City Centre Photographs

[DavidGrain]

Is that the cooks travel office which was on this thread some weeks ago??, the one uncovered by building work or demolition?

Was it on this thread or the thread about the new Metro works. In any event it does prove that Cooks did have an office at the back of the Midland Bank and that the later ownership of Cooks by Midland Bank was pure coincidence.

 

[A Sparks]

I think it's on the Metro thread.
I have seen the old sign which has been exposed in Stephenson Street a couple of times recently, it's definitely at the back of what used to be the Bank and is now Waterstones

 

[Jayell]

Carolina, that's a lovely photo of Stephenson Place #1601. I love the dress that the lady at the bottom left hand side is wearing. Doesn't she look elegant with her parasol! It's a busy scene with lots of activity.

Judy

 

[carolina]

Judy yes all the elegance of the ladies and smartness of the gentle​men. How times have changed

 

[Vivienne14]

Great view Carolina. As Judy says, love the elegance of the period. Also love the little lad with the pram next to the boys with newspapers. This was once such a pleasant square in front of the station, but then they went and built that horrendous ramp ....... sob, sob. Viv.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[farmerdave]

Here's an old photo celebrating Queen Victoria's visit to Birmingham in 1858. It is taken looking along Paradise Street toward Victoria Square. I'm a little worried concerning the date of the photo as it seems excellent quality for a photo that early. although Queen Victoria did visit Birmingham that year to open Aston Hall as a museum in that year.

I wondered if this photo like so many others could have been dated in error and was in fact the later visit in 1887 when she laid the foundation stone of the Victoria Law Courts on Corporation St?

Hi Phil. Your photo was posted about 3-weeks ago and there was a lot of discussion as to whether the photograph of the royal visit was so good that it may not have been 1858 but a later royal visit in 1887. I have just received the book "Images of Birmingham: Pictorial Memorabilia from the photographic library of the Evening Mail and The Birmingham Post". This book was published in 1996 and recommended recently by Astonian. The same photograph is on page 12. Underneath it says "The first royal visit to Birmingham for which there are records in the photographic archives of the Evening Mail and The Birmingham Post was in 1858. This view, looking down Paradise Street, shows the huge crowds and flag-decked buildings as Queen Victoria and Prince Albert pass in a carriage procession". Hence, looks as if it is definitely 1858. Dave

 

[Old Joe]

Could notfind the photo but will try again later when fully awake ................ I di see a pic on here some time ago of the fountains in Chamberlain ? Square..... Used to sail putt putt boats there when aged around 7.

 

[Old Joe]

Re: City Centre Photo Album

I recall King Edwards scool at the bottom of New St My wife Audrey often tells me about a New shoe shop that was close by and thesre wasa fair sizded crowd out side watching proceedings. She was told the lady opening the shop was none other than Elizabeth Taylor...........I recall the wrought iron railing around the school with bigspikes on the top...........They would probably have been taken away to make shrapnel out of during the war Cheers Old Joe Hi just had another look at the previous post and see that it was demolished in 1936 so they did not get the railings then after all Does any one know about the Shoe shop story >????? Old Joe

 

[Astonian]

Hi farmerdave
Just picked up on your thread this evening and crossed. Heck what you have said as I have just dug the book out
And yes page 12 states its there very first visit to brum. The next couple of pages also states visiting Victoria square
When queen Victoria visited Birmingham in 1887 the council house and the art gallery. Have been illuminated for the occasion
That was page. 13.
Welcome. To the queen is the message in the lettering across this huge. Arch built in. Corporation street. By the Birmingham
Gun makers to mark the 1887 royal visit,,,,,this is page 14. Below that is one of the highlights of the 1887 visit. Was the queen. Victoria
Laid the foundation. Stone. For the Birmingham new law courts,subsequently named after her
By the way farmer Dave nice to hear you got the book and I hope its a good as I said and what you hoped it to be
Best wishes astonian,,,

 

[carolina]

Paradise Street

 

[Phil]

All the missing photo on the thread have nowbeen replaced by the original posters or by the efforts of the moderation teamwith images the same as or as near possible to the originals.

There are one or two photo still missing that the OP has promised to replace, and also a couple that I am waiting to hear about from the OP.

Also you will find that post numbers used by various posters are no longer relevant because some OP's who are no longer members of the forum posted photos with no name or description and they had to be deleted thereby changing the numbers of all the other posts.

 

[darren t foster]

hi,the name of that building is DALTON HOUSE,the tower is one of 2 idendical twins.the other is behind the building infront.it was used by various companies including the ministry of pensions,and others.

 

[Joe Brown]

Re: City Centre Photo Album

Good luck with the project, Bob.

I collected together some images (with the help of forum members) of one of the city's greatest lost buildings, Barry's King Edward's School in New Street, demolished in 1936. For convenience I put them here.

It was located opposite Marshall & Snelgrove's. I wonder if there is a forum member who actually saw this building.

Chris

 

[Joe Brown]

Re: City Centre Photo Album

Good luck with the project, Bob.

I collected together some images (with the help of forum members) of one of the city's greatest lost buildings, Barry's King Edward's School in New Street, demolished in 1936. For convenience I put them here.

It was located opposite Marshall & Snelgrove's. I wonder if there is a forum member who actually saw this building.

Chris

 

[Joe Brown]

I am a bit of a rookie at answering but I remember that school very well. There were spike railing alongside New St.. There was a shoe shop very close to there and my wife ,over many years has told me that she saw a crowd of people outside .She went to have a look and it was the shop being opened by Elizabeth Taylor Can anyone verify this please?? VTW I am now in my 90th year

 

[Chris P]

View attachment 104893 View attachment 104893 View attachment 104893

Hi Phil. Your photo was posted about 3-weeks ago and there was a lot of discussion as to whether the photograph of the royal visit was so good that it may not have been 1858 but a later royal visit in 1887. I have just received the book "Images of Birmingham: Pictorial Memorabilia from the photographic library of the Evening Mail and The Birmingham Post". This book was published in 1996 and recommended recently by Astonian. The same photograph is on page 12. Underneath it says "The first royal visit to Birmingham for which there are records in the photographic archives of the Evening Mail and The Birmingham Post was in 1858. This view, looking down Paradise Street, shows the huge crowds and flag-decked buildings as Queen Victoria and Prince Albert pass in a carriage procession". Hence, looks as if it is definitely 1858. Dave

I have found a note in the Birmingham Journal newspaper of 19th June 1858 which says that the 1858 visit was unofficially photographed by New Street photographer Whitlock (a family busness that lasted several decades)



But the location on Paradise Street is very curious because there was another photographic family business that lasted several decades on Paradise Street, called Pumphrey, by the late 1850s . This photograph is obviously taken from an upstairs window and photography was still rare even through the 1860s. But I am not certain on which side of the street the Pumphrey shop was located.

 

[mikejee]

I cannot find the Pumphrey photographer in any of the directories that i have access to, but at this time there was a Josiah & Alfred Pumphrey, gutta percha dealers, at 21 Paradise St. Possibly they had a sideline. The position of the building is shown on the map below. The map is c1889, but numbering is identical to that in the 1850s.

 

[Chris P]

I cannot find the Pumphrey photographer in any of the directories that i have access to, but at this time there was a Josiah & Alfred Pumphrey, gutta percha dealers, at 21 Paradise St. Possibly they had a sideline. The position of the building is shown on the map below. The map is c1889, but numbering is identical to that in the 1850s.

Josiah was the father, a friend of Joseph Sturge. It was a quaker family. Alfred and brother Charles were extremely prolific publishers of stereoviews up until c1900, although their name was rarely on their photographs. Perhaps less prolific were their magic lanterns and slides. But I don't think the photography business started until c1861.

I have attached my favorite stereo (3d) photo by them, although it is a bad copy. I have animated it to give a bit of the 3D effect for those who don't have their grandparents stereoviewer to hand.

 

[mikejee]

The earliest directory mention of a photographic link to Pumphrey I find is in Whites 1873 directory when Pumphrey Bros, photographic publishers & oxy-hydrogen apparatus manufacturers, Camphill works, 54 Ryland St & Emily St.

From 1876 edition to 1882 Alfred Pumphrey was a manufacturing optician, first at Ryland st & Emily St, and later at Stanhope St & Darwin st but there is no men

tion of a photographic side to the business. However in 1883 Pumphrey & Day, are photographic apparatus & material dealers in Emily St and Alfred Pumphrey was manufacturing optician at Stanhope St & Drwin St , and was associated with Pumphrey & Day. By 1884 Pumphrey & Day are listed as photographic publishers & printers at Emily St and Alfred is still a manufacturing optician and associated with Pumphrey & Day. By the 1888 edition Pumphrey and Day have disappeared, but Alfred Pumphrey is still a manufacturing optician at Stanhope St, and is listed as a photographic printer at Emily St. This continues to 1892 edition , but in 1892 there is also Josiah Pumphrey, who is listed as making photographic sundries, knife boards, door springs & garden syringes at 160 Angelina St. Previously he had just been making garden syringes at that address. in 1895 edition Alfred is still man. optician & photographic printer at 62 Stanhope St, and Josiah is now is a full time photographic sundries manufacturer at back of 132 Angelina St. In 1897-1899 Alfred is just an optician, at Stanhope St, but josiah is still manufacturing photographic sundries in Angelina St, and Alfred is still there in 1900, but Josiah has move dto Hick St, but by 1903 they have disappeared. (The dates given are publication dates and likely to refer to a year or so previously

 

[Chris P]

The earliest directory mention of a photographic link to Pumphrey I find is in Whites 1873 directory when Pumphrey Bros, photographic publishers & oxy-hydrogen apparatus manufacturers, Camphill works, 54 Ryland St & Emily St.

From 1876 edition to 1882 Alfred Pumphrey was a manufacturing optician, first at Ryland st & Emily St, and later at Stanhope St & Darwin st but there is no mention of a photographic side to the business. However in 1883 Pumphrey & Day, are photographic apparatus & material dealers in Emily St and Alfred Pumphrey was manufacturing optician at Stanhope St & Drwin St , and was associated with Pumphrey & Day. By 1884 Pumphrey & Day are listed as photographic publishers & printers at Emily St and Alfred is still a manufacturing optician and associated with Pumphrey & Day. By the 1888 edition Pumphrey and Day have disappeared, but Alfred Pumphrey is still a manufacturing optician at Stanhope St, and is listed as a photographic printer at Emily St. This continues to 1892 edition , but in 1892 there is also Josiah Pumphrey, who is listed as making photographic sundries, knife boards, door springs & garden syringes at 160 Angelina St. Previously he had just been making garden syringes at that address. in 1895 edition Alfred is still man. optician & photographic printer at 62 Stanhope St, and Josiah is now is a full time photographic sundries manufacturer at back of 132 Angelina St. In 1897-1899 Alfred is just an optician, at Stanhope St, but josiah is still manufacturing photographic sundries in Angelina St, and Alfred is still there in 1900, but Josiah has move dto Hick St, but by 1903 they have disappeared. (The dates given are publication dates and likely to refer to a year or so previously

I'm not sure why the directories don't reflect an earlier start of their photographic business.They seemed to have been keen to advertise.

The Journal of the Photographic Society in 1854 mentions their portable darkroom tent, and in 1856 mentions Alfred as a photographer. And Alfred exhibited in the 1861 London Photographic Society exhibition. I have Pumphrey photographs datable to the late 1850s, and their 1860s stereoviews were so numerous that they are ever present on ebay, although their most prolific photographic period was the 1890s. I have not done much research but I am sure there must be more evidence in newspapers.

On a tangent, I have remembered that the Pettit Brothers, also early Birmingham photographers, were at 30 Paradise Street from circa 1864. 'Professional Photographers in Birmingham' (1987) says they were preceded at that address by the Hawker Bros c1860, but next to nothing is known about them. And they were suceeded by photographer Frederick Whitlock c1867. Number 30 is not shown on the map you provided but it must be roughly where the Royal visit photographer was located, in an upstairs window.

 

[mikejee]

Early directories (pre 1880) were not always very comprehensive. Although it is not always spelled out I think that in many cases it was then common to require a copy to be purchased before a firm would be included. I agree that the photograph may well have been taken from no 30, shown on the map below. Unfortunately I donot have directories 1863-66 , but the 1862 directory lists no 30 as Mr Sutton, a professor of music , and J.W.Walsh, soda water & mustard manufacturer and cigar importer. In the 1867 & 1868 editions Frederick Whitlock, photographer, occupies part of 29 & 30 Paradise St (at a guess the ground floor frontage as there are several other occcupants in each of these buildings), but by 1872 he has moved to 7 New St.

There does not seem to be much in the newspaper archive on Alfred Pumphrey , only that his partnership with Josiah was dissolved in 1873 , that he was married in 1863, that his baby son died in 1865, probably from eating morphia lozenges mistakenly left near him, and that he supposedly then lived at 347 Pershore st (this is probably a missprint for Pershore Road, as Pershore st did not number above 100).

Incidentally the Pettit Bros were at 30 Paradise st (on ground floor) in July 1863.

 

[oldMohawk]

In last night's Springwatch on BBC2, it was said that Birmingham is one of Britain's greenest cities. They were visiting to look at one of the six pairs of Peregrine Falcons which live in and around the city centre.
A couple of screenshots from the iPlayer.
From the library

The BT tower and Peregrine Falcon is in the shot.

 

[Vivienne14]

That's incredible! Would love to know where they nest in the City. It was a vivid memory for many of us when we were young to hear the birds looking for a perch for the night in and around St. Phillips at dusk. So good to hear there's still plenty of wildlife, and very interesting wildlife at that with peregrine falcons. Viv.

 

[ellbrown]

They are on here https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b07dwnv8/springwatch-2016-episode-3
Between 46 and 53 minutes in. Was good.

They found red deer on Cannock Chase in Staffordshire! (near a housing estate and a building site)

 

[Astoness]

that must be rare i would think ell

lyn

 

[Vivienne14]

Thanks Ell. That's really interesting. Hard to believe the peregrines have nested on the BT tower! We could do with some down here to get rid of the hoards of pigeons we're plagued with. What a great example of adaptation. I like the description of the urban buildings as resembling (to the peregrines) 'rock faces'.

And red deer on Cannock Chase? Well - almost a return to medieval times! Viv.

 

[ellbrown]

I didn't see the peregrine falcon up on the BT Tower, but got these new zoom ins from the Discovery Terrace at the LoB.





Digital zoom beyond optical

 

[Reddi]

I am not sure whether these pics belongs in this thread but it does show the area around the Town Hall looking toward Victoria Square. The old photo was taken sometime around the early 1900s, perhaps even at the end of the 1800s I am not sure.
The one thing I do know is that with the exception of the Town hall and Council House the area has certainly changed to what it is today. Apologies for the poor quality of the one photo.

 

[Astoness]

thanks reddi...that third photo is very interesting..never seen it before

lyn

 

[DavidGrain]

Would someone please remind me. Of the two buildings in Edmund Street behind the Town Hall in the third photo. The one on the left was Birmingham University, formerly Mason College, (I actually attended some classes in there in its final year about 1962) but what was the building on the right. Was it also the University?