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Gregory Pank Hardware Shop Digbeth

Rosary_Boy said:
So the guys who run Gregory panks the howard family who brough the shop off the wiseman family who owned Birmingham city fc,
let me in today as shops closes after 100 years being a shop,
haha 16 yrs old first time I use go here every day from 1989
maybe boring to some but Its Birminghams history !
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thanks for pics. its a shame there are not many shops were you can get fork handles from now.
 
great piccies...i would have thought the photo could mayb of family members...the well interests me...wonder if there is a map marking it out

lyn
 
Rosary_Boy said:
So the guys who run Gregory panks the howard family who brough the shop off the wiseman family who owned Birmingham city fc,
as shops closes after 100 years being a shop,
haha 16 yrs old first time I use go here every day from 1989
maybe boring to some but Its Birminghams history !
Even had a well in celler from 1890s
The wiseman family still own the building to this day
plus the owners son andy was telling me the kerryman wana
buy it and turn it into a hotel.
plus I found a photo which is failing apart very quick in the celler I did ask the owners son who said I could take it
would love to know who these two are in photo maybe owners Gregory or pank ?

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Hi this is Andy , Derricks son. The photograph of the couple is now something we would like to work out as Steve Wiseman the landlord would like to know if any old photos were found. I will show him the picture from this . Also I've tried to attach a couple of pictures but it says that the file is too large. Any ideas how to sort this ?
 
hello andy and welcome to the forum...your shop has caused great interest as you can see....so am i correct in thinking that the old photo is not of members of your family but of the owner of the shops family??

yes you will have to down size the photos you have are you able to do this

lyn
 
Astoness said:
hello andy and welcome to the forum...your shop has caused great interest as you can see....so am i correct in thinking that the old photo is not of members of your family but of the owner of the shops family??

yes you will have to down size the photos you have are you able to do this

lyn
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Hi lyn
I will work on the pics. The photo is a mystery of the couple. If we can get a date on when it was taken or clothing ,development etc then I should be able to work out who had the shop in that era and time frame via help from all involved. The shop has more history than people realise because the back of the shop is linked to the iron warehouse next door.
 
hi andy looking at that photo again i can only guess it could have been taken during the 30s and 40s but it is only a wild guess..i have posted it on our pic restoration thread to see if any of our experts can tidy it up a bit..

lyn
 
Andy from Panks said:
Hi this is Andy , Derricks son. The photograph of the couple is now something we would like to work out as Steve Wiseman the landlord would like to know if any old photos were found. I will show him the picture from this . Also I've tried to attach a couple of pictures but it says that the file is too large. Any ideas how to sort this ?
Click to expand...

PM me and I will downsize them for you
 
ha ha well it certainly bought them up into very good condition andy..

lyn
 
If anyone should fancy a look tomorrow at 1.30 PM for an hour or so then message me on 07981 998357. I'm taking some people on a tour of the shop and its history tomorrow and I welcome anyone that's interested.
 
Andy from Panks said:
Hi this is Andy , Derricks son. The photograph of the couple is now something we would like to work out as Steve Wiseman the landlord would like to know if any old photos were found. I will show him the picture from this . Also I've tried to attach a couple of pictures but it says that the file is too large. Any ideas how to sort this ?
Click to expand...
hello Andy the photo is falling apart as it was wet and now drying out has made it worse
hope u can find out who it is if u want it back u can collect no worrys
 
i would like to thank andy and his wife for their hospitality today...really enjoyed a trip back in time and there is clear evidence still visible of when the building was used as a bakers and general grocers..will post photos asap as my son took them...:)

the pic of the cellar on post one is i believe where the baking was done and i think the shoot showing on the same photo could have been where the sacks of flour was delivered...on the other side of the cellar(cant see a photo of it on the thread( but my son took some so will post asap) is what looks to be a large open fire range which could have been where the baking was done...the low wall on the right of the cellar could have been where they piled up the sacks of flour...all guess work on my part of course..

i think mike has already dated the building to 1870 but it would be great if a little more research could be done to see how far back it goes...oh and i am on the hunt for any early 1900 photos of the building...thanks for any help folks

lyn
 
A really interesting day I guess for those who were able to go and those of us who couldn't will await the pics.
One thing is certain that above ground dating is not too difficult but as it is Digbeth there must be much below the ground not yet discovered.
I wonder if the place is being considered for restoration such as the custard factory area was? You folks up there need to keep a watchful eye on the place, if you can. ;)
 
Very interesting couple of hours, what amazed me was the amount of stock still in there , going into the skip apparently, boxes of GKN screws of all sizes from 1"x 8's to 4"x 12's, thousands of nuts and bolts, coach screws of all sizes, gallon containers of wax furniture polish and hand cleaner, garden bench metal sides plus lots more,surely someone could rescue this lot,worth hundreds of pounds.
 
What a shame.
I would have loved a look around had I still lived in Brum - look forward to seeing the photos.
 
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