Perry Barr - Earlsbury Gardens

[Ian FOFB]

The 'then' pictures are taken from old postcards, the 'now' pictures taken from Google Streetview.
The older of the pictures is thought to date from the 1910's.

Ian.

 

[darrenward]

Hi, the pictures seem to have dissappeared, any chance you can put them back up?

 

[G G Jean]

Darren they disappeared when the forum was hacked. Pete used to live quite close to the road.

 

[oldMohawk]

There is an old coloured c1907 postcard here/click.

 

[darrenward]

Wow so fast and what a fantastic picture! Incredible!! Thanks, you have made my day!

 

[Phil]

Darren,

I don't know Earlsbury Gardens, and other than Perry Barr I haven't a clue where the road is, but here is the same postcard plus another one in black & white.

Phil

 

[G G Jean]

Thanks Phil and Phil for the photo's. We drove down there a few weeks ago and my how it has changed!.

 

[darrenward]

Thanks for the photos! There great, yes it has 'slightly' changed, I was a student living on the road a few years ago now, and was curious about it! What a difference! The trees are so big now!!

 

[m.humphreys]

Darren,

I don't know Earlsbury Gardens, and other than Perry Barr I haven't a clue where the road is, but here is the same postcard plus another one in black & white.

Phil

Earlsbury Gardens are just off Trinity road Phil ( Near the mosque ) and they run parallel to Birchfield road .

 

[Big Gee]

Living as we did in the "scruffy" end of The Broadway, Earlsbury Gardens was always viewed by us as very posh and up-market. A school-friend of mine lived there in the 1950's, and I remember going to his house and being amazed at how superior it was, with top-quality furniture and thick carpets, and also that his dad wore a jacket and tie when he was at home in the evening! How times have changed....for the better, or what?

G

 

[Charlie]

I also had a friend living in Earlsbury Gardens and, like Big Gee, thought it was the height of luxury. They had an indoor bathroom for god's sake!!
The friend and I still meet up though, every Thursday......after 60 years of friendship, so she didn't look down on me too much.

 

[willey]

Hi. I too have fond memories of Earlsbury Gardens. Yes,it was considered to be posh and of course it was. The houses even by today's standard are very attractive but sadly the area is no longer the same as we knew. Back then, those children who attended Canterbury Rd. School and lived in Earlsbury Gardens, were always a bit "different" from other children in the class who came from the surrounding roads. Good days! Regards. willey

 

[postie]

I found this one of Earslbury Gardens, if that helps.

 

[Big Gee]

Hi. I too have fond memories of Earlsbury Gardens. Yes,it was considered to be posh and of course it was. The houses even by today's standard are very attractive but sadly the area is no longer the same as we knew. Back then, those children who attended Canterbury Rd. School and lived in Earlsbury Gardens, were always a bit "different" from other children in the class who came from the surrounding roads. Good days! Regards. willey

My mother, bless her, thought that anyone from Earlsbury Gardens, Winchester Road, the top end of Normandy Road, Bayswater Road, were 'upper crust'. I have the impression that most of the houses in this general area were occupier-owned and not rented. I also went to Canterbury Road school, and thinking back, just by looking at them and listening to them, you could usually tell fairly accurately where kids lived. Yes, they were 'good days', Willey, no matter what side of the tracks you came from. I mean, we denizens of the mucky end of The Broadway always looked down on anyone who lived along Witton Road!

G

G

 

[Charlie]

I had to walk from the far end of Putney Road and the length of Livingstone Road to attend Canterbury Road (Cross) all girls school from 1952. My friend in Earlsbury Gardens only had to cross the road...so that was another point of envy.
They owned their own house, had an indoor bathroom and she had brothers and sisters...it's a wonder we're still talking at all lol!

 

[Big Gee]

A bit off-thread, but all this talk of Earlsbury Gardens makes me think of how basic a lot of peoples' accommodation really was, right up until the 1970's in some cases. Our house on The Broadway had an outside loo which usually froze in a bad winter, and a tin bath that hinged down from a cupboard in the kitchen. Hot water came from an Ascot over the sink. I don't think we even had carpets when I was young. The house was rented, of course, and the old ****** who owned our house and a few others on The Broadway absolutely refused to have bathrooms installed. She also didn't care too much about running repairs. Only in the 1960's when my old man started earning a decent wage did we have such luxuries as a bathroom, carpets and an immersion heater. Funnily enough, even when he could afford it, he wouldn't entertain the idea of buying a property, as this was for "toffs" only. No wonder I was green with envy when I went to my friend's house in Earlsbury Gardens.

Them wuz the days.....

G

 

[A Sparks]

I don't think I've ever been down Earlsbury Gardens (I'm originally from the Great Barr side of Perry Barr) but my mother went to Canterbury Road school so I will ask her about it when we next speak, if I remember!

Had a look on google street level and it looks as though some of the old properties are still there, mixed with new.

I can see it must have been the posh end of Perry Barr at one time as it's the same area where the very large Victorian houses were on Birchfield Road (and some still are I think) and also as the big parish church is nearby.