Peter Walker
gone but not forgotten
Delving round Digbeth, Part1
Last Tuesday, having seen a good weather forecast the day before, I got myself ‘advance’ tickets over the internet from London Marylebone to Birmingham Snow Hill (return cost £7.90 on a senior railcard). Armed with two ‘Discovery Trails’ the Museum & Gallery did about 20 years ago (price 30p each), I thought I would rediscover what little I remember of the area, and started off from Moor Street Station.
Park Street
I turned left, and twice left again to bring me into Park Street, under the railway to Bordesley Street, where I turned right. Before turning I noticed the cutting where the railway runs into New Street, built in the 1850s, at the loss of much old property. Also visible was the empty shell of the once handsome old Fox and Grapes pub [Fig 1] at the corner of Freeman Street, which I remember closed only a year or two ago.
Once in Bordesley Street I saw the Victorian housing on the right, much of which was occupied by Italian immigrants at that time, who made a living mostly by making and selling ice cream. It seems still to be occupied, but I wouldn't jump at the opportunity. Opposite on the left is something I knew nothing about - the Polish Centre which, in addition to its social facilities, has a bistro bar. It was open, but I gave it a miss, much as I like Polish food and drink.
Allison Street
First into Allison Street, with a good Victorian building on the corner and towards the railway bridge. On the right before you get there is Shaw’s Passage, with a lively veggie restaurant and food store on the near corner.
Continuing under the bridge on the left are the remains of one of the many cast iron gents loos, which were very important in the days when Digbeth was a place for hard workers and hard drinkers. All sealed up today for obvious reasons. Further down on the right is a good-looking Victorian building used 20 years ago for making crisps, but built in the early 1870s for Corder & Turley, umbrella makers. Just past there on the right is Well Lane, which got its name from the artesian well bored about 1870 to supplement the water supply delivered by horse and cart to the majority of Birmingham householders at that time. Piped water was a luxury for the wealthy, supplied by a private company until Chamberlain municipalised it in 1875. Before 1870 the main public source of water was the natural spring near Ladywell.
Meriden Street
Then left into Coventry Street (not very interesting – all car and lorry parking), and left again into Meriden Street, and under the railway again, back to Bordesley Street. I recalled that there was once a tram track for steam trams to connect the northern section, with depots in Perry Barr and Aston, to the southern based at Kyotts Lake Road, Sparkbrook, with depots at Selly Oak, Small Heath and Kings Heath.
On the left-hand corner at the corner of Bordesley Street is the early Victorian ‘Spotted Dog’ [Fig 2] and, as the sun was getting warm and it was nearly five hours since I had my breakfast coffee, I thought it was time for a belated elevenses. None of my sort of beer, but the Guinness was good and not too dear, and the landlady was welcoming. There were two other customers, one was compiling the questions for that evening’s quiz, after trying them out on those present. A very nice old building.
From there a quick look at the big building nextdoor in Bordesley Street, to the right of the picture, which was originally Showell’s brewery, then the Birmingham Syphon Company, and later Pattison’s confectionery bakery.
On and along Bordesley Street through a tedious landscape of car parks and lorries, with next to no surviving older buildings. The remains of the former Typhoo Tips tea factory are a reminder of the famous blend which ceased production here in 1978.
Milk Street, Moore’s Row and Floodgate Street
I turned right into Milk Street, past what is now Birmingham Central Backpackers’ hostel on the right, continuing as far as the impressive Floodgate Street School, one of Birmingham’s rare surviving Victorian school buildings, tuning left into Moore’s Row to reach Floodgate Street. Most of the surviving buildings here are used for storage, while a lot of land is used just for parking. Behind the vacant land on the east side can be seen the wall or fence enclosing the river Rea, now neatly contained in a brick trough. As I approached High Street Deritend I looked across the road, and could see against the sun the brick parapet wall of the present bridge over the Rea, which was once the cradle of the city of Birmingham [Fig 3]. And it is strange to think that the river marked the boundary of the Parish of Birmingham, everything to the left on this view would have been in the parish and manor of Aston. When Brum received its charter in 1838 and the wards of Deritend, Bordesley and Nechells were includeded in the new Borough of Birmingham, but local rates were still cvollected separately until 1851, when the Street Commissioners took over responsibility for roads and drainage. Until then, rates were always loser in Aston, but the standard of upkeep was lower than in Brum, where it picked up a lot in the 1840s.
I turned left, walked over the bridge and along Deritend past the former Bird’s Custard Factory, now under restoration to reach Heath Mill Lane and the historic Old Crown pub [Fig 4] which I expectantly entered hoping for a nice drink in a congenial environment. The building is nice enough, and a fortune has been spent restoring it, but I was a little disappointed by the atmosphere, although it is true they were doing a brisk trade in the ‘garden’ at the back, in the hot sun. It is an intriguing old building, and there are quite a few old title deeds to the property on display. On the opposite corner I could see the former bank, which is now a bar on the ground floor, with some interesting musical instrument dealers above. Next to it is the old Free Library dating from 1865, which closed in 1949, but it’s still a very handsome building.
Last Tuesday, having seen a good weather forecast the day before, I got myself ‘advance’ tickets over the internet from London Marylebone to Birmingham Snow Hill (return cost £7.90 on a senior railcard). Armed with two ‘Discovery Trails’ the Museum & Gallery did about 20 years ago (price 30p each), I thought I would rediscover what little I remember of the area, and started off from Moor Street Station.
Park Street
I turned left, and twice left again to bring me into Park Street, under the railway to Bordesley Street, where I turned right. Before turning I noticed the cutting where the railway runs into New Street, built in the 1850s, at the loss of much old property. Also visible was the empty shell of the once handsome old Fox and Grapes pub [Fig 1] at the corner of Freeman Street, which I remember closed only a year or two ago.
Once in Bordesley Street I saw the Victorian housing on the right, much of which was occupied by Italian immigrants at that time, who made a living mostly by making and selling ice cream. It seems still to be occupied, but I wouldn't jump at the opportunity. Opposite on the left is something I knew nothing about - the Polish Centre which, in addition to its social facilities, has a bistro bar. It was open, but I gave it a miss, much as I like Polish food and drink.
Allison Street
First into Allison Street, with a good Victorian building on the corner and towards the railway bridge. On the right before you get there is Shaw’s Passage, with a lively veggie restaurant and food store on the near corner.
Continuing under the bridge on the left are the remains of one of the many cast iron gents loos, which were very important in the days when Digbeth was a place for hard workers and hard drinkers. All sealed up today for obvious reasons. Further down on the right is a good-looking Victorian building used 20 years ago for making crisps, but built in the early 1870s for Corder & Turley, umbrella makers. Just past there on the right is Well Lane, which got its name from the artesian well bored about 1870 to supplement the water supply delivered by horse and cart to the majority of Birmingham householders at that time. Piped water was a luxury for the wealthy, supplied by a private company until Chamberlain municipalised it in 1875. Before 1870 the main public source of water was the natural spring near Ladywell.
Meriden Street
Then left into Coventry Street (not very interesting – all car and lorry parking), and left again into Meriden Street, and under the railway again, back to Bordesley Street. I recalled that there was once a tram track for steam trams to connect the northern section, with depots in Perry Barr and Aston, to the southern based at Kyotts Lake Road, Sparkbrook, with depots at Selly Oak, Small Heath and Kings Heath.
On the left-hand corner at the corner of Bordesley Street is the early Victorian ‘Spotted Dog’ [Fig 2] and, as the sun was getting warm and it was nearly five hours since I had my breakfast coffee, I thought it was time for a belated elevenses. None of my sort of beer, but the Guinness was good and not too dear, and the landlady was welcoming. There were two other customers, one was compiling the questions for that evening’s quiz, after trying them out on those present. A very nice old building.
From there a quick look at the big building nextdoor in Bordesley Street, to the right of the picture, which was originally Showell’s brewery, then the Birmingham Syphon Company, and later Pattison’s confectionery bakery.
On and along Bordesley Street through a tedious landscape of car parks and lorries, with next to no surviving older buildings. The remains of the former Typhoo Tips tea factory are a reminder of the famous blend which ceased production here in 1978.
Milk Street, Moore’s Row and Floodgate Street
I turned right into Milk Street, past what is now Birmingham Central Backpackers’ hostel on the right, continuing as far as the impressive Floodgate Street School, one of Birmingham’s rare surviving Victorian school buildings, tuning left into Moore’s Row to reach Floodgate Street. Most of the surviving buildings here are used for storage, while a lot of land is used just for parking. Behind the vacant land on the east side can be seen the wall or fence enclosing the river Rea, now neatly contained in a brick trough. As I approached High Street Deritend I looked across the road, and could see against the sun the brick parapet wall of the present bridge over the Rea, which was once the cradle of the city of Birmingham [Fig 3]. And it is strange to think that the river marked the boundary of the Parish of Birmingham, everything to the left on this view would have been in the parish and manor of Aston. When Brum received its charter in 1838 and the wards of Deritend, Bordesley and Nechells were includeded in the new Borough of Birmingham, but local rates were still cvollected separately until 1851, when the Street Commissioners took over responsibility for roads and drainage. Until then, rates were always loser in Aston, but the standard of upkeep was lower than in Brum, where it picked up a lot in the 1840s.
I turned left, walked over the bridge and along Deritend past the former Bird’s Custard Factory, now under restoration to reach Heath Mill Lane and the historic Old Crown pub [Fig 4] which I expectantly entered hoping for a nice drink in a congenial environment. The building is nice enough, and a fortune has been spent restoring it, but I was a little disappointed by the atmosphere, although it is true they were doing a brisk trade in the ‘garden’ at the back, in the hot sun. It is an intriguing old building, and there are quite a few old title deeds to the property on display. On the opposite corner I could see the former bank, which is now a bar on the ground floor, with some interesting musical instrument dealers above. Next to it is the old Free Library dating from 1865, which closed in 1949, but it’s still a very handsome building.
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