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Needless Alley

ROWLEY JACK said:
No problem. I have imagined all sorts of things when legless. Still imagine things but now down to aging and without going to the expense (lol).
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Yes the taste and the sensation are great it’s the price that puts me off . At one time I used to drink in West Brom , between three pubs it must have been the drinkers paradise. I know it was to me . Hic
 
Here is a picture of the stamp shop when it was the Norfolk Stamp shop. When my late father bought the business he changed the name to the West End Stamp Co. The name was continued by Simon Collyer when he bought the business in the 1970"s.
 

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  • West End.jpg
    West End.jpg
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A Sparks said:
Was it called Sarah's?
I found this mention along with an old photo....

Needless alley Birmingham Warwickshire England. ... Sarah's Cafe, May 1960 I found this on Christine Hagemoen's fantastic blog, Vanalogue.
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Wonderful. I remember that sight well. Coming out of the Windsor pub (back entrance?) on way down to New St then up to Bogarts...1970's. Hmm was it the Windsor?
 
My nan was Manageress of Gor-Ray Skirts in Needless Alley, back in the Eary 60s.
Wonder if any body remembers that shop. Her name was Flo Horton.
 
Berrihert said:
I remember the West End Stamp shop very well.I used to spend my pocket money there in the 1950’s.Mr Hughes a charming polite man in gold bi-focals always humming.He would go to immense trouble to help you find a stamp.He even gave us credit.In Paradise Street there was another stamp shop which also sold cigarette cards run by a lovely lady.We always dropped in there too as it was near another essential school boys shop Spicers the Taxidermist which soldequipment to blow birds eggs and butterfly specimens.Edward Spicer was another great chap... but I degress ! We discovered that Mr Hughes was ‘walking out’ with this lady.. we spotted them going into the Cinephone[which showed european films every 3 weeks[financed by suedo porno from Sweden].I hope they married and were happy they were old school personalities urbane,cultured , kind and well mannered.. a rarity these days.
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Mr Heathcote Hughes first worked at the stamp dealer Fyfe and Grey in Union St. When the door opened there was a mad scramble to keep stamps from blowing away.
 
Bob Hughes said:
My late father owned the stamp shop in Needless Alley - The West End Stamp Co. My father used to wear the half moon specs. Worked in the shop on Saturdays and holidays in the 1960's. Thank you for your kind words. Attached is a photo of Needless Alley where one can see STAMPS written on the wall by the door to the shop.

My late father was the Mr Hughes who owned the stamp shop. Thank you for your kind comments.
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Hello, I read with great interest the threads of The West End Stamp Co, and the kind comments of your late Father.
I replied to a member of my memories of the shop in Needless Alley. My memory of the shop was that a Mr. Heathcote Hughes, formerly working as a young man at the Stamp dealers Fyffe and Grey in Union St either opened or worked at the West End Stamp Co.This would have been in the early 1950’s. Is my memory failing me or was there a connection.
I have no wish to mislead anyone as I have such happy memories of, with my Father, doing business with such a lovely man.
 
I don’t know how old this image is, but it shows Needless Alley with a mix of buildings, including what look like shops near the bottom and possibly a pub entrance beneath a large lamp (but might not be a pub).

The thing that caught my eye in the the modern view is there are two sections of quite old brick, whose layers show an interesting pattern. (There must be a name for this particular pattern). I think these bricks are older than the building above. I wondered why would these two sections be left when the rest of the building has clearly been replaced ? I don’t know if it has anything to do with this, but there’s a fire exit (probably old) set into one of the red brick sections. Viv.

CCE8BA38-9FB8-4893-96A8-76A7C63FF337.jpegBE4D2541-8404-4C2E-BCF6-AF3116B9B3DF.jpeg6E6175BA-8A45-41F7-8915-7CC8B70340DA.jpeg2C1BEEC1-14E1-418A-AE54-A78C050763FF.jpeg
 
flemish bond1666457784881.png

English bond brickwork1666458016177.png

stretcher bond1666458553582.png
www.designingbuildings.co.uk

Types of brick bonding

Types of brick bonding - Designing Buildings - Share your construction industry knowledge. Brick bonding is the pattern in which bricks are arranged in a structure such as a wall or column.
www.designingbuildings.co.uk www.designingbuildings.co.uk
 
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Vivienne14 said:
I don’t know how old this image is, but it shows Needless Alley with a mix of buildings, including what look like shops near the bottom and possibly a pub entrance beneath a large lamp (but might not be a pub).

The thing that caught my eye in the the modern view is there are two sections of quite old brick, whose layers show an interesting pattern. (There must be a name for this particular pattern). I think these bricks are older than the building above. I wondered why would these two sections be left when the rest of the building has clearly been replaced ? I don’t know if it has anything to do with this, but there’s a fire exit (probably old) set into one of the red brick sections. Viv.

View attachment 174087View attachment 174085View attachment 174086View attachment 174088
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a mixture of courses (layers of bricks)
 
Can somebody kindly look up the Kardomah on the corner of New Street and Needless Alley please? Did the Kardomah Cafe address extend into Needless Alley (as well as clearly being on New Street) ? Thanks. Viv.
 
Certainly, in the 1956 Kellys, there is no Kardomah listed in Needless alley, the only address is at 42a New St, The building certainly ran down Needless alley, as can be seen below

ScreenHunter 6028.jpg
 
Simonrea said:
My dad used to manage a bierkeller on Needless Alley in the 70s. Anyone remember it?
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I remember the bierkellar as Mr Bills at the end of the 70s - was it the old Mr Sams or was that a few doors up?? We used to play at Mr Sams late 70s.
 
Berrihert said:
I remember the West End Stamp shop very well.I used to spend my pocket money there in the 1950’s.Mr Hughes a charming polite man in gold bi-focals always humming.He would go to immense trouble to help you find a stamp.He even gave us credit.In Paradise Street there was another stamp shop which also sold cigarette cards run by a lovely lady.We always dropped in there too as it was near another essential school boys shop Spicers the Taxidermist which soldequipment to blow birds eggs and butterfly specimens.Edward Spicer was another great chap... but I degress ! We discovered that Mr Hughes was ‘walking out’ with this lady.. we spotted them going into the Cinephone[which showed european films every 3 weeks[financed by suedo porno from Sweden].I hope they married and were happy they were old school personalities urbane,cultured , kind and well mannered.. a rarity these days.
Click to expand...
Most interested in your memory of Mr Hughes. I used to collect stamps from Fyfe and Grey, a shop in Union St. I am not sure if it was Mr Fyfe or Grey, but he seemed to a twelve year old very old, he had a large moustache and was most annoyed when the shop door opened and stamps blew everywhere. But he had an assistant, a young man Thomas Heathcote Hughes, and as he was opening his own shop in Needless Alley gave me his business card, which I still have. The shop called the West End Stamp co in Suffolk St, though I only remember him at Needless Alley, then the Suffolk Stamp Co. A really charming gentleman. Though I have reached the age where memories may not be as good as they should be I am sure that these memories are correct
 
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