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Balsall Heath.

Phil
You dont hapen to know when the pub in studley street was built do you? its now called the Gate inn but what it was originaly called I do not know, unless its one of those rare things called a miracle and its always been known as the Gate inn.
 
John

I think 14 Studley St has always been known as The Gate Inn. I can trace it back to 1903 when it was just listed as a beer retailer's. Someone else might be able to take you back further.

Phil
 
Hi Phil

You never cease to amaze me mate, was told a good story yesterday by my dads cousin who lived in the street before the war.
My grandad and his brother went to the Gate inn on a sunday morning, but he was late getting home to his dinner,when he entered the house my nan chased him back out with a leg of lamb in her hand and threw it at him,hitting him on the head !, the kids retrieved it from the garden,dusted it down and put it back in the oven.
My grandad went to his moms just across he road
This was of course pre 1936 as he died in that year.
I googled it today and went on the street view,I am a little confused at it appears to be a resturant but has the gate inn sign stillon the side?

Has it changed that much?
 
John

The short answer is yes, most of the old pubs in the area are now restaurant's or fast food outlets. The area is now known locally, nationally and internationally as The Balti Triangle. People come from all over the country to eat there.

Phil
 
thats great phil, i meant to say a year like the 60s, of BELGRAVE RD, IF YOU FIND ANYMORE, please post them on, 2,prints, of gooch st either end. take care,..christy..
 
John
In the 1900 directory and before, it is just listed as a beer retailer. This doesn't mean it wasn't known as The Gate, but is not confirmationMike
 
Thanks Phil and Mike.

From what I can gather it was where everybody used to get thier jugs of ale from, before the days of Davenports of course.
 
Sorry John, i didn't make myself clear. Beer retailer just meant it was licensed premises, and it could be either an off-license or a pub. If it was a pub it would only have had a beer license, but there seem to have been a lot of those then. For some reason in many cases Kellys didn't make a distinction between off licences and beerhouses. Often these beerhouses were known by a name, but this was only included in Kellys in later years, sometimes never.
Mike
 
Thanks Mike,
Asked my dads cousin earlier on and he remembers fetching his dads beer in a jug from the Gates Inn, and as far as he knows it was always called the Gates Inn.
 
Phil

Have been trying to contact you through the instant messaging,me thinks its not working or I am doing it wrong as per usual lol.
Regards

John
 
John

Got your IM and answered it, I just haven't been on site for a couple of days.

Phil
 
bloody lovlley reading the stories of balsall heath my mom would take me in the pushchair shopping on balsall heath road, and half way up there was a school which had a nursery I went to. many years later I got a job at a garage in aside street off b/h road on the left half way up from pershore road it was about 1962, the houses at the back had all been pulled down and was like a bomb site. being the boy I also went to a cafe near by for sandwiches at lunch time any one remember the name.
 
Paul

If you can tell us roughly the location and maybe the street name I might be able to help you. Even other businesses in the road would help. When you say garage do you mean petrol sales or car repairs?

It might have been Mary St School or Sherbourne Rd School and if it was a little later it could have been Mount Pleasant.

Phil
 
hi phil
cannot remember the name, but would have been about two or three side roads up from pershore road, couple of old guys owned and ran it brothers I think it was a petrol (old fashioned hand pump with tall glass tower) and repair shop,had been there since the 20's I think a long dark interior full of oily floors.
regards paul
 
Paul

The three roads crossing Balsall Heath Rd from Pershore Rd up were Varna Rd, Princess Rd, and Alexandra Roads. They were residential roads and I can think of only one business that was carried out up those Roads.

Could it have been Longmore St which was just past the Luxor cinema and which continued on to Gooch St?

Phil
 
Hi,

My first memories are of Balsall Heath in the fifties. We lived in Arley Cottages, Clevedon Road. Our garden backed on to the River Rea. reading this thread has bought back so many memories. I'd completely for gotten The Wallace Pub. Though I remember the outdoor in Cleavden Road. I also remember Farmers the Newsagents and recall going down to the shop to get Cigarette for my Father.

I also remember the Bomb sites. I thought is most strange that where my cousins lived and our new home didn't have a bombsite near by as all the roads around Balshall Heath seemed to have a Bomb Site.

I went ot Mary St. School but only for a couple of years. We left Balsall Heath when I was about 6.

tomg
 
the luxor cinema was at the bottom of balsall heath road ..the cinema on the corner of conybere street and gooch street was called the triangle simply because it was shaped like a triangle .we used to call it the flea pit ..it was next to woolworths .
 
i lived in sherbourne road then conybere street most of my life until the houses were demolished and we moved into eyton croft...highgate just over the road..i went to mary street school and later upper highgate school for girls .when we could afford it we went to the triangle (flea pit).and the alhambra cinemas .anyone remember the imperial on the moseley road past swim baths ....our neighbours included the deakins..bowes...ali"s.sharratts ..lowes ...stones ...nightingales...owens..rielleys and harris to name a few ..hensons shop on corner... copesticks off license on other ..corner .flellos newsagent and jarvis fish and chip shop.there used to be a dry cleaners opposite copesticks too.although i now live in devon i visit bham and feel sad at some of the buildings disappearing fast...thankfully the town hall and swim baths are still standing ......proud to be a brummie !!!!!!!!
 
I was born in 1930 in Hick Street Balsall Heath, a two bedroom back toback slum with outside privee, I was child no; six, no TV in those days, however I was lucky enough to escape when we allocated a three bedroom house in Cleeve Road Yardley Wood.I dont feel any more a
Brummie being born in that area, the people may well have been the salt of the earth but the place was a flea bitten slum, and should have been
cleared tyears before it was.People nowadays have no idea just how poor
the working class was in the 1930/40s it was the war really that improved
life for a lot of people, plenty of work making tanks and Spitfires at Castle
B romwich of course.Quote;Tough times dont last Tough people do.GregoryPeck 1916/2003 Bernard67Arnold
 
i was about 7yrs old when we moved into conybere st..there was a cafe on the corner of hick st.which later became billy newbolds betting shop. was mrs timms shop there when you lived in hick st or mrs owens shop further down .the wellington pub on the corner by st patricks school.and hope chapel on the corner of belgrave road and hick street.we used to go to hope chapel for tea and biscuits ..yes a lot of the houses were slums but i remember many happy years there even though we were very poor ..everyone helped each other in those days ...
 
sandracoley said:
..everyone helped each other in those days ...
Click to expand...

Yes helped themselves to our gas and electric meters and helped themselves to all my cycles and equipment that I had paid for with my last penny, not to mention my record player that they helped me miss.
icon9.gif
 
Your both right here, many people did help each other, A cup of sugar here and a couple of spoons of tea there... but there were also those who took what they could get away with too... my one and only doll was taken from our doorstep in Dymoke St and it was only there for a minute or two, because we'd just come home from school and were locked out. We three kids had gone to fetch Mom who was helping a neighbour who was in labour, we had left all our school stuff on the step, but only the doll was taken. Mom said we were lucky our coats, hats and wellies were still there and in her eyes the doll just didn't rank...
Although a little later she and dad entered the Christmas raffle at Lenard's shop in Dymoke St and won first prize A Doll...

Chris/Pom :angel:
 
.where was lenards shop dont remember that one was it on the corner ..anyone remember the grocery shop opposite the alms houses in conybere street balsall heath..it was run by polish people called latochek ..they had a daughter called krisia ...i worked in their shop at weekends ...when i was 14 yrs old .i loved weighing the fruit and veg on the big old fashioned scales and i got to take home all the bruised fruit ...
 
I am fascinated to find this site after so long away from Birmingham and Balsall Heath. I lived at 2/70 Longmore Street and left to join the army in 1960 as a 15 year old. I did 32 years and now live in Cheshire but occasionally visit the Irish Centre in Digbeth.

Dr Deiry was an Egyptian and was my doctor also.

It is good to see the photos of the area on this site although I have none of my own as I think we were too poor to have such luxuries as a camera (I remember one being borrowed for trips to Cannon Hill Park). However, I do have strong memories of the Eagle public house which was located on the corner of Longmore Street and Belgrave Road.

KJH
 
Hi Sandra

I think that was the Electric Tavern. Here it is complete with bus stop.

Phil
 

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  • Balsall Heath Electric Tavern Belgrave Rd.jpg
    Balsall Heath Electric Tavern Belgrave Rd.jpg
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pmc1947 said:
Hi Sandra

I think that was the Electric Tavern. Here it is complete with bus stop.

Phil
Click to expand...
Hi thanx for the pic of the Electric in Belgrave Road my Dad was a barman there in the 50's and early 60's. He also worked at the Brit on the corner of Seymour Street and Sherborne Road. We only lived 2 doors down from the Brit so Dad hadn't far to stagger!!
Pauline nee Arnold
 
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