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Lucas Great King Street memories

Hi Maggie and Heather

Thank you for allowing me to put the photos on the website

They are in GKS Gallery 25




Jackie
 
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Jackie, you are most welcome. It was lovely to see them there, Grandad Ted would have been so proud. Heather
 
does anybody recall georgie jelf whom caused a strike there way back in the sixtyies i think it was
as he his a relative to us; and to another member of this forum jaynews it was a prolomged strike
and made the head lines of the evening mail i beleived he worked there for donkeys years
some think to do with him parking his car in the car park ; he is now in his ninetys and going strong as ever
he used to stand for election for many years in small heath ; he is infact my mothers cousin
have a nice day best wishes astonian
 
hi All
Came across this photo of Lucas at Great King St Hockley


Image2_Lucas_Grt_King_St_Hockley~0.jpg





Regards Stars
 
thats an amazing pic stars..i cant recall seeing that one before...

cheers

lyn
 
Hi


Here are some photos of inside Lucas's at Great King St.







Image6_Inside_Lucas_1920s.jpg





Here is one of the large presses

Image5__power_presses_at_Lucas_Gt_King_St_Hockley_2.jpg










And here is one of a shop in broad st selling Lucas products.
Image7_Lucas_retailer_Broad_St_Bham~0.jpg





Regards Stars
 
A T Gittins (I worked for them for a year or so) was more than simply a shop it offered full servicing and repair for Lucas, Girling and CAV products including guarantee work. I worked at Irvine Street.
 
Hi Lyn
Thats how i remember it. Such a large factory employing so many people,
it must have been devastating for the area when it shut down.



Stars
 
Hi Bernie
Hope it brought back good memories, and thanks for the information.


Stars
 
HI THERE SOME-ONE MENTIONED SOME-ONE WORKING THERE ALL IS LIFE AND RETIRED AND PASSED AWAY AT THE AGE OF 56 -
WELL MY UNCLE GEORGE JELF IS STILL LIVING AND HE HIS NINETY YEARS OF AGE AND STILL GOING STRONG AND LIVING OVER IN WEOLY CASTLE ;
BIRMINGHAM AND HE WAS A BIG TRADE UNIONIST FOR THE METAL TRADE I THINK IT WAS YOU CAN LEARN ALL ABOUT HIM ON GOOGLE BY TYPING IN GEORGE JELF EVEN THOU HE MAY HAVE CAUSED A RUMPUS WITH SOME SILLY SECURITY OVERNOTHINK HE DONE ALOT OF GOOOD FOR THE BIRMINGHAM PEOPLE
INCLUDING CONVERLESONS HOME IN WALE WHICH YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT IT ON GOOGLE LIKE I DID ;
I LEARNT OF HIS NAME THROUGH MY MOTHER MANY years ago when he it the head lines of creating a strike and walk out because it was some think to do with the dammed car parking when she seen his name on the head lines it was then she spoke of him and said look this man is my cousin
and told me of his back ground a being a councuillor with in the small heath ward for donkeys years since he was young and came back from canada
and the rest of the family fell out with him over his beleives but she never did fall out with george as they was great mates and friends as being 1 st cousins
it also on google it states he played a big part of the people of birmingham by getting them houses on chelmsley wood when it first was built it apparently was a high percentage of birmingham people of getting there house thereso he must have done some good also involved with the old birmingham city councill
in there early years of being formed along with and great friends of freda cox and co ;
but also my mother told us that many years years ago i do not which war it was but the jelfs father or there grand father used to go to great king street
with a cart and sell sandwiches and tea to the night workers of lucas,s out side there gates and thats how he made the money
for a little shop down sumer lane end and he would put a great big joint of cooking meat with windows steaming up and stand in the window with a cheffs
tall top hat and done well in making his money for the family when i was a young lad i used to walk down there to great kings street and think of the storiesmy mother told me about her family and knowing of all the coffee shops they had around the birmingham --aston area as well
and i would always look in to see if i seen my grand father in any of them but there again i do not think for one minute they would have spoke to me because they shunned my mother like george for going away with the commoner and gold digger like my old man;
i have heard stories before ; but two years ago i went to see george at his house in weoly castle and he said the same thing ; yes alan i remember your mom and dad he cause problems because he had a drink problem and he lived with us for awhille at new cannal street
because they ansells draymen deliver casked s of beers every week for there big party s which was often ;
so i cannot great king street and georgiejelf whomworked there for decades ; yes its sad to have seen and lost thefactory at grt king street
just like loseing the car industry ; don,t get to carried away andget excuted with rover and jaguar because it will disapear the same was as longbridge and drews lane ; astonian
 
Hi All
When Lucas's was Demolished i had the job of Dismantling and saving that Clock in the Centre.
Wal
 
hi wal i was only thinking the other day i wonder what happened to the clock...where is it now...

lyn
 
Hi Astoness:rapture:
I actually worked for J.J.Gallagher who Demolished Lucas's Factory
in Great King Street, and the Clock was taken down by me and my mate Dave Stead. We had orders to take it to a Birmingham City Council Heritage Storage depot at the back of Dudley Road Hospital, think it was Weston road ? we put it in Storage for them but i do not know what happened to it after that.:upset:
Wal.
 
i wonder if its still in storage then wal...would be great to find out...by the way did you see the pics i posted about 3 years back of the lucas building being demolished..they would have gone off the forum now because of the hacking but i may still have them in my files...
 
Hi Lyn
Possibly still in storage. Yes i did see the Pics and downloaded them because the fella operating the Large Crane with the Demolition Ball on was my best mate Tommy Stewart who sadly since passed away also there are pictures of Gallaghers lorries on there too. Gallaghers made us all redundant in in 1994 when J.J. died. I then got a job as Supervisor of Pest Control at Birmingham City Council and i retired last year.
Wal.
 
ok wal..those pics were dated 13.3.94 just in case you dont have the date...also they are very sad pics i think i will repost them on the forum..will try and find out what happened to the clock..

lyn
 
img259.jpg
This is the man responsible for it all, Joseph Lucas.

I have come across a newspaper supplement all about J. Lucas and Great King Street. It also mentions other J. Lucas establishments with various pictures of employees and different sections of the factory.Some other members will obviously have read this and I would like to know if members would be interested enough for me to post a few bits from it.
 
I have finished sorting out and everything I might post on the forum is now in one draw. I only have about five pictures for this thread so I will post them before destroying them because they are tatty news-paper cuttings. I hope they cause someone to recall their time at J. Lucas
.img420.jpg
How times have changed, Wilmot Breedon, The Austin and dozens of other factories employed many thousands of people just like J. Lucas.

img421.jpg----img422.jpg----img423.jpg Two images of the people hard at work and one of more pleasant times.

img419.jpg And now it is all over.
 
what a great pic no 1 is...taken around the 1920s at a guess..pic 5 is a sad one as apart from showing the great factory under demolision it also shows our dads security box when he worked at lucas...

lyn
 
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Hi Lyn
On the Demolition Photo you will notice that the Clock has gone as you know it was me who removed it. Have you had any luck in finding it since we last spoke...
Wal.
 
hi wal and yes i had noticed in the demo pic that the clock had gone by then...ive been told that it could be at dolman st and it is on my list of places to visit...

lyn
 
I didn't see the clock at Dollman Street but that is not to say it is not there.
 
hi folks..if anyone come accross any photos of the properties in gt king st i would love to see them..

mike if you see this post topsy posted a great pic of the peoples chapel gks i wonder if you would know what number this was at...as you know i am looking for pics of no 140 which was my old docs surgery..

many thanks

lyn
 
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Lyn
The chapel is not numbered, but is between 74 & 75, that is on theother side of the street below Bridge St West.
 
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