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Lucas Great King Street demolition

Just seen this thread, Very sad to hear that this great building has gone, another part of Birminghams great past bites the dust, I had a few mates who went on to do appreniceships there, and of course I went to own bikes and cars with all their components.
paul
 
Bernie D'Boult said:
I am assuming by Heritage Rooms you are referring to the collections held at the Stores in Dollman Street which have regular Open Days. Have to confess I did not see the Lucas Clock when there but then I saw enough of it when I worked there.
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Unfortunately it is not in the stores, and after investigating for me they said that they did not know where it was or who, if anyone owns it
 
thanks happy guy...now i wonder where it is then...i shall email carl chinn as surely something as iconic as this clock cant have been destroyed...

lyn
 
astoness were there 2 clocks on the bridge at gks can not remeber now. evey one knows the south facing one but not sure of the north side looking up gks to wheller street, kind reguards sidwho
 
hi sid if you read walts post no 29 i get the impression it was one clock but with back to back faces on it...cant be sure of this though...
 
walt00 said:
Hi Ycat
Talking about the Clock, I am the person that actually removed the Cock from Lucas's i worked for J.J.Gallagher and we carried out the Demolition work at Great King Street. The Clock was saved (by myself, and a mate named Dave Stead) and stored in a Council Heritage Store rooms, at the rear of Weston Road. The outside of it was Cast Iron and weighed around 3cwt each. One each side of the bridge walkway, but the actual workings inside were only tiny, compared to the Hands and Face. We spent a Saturday Morning taking it down and delivering it to The Council Heritage rooms. I also saved the Blue Plaque off the entrance wall. When we went in to start Demolition it was just like everyone had just got up and left. Everything was still intact. All the Desks, Chairs, Typewriters, etc, were salvaged by us and sold, It was a weird feeling, seeing everything still there as if waiting for Monday Morning to come, and the staff start work again, but knowing it was not going to happen.
Wal.
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hi walt...im afraid it looks at though birmingham has lost the lucas clock...carl chinn has no idea where it is and has not even heard of the western road place that you took it to after demo and as dolman st say they have not got it then its gone for good...most upsetting..

lyn
 
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Hi Lyn
It was definitely Western Road we took it to, and it was full of other Birmingham Memorabilia such as Statues, Road Signs etc. Pity i dont know the name of it, it may not have been called Heritage Rooms but it certainly belonged to, or had something to do with Birmingham City Council. ???????? Mystery or what ?? Lots of other stuff like Office furniture, Chairs, Tables, Doors, Cabinets Lockers, Radiators etc. Were all sold by Gallaghers to anyone that was interested. Otherwise they would have gone to the Tip with all the rest of "The Rubbish" it was loaded with near new or reusable office equipment.
Walt.
 
hi walt i think the only way to try and get to the bottom of this is to contact bcc its not as though it was a million years ago so surely they must have some record..when i have time i will see what i can find out unless someone else finds out first..

cheers

lyn
 
Lucas1.JPGLucas 2.JPGwell im stumped here folks..i have absolutely no idea who has put this up on the side of a house in wheeler st and what would have been the continuation of farm st...its at number 36 wheeler st..in the 2nd pic you can see farm st to the left which still exists but like i said the rest of farm st that ran from this house to summer lane has now gone...does anyone have any ideas..

lyn
 
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oh thats great wend..thank you and also thanks to bill...mystery solved..i like this emblem and to be honest the poor excuse for a lucas monument just a little further down on the other side of the road does no justification at all to a company such as joseph lucas..great king st alone employing some 10000 people

lyn
 
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I worked in GK7 as a PF until 1981. I got banned from the Lord Byron for defacing the pub sign with a pair of glasses and a moustache.
 
hi ariel badger went in the lord bryron a few times before demo..here is a pic of it minus the glasses and moustache lol..

lyn

 
i have just found some photos of my mother inlaw who worked in the kitchens at lucas in great king street in the fifties up to 1964
my mother inlaw is the little woman in the dark uniform wearing glasses in two of the photos
she lived in wellesley street hockley
josieimg403.jpgimg404.jpgimg405.jpgimg408.jpg
 
Astones, thank you for the photo. If you look to the far right of it there is a triangulated bracket coming from the wall, this supported a swinging sign depicting Lord Byron. this was the sign I so childishly defaced by attaching an indelible pen to a broom stick and leaning over the wall from GKS recycling yard. The bigger boys made me do it.
 
ariel badger said:
Astones, thank you for the photo. If you look to the far right of it there is a triangulated bracket coming from the wall, this supported a swinging sign depicting Lord Byron. this was the sign I so childishly defaced by attaching an indelible pen to a broom stick and leaning over the wall from GKS recycling yard. The bigger boys made me do it.
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yes ariel badger i see the swinging arm bracket and i totally believe that the bigger boys made you do it lol...

lyn
 
Well Corbett and Frank Kermode egged me on to doing it but the blame was all mine. I was with GKS from 1974 until 1981 when I took redundancy and moved out to live in Zimbabwe.
 
hi arielbadger, I was half right right, I suppose this happened on Saturday dinner time,on the way back from dinner break, kind reguards sidwho
 
20140204_191209.jpg

I managed to get away with a couple of towels.
Between 1992 and 96, The Farm Street Block, L2 and L3, V Block and the Directors' cars Garage in Burbury Street were occupied by SAGEM-Lucas. A joint venture between Lucas Engine Management Systems and SAGEM Automotive Electronics of Paris.
The SL people were the last on campus.
I was stationed at the Motor Industry Research Assoc. in 1996 for five years with five others. The remaining sixty relocated to an office block in Heneage Street West on the Aston Science Park.

The engineers at SL watched the demolition on a daily basis. IIRC, there was a delay because of the Kestrels nesting in the circular decoration on the end of M Block.

Some Tinkers camped in the Burbury St carpark for about a week until they got fed up of the local youths throwing bricks at their caravans in the night.


PS. I was a 1977 Apprentice at College Road.
I worked at GKS in Factory layout, GK5 Erica distributors, BW3, BW4, Cranmore Bvd, Dog Kennel Lane, Foremans Road, Garrison Lane warehouse, Gt Hampton Street and a short time at Lucas Diesel Systems, Greenville, South Carolina.

I see ex-Lucas blokes all over JaguarLandRover. Solihull, Gaydon, Whitley and Castle Brom.

For any other ex-apprentices,,, I've still got my "Dice and Base"...
 
great momento jimboLee..you are lucky to have those towels...pride of place in my living room is a cigarette lighter mounted on turned wood with the name lucas engraved on it that came out of the boardroom..and it still works..

lyn
 
jimbolee, do you remember the 2 old push bikes in the gents toilet on the proving lab side of the road opposite the entrance to the directors guarage. wonder what happend to them. kind reguards sidwho
 
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