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birmingham 1969-73

These two photographs are of the side of Ansells brewery looking across Upper Portland St. Because the buildings opposite the side of the brewery had been demolished, a better view is obtained than would previously be possible
Mike

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I seem to remember reading that one of the forum's young ladies started work as an enthusiastic junior in Vyse St. If so, then the next few pages of this thread will probably bring back some memories. It looks from the new Google earth feature that some buildings remain, but I seem to have an effect on this new feature - that every place I really want to look at is in the distance or not included at all.

12. You can see that demolition has started, but 125-6. occupied by Samuel Hope, manufacturing jewellers, is still there, the firm having occupied part of the site since the mid 1870s, moving there from Bradley St West. The Midland Engraving & Key cutting service and C.F. Wrighton, manufacturing jewe;lers, share 127. Wrighton’s, originally Charles Morris Wrighton, have also been there from about the same time, moving from Augusta St.
13. On the other side of the demolished hole is an impressive building (nos 115-118) occupied by Harman bros, manufacturing silversmiths.
14. No 114, a less impressive building also occupied by Harman’s,
15. No 113 which certainly was also once used by Harman’s, but looks empty now.
16. Nos 112 – 114

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17. Nos 110 – 111. here we have a ring of ringmakers, C Lucas at 110 and George Taylor and Wyatt & Green at 111. At least that’s what the signs say. The 1969/70 kellys, the last to list these buildings gives slightly different story – No 110 being The Feature Ring Co, CPS Jewellery, manufacturing jewellers, and H.W.Spencer, clock and watchmaker, while 111 is occupied by W Purslow, shoe repairer.
18. Nos 107-110. 107-8 occupied by Arthur Fenwick, listed on sign as Die-sinkers, medallists, stampers & piercers, but in the directory as diesinkers only.
109 is ESCO products, pressure die castings and also J Simkiss, gem setter.
20. Nos 106-108
21. Nos 104-106. All unoccupied according to the 1969 Kellys, but previously occupied by miscellaneous jewellery workers.
22.Nos 103-104. Obviously the Jewell Café, but also, less obviously, Wood Automatics (amusement machine manufacturers), Leslie Underwood ,diamond setter and E.A Barrowdale, die sinker

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25. and 26 Frank Clissold, stampers & piercers (no. 94 Vyse st) on the corner of Hockley St and Vyse st
31. Similar to no 25, but at different time, looking down Vyse St in colour
34. Opposite corner with Hockley st, showing the far end building of Hockley st (F.Russell,gem setter), and next to it, in Vyse st. no 98 Vyse st (nos 95 to 97 having disappeared) This has painted on the bricks “Lending library” with a handed arrow pointing to the right. There was a subscription library at the end of the 19th century at no 57, but that is on the opposite side of the road in the other direction. Next to this sign ,similarly it says “Beads rethreaded, straps fitted”.
30. Looking down Hockley st from Vyse st, but in colour.


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Carrying on down Vyse st. these places look in much better condition
27. Nos 91 and 92 . W.H.Weston and Dearn & Williams, both wholesale jewellers, and A.Smith,watchmaker. They are all still here in 1973 when Kellys directories stop production.
28. Nos 89-92. B.C.Bacchus, watch importers on the window, but described in Kellys as wholesale jewellers. Rudell Bros,diamond mounters, H.Gilpin.manufacturing jewellers and (sounding like a new intruder) Craft inRings Ltd, gem ring manufacturers.
30. Nos 88-90. 88, when this photo was taken, just had a jewellery designer listed as occupant, but shortly after contained Gallery Jewellers, jewellery repairers , and Clare manufacturing, a maker of industrial clothing.
31. Nos 86-88. No 86 (with windows in the roof) was a very full house, having five occupants, T.J.Skelton, and C.W.Rhone, both manufacturing jewellers; J.M.Syphen, ring maker; A.E.Underwood, gem setter; and L.R.Beet,engraver. No 87 had the Misses Davis, polishers; R.B.Baker, wholesale jeweller; A.Jarvis ,engraver; and V.Sewell, manuf. Jeweller.
32. Nos 88-89 from the opposite direction.
Mike



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once again great photos mike and they are taken in the period when had my first job which was at no 47 vyse st...joseph stainton wholesale jewellers....i wonder if you may have a pic of that...all the buildings in the last batch of photos are still there which is nice to know.....

lyn
 
me again mike...seeing all your pics bought something to mind..i wonder if you also took a pic of hockley cem...it was on the corner of vyse st.i had to walk past it every day to work and can remember seeing all the large glass bottles of what i presume were chemicals and they were packed with straw around them....

lyn
 
Had a look, but don't think i have any of Stainton's, the nearest is a very poor one of no 38. Which corner of Vyse st was hockley chem on, as i can't seem to find it in the directory. I don't think i do have any of it though. I have also put some taken from Warstone Lane cemetery of the back of buildings at the other end of Vyse st on the cemeteries thread , in case you haven't seen them.
Mike
 
Going back up the street a bit.
33. Nos 92-94. No 93 is W.T.Toghill, manuf. & wholesale jewellers.
35 Nos 98-100 . No 99 is listed in 1969 as having F.Graves,Manuf.jeweller; Arthur J. .Lawrence,. , ring maker; and F.E,Lloyd,die sinker. Also Dearn %Williams, but these have already moved to no. 92 in preparation for the demolition of nthese buildings and possibly the other occupants have also moved. No.100 has Britton,Electro gilders;
G.R.Hopkins & H.Dubberley, both diamond setters; and The Diamond Stone Cutting Co.
36. Nos 99-101. No 101 was occupied by a manufacturing opticians, but it looks empty from the boarded windows.
37. Nos 101-102. 102 was occupied by Hurst & Taylor, wholesale jewellers, but it looks as if its empty now. You can just see the edge of 103, the Jewel café, definitely still running.
29. Colour picture of line of buildings above, showing the Council’s Vision of the Future arising behind them
Mike


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mike these pics are well bringing back the memories for me...i recall the names of lots of the businesses you have taken pics of....hockley chem was on the same side as staintons on the very corner..so it would have been a low number...it may however go under the address of gt hampton st...i will have a look now at the other thread you mention....

lyn
 
No 28 . Further up Vyse street, by the railway bridge, was the emergency stop. Nearby they advertised the “wonders” of the modern Newtown shopping centre. I don’t remember it being very nice, even then.
29. Rusty sign (weather and other things are very corroding to cast iron) warning of penalties for improper use.
21. The rail bridge, and 34-38 Vyse st
18.and 19. Close ups of nos 34-35. At one time previously it had been something called the Diamond club, but looks a bit derelict here. The edge of the Warwick jewellers is next door.

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Just three odds and sods.
22. Good view of showing a nice plaque and details on nos. 34-35
24. doors of 34-35
23. Very good reflection of the other side of the street in the windows of what was the Diamond club

mike


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Post 45 showed the steel outline of the future of the jewellery quarter in the background. the following three are taken a little later.
28. Shows view from Warstone lane looking towards Vyse st, with the Jewellery workshops nearly complete to the right.
29. Inside No 127 vyse st
30. Nos 125-127 vyse st.125-6 had been occupied by Samuel Hope Ltd, manuf. jewellers. they had been at 126 since at least 1876, though for much of that time they were described as wedding ring makers., Even earlier (1873) they were in Brearley st, but they seem to have not survived after finishing here.
32. Coloured view of about 87-94 Vyse st, already shown in B&W.
33. Nos 12-17 Vyse st .No 12, on the corner had Reliance fancy leather goods, who made watch straps, Morgan & boon, manufacturing silversmiths and R.Simkiss,die sinker morgan & Boon had been there since the 1930s, and before that were in Pitsford st. No 14 was Josiah Cox,die sinkers, who 30 years before were next door at no 12. !5 was CPS Jewellery and 16-18 was Kinsey Bros & Patrick Ltd, manufacturing jewellers who moved her from Albion st between 1900 and 1904, and started off described as gold ring makers. Again, they don’t seem to have survived the destruction of the jewellery quarter
Mike

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25. and 26 Frank Clissold, stampers & piercers (no. 94 Vyse st) on the corner of Hockley St and Vyse st
31. Similar to no 25, but at different time, looking down Vyse St in colour
34. Opposite corner with Hockley st, showing the far end building of Hockley st (F.Russell,gem setter), and next to it, in Vyse st. no 98 Vyse st (nos 95 to 97 having disappeared) This has painted on the bricks “Lending library” with a handed arrow pointing to the right. There was a subscription library at the end of the 19th century at no 57, but that is on the opposite side of the road in the other direction. Next to this sign ,similarly it says “Beads rethreaded, straps fitted”.
30. Looking down Hockley st from Vyse st, but in colour.

Mike - photograph 26. Just down from Clissolds was a company called Lancasters. Next to them was a company called Rose's. I worked at Lancasters as an errend boy in the mid 60's. Five nights from 4:30 - 6-30 and Saturday morning for 16/6d. Mabz
 
No 34. Hockley st, looking up towards Vyse st.
Mabz.
Was this Lancasters ? There is a sign by the door in shiny blue, but even on unreduced picture it would take a bit of manipulation to read it.
Mike


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Still with the jewellery quarter, for Ragga the following are the few I have of Warstone lane. Unfortunately they are not very good ones in most cases.

36. A well known scene. Corner Vyse st and Warstone lane. The bank here was first called the London and Midland Bank and appeared between 1892 and 1894. At first other firms also were listed at this address, so ,possibly the present building was not there at this time. The other businesses disappeared by 1895 , and it became known as just the Midland Bank between 1921 and 1933.
34 . 174-6 Warstone Lane . Here it is Peyton’s, bookbinders,printers & stationers. They had been in part of these buildings (no 175) for over 60 years with Marcus Daino , precious stone dealer occupying 174 for about 40 years till Peyton took over the whole area before 1940.
32 & 33. 178 – 177 Warstone Lane
30. Junction Warstone lane, Northampton st. west side
29.Junction Warstone lane and Northampton st.east side. The corner building , 1,Northampton st is occupied by Monty slackman, manufacturing jewellers and G.W.Fielder, described in the directory as gold machine chain makers. I didn’t realise any machine chains were made of gold, so maybe there was a comma missing. Fielders have been there for about 20 years, with other occupants over the years including a diamond merchant and platinum refiners. Back in 1880 the occupant was a Mrs Miriam Wertheimer. Dealer in cameos.


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Hi MIKEJEE; The photo's of the quarter are brilliant I lived in the place for 30 yrs
makes the heart pound. The pics of the Diamond Club Vyse St, it was also known
as The Bird Cage factory owned by the Morrall Brothers who went on to open
The Raindow Casino and other clubs in the town & Edgbaston keep it up god bless.
 
A few more of the Warstone lane area.
27. Corner Warstone lane and Vittoria st. there had been a post office here since about 1879. Before that a chemist ,Frederick William Whiston had been was since at least 1855. It seems to have been an expansion of business, as he continued the chemists on the site, The post office being run by the Misses C . & R.M. Whiston . , who later also acted as a railway parcels office. This arrangement lastedtill 1912, after which the chemist ceased trading. The Misses Whiston are no longer mentioned after this either.
28. Other corner of Vittoria st. Hall’s Café. This had been a café , or coffee house, under different owners since just before 1880, almost 100 years. Before this it was a butchers. The building and adjoining buildings date from about 1850. the series of shops were called Northampton Parade
23. Nos 2 -3 Warstone lane, on the corner of Caroline st. Frank Joiner, though presumably not the same one, had been there since about 1887. At this point he is a stationers, though in earlier years he was a tobacconist, a somewhat unusual change of occupation.
24. Nos 4-6 Warstone Lane. Sheffield Smelting had only been on this site for about 25 years, it before being occupied by the smelting works of Lees & Saunders, who they presumably took over.
18. Back side of Sheffield Smelting round the corner in spencer st

mike


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To come back to the thread,
Picture No 28,
Another from Warstone lane, on the south side. To the immediate right is the Warstone lane post office on the corner of Vittoria st, previously mentioned. On the left is no 38 .It is still a shop (by Players no 6 fascia a general shop) run by Mrs Nelly Gardner, as it had been since about 1937. She took it over from Mr A.Frank Gardner, who had it originally as a fruiterers shop from before the first world war. In fact it seems to have been a fruiterer or greengrocer since at least 1855.
To the left of that is no 37 with the name William Edge over the door. Edge was a paper merchant, but the building also held a manufacturing jeweller , and has at times contained many trades, though for quite a time in the19th century it was a tailor and drapers. J.T.White at no 36 was a boot repairer, who had shared with various other trades since the late 1940s. No occupant seemed to stay for long and many trades used the address including, before the first war, Johnson & Flynn, saw piercers. Anyone know why they pierced saws? Somewhere in the row is no 33 . I think it is the right hand side of the white building, and at this time it was the home of The Girl’s Café. Whether it was where all the girls of the area concentrated or whether it was run by Mr. Girl (like “A boy named Sue”), I don’t know. Previously it Had been many things, including the home of a “hair manufacturer”. The impressive looking building with the white rimmed windows is no 29, built originally in 1870 for jeweller William Neale, still there and listed. To the left is nos 27-28. built as a gold refining and assaying works for Edward Day, and still occupied by their successors Edward Day & Baker, bullion dealers until 1977.
32. This is part of the west side of Vittoria St. at the very far left,with only two windows showing, is the School for Jewellers & Silversmiths.(nos 82-86). It has been at this site since being established in 1890, occupying what had been a goldsmith's factory, built in 1865. This in turn had been built on what had been the garden of 30 Frederick St, giving some idea of the size of the gardens of the houses originally occupying what is now the Jewellery quarter. Next to it is no 88-90, which, again, was probably built in the 1860s..for Ephraim Jacobs, wholesale jeweller, who moved there from Warstone Lane. The building was then numbered no 49 and was shared with Martin & Ludolph Lowenstein, another jeweller of jewish origin, which probably explains the star of david over the door (not visible on photograph).At the time pof the photograph it would have been occupied (partly) by jewellers E.W,Nichols,.As with the School of Jewellery, the building is still extant. To the left of this are buildings that were built after the OS map surveyed around the mid 1880s. This perhaps explians their peculiar numbering. Although the street is (mostly) odd one side, even the other, and OS maps give them numbers 92,96, & 98, in directories these are numbered 91, 91A & 92, in contradiction of that order.. they were occupied mainly by small jewellery firms firms. When the picture was taken the occupants of the first (91 or 92) would probably have been D, Evans & R Morrish, both gem setters, the second (91A or 96) Eric B. Milner, manufacturing jeweller and the last (92 or 96) Mayes & Warwic Lts,engineers of thread roll dies.
33. This is no 45 Frederick St, which is a converted house built about 1820 with large ground which in about 1880 were sold off and built on. The house became the factory for Robinson & McKewan , jewellers & silversmiths.
34. John Rossiter, Manufacturing jeweller. No 46 Frederick St was originally built c 1881 (presumably when the grounds of no 45 were sold off) for Arthur Johnson Smith, jeweller.
35. Cuttiss Ltd, TV maintenance then, but No 47 Frederick St was originally built in 1879 for D.L. Davis, manufacturing jewellers, but was later occupied by Richardson & Co ,silversmiths
Mike


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I should have added that the previous 5 pictures and the following two were taken in Summer 1973.
36. No 48 Frederick St was originally partly occupied by Joel Blankensee & Co, watchmakers for over 20 years, but taken over by a manufacturing jewellers, and had been used for a variety of purposes after that. I don’t believe it still stands.
37. Corner Frederick St and Albion St. the main building shown is no 52 Frederick St., then occupied by a metal spinners and brass showroom, but was originally occupied by jewellers and goldsmiths.
Mike

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