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Passages, Alleyways Gulletts and Snickets of Old Brum

Brass House Passage: I keep finding a few ancestors listed in censuses as being at "Court 2" Brass House Passage and wondered if this "court" still existed? I did try searching this site for this but am not finding it at all easy finding things (probably me!). There is good info about the Brass House and all things brass in Birmingham here https://www.search.revolutionaryplayers.org.uk/content/files/49/49/330.txt. It says all that remains is the "Brass House Passage". Whether these "courts" are still around I don't know.
 
I have to think but i don't think there are any of those type of courts left anywhere in Birmingham. There is a pub now called The Brasshouse but the area is now part of the redeveloped Brindley Place and the canal district.
 
Hammer said:
Brass House Passage: I keep finding a few ancestors listed in censuses as being at "Court 2" Brass House Passage and wondered if this "court" still existed? I did try searching this site for this but am not finding it at all easy finding things (probably me!). There is good info about the Brass House and all things brass in Birmingham here https://www.search.revolutionaryplayers.org.uk/content/files/49/49/330.txt. It says all that remains is the "Brass House Passage". Whether these "courts" are still around I don't know.
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There are some members on here that remember the passage..
https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=4092&page=2&highlight=BRASS+HOUSE+PASSAGE
 
Did we not mention Brasshouse Passage on this thread that ran adjacent to the Brasshouse that was once the Waterworks office, well that is how it is marked on this 19th century map. I wasn't around then so I wouldn't know.
 

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In the early days of this Thread (2010), I posted a photo of BETHOLOM ROW (first pic), and casually remarked that it was maybe a mis-print as I'd never heard of it. Typical conceited trite remark that ALWAYS comes back to haunt you, for some three years later, the usual suspects (Phil and mikejee), plus berniew, introduced me to the REAL truth behind the place name and it's location - Bernie through a private email, and Phil and mikejee and a lady named Pam Keeling on another brilliant Brum History Site (Brummies Talking) which they founded with others. (https://205004.homepagemodules.de/t407f54-Alleys-amp-Passageways-of-Birmingham-13.html). Hope they don't mind the plug...

"Betholom Row translates as "City of the dead". It was a passageway which bordered the Jewish burial ground on Islington Row. The Jewish community was centred on this area during the nineteenth century. Expansion of the Midland railway threatened Beth Olom but the railway line was diverted and the road and part of the cemetery survived. Today Bath Court stands on the site of Betholom Row, and the cemetery is no longer in use though the site remains there. The bodies were removed to Witton Cemetery in Aston some years ago." Fascinating...


Betholom Row.jpgBetholom Row pic.jpgBetholom Row burial grd map.jpgBurial grd map 2.jpg
 
Went to the burial ground before they closed/moved it - and it WAS fascinating. We were able to access it via some steps off Islington Row and walk around the overgrown graveyard.
They closed it soon after due (I think) to people sleeping rough and being disrespectful. Tried to access it again, but lots of rats there so we made a hasty exit!!!
 
Dennis

We tend not to plug our site, as we would not like to be thought of as poaching, but I must point out that we are not just a history site.

Phil
 
Have a vague recollection that I might remember Betholem Row. I knew the Jews Burial Ground as I sometimes went down the steps to get though to the canal towpath. I was interested in the railway lines both sides of the ground although one was disused and walked through a tunnel there. About 5 years ago I wanted to lead a walk through there but found the gate in Islington Row locked so I had to take the party to the steps by the Nautical Club to get on to the canal. And yes once when i went down there I saw two men acting inappropriately.
 
Ooops David, I hope they didn't put you off your lunch...

A few nice pics of an area I know little about....but nice photos from the Ladywood collection...first a snicket off Bell Barn Road, and then a couple more of that area. The snicket is fascinating...although the original caption to this Public Works Department photograph calls it 35 Bell Barn Road, Lee Bank, the address does not appear in Kelly's Directory. However, when this photograph was taken on 1 February 1934 several small streets, terraces and courts opened off Bell Barn Road and Mr Robert Jones had a shop at no. 34, which was on the corner of Chequer's Grove. It does seem that we are looking into one of these old courts, with housing just discernible on either side. The washing bears this out. As the numbering in Bell Barn Road is continuous on each side of the road no. 35 may be on the other side of the alleyway. It should be noted that Bell Barn Road in 1934 was much longer than the present road.


bell barn.jpgBell Barn Rd 2.jpgGt Colmore Street.jpg
 
A great thread, I am certainly becoming more educated reading through all these posts, a wealth of information here thanks to your dedication. Thoroughly enjoyed myself.
 
Dennis Williams said:
Ooops David, I hope they didn't put you off your lunch...

A few nice pics of an area I know little about....but nice photos from the Ladywood collection...first a snicket off Bell Barn Road, and then a couple more of that area. The snicket is fascinating...although the original caption to this Public Works Department photograph calls it 35 Bell Barn Road, Lee Bank, the address does not appear in Kelly's Directory. However, when this photograph was taken on 1 February 1934 several small streets, terraces and courts opened off Bell Barn Road and Mr Robert Jones had a shop at no. 34, which was on the corner of Chequer's Grove. It does seem that we are looking into one of these old courts, with housing just discernible on either side. The washing bears this out. As the numbering in Bell Barn Road is continuous on each side of the road no. 35 may be on the other side of the alleyway. It should be noted that Bell Barn Road in 1934 was much longer than the present road.


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I have recently found a family connection to Bell Barn Road which I am researching further, super photos of the area which seems now to have changed beyond all recognition. My particular interest is in 139 Bell Barn Road where Robert Pinfold operated a bakery until his death in 1903. His second wife Isabella was a distant relative of mine.

Simon
 
Oh I remember that Dennis. Used to go in to Hudson's on New Street, then across the passage to Hudson's shop on the other side. The later Hudson's link between the two shops (1960s) seemed so different. Seem to remember it still had a shop on the other side of the passage, but I remember it as a very modern extension leading from the back of the New Street shop. Can't quite work out how this fitted in with the arcade. Or I am confused dot com? Viv.
 
This photo was of the leg of Burlington Passage which went from the main part towards Lower Temple Street. Hudsons's were both sides of this but the basements were connected so you could go from one side to the other without crossing the passageway. Viv, perhaps this is what is confusing you.
 
Yes! That'll be it David. I'm glad you've solved that one, thought I was losing it. In fact I not only used to browse there in lunch breaks but I think I used to be able to cut through via the basement somehow. I loved Hudson's. My school had an arrangement with Hudson's whereby, if you were awarded a prize at Speech Day, you'd go to Hudson's to choose your prize and the school paid them directly. Thanks for clearing that up for me. Viv.
 
Dennis,


Burlington Passage was next to the Midland Hotel that of Enoch Powell's famous or infamous "Rivers of Blood" speech. It has been taken over now along with the passage and renamed the Burlington Hotel I believe. If you drank in the "Shake" then I would have thought you might have tried the Burlington Restaurant before it closed even if it was only for the experience. The main part of the passage from New Street to Stevenson Street was taken up by the Midland Hotel and the shops fronting New Street and Stephenson Street, but the dog leg from the passage to Lower Temple Street had a few shops including Hudson's book shop.

I should think these photos were taken from outside the Shakespeare and the map shows the location.
 

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Thanks for that response folks...went in Hudsons and do remember going 'underground' now Dave mentioned it, but was more likely to be found in Stanford and Mann or the Cabin! And that's fascinating about Enoch Phil...never knew that...and him originally from Flaxley Road, a mile or two from me now...and I do remember well the Burlington restaurant in those days...great grub...and whilst I'm here, and nobody's looking, can I post this shot of Paradise Road that I just found on the Ladywood Site? A most evocative, nostalgic look back at this still fascinating Street...and is that the beginnings of the demolition of Christchurch I can see in the distance? LOVE old lamps see...

Paradise Street 1899.jpg
 
What an atmospheric photo Dennis. You can smell the snow and feel the cold and itchiness of those wool coats. Because it's snowed, the statue (Atwood ? Forget who he us, so many been there) is highlighted in the photo. And, yes, that street lamp IS a beauty! Viv.
 
The statue at the entrance to Ratcliff Place was of our old friend James Watt, he probably had escaped from "The Paperhangers" around the corner and had left Bolton & Murdoch to get on with finishing the job. Mind you Ratcliff Place itself is worthy of a mention on this thread.
 

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Ratcliff Place. I was trying to remember the name of that street as I walked past the Town Hall last Saturday now lost under Paradise Circus
 
A photo with some great features Phil. Yet another lovely street lamp, Watt on his pedestal (but for how long?) and a smashing cabman's hut. These must have been welcome refuges for cabmen; a cosy and warm place to wait, maybe a cuppa between fares, a bit of a chat with other cabbies. Somewhere else on the Forum (I think under the 'Birmingham Town Hall' thread) we discussed the cabman's hut which sat outside the Town Hall on Paradise Street. I wonder if that same one was moved to this position, or perhaps this was an additional hut? I notice there's a horse attached to this one, were they mobile and therefore re-positioned from time to time? All the same I think they're a fascinating snippet of transport history. Viv.
 
Great shot Phil...and yes, been on before...but still very worthy....in fact I think it is the ONLY one (come friendly bombs..hopefully) showing Ratcliffe Place and that delighful cabman's hut...and also those lovely gothic buildings in the distance, demolished for the Library?....the Place named after city Mayor Sir John Ratcliffe (1856-59)...and well worth another outing...shame it disappeared in the 1970s......and whilst we are at it...why not another atmospheric nearby masterpiece in Pinfold Street? Good hunting everybody..!

Ratcliffe Place.jpg Pinfold st 1899.jpg
 
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