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Kings Hall Market

H

HATELEY

master brummie
Where exactly was The Kings Hall Market in the lower end of Corporation Street. I remember my mother taking us there in the fifties
 
Phew that takes me back - I had forgotten about it until I read this post. Must ask my cousin her knowledge is better than mine.
 
I think "Kings Hall Market" was a generic name for these sort of places, old halls etc turned into stallholders markets. The former Majestic cinema on Bearwood Road became a Kings Hall Market in its latter years. Was it a company who did this sort of thing across the country?
 
Hi If my memory serves me right the Kings Hall Market was near to the Locarno Ballroom, opposite Cranes the Music Store, corner of the Old Square. My Mom always bought net curtains and other curtain material from Kings Hall market. Regards Carol T
 
Tremendous picture John. Its where Yates Wine Lodge (the second version) is now. Yates WL closed some time ago and the premises is being converted (on the cheap) into an Asian Restaurant which judging by the state of the owner will be strictly downmarket!
 
evening all, sorry Carol it's the Casino that used to be opposite the Old Square, i used to go there quite often for the evening and daytime jive sessions before it closed in i think 1961.

shardeen
 
Morning, Yes of course it was the Casino not the Locarno, I also went there at lunchtime for the jive sessions.
Thanks for that Shardeen.
Regards Carol T
 
hello all, if i remember rightly, the Casino was run by the Mecca organisation and the last manager was a mr Archer who later managed the Lacarno.

shardeen
 
I overheard someone talking about this market yesterday and until then I had never heard of it. I did a search this morning and I was pleased to see a thread covering the market.
Is the building still there?
What sort of market was it.. Was it a general "any type of stalls" market or did it specialise in anything?
What was the building used for before it was a market (it looks like it could have been a church)?
When did it close?
Hope someone can answer these questions for me.

Chocks
 
The Kings Hall market opened in 1897 as The New Central Hall in 1911 it was converted to a cinema and again in 1927 to a Variety Theatre. Then in 1932 it was converted to a indoor market and over the years parts of it were used for various uses such as an amusement arcade.

It closed in the early 60's and after a fire in 1963 it was demolished shortly after.

Phil

CorporationStKingsHallMarketFire.jpg
KingsHallInside.jpg
KingsHallMarket.jpg
 
Hi Phil
I used to spend lots of time in the Bingo Amusement Arcade, which was under The Kings Hall Market i was only a boy around 13 and it was full of Teds of a weekend. And surprisingly there was very little trouble there. A gang used to stand holding hands on the Electric Shock Machine and see how much power they could stand. Also there were Punchballs. One Armed Bandits, Bagatelle, and every thing was 1d cept the Juke Box which was 3d or 6d for 3 records. Next door in Lower Priory was one of the first Indian Curry Restaurants it was called The Shalimar, and the aroma of the Exotic dishes would make your mouth water,
I would stand reading the menu in the window, but that's as far as i got. Bus home to a Lard Sarnie.
Wal..
 
Phil said:
The Kings Hall market opened in 1897 as The New Central Hall in 1911 it was converted too a cinema and again in 1927 to a Variety Theatre. Then in 1932 it was converted to a indoor market and over the years parts of it were used for various uses such as an amusement arcade.

It closed in the early 60's and after a fire in 1963 it was demolished shortly after.

Phil
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the info Phil. Don't know why I don't remember it. Shame I missed out on the experience of the place.

Chocks
 
Wal

I was too small and always got chased out of the Amusement Arcade, even at the age of 14 I was only 4ft 10 inches and looked about 10 years of age. Luckily I sprouted up about 6 inches in my last year at school.

This is a photo of the Shalimar that was in Lower Priory underneath the Kings Hall Market.

Phil

LowerPriory-DaltonSt1955.jpg
 
I remember the Kings Hall Market. It was on the East side of Old Square/Corporation Street and specialised in textiles. When it closed it moved to the old Majestic Cinema in Bearwood.
 
In my last year at school at Handsworth Grammar, and we had long lunch times in those days, we would catch the 72 into town and go to the Casino for their lunch time sessions; no jiving signs abounded but ignored I'm ashamed to say
 
I love material and if Kings Hall Market had been there when I was a teenager I'd definitely have been seen browsing those stalls. Think I might have given the Hall 1 ad for 'Bridal Wear a speciality- fluorescent net' a wide berth. Imagine all those radioactively clad brides!!!! These ads remind me of the fomat that department stores like Lewis's used for their advertising too. Viv.
 
Not really my scene Viv although I did buy a lot of material in the late 60s and right through the 70s into the 80s for a lot of Sheilas clothes and a suit and a couple of shirts for myself.
 
Viv
Fluorescent doesn't mean radioactive. I'm afraid you' re probably wearing fluorescent cloths at present if you use the normal washing powders, as they mostly containg a fluorescent additive that by changing uv light to visible light, makes cloths seem whiter (as can be seen in discos with uv lighting)
 
Ah ha Mike. I expect then it was to give the bridal material a very white appearnce. Thanks. Viv.
 
It was probably the late 50's when I first went to the Shalimar in the basement of Kings Hall. One of the other customers was a mustachioed, rather-florid gentleman. He was probably a military man who had served in India. He shouted at the waiters and terrified them, because his plate was hot! The 'proper' way to serve Indian food waqs on a cold plate. Mostly though I ate Indian at the Shah Jehan (in Dale End ?) or one in Horse Fair.
 
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