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Painting Of Old Market Hall

cookie273uk

cookie273uk

master brummie
Old Market Hall.JPG It saddened me when this wonderful old building was demolished instead of being restored, I had many happy visits in the 30's and 40's, to me St Martins and the Market Hall was the Bullring
 
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Lovely painting Eric. I unfortunately never saw the real building, something I regret
 
Eric your very good painting brought back memories of going with my Dad to the Market Hall on a Saturday afternoon when he would have a pot of jellied eels and I would have a dish of cockles and take home a brown paper bag containing penny winks - lovely !
 
Anthea, we lived in Shirley in the 40's and most Saturdays (particularly during the war) we would catch the Midland Red No. 154 to the Bullring then make our way to Martineau St to catch the 3x tram to Aston to visit our Nan, on the way we would always call in the market hall for a dish of cockles (3 old pence) from a stall just inside the hall, happy days. Eric
 
yet another wonderful painting eric...as like mike its a building that i was never fortunate to see

lyn
 
I only have very vague memories of the Market Hall - mainly Pimm's Pets where I would ask to go to see the puppies. Also the steps into it and the wet floor - it never occurred to me that it should have had a roof!! (I was only about 5 at the time).
 
I still mourn the loss of the old Bull Ring, it had so much character/charisma which the 60's upheaval and the more recent alterations will never have, this of cause is just my opinion, others may think different and others will be too young to have seen it to compare. Might have another go at this because Nelson's statue and the drinking fountain are on a little Island of their own but do not appear that way in my painting. I really enjoy painting subjects I remember and love ! Eric
 
pjmburns said:
I only have very vague memories of the Market Hall - mainly Pimm's Pets where I would ask to go to see the puppies. Also the steps into it and the wet floor - it never occurred to me that it should have had a roof!! (I was only about 5 at the time).
Click to expand...

Same for me Janice, my mother used to take me in there occasionally and we always had a visit to Pimms!
It wasn't until many years later I found out it originally had a roof but was bombed in the war.
 
Lyn & Mike

Unlike you I was fortunate enough to wander around the old market hall many a Saturday afternoon sucking my crabs claws bought for a couple of old penny's from one of the many fish stalls. Though I was never fortunate enough to see it with its roof on thanks to our ex EU partners. Nevertheless I was still gutted when it closed and was demolished, though I have to say as a teenager I was enamoured with the new Bull Ring Centre and Woolworths building. I must have been the amount of my adolescent youth that I spent there.
 
I remember going there with mom and having a small plate of cockles for 4 old pence. Still like them now.
I don't remember the market hall like this though. I must have walked around with my eyes shut.
16105731_1416609885055766_1207159671585261883_n.jpg
 
Terry

Your photo shows the Market Hall near the end if it's time, when the demolition crews had already done more damage than the luftwaffe bombing ever did. They had removed the front and rear of the market hall so they could fit the ring road around it. These two photos from Nicklin & Norton show the Market in the 50's.
 

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  • Birmingham-Bull-Ring-Market-Hall-opened-1834-at-a-cost-of-ú6700-19th-April-1958[1].jpg
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Thats how I remember it Phil, but for the life of me I cannot remember the market hall as it was in the pic I posted.
 
Well I can remember it before the war with its roof on (being born 1930) and also when it was bombed, still smoking and the firemen damping down about 1940 or thereabouts and of course later operating without its roof, that is why I am so bitter when it was demolished after all it went through. Eric
 
Only remember the Market Hall in the 50s. I remember a couple of visits with my dad to the pet stall in there but nothing else. Must have only been about 5 years old. Viv.
 
Was not keen on this painting at first, but it's grown on me so will frame it and donate to our next raffle. Eric
 
cookie273uk said:
View attachment 111074 It saddened me when this wonderful old building was demolished instead of being restored, I had many happy visits in the 30's and 40's, to me St Martins and the Market Hall was the Bullring
Click to expand...
We have an etching of the Old Market Hall by Joseph F Pimm. It belonged to my father in law, Arthur Hamil Westwood whose family were connected with the Birmingham Assay Offices until he retired in the 70s.
 

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  • Old market hall, birmingham 2.jpg
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Only just come across this thread. How wonderful the memories like cookie. I used to go with Mom every Saturday morning and also remember Pimm's. I remember going on the Saturday after it was bombed and the sad feeling I had. If I remember right, after it reopened, presumably the council, put an unexploded bomb casing in the centre with a slot in for monetry donations. I can't remember where the money went though. Certainly "the good old days".
 
Must have been very scary living during the war years in this country. I come from Fiji, born during the 2nd WW. In comparison, although my mum told us that a couple of NZ military contingent were based in Fiji to protect it from a probable Japanese invasion, I have no recollection. I was still a toddler when the war ended. I think, unlike Europe, we were hardly affected.
I have visited and stayed with my father in law in the Harbornne area, where he lived. His family owned large chunks of land I believe which was in Bramhall, now turned into a golf course my husband tells me.
 
Welcome Vilma. I suppose it was scary in a way, but I think we just got on with life. I am so glad we have such good memories of all we had in those days and indeed of all the memories created by this wonderful Birmingham History site.
 
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