Bull Street

[Rupert]

Yes Shortie, thats about the duration of the steam trams, give or take. The buildings; well I suppose everything wears out eventually...especially so if little maintenance is given. Materials and labour costs req'd to build and extra height to give more for a given area are all features though, of modern buildings. The thing is that the buildings have become impersonal which is what we don't like. Some are downright ugly.

 

[Shortie]

Well maintenance doe shave a hight cost I agree, but so does rebuild. The Newbury's building is still there under the Paladian cladding, and so is Berlin House. I don't find the building particularly ugly, but I hae to say that most modern buildings I find completely awful. Bit of a dinosaur, me - perfer the old to the new.

 

[Vivienne14]

Thanks for pinpointing the sunday school Rupert. Looks much bigger than I thought.

Wonder if the cupola's on top of the Newbury building and the one across the road were anything other than decorative. A lovely feature, but sadly all now gone.

This photo (which I think was about 1950s?) has been posted elsewhere. It's the junction of Bull and Corporation Streets. Been trying to decide if it's a later view of the photo in post # 196? But can't quite match up the buildings. If it s the same position, the frontages seem to have been changed. Modernisation perhaps or re-builds? Rupert suggested that the buildings on the corner in the earlier photo probably had signs on them for demolition. So maybe they were replaced. I'm posting the earlier photo alongside for comparison. Viv.

 

[Rupert]

Those photo's are not of the same location Viv. The later one is about 55/60 ish, going by the Ford Thames 5 cwt. van and is looking south east on Bull St. from the Minories/Temple Row. Dale End in the distance. The older 1890 ish photo is the same as the previous one posted before but shows a bit more of the Lewis's corner (right of the photo)...no building there yet.
As for the buildings on the corner; just looking down towards the Bull Street/Corporation St., junction in the later photo; could be they are still there and the notices I mentioned earlier were about something else. I think I can determine the two peaks of the second building in but the angle is very shallow.

 

[Vivienne14]

Right, got it Rupert. Thanks. Viv.

 

[Jayell]

You are right Rupert. The curved building in the middle right hand side of the later photo (#220) at the junction with Temple Row is the original Rackhams. I remember buying a lovely coat from there in the late 50's. The photo looks down to Corporation Street and further to Dale End.

Judy

 

[Vivienne14]

Spotted this in Showell's Dictionary. Anyone know where this would have been off Bull Street? An interesting name, maybe it refers to the shape of the yard perhaps? Viv.

 

[mikejee]

I think the yard must be the one in blue. I leave you to say if it looks like a hollow tooth

 

[Vivienne14]

Thanks Mike, looks like it would have been around the back of Grey's store then. The passage leading to the alley probably didn't survive later development as I don't remember an alleyway along there. And it looks like a pretty fat tooth! Alternatively it might have been a yard where you could get teeth removed - painfully. Viv

 

[mikejee]

Viv
The 1866 map seems to show open space over the whole of that side of that part of Bull st, presumably as part of the building of the tunnel to Snow Hill, though it is still there in 1839

 

[Vivienne14]

Right, thanks Mike. Some of the Yard must be beneath the GW Arcade then. Still don't really see why it was called Hollow Tooth. Also it was once known as Devil's Hollow Tooth too. Viv.

 

[jennyann]

Hi Viv: I missed this thread in April last year since I was away on holiday but in catching up I was doing some research on MacFisheries shops that sold Wet Fish.
I imagined that there was a shop in Dale End but not so it was as you note in Bull Street. Here is a close up photo of MacFisheries. They only had three shops in Birmingham according to their web site.

 

[Vivienne14]

Hi Jenny. Great photo. Those thick, sloping, marble slabs are a thing of the past. It's interesting that there was a MacFisheries in Bull Street, as just a little further down on the same side was Simpson's the fishmongers. Very close to each other. Such a shame these fishmonger's have gone. All overtaken by supermarkets. But fish in supermarkets isn't generally as good or as fresh. Viv.

 

[mossg]

In the middle to late 1850s my Gt Gt Grandfather was a fishmonger whose premises were directly behind Simpsons,It was in a yard that was entered from Dale End,alongside The Star public house.There were four other fishmongers in the same yard.This leads me to believe this area must have been the Birmingham Fish market before it moved to The Bull Ring.Moss

 

[Vivienne14]

Interesting Moss. Assume you mean the Fish Market next to the Bull Ring Market Hall? Viv.

 

[jennyann]

Hi Viv:It was always amazing to see all the different types of fish laid out on those slabs in the Mac Fisheries shops. If you went by late in the day when they were preparing to close you could witness the assistants cleaning up using hose pipes and scrubbing brushes. The water ran out into the street and people tried to avoid stepping in it.
Mac Fisheries eventually got out of the Wet Fish business and into Supermarkets. There was one in Solihull on the High Street. This is a web site run by a man who has researched the company. Their logo is one I always remembered. https://www.macfisheries.co.uk/userimages/forum.htm

 

[mossg]

hI Viv, They moved from Dale End to Phillips St alongside the Market Hall before 1861. moss

 

[Vivienne14]

Thanks Jenny and Moss. Viv.

 

[Richie]

Hi Jenny. Great photo. Those thick, sloping, marble slabs are a thing of the past. It's interesting that there was a MacFisheries in Bull Street, as just a little further down on the same side was Simpson's the fishmongers. Very close to each other. Such a shame these fishmonger's have gone. All overtaken by supermarkets. But fish in supermarkets isn't generally as good or as fresh. Viv.

and here courtesy of GettyImages is Macfisheries Bull Street early 1960s

 

[Vivienne14]

Anyone have any ideas as to where this was on/off Bull Street? It's from the Shoothill collection and is labelled "The Old Coach Yard, Bull Street". It wouldn't by any chance be the Devils Hollow Tooth Yard talked about from post #224 would it? Or was it somewhere else on Bull Street? If it was a coach yard, would it have been near a pub/ inn/tavern? Viv.

 

[mikejee]

Viv
This has been asked before, though I can't find the thread. I thought it likely that it was what was marked as "coach yard" on the 1839 map (marked in pink), running beside the Stork Hotel. This seems to have later become part of Dalton St.

 

[Vivienne14]

Thanks Mike. So down towards Dale End/High Street. Thought the yard looked a bit too steep for it to be up nearer Monmouth Street/ Colmore Row. But what a great view. All this must have been swept away when Martineau Sq was developed. Viv.

 

[Jayell]

Dennis Williams has written an article on the Coach House Yard and this photo, on the Facebook Birmingham History Forum thread. He says:

After the cutting through of Corporation Street in 1896 the Coach Yardwas built upon and roughly where Dalton Street was….and a new Stork Hotel was built in Corporation Street with no appreciable space behind….but even that magnificent French Renaissance architectural gem was eventually demolished for the Colmore Circus Ring Road complex…

 

[Vivienne14]

Thanks Judy. Had a look for a picture of the Stork and here's an 1880s one from Wikimedia. Enormous place but as Dennis Wilson says the yard must have been built over by this time. Before it was all rebuilt the slope in the photo of the yard fits with landscape visible behind the Stork in the photo. The yard must have exited onto Bull Street then if the address given on the Shooters site is correct.

Also I wonder why it was labelled as 'Stock Hotel' on Mike's map? Was that a typo? There is after all a whopping great stork on the top of the building! Viv.

 

[Astoness]

what a magnificent building that was was viv...im just trying to work out what the st/road is running to the left of it..

lyn

 

[Vivienne14]

Hi Lyn. It was built on the corner of Corporation Street and Priory Queensway (now changed name again I think). In the time of the hotel Dalton St was one of the roads that replaced Lower Priory when Old Sq still existed - as Mike suggested, the old coach yard would have been around Dalton St. Blimey how many times has this area changed names?! Is it all now 'Martineau' something or other? I remember Martineau Sq - was Dalton St underneath there? Viv.

 

[Astoness]

just edited my last post viv..i meant to say what is the road/st to the left of the building..so is that priory queensway to the left and corp st running across..just trying to get me bearings lol

 

[Jayell]

Another from Dennis Williams' collection (shown on Facebook)

 

[Vivienne14]

Yes I think it is Lyn. But I think I've now confused myself about the old Dalton St. Not sure that it did replace Lower Priory reading Mike's earlier post with the map. Viv.

 

[Vivienne14]

Great photo Judy. It really was an important hotel by the looks of it. The coach yard at the back of the original Stork Hotel must mean it was probably an important stopping off place to change horses/coaches for long distance travel. Hard to believe when you consider what the 21st century view is now. Viv.