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Highgate Street Factory & Square

I am trying to research the factory oppsite the central mosque on Highgate street which goes all the way back to conybere street, I have a photo from the early sixties but have been told it was once a pearl button manufacturer, printing company and in the
early 1900's it was some sort of transport depot.
Anyone else shed any light on the history on this factory or highgate square, or the lower end of conybere street ( as in the second picture).

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Photo’s of Turley and Williams,127/128 Highgate Street taken before the change in 1958 to Abrahams & Co Ltd.
Worked for Abrahams 1966 and 1967 in the school holidays. Like other temps I was moved round the factory in a vain effort to find something i could do.

I welded balls onto the top of crewit pots in a line of girls all on piecework. I contantly burnt my fingers and never made the required rate although the girls, after they had made up their numbers often pushed a few into my bin but how they made a young lad pay for it! The thing I remeber most was the internal system in the factory that required you phoned the office everytime you finished a job or were short of work.

Eventually they found I could I could 'do dispatch', left me there for a week and then sent me to a huge floor of a railway warehouse over by the gasworks to sort out thousands of large cardboard boxes into coutries and clients. I worked over there on my own for a couple of months with one visit a week to check progress. Compared to the factory it was very quiet and almost sureal.
 
Photo’s of Turley and Williams,127/128 Highgate Street taken before the change in 1958 to Abrahams & Co Ltd.F9DB8290-0B12-4A4F-A8B2-10E3C457B541.jpeg
 
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A couple of Abraham cuttings which may be of interest and a slightly better overall Turley pic.
 

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I have’nt tried to pinch the Brummie babby tag.I must have pressed the wrong button as usual.
 
I have’nt tried to pinch the Brummie babby tag.I must have pressed the wrong button as usual.
hi oldun not sure i understand...far as i can see you have not done anything wrong? if you mean the signature words "proper brummie kid" under your avatar this automatically changes after members have made so many posts...you can of course go into your settings and change the signature title to whatever you like

lyn
 
A couple of Abraham cuttings which may be of interest and a slightly better overall Turley pic.
Very interesting cuttings about Abraham who seemed to have a management that positively invested in the future. Thanks Oldun
 
Maps
 

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I have been researching Charles Iles and his company of thimble makers.

His first premises were in Coneybere Street but just before he died in 1870 he moved to premises in Highgate Street. To begin with this was just a dwelling house, with offices, with a covered gateway leading to a yard and workshops behind the house. A three-storey mill was built behind the offices and a steam engine and other machinery added later.The address remained, as 138 Highgate Street even though other properties in the street were acquired. It was known as ‘The Unity Works’. Employees lived in ‘back to back’ houses also in Highgate Street. Several generations of these families worked at the Iles factories.

This description is from a book by Norma Spicer called "Iles: a family of thimble makers"

Attached is a copy of a photo from the book of the premises in Highgate Street. I'm wondering if anyone has any other photographs of this part of Highgate Street or even has memories of the premises or even worked there? That would be marvelous and I would be really pleased but it was a long time ago. Thank you.

Can just make out the works on map on post 31 above. {RH} [Thank you Oldun]

The factory and houses were demolished in the early 1960s and Charles Iles moved to Tyseley.



iles.png
 
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