• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team

City Centre Photographs

Yeah, it's Highgate Park right enough and if you look on the 1890 OS you will be able to recognise the paths in the park. Perhaps some of the park was cut off by the road bend of New Mosely Road...perhaps a later addition than when the picture was made. So maybe only a single flight of stairs was then required. The problem with these pictures is scale. The foreground can be reasonably accurate but those buildings in the background are 2 miles away and if shown to scale would be a little pin *****. So they cheat. Anyway, be that as it may, the direction of the buildings numbered is not too bad at all. I don't think that this is the picture that we were looking at...hmmm...all those years ago but may be wrong and maybe some of the buildings are not concurrent. Anyway here's a shot :

1. St. Thomas's

2. Maybe Mason Collage

3. Town Hall

4. Christ Church

5. Council House

6. The Tower of the Hippodrome

7. St. Philips with King Edwards in front of it

8. St Martins

9. Looks like a little chapel but there was a police stn. down there

10. Unknown but there is a cross on top..same as above?

11. Highgate Park.

I have my doubts on No6 being the Hippodrome Tower as directly underneath it is what appears to be New St Station.
 
Great photo Carolina. I would love to see an old photo of the left hand side of Corporation Street opposite Rackhams before it was developed.
Shops would include The Donne, Barrows, Court's Furniture and others. Many of the old photographs are taken from a different position so
you never see the places mentioned above.
 
oh yes, mikeya. This is a key portrayal. Assuming that the other side of the junction (on the right) is a bit further up the Grand Theatre. Nearly all photographs of any decade has concentrated on the North-West side of the road, and when Lewis's was built that in turn became the main attraction.
 
Fabulous picture this. Shows how much the opposite side of Corporation Street was always the focus of attraction-especially when Lewis's became prominent.

How far up Corporation Street are we? Would the Grand Theatre be behind us on the right or is that its curved dome up yonder? Would imagine the Stork Hotel is in-between somewhere.
 
Fabulous picture this. Shows how much the opposite side of Corporation Street was always the focus of attraction-especially when Lewis's became prominent.

How far up Corporation Street are we? Would the Grand Theatre be behind us on the right or is that its curved dome up yonder? Would imagine the Stork Hotel is in-between somewhere.

Yes, the view is from Corporation St, just up from Martineau Street, as Barrow's Stores (seen here on the right in Lancaster Buildings) was just along from the corner of Bull St - the gap in the buildings about where the 'bus is. Further up would be Old Square, with Priory Street running across and yes, on the right would be the Grand Theatre. Behind the tram post on the left you can make our the Central Methodist Hall's tower - I'm trying to work out what the mansarded tower in the background on the right of Corporation St (probably around the junction with Newton St) would be. To think - almost in front of us but underground trains would be rumbling along between Moor St and Snow Hill!
 
Love the photo Wendy. 'Walkover' shoes (left of photo) sounds very modern. I like the man with the Jack Russell,wheeling his bike. Those people alighting the Hagley Road bus seem to be doing it with such elegance, watched by the two policemen. I'd say it was possibly a sunny, spring day. Great busy scene. Viv.
 
The immediate bus on the left is a motor vehicle whereas the one ahead of it appears to have cart wheels and be horse drawn. Both bus bodies seem to be near identical though. Perhaps the old bodies were adapted to motorised underpinnings. A transitional period.
 
There was a shoe shop at around that point at no 76 , England & Co . They appear in Kellys first in 1904, not being present in 1903 (in fact the whole block suddenly appears, so presumably it has just been built). They are still listed in hte 1915 edition, but have gone by 1921
 
Actually David I think they are motorised bus's, I must have had a senior moment, they possibly date from late,1900 onwards.
 
Going back to post 1060 the unresolved location of the Sheffield Ltd depot with all the sandwichboard men lined up outside. Whilst looking the answer to another question I came up with the solution (at least I think it is). The name of the pub that Dennis made the original enquiry about was the Colmore Inn on the corner of Church St and Barwick St.

The trouble is we were trying to find a solution looking from the wrong end of Barwick St. We were looking at the Town Hall End of Barwick St when we should have been looking at the Snow Hill end. The map shows the location of where the photo was taken at A and the Colmore Inn at B. The Google snip shows the same view today, and the B&W photo shows the Colmore Inn in the sixties.
 

Attachments

  • Barwick St 3.JPG
    Barwick St 3.JPG
    238.4 KB · Views: 44
  • Barwick St.JPG
    Barwick St.JPG
    92.3 KB · Views: 48
  • City Church St Colmore Inn .jpg
    City Church St Colmore Inn .jpg
    72.6 KB · Views: 56
Back
Top