• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team
  • HI folks the server that hosts the site completely died including the Hdd's and backups.
    Luckily i create an offsite backup once a week! this has now been restored so we have lost a few days posts.
    im still fixing things at the moment so bear with me and im still working on all images 90% are fine the others im working on now
    we are now using a backup solution

Newtown

box30022.jpg
box30025.jpgbox30026.jpgbox30036.jpgbox30044.jpg
Well as Warner Brother's 'Looney Tunes' used to say "That's All Folks!".

A bit of social history including people who wouldn't normally make it on to film.
While I am certain that I now own these images I am also aware that they were probably originally taken for the enjoyment of the parties involved and that there would have been an implied trust that they wouldn't be mis-used. Hopefully sufficient time has elapsed for them to be shown to a wider audience without causing any harm.
 
think we posted at the same time spargone...see my post 60

i also see no reason why you should not post your photos...in fact in time hopefully some of the children will spot them and be delighted to see them as apart from themselves they may contain photos of their parents...wonderful

lyn
 
View attachment 139083
View attachment 139084View attachment 139085View attachment 139086View attachment 139087
Well as Warner Brother's 'Looney Tunes' used to say "That's All Folks!".

A bit of social history including people who wouldn't normally make it on to film.
While I am certain that I now own these images I am also aware that they were probably originally taken for the enjoyment of the parties involved and that there would have been an implied trust that they wouldn't be mis-used. Hopefully sufficient time has elapsed for them to be shown to a wider audience without causing any harm.
Jim, These are Birmingham History Gold. They are wonderful and I wonder whether, at the time, your mother realised what an invaluable source of social history they would turn out to be. I don't know how many pictures you have but they would make a wonderful exhibition for the people of Birmingham to enjoy. It would be absolutely brilliant if anyone depicted recognised themselves and could add a bit of background story to the photos. I do hope so.
If you have more please keep them coming, THEY ARE WONDERFUL!.
 
Spargone.
Here is the position of Yarnolds (in red), which would make it Hockley yard in the distance
View attachment 139057
There is something not right here. The picture of Yarnolds that you referred to [#16] is without doubt the same location as my picture with the dog but the view of the railway doesn't fit the above map, the alignment is wrong to my mind. It also seems to me that going to the current Google StreetView of 'Yarnolds' junction it at first looks as though the last of the (three?) shops on Ford Street (the implied location) is still standing, but it has three storeys whereas the 'dog' photo looks like only two to me. I never knew the area so I am open to being convinced!
 
hi spargone quite right those buildings on the corner of lodge road and ford st are still standing they have the green shutters on them...looking at mike map yarnolds was on the opposite corner of lodge road and park road south.. where the tree is the lady with the dog post 23 is actually standing in ford st think ive got that correct...we do have members who lived in ford st who maybe able to confirm this....street view below...


 
Last edited:
spargone..the lady in post 57 photo 2 is locking up st georges rectory house..the trip out has a look of dudley zoo

lyn
It looks like a dis-used factory to me that has been 're-purposed'!

I could believe that #55 photo 3 was taken at a rectory, it has 'the look'.

It's a very long time since I was at Dudley Zoo and at that time the site was dominated by a hill and castle whereas the 'trip' location seems quite flat, like Twycross. (I had a look at the Google map, it appears to show a lake area but it doesn't exist on the satellite view but one always has to bear in mind that the streetview, map and satellite view are three different products linked together and produced at different times).
I hoped that my sister might have been able to shed some light but her memory of the FSU days was that "If you weren't actually wearing your knickers there was every chance that they would be bagged up for the FSU". She, like me, never saw where mum actually worked in her 'Aston' days.
Seeing tower blocks reminds me that once she managed to get a second-hand cooker for a client who lived in a tower block. The next time she visited him she narrowly avoided being flattened by the cooker after it was pushed over an upper floor stair rail. Presumably the client didn't actually mean to kill her as he shouted down, "Now you will HAVE to get me a new one!"
 
Last edited:
I am thinking that the day out is to Drayton Manor Park and Zoo early/mid 60's?
You could well be right! Near Tamworth might well be how mum described it. I have been past the gate of Twycross Zoo many times and that is 'near Tamworth' but Drayton Manor is just a well-know name to me, never a destination.
 
post 57 photos 2.3 and 4 all taken outside the rectory house..same no parking gates and door..my pic 2 is a black and white of the house....says st georges above the door but the word rectory is missing...in fact quite a few of the photos on this thread are taken there...the factory to the right is C BRANDAURS which is still there and at the min is under refurbishment...my pic 1 is also of st georges rectory house on the right and on the left is st edwards church..had a couple of rellies get married therenew john st west...st georges rectory.jpg

new john st west 2.jpg
 
Last edited:
Lovely pictures that match the slides beautifully. But they don't match the buildings on StreetView or this. The building to the right of "St Georges....." has three arches and a triangular feature over the door whereas the Brandauer building is all arches. It is also four storeys versus three. I would have thought that St Georges (so industrial!) would be further to the west, i.e. demolished along with the buildings on either side. I say that judging by the view of the flats which to my eye seem too far away from Brandauer's.
newnjs.jpgoldnjs.jpg
The blue marker(s) above are where I think St George's was and it and the buildings to the immediate east have gone leaving the large Brandaeur block. Perhaps the missing three storey building belonged to them too?
 
There is something not right here. The picture of Yarnolds that you referred to [#16] is without doubt the same location as my picture with the dog but the view of the railway doesn't fit the above map, the alignment is wrong to my mind. It also seems to me that going to the current Google StreetView of 'Yarnolds' junction it at first looks as though the last of the (three?) shops on Ford Street (the implied location) is still standing, but it has three storeys whereas the 'dog' photo looks like only two to me. I never knew the area so I am open to being convinced!
Kellys shows that Yarnolds were at 383-386 Lodge Road, which corresponds to the building marked in red (nos on map). I do not think that the view was taken from /ford St, though, but from Park Road. If you look at the map below, the line of site from Ford St would not have shown all the Yarnolds building (In red), but the view from Park road (in blue) would have shown the whole building

map c1950nlodge road.park road junction giving lines of site.jpg
 
Kellys shows that Yarnolds were at 383-386 Lodge Road, which corresponds to the building marked in red (nos on map). I do not think that the view was taken from /ford St, though, but from Park Road. If you look at the map below, the line of site from Ford St would not have shown all the Yarnolds building (In red), but the view from Park road (in blue) would have shown the whole building

View attachment 139096
The view from the 'dog' picture of Yarnolds is pretty tangential to Yarnolds west flank, which makes Park Road a better candidate. The other thing to note is that Ford Road east side numbering is even while Park Road numbers are odd. The woman and girl with the dog appear in another of my pictures, clearly in almost the same spot, and above them is an oval metal house number that I suggest says '83', making it the sixth property back from the junction.
My assumption was that the railway was being seen along the line of Park Road whereas it is possible that it was visible over the top of buildings on the west side. Modern StreetView images don't help here as buildings and vegetation change over the years and the image on the slide is lacks detail in the distance.
Thanks!
 
Also the map is c1950, and destruction of Birmingham buildings had already started by the time of the photographs, so all the buildings on the map were not necessarily there at the time of the photo
 
thanks.i have been looking,at them. bit better coaches now :laughing:
I was hoping to find the first owner of UTT 520 a Devon Registered vehicle, Embankment of Plymouth only ever had one coach that was Devon Registered as opposed to being Plymouth registered, but they had a lot of SB3s in the fleet. However the bus in the picture that interested me was the one between the OB and the SB, any of you bus experts any suggestions? Certainly the coach company seemed to be one that used second hand units. But what a collection of evocative and time remembering pictures.

Bob
 
The two supermarkets and Boots are, probably, the only names to be seen there now - that is if the shopping centre still exists! ;)
 
Great pictures by Spargone, couldn't resist a little clean up on my favourite...
Hard to know when to stop cleaning?

All of these photos were taken by my mum using a Canon Dial 35 camera. I think that was the only time that she used it. Previously she had taken a couple of photos each summer with her 8-exposure 'box Brownie' so she was no photographer.
The camera was purchased by my dad during a car testing trip to Kenya and subsequently mostly used by me or him. This camera changed the whole approach to photography for us, it was almost like being in the digital age as instead of only having eight shots to the roll this had 72 (and sometimes an extra couple if the processor was kind!). That did mean we could be quite free when it came to shooting.
candia35.jpg Camera halfframe.JPG Half-frame slide compared to modern penny.

However there are some down sides! First, we have a lot of slides, second, many are rubbish, three, being slides they are mounted in cardboard frames. That brings some more down sides. The slide is the original film, there is no negative and no spare prints. The cardboard frame uses a 'Prit'-like adhesive and hairs and paper fibres stick to the frame edges. The frame also provides a pocket that traps dirt, being half-frame the 'dirt trap' area around the edge is large compared to the film area. Another 'problem' is that the frame number data on the film itself is hidden, that can be quite useful when trying to put together a time sequence. (Not helped when it is obvious that slides have been returned to the wrong box).
The camera was quite easy to use, having a clockwork motor that wound on the film for you, and it took care of the exposure for you. Speed and focus were set manually, I am quite sure that mum never changed those deliberately.
Given the (surprising!) interest these slides have attracted maybe I should dig them out and give them some more attention and start using the scanner's capability properly. (The priority before was just to get all of the slides captured just so that I could see what we had). Maybe if they have historic value I should donate then to the city library? The work of 'Astoness' and 'Mikejee' would be invaluable here, (much appreciated!), for cataloguing, (still some locations to be identified).

Thank you all for the many 'appreciations' of what are in many ways just 'ordinary' family snaps. (The 'jam' on top would be for someone to recognise themselves!)
 
Last edited:
thanks for explaining all that spargone...now i know what those paper fibre marks are that we have seen before on slide photos...as regards donating them to the library of birmingham...it is the obvious place to lodge them but my advise would be to get as many as you can off the slides and keep them in a folder on your pc before handing them over...there is no maybe about them being of historical interest especially on the social history side ...every so often we get photos like this turn up and it really is a treat to see them...i know its time consuming but when time permits we would love to see more of these photos and just post any that you need help with locations we will do our best to help with that..as you say all we need now is for people to recognise anyone in the photos...that really would be super...

many thanks again...

lyn
 
I don,t see a launderette on the list,though i can,t for the life of me remember the name of it.
 
The newsagents shop on the corner next to harts is where I bought my first ever pair of tights I cannot remember what brand but I know the colour was American tan I was not allowed to where tights at school till the 3rd year at marsh hill girls school .I think it was around 1970 but we always used this newsagent in the 60s.
 
Opposite Harts before they knocked that side down there was a pub there I thought it was called the sportsmans inn but I cannot find any reference so I must of got the name wrong .Iwas certain there was a pub there as when I was young I use to go with my mum while she done some cleaning in there for them also I vaguely remember a chip shop somewhere along the same side as harts .Maybe someone might remember if they were there so I can see if my memories are correct.
 
so you are thinking there was a sportsman pub on newtown row sugar? off hand i cant be certain but i will try and find out for you

lyn
 
Back
Top