDE THE SNOOKER HALL AT ASTON CROSS I CAN RECALL THEY BUILT SAPHIRE TOWER WHICH WAS THE FIRST COMPLEX TO BE BUILT IN PARK LANE BEFORE THE OTHER HOUSES THAT WAS BUILY A LITTLE FURTHER UP JUST PASSING THERE MORE OR LESS OPPERSITE POTTERS HILL
THEN THEY BUILT THE REST OF THEM GOING BACKWARDS TO SAPHIRE TOWER SO IT WAS AFTER I THINK THE BOARDING WENT SO I THINK IT MUST HAVE BEEN LATE SIXTY TO EARLY SEVENTIES BE FORE THE HOARDING WENT DOWN THEY STARTED DEMOING ASTON CROSS AROUND SEVENTY ONE ACORDING TO MY INFOE ANS THE PICTURE IOF ASTON CROSS WHERE THEY STARTED TO KNOCK DOWN WHICH INCIDENTLY THE FORUM DOEA HAVE PICTURES OF THE ASTON CROSS DEMO
THE VERY FIRST BUILDING THAT WENT WAS MY FAMILYS HISTORY BUILDING THE TEA ROOMS WHICH WAS THERE IN THE THIRTYS GEORGE JELF MY GRAND FATHERS CORNER TEA ROOMS WHICH WAS PASSED TO ONE MEMBER OF THE JELFS BROTHERS ONE AFTER EACH OTHER THEN ON THE DA
Y OF THE START OF THE DEMO AND IT WAS PREVIOSLY BEFORE THE DEMO WAS SOLD TO THE LATHAM PAINT AND DECO MERCHANTS WHOM WAS THE LAST OWNERS BEFORE LANE

THE DEMO STARTED AT ASTON CROSS HENCE ACROSS THE RD FACING THE PARK LANE WAS THE CHEMIST ON THE CORNER OF PARK ;
 
anyone got a photograph of the newsagents shop which stood on six ways aston, not too far from the Barton Arms, as a child in the sixties i would buy all my comics from there, usually american comics marvel and dc, it had a very large supply of american comics, and what was the name of this newsagents, and when was this demolished.
 
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