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Broad Street

I am still going through all my clutter, saving some stuff and discarding what I don't want. I will post broad street as and when I come across items. I have a lot of pages that were obviously once a book. There is no introduction or cover, just copied pages.
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I think that the view on post 37 is the opposite view taken from the other side of Broad Street guilbert. Not sure though.
 
Lovely stuff Stitcher keep it coming. Do you ( or anyone ) have a pic of the Colonade that was at the end of the open ground up from The Hall of Memory and opposite the old registry office, a lot of folks had wedding photos taken there.
I understand that it was all rebuilt at The Peace Gardens. Max
 
Maxwell

Will this one do, it looks a bit early. Not long after being build I should imagine showing the Hall of Memory and the Colonnade. In my opinion it was a great pity the Colonnade was moved even if it is in a nice position now.

Phil

CityBroadStHOM.jpg
 
Thats a great one Phil, really early. Thanks Max
 
img338.jpgJohn Baskerville (1706-1775) built his home on 8 acres of land, this is where Centenary Square now stands. He was in later years the printer at Camebridge University and it is said that is how Camebridge St got it's name.
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That's an interesting one - the church is gone, brewery is still there and what are those little wattle & daub building to the right of the canal?
 
Hello Aiden, some of this is a bit vague now because I studied it years ago before I became a tourist guide for Birmingham and a lot of water has gone under the bridge since then.
I believe the building you refer to was 'Stratford House Antique Shop'.
 
Stitcher said:
..and a lot of water has gone under the bridge since then.
...
Click to expand...

Boom, Boom.

Thanks Stitcher - it is amazing but I do remember it now you have said the name - funny thing memory. Must have been really ancient - I certainly remember it being like a Dickensian "Old Curiosity Shop"
 
Aiden, if you or anyone else finds it interesting I am happy to post it. If the weather is nice I am working in the garden but when it is a bit damp or later in the day I do browse the forum and post what I think may be of interest.
 
Well I for one would be interested, Stitcher, thanks.

I am also eager to see if there is any representation at all (sketch, painting, engraving...) of Baskerville's place, Easy Hill and of his Mausoleum (I think it was pyramid shaped?).

I am sure many will know the story of his afterlife. Baskerville, an atheist, was buried at his own request upright, in unconsecrated ground in the garden of his house, Easy Hill. When a canal was built through the land his body was placed in storage in a warehouse for several years (and on display to the discerning public) before being secretly deposited in the crypt of Christ Church (demolished 1899), Birmingham. Later his remains were moved, with 600 other bodies from the crypt in the dead of night, to consecrated catacombs at Warstone Lane Cemetery.
 
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Stratford House Antiques was in St Peters place, here are a couple of photos.

Phil

CityBroadStreetStPetersPlace.jpg
CityBroadStStPetersPlace.jpg
 
Astoness said:
hi all..ive just posted this pic under the wrong thread...so i am reposting it.... for me its got to be one of my best finds of late.. i just love this one....sorry if its been posted before...

no date but i would guess the 40s/50s

lyn
Click to expand...

What a great atmospheric scene Lyn, I could hear the Harry Lime Theme playing in the background!
 
Aidan

That would be St Peters RC Church or School. I'm not sure which was which but they were both up the back there somewhere.

Phil
 
I remember the Antiques shop because I used to park my car on the car park shown in the photo of the area where the ICC is now (post 52). I remember reading that the car park was where St Peters RC church used to stand but there was a note that the grave yard had been cleared and the bodies transfered I think to Witton. I used to enjoy walking down St Peters Passage on to Broad Street just because of the building there. Over the canal you can see a platform which was where the Church of the Messiah used to be. I can remember many years before walking along the canal before the canals were openned up and the only entrace was in Gas Street and used to think that the Broad Street Bridge with buildings both sides of Broad St formed a long tunnel. The Brewmasters House at the top end of the street (left hand edge of photo)is still there behind the walls and gates of the ICC. I remember going to a meeting there when it was occupied by the Birmingham Convention and Visitor Bureau in 1983.
 
As time goes by we tend to forget how beautiful some of these churches were that we have demolished over recent years. Although I have no time or truck for the reason that these buildings stand for and I hate to think what good could have been done with the money they cost to build.

None of that detracts from the fact that they were a wonder of architecture and should be preserved for that reason alone. This is why I like to see these churches being reborn as mosques, schools, restaurants and pubs, anything but demolish them.

It's such a pity that they had to demolish the Church of the Messiah, it really was a lovely looking building. Does anybody know why it was demolished? Was it a structural problem or was it the usual reason money?

Phil

CityUnitarianCurchoftheMessiahBroadSt1973.jpg
 
Hi,
pmc1947 said:
Stratford House Antiques was in St Peters place, here are a couple of photos.

Phil
Click to expand...
I've just had an "Oh my ..." moment with that first photo, if that's a school wall leading up to the church then I went there sometime around 1962-ish.
The classroom I was in was the sacristy, and I remember the smell of scent as a regular thing and one time there was a fire there (outside of school time) and a very strong smell of that when we went back to class.
There was a snooker table in the school! and I think the head mistress may have been a Mrs Mackentire (guessing the spelling on that), and marbles was the big thing at playtime.
We lived in Sherborne Street back then and I think I was only there for part of one year before we moved house, surely it's the right place?

Regards, Gerry.
 
Aiden, re.post 52.The large building in the center was the brewery store behind The Crown. The smooth area in the bottom left hand corner was where the Church of The Messiah stood. The car park in the triange was where St. Peters Church used to stand. The house halfway up the left hand side was The Brewmasters House.
 
Rupert said:
I think that the view on post 37 is the opposite view taken from the other side of Broad Street guilbert. Not sure though.
Click to expand...

The view in my append 37 (shown again below) is taken North of Broad St, the opposite side of Broad Street from Gas St basin.

It is taken from roughly the same place as the view in append 31 (you can see the buildings on the left are the same - the roofs, the windows, the brewery etc)

If you look at the second picture below it is the same view but after the building work has started.

Both views are from just in front of where the NIA is now (and the Malt House pub is now on the left).

In the first picture the church over Broad St would have been just round the corner, out of sight (unless it had been knocked down by then).

The ICC is now on the left of the picture, Brindley Place and the Sea Life centre on the right.
 
At First I thought that the photo on 31 was taken from Gas Street Basin as the building over the canal look like the existing building. However studying it I think that you are correct and the Rupert has made the same mistake as I did. The window in the buildings over the canal do not look like the back of a church but I am sure that the old maps which I do not have to hand at the moment show a Sunday School at the back of the church
 
img667.jpg
View attachment 54765This is a picture of St. Peters Roman Catholic Church, opened in 1786. The building was demolished in 169 shortly after this picture was taken.
 
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Thanks Phil(s) - I think some of my rellies have BMD connections with St Peter's and I have never found where it was or a picture - thanks again
 
Aidan

Here is what I believe is a Phyllis Nicklin slide of St Peters's Church & School dating from the 1960's.

Phil

StPetersChurchSchool.jpg
 
Colour - even better Phil, thank you. Is this the Church that was designed to look like a factory to avoid anti-Catholic feeling, or am I getting mixed up?
 
Aidan

I'm sorry I know nothing about the history of the church or the school, but I knew that I had seen photos somewhere. So I did a search and found it. I also had the advantage of knowing it was part of one the well known Birmingham collections.

Phil
 
hi phil..you are right as i thought we had discussed st peters ages ago but i could not find the thread...they are phylis nicklins pics and what a shame its all gone now...

lyn
 
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