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City Centre Photographs

A Bull Ring photo with no date but the clock indicates late afternoon. Possibly bomb damaged buildings on the left and on the advert hoarding appear to be the words 'We Need' and 'We Work' and a man who looks as if he is rolling up his sleeves ... what is the message ?
BullRingwithclouds.jpg
 
Yes, Phil, much too early for the "buy British" campaigns, of which I think the earliest was in MacMillan's time. But definitely after WW2 there were campaigns to get us to export more. I would have been 10 years old and only went into the City with my parents on a Saturday afternoon, generally the markets, so didn't take an awful lot of notice of my surroundings. But in your photograph the rubble had been tidied away, but re-building was yet to start so 1947 sounds about right.

Maurice :cool:
 
Hi to you all. Thanks for the photo and the information. My sister was born in 1947 and I came along in 1952. We lived in Skinner Lane and I was christened in St Martins. In the photo on the right there is a building with two columns at the entrance. Is this the old fish market? I remember going there with my mum. I seem to remember you walked up steps to enter it and there was no roof because of bomb damage. The two other things I remember besides the smell of the fish was an old bomb (or was it a mine?) which had been painted red and converted into a collection box and my mother at one of the seafood stands eating whelks and cockles out of a cardboard carton.
 
The building with columns is the Market Hall. If you search the site there are threads about the Bull Ring (note: two words in the past), markets, bombing and St. Martin's.
 
Thanks again Radiorails. I've done some research and it must have been the Market Hall. No roof. Am I correct? If so there must have been seafood stands inside the entrance.
 
I remember the fish market being to the one side of the Market Hall, to the left as you entered from the Bull Ring. Not sure if it was partitioned off in some way.
 
Hi Davidgrain,

Thanks for this information. I just have this abiding memory of walking up the steps into the market and my mum standing at a seafood stall eating cockles and whelks out of a little cardboard container, with the vinegar bottle on the counter.
 
The cockles, in my time - just after WW2 ended - were in a small white dish. There were bottles of vinegar and condiments.
The fish side was on the left when entering from the Bull Ring. The roof was removed courtesy of the Luftwaffe.
 
I remember the lack of roof. And i'm certain there was an unexploded bomb or mine that had been painted red and was a kind of collection box for charities.
 
quite correct bullring boy the bomb collection box is mentioned a lot on the forum...should also be photos of the market hall minus its roof

lyn
 
Thanks for that. I don't think I'm making this up, but I'm can remember the clink of the coin dropped onto the pile inside. The uncertain security of memory...
 
I guess I'm going to write about something which has been covered many times before, but there was an old lady in the Bull Ring who sold large paper bags to put your shopping in and used to cry out "'andy carria, 'andy carria!" I think she sat under the statue of Nelson. Does anyone know who she was?
 
I certainly remember paper shopping bag sellers and match sellers too. How on earth my mom could carry two or three of those paper shopping bags with string handles without them cutting her fingers off was a miracle.

I also recall those little white plates for shellfish too.
 
I wonder if those bags were more "environmentally friendly" than the plastic we have today, but you're quite right Morturn, the string handles used to cut into your fingers!
 
Bullring boy,

I'm sure the identity of the "andy carrier" lady has been discussed and solved some years ago on BHF, but you might have to dig a bit deeper! :)

Maurice :cool:
 
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