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Birmingham on Sea

motorman-mike

motorman-mike

Brum visitor who stayed.
I suspect some of you in the Forum are around my age and reckon a good many must have been down to Weston as kids and since. Coming from down that way meself, thought you might get a memory or two from these postcard pics from my childhood days. (I can find some from a bit further back for your nans and grandads as well if you want em). I like the one on the sands. The tide must have been out as usual so they touched in some waves!
 
DoesAny-body Still Go There As You Say TheSea Is Never In
The Only Thing I Can Ever Say About Weston, ItsGotPlenty Of Cafes And Its Got A Cracking Shopping Town ,Oh And Plenty Of Pubs And I Shall Be Going Down To Bream In The Next Couple Of Weeks Because We Have Got A Caravan On UnityFarm And The
Town Will Come Alive With The Annual Country And Western Festival And We Pop Into Western To Do Our Shopping Hopefuly I Might Spot Our Friend Mossy Out Side One Of
The Boozers Down There And Remonmiss Of A Couple Of Old Friends And Ladywood
But Getting Back To The Sea Side We Don,nt Bother - No Sand -No Sea
 
It was a favourite place to go for us "brummies"
made a nice change,and easy to get to.
we spent a lot of our holidays at Brean and would travel either
to Burnam-on-sea or Weston-super-mare for our bit's and bobs
 
I have many happy childhood memories of Burnham and Brean. As you say it must be a favourite place with Brummies. The last time I was in Brean I bumped into friends from Birmingham whom I haven't seen in 8 years!
 
My Dad and I used to go on day trips (Gliderways coaches Bearwood) and for a weeks holiday sometimes (by coach or train), all when I was junior school age. In those days it took half a day to get there - no motorways, the old A38, down past Bristol zoo and over the docks bridge - and a stop somewhere 'en route' for a cuppa, a sandwich and a 'p'.
We stayed in the small 'Victoria Hall Hotel' just off the front - last time I went it was still there!
 
Mike i live here now W S M but as a kid i had only been here twice,and as you probably know there are two tides a day, the tide down here is the second fastest rising and falling tide in the world

As well as loads of Brummies here Bristolians as well,Astonian said the town and shops are good he is right,and yes you will find me outside a boozer at week ends so when you come down Astonian P M me and we will have a tot an a good chat about Ladywood and absent friends:cool:Mossy
 
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HI MOSSY
Nice To Hear FromYou Again, And I Look forewarded To Seeing You
And Having A Beer With You , Down On Western, And Talk About The Days Gone Bye
I,M A Very Good Old Friend Of Mickys Family , I Will Not Mention Is Name On Sight
But Is Nick Name Ok, Midnight ,The Last Time I Seen You Some Forty Years Down
Mickeys With Your Missis [ Irene ] Vera,s Friend , Down Heath St Winson Green ,
I Will Let You Know Which Week Were Coming To UnityFarm Ok Best Wishes ASTONIAN ,
 
I do believe the coach you can just see in the very middle of the second picture in Motorman's excellent selection is a Midland Red centre-entrance touring coach, one of the batch of 25 built in 1939, reg no FHA 401-425. They were very handsome vehicles. I never saw one during the war until I got to Sandacre St garage in Leicester, although I was familiar with the earlier batch of 50 numbered CHA 950-999. They were very jazzy in appearance, I used to think.
Peter
 
i remember so much about Weston from the mid-sixties,my 13-16 age range. Hope I'm not too young to include any memories?:)
 
Peter, It's a bit small to tell but think you have found an ONC. They had one at Leicester, 2286 that because of the opening sun roof was used to carry the the Leicester City football team round the city after winning , I think, the FA Cup or something like that some years back. Included this time is a 1960's view of W-S-M for Ritchie. Spot the Midland Red in this one, you will need the old magnifying glass. I have to confess - every post card I have has a bus, a coach or a tram somewhere in it - my mum often wonders where she went wrong!
(I noticed years ago that mum is mom in Brummie).
Mike
 
Smashing photo,the fountain on beach lawns is still there,also on the lawns is the big clock which i believe used to be in the coach station.in the distance is the Grand Atlantic hotel,and to the left middle a Lambretta scooter model 150 L D made in about 1957 so is that about the time of the post card:DMossy
 
motorman-mike said:
Peter, It's a bit small to tell but think you have found an ONC. They had one at Leicester, 2286 that because of the opening sun roof was used to carry the the Leicester City football team round the city after winning , I think, the FA Cup or something like that some years back. Included this time is a 1960's view of W-S-M for Ritchie. Spot the Midland Red in this one, you will need the old magnifying glass. I have to confess - every post card I have has a bus, a coach or a tram somewhere in it - my mum often wonders where she went wrong!
(I noticed years ago that mum is mom in Brummie).
Mike
Click to expand...

Thanks,Motorman,keep 'em coming:)

Two references to Weston cinemas:
https://www.wanadoo-members.co.uk/cavalcade/weston/jpg
(This is the Odeon,which is still going.Main Locking Road commencement.Can track down many more of this cinema spread over many years,including its celebrated Wurlitzer organ)

https://www.wanadoo-members.co.uk/cavalcade/westong/jpg
(Regent Street,now demolished.Just add a number 1 after the 'westong' if you want a 1956 view).
 
Thanks Lloyd. Well I do have to start at 4 a.m. each morning to keep all my admirers such as my employer satisfied!:D
 
That's OK Richie - I hope you don't have to work through till midnight to keep him happy like I do! (And then drive 23 miles home - which is why I'm on at 1AM some days!)
 
Mossy said:
Smashing photo,the fountain on beach lawns is still there,also on the lawns is the big clock which i believe used to be in the coach station.in the distance is the Grand Atlantic hotel,and to the left middle a Lambretta scooter model 150 L D made in about 1957 so is that about the time of the post card:DMossy
Click to expand...

Glad you liked that Mossy, many of my cards I bought new but never put I a date on em so do a bit of guessing on the dates. Weston being Weston, many were still on sale years after the pic was actually took I 've got one showing a tram on the seafront that was bought 7 years after the trams were scrapped! Here is one that I would put as 1960's with a feast of motors to look at as well as the old White Funnel paddlesteamer. Sad that the Old Pier is now only a shadow of the view here.
 
Sad indeed that the old pier has fallen into disrepair. That's a nice view, Mike, I wonder why the bus crew (note the conductor's ticket machine and cash bag straps visible against his summer tunic) and a few people at the promenade wall are looking at? Is the lifeboat being launched - the boathouse doors are open!
A few classic cars there too, an early mini. the white Saab, a few Ford Anglia 105's and a two-tone grey Rover. Not forgetting of course the 'convertible' Bristol 'Lodekka' LD model bus - I'm sure you remember the roofs being stored on racks in the sea-front bus garage cum coach station in the summer, they were refitted in the winter so the bus could be used all year round.
 
Lloyd thanks for reminding me of the spare tops stacked up, saw them often. Think the winter saw these LDs as spare at WSM as I recall seeing them working locals in Bristol.
Mike


My pic this time goes back to 1950's. Who went on this? One shilling for a sail round the boating pool at the Marine Lake on the "Patrol Boat" -3 cicuits if it was quiet and two if it was busy! (Looks like it's a 3 day here). Later on this strange craft was renamed "The Childrens Cruiser" One year we went to get a ride and it wasn't there anymore. Anybody know which year please??
 
A view that hasn't changed much in the last 70 years. From the Sanitorium end this time. Down on the right the Birmingham Saturday Hospital Fund had until quite recently two convalecence homes as well as the big one out at Kewstoke. This view is from the early 1960's.
 
Another smashing photo Mike Lloyd had put a link onto the Odeon in Weston i know this is off thread but i think its worth a mention being a Beatle fan so here we go

The Beatles performed a week of concerts at the Odeon here in Weston between Monday22 to Saturday27 July 1963

Helen Shapiro was top of the bill THE BEATLES were the support act

They stayed at The Royal Pier Hotel where there are lots of photos taken inside and out and some are on display all round the hotel on a visit to the hotel,the receptionist kindly showed the two rooms they stopped in i cant remember the room numbers,and she told me that people come to stay especially to have the same rooms:)Mossy
 
Mossy said:
Another smashing photo Mike Lloyd had put a link onto the Odeon in Weston i know this is off thread but i think its worth a mention being a Beatle fan so here we go

The Beatles performed a week of concerts at the Odeon here in Weston between Monday22 to Saturday27 July 1963

Helen Shapiro was top of the bill THE BEATLES were the support act

They stayed at The Royal Pier Hotel where there are lots of photos taken inside and out and some are on display all round the hotel on a visit to the hotel,the receptionist kindly showed the two rooms they stopped in i cant remember the room numbers,and she told me that people come to stay especially to have the same rooms:)Mossy
Click to expand...

Mossy, it was actually my link to the Odeon,Weston-Super-Mare.(No 13) All Lloyd did was to correct the typo error:D No problem at all!

I'll trump it anyway with this connection. By giving you just the website address, everyone will find out what a nightmare the search facility is on this thing:

www.viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk When you get to the main page don't click in the search box for anything. Go to "Basic Search" and you will find you were failing the intelligence test otherwise. In the LOWER set of search requirement just type in "Weston-Super-Mare". (That's the geographical box) and you will open with 12 (yes Twelve!) pages of mostly 1930's goodies of Weston, including half of page 11 and nearly all of page 12 full of Odeon,Weston material.

The list is part of the collection of hundreds of photos taken by John Maltby of the Odeon company of cinemas on their construction/first day opening. Its the gold standard of cinema archiving!

In which case, if you survive the ordeal of the search system on there you will also find loads of Maltby's photos of the Odeons in Birmingham of which I've previously chosen a few for the "Birmingham Cinemas" thread.
I'm hoping to find time to do an essay on Birmingham Art Deco cinemas one by one (including the ABC's and independent cinemas) for a couple of other websites to show people there was life on earth (Birmingham even!) before Dr.Who:biggrin: In which case I'll somehow join it up to this website also. Maybe the moderators on each website can get together when its done to work out a way how to lift whole sections of postings from one website to another in one transaction? :confused2:
 
Good info that and not so off thread Mossy, cos later ths summer (and I use the term loosely!) theres to be a concert on the Odeon Wurlitzer there and one of the chaps playing will be a retired cinema organist fom the Pavillion Cinema in Stirchley. Can't remember the date offhand but look out for it.

New pic : 152 to the Sanitorium. Sorry, no room on top. We did get hot sunny days back in the 1950's, see the drivers windsceen open.
 
Richie what a cracking couple of links, especially the Beatle one
I will find out when Odeon is open for organ recitals they have a sound all of their own,i must say i had not heard of the Compton organ they were all mainly Wurlitzer's

Another thing about Brum on sea is Grove Park the band stand is still used to this day,and almost every week there is something going on during the summer bigband,Jazz,folk,lastweek end Irish music

Also in Grove park is Jill Dando's garden

:)Mossy
 
I'm sure i can find yet more sites to feed into here has time goes on and for other seaside locations apart from Westn,although that is my favourite along with Llandudno. It just means having the time really as I do have a day job mostly spent travelling place to place and not always having access to a computer.

It also needs proper names of places and individuals who are/were connected to them rather than just a town name, since the Beatles gem I uncovered was listed under someone's name privately.

:)
 
Mossy ,
I used to watch my granpa play in the Bath Spa Imperial Band on the Grove Park bandstand now and again, he was the side drummer. We used to have a Wems observation coach so the instruments would go in the big boot. Got a pic here, and I had a Dinky model of this repainted in Wems colours.

Jill Dando's garden is beautifully kept, anyone visiting WSM even if only on a day trip should try and get to it.

Mike
 
Richie that viewfinder link will not work

Birnbeck Pier is in a bad state,the life boat can not be launched of there no more health & safety,so Weston has got its own new hovercraft,

The R N L I shop is sill along Anchor Head
Was you living down here when The Waverly used to do trips from Birnbeck

The Waverly is the official the worlds last sea going paddler built 1947 the first Waverly was sunk at Dunkirk 1940 it was built 1898:(Mossy
 
Brilliant Alf should start a Beatle thread after all they play a big part in the history in music,i thought they were the best around at what they did;)Mossy
 
Great pictures Mike, bringing back some great memories. The parents of a girl I worked with own a caravan in Brean so me and a mate used to rent it and take our then girlfriends, now wives down there for weekends.
motorman-mike said:
... Spot the Midland Red in this one, you will need the old magnifying glass...
Click to expand...
Not sure but I think I've spotted it. (See attached.)

Strange how Norwegian Wood was attributed to The Beatles 1963 visit to Weston when it wasn't released till 1965 on the Rubber Soul album.
 
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