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Bournville Village

K

kenh

Guest
40% of the houses in Bournville are still rented but not at the 6 shillings(30 pence) originally charged They were £150 to buy They are now controlled by several housing trusts and there are still many covenants on them but there is now a licensed club opposite the factory whereas alcohol was originally prohibited-if someone carried a violin case they were going to a pub outside the village!
Have a look at Bournville village trust web site and bournville carillon and listen to the bells on the village green. There is also a lot about Cadburys on the T.A.S.C.O.S {the local Co-Op) web site
I give talks about Cadburys and Bournville so if anyone has any queries
I may be able to help
 
Cadbury

Not so great if you lived on the Bournville estate. My girlfriend at the time was reprimanded for leaving her car on her drive during the night. In those days you were expected to put your car in the garage at night and the Trust told you what colour you could paint your house.
 
Bournville Estate

George
Wasn't the Bourneville estate a very special unique housing estate. From pictures that I've seen it all looked very attractive and pristine.
Does anyone have pictures of the estate?
 
Bournville Pictures

Sakura,
Thanks for these pictures . I always think of the buildings with character, and somehow set in a typically English setting. I'd love to see as many pictures as possible of the Bourneville Estate and park.
Was it a "sleepy" estate, or am I romantacising?
Anne
 
Cadburys, Bournville

Di, I think the picture of the house you posted is Minworth Greaves, which was transported to the present site by one of the Cadbury brothers, George, I think. It was in a dilapidated state and he paid for it to be rebuilt.
 
Bournville Pictures

I'm getting more and more of the picture. Thanks Di and Sylvia. It all looked so green and sleepy, then I suppose it was it those days. All very interesting
Anne
 
Di - The parks are still lovely but Linden Road is so busy now.
Sheri - What was your grandparents last name?
The photo in the middle to the right of 3 Linden Road is the Carillon, which is opposite the green. It was actually built before Linden Road was put in. The one to the right of the Carillon is the Meeting House, sorry I just noticed I put the wrong name.
There wasn't a secondary school in Bournville they had to go to Raddle Barn Road, secondary school or one of the Grammar Schools outside the village.:)Mo
Here is the Meeting House - Bournville College looking from the shops - Bournville College Main Gate.
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bournville village

For those in the string interested in the village, as opposed to the company, there was an excellent book written by Michael Harrison in 1999 on it called bourneville, Model village to garden suburb
 
Re: Cadbury's Bournville

In 1879 George Cadbury moved his business from birmingham to the site between Grifiin's Brook and Bourne Brook. Mr. Cadbury built 143 homes for his workpeople, he sold the the dwellings to his workers at cost price. A 999 year lease ensured that the gardens and vegetation would be preserved. Each one of the houses occupied a quarter of the ground alloted to it. The remaining three quarters was garden.

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Re: Cadbury's Bournville

This is a view of those dwellings in 1879.

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Re: Cadbury's Bournville

A small parlour in one of these houses in 1895, and a fold away bath in the kitchen in 1910.

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Re: Cadbury's Bournville

Selly Manor, Bournville. Len.

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Re: Cadbury

George Wheeler said:
Not so great if you lived on the Bournville estate. My girlfriend at the time was reprimanded for leaving her car on her drive during the night. In those days you were expected to put your car in the garage at night and the Trust told you what colour you could paint your house.
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Seems reasonable to me; a bit like living in a 'National Park'...someone has to make the rules...or else it all becomes a mess like everywhere else.
 
Re: Cadbury's Bournville

Here's a uTube link to a 40 minute film 'The Story of Bournville', made in 1953:


.. enjoy :)
 
Re: Cadbury's Bournville

Re the Bourneville Story. What a very enjoyable film, Many happy memories around 1953 when I was a small child. Tranquil, rural Bourneville! Pleased to see a snippet of the Lido too 17mins 38 secs in. My diving coach worked there during this time, and I got all the misshapes. Plus I actually went round the factory, when there were no barriers. Just isn't the same now. You snatch silly small portions of what it was all about with just graphics and text and imagination. No reality.
I've passed the link amongst my family.
Anne
 
I have posted this in three sections because I was a bit too large in one piece.
 

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Hello Pedrocut, I am sorry to say that I have no information with the page of suggested rules. I have an external hard drive with a massive capacity and over the years I have placed odd pics and snippet's on it from when I was a tourist guide for Birmingham and whenever I have seen anything of interest to use later. My health is not what it was so I have been going through it all and sorting family photos and other bits from the rubbish to save our son the job later. I post what may be of interest to others.
 
Stitcher said:
Hello Pedrocut, I am sorry to say that I have no information with the page of suggested rules. I have an external hard drive with a massive capacity and over the years I have placed odd pics and snippet's on it from when I was a tourist guide for Birmingham and whenever I have seen anything of interest to use later. My health is not what it was so I have been going through it all and sorting family photos and other bits from the rubbish to save our son the job later. I post what may be of interest to others.
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Certainly of interest and I would hazard a guess that it may be around 1910. The Illustrated London News of July 1909 carries an article “The Eden of the Worker” giving its interpretation of the thoughts of George Cadbury....

“Living in dirty, evil-smelling courts and alleys, strangers to fresh air and sunshine, robbed of all opportunity for wholesome recreation, what fate can await England’s working millions save to be outstripped in the international race of labour?”

I will split the article up and post later.
 
To add to the previous post, this appeared in the Sphere in 1906. It painted an idyllic picture with accommidation for 3000 residents, no two houses alike (?!) and each having a substantial garden.

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And from The Sketch February 1904. Viv.

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Stitcher said:
Re: Cadbury's Bournville

In 1879 George Cadbury moved his business from birmingham to the site between Grifiin's Brook and Bourne Brook. Mr. Cadbury built 143 homes for his workpeople, he sold the the dwellings to his workers at cost price. A 999 year lease ensured that the gardens and vegetation would be preserved. Each one of the houses occupied a quarter of the ground alloted to it. The remaining three quarters was garden.

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The Bournville Trust layout for 1912...

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The Plan shown above in the 1912 booklet was followed by an introduction quoting the words of the founder, George Cadbury, and his desire to alleviate...

“The evils arising from the insanitary and insufficient accommodation here referred to are now pretty generally recognised. Thousands of our fellow-countrymen are compelled to live under conditions which are a scandal to our civilisation. They are housed in close, dirty, evil-smelling lanes and courts, deprived of fresh air and sunshine, strangers to the sight of grass and flowers and trees, and without opportunity for healthy recreation. All this inevitably tends to produce moral and physical deterioration. It is almost impossible for people to maintain a high standard of character and physique where all the conditions are adverse, and we have only to visit the places described in order to see how disastrous are the results. Little wonder if, while many battle bravely against their surroundings and rise superior to them, an immense number succumb, and go to swell the mass of vicious, criminal and diseased humanity, which is a disgrace and menace to our country.”

It’s the poor what gets the blame.
 
I would say it was the landlords and the government that were being blamed for causing the conditions that meant people were degraded and turned to crime etc..
 
It’s not surprising that Liz Truss would give a mention in her speech of Andy Street and Birmingham at the Tory Party Conference. After all it was being held in Birmingham.

“Its great to see the cranes on the skyline building new buildings…”

Gosh, some members of the Forum have seen buildings go up and then get knocked down many times.

But Bournville gets a mention. “We are going to be inspired by the great hubs of industry like Bournville here in the West Midlands…”
 
Pedrocut said:
It’s not surprising that Liz Truss would give a mention in her speech of Andy Street and Birmingham at the Tory Party Conference. After all it was being held in Birmingham.

“Its great to see the cranes on the skyline building new buildings…”

Gosh, some members of the Forum have seen buildings go up and then get knocked down many times.

But Bournville gets a mention. “We are going to be inspired by the great hubs of industry like Bournville here in the West Midlands…”
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Yes as an ex pupil of the new Bournville Boys Grammar Technical School between 1955-1961 built with help of Cadbury's family I was pleasantly surprised and pleased that Bournville had a special mention in the new PM's speech at the CPC yesterday. Lets hope that good work that the great hub that Cadbury family started in the early 1900's inspires future generations
 
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