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Saltley / Duddeston & Nechells Area

Duddeston development in the 1960s. Interesting design in the first photo compared to many other blocks built around the same time. There seems to have been some attempt to include a few unexpected architectural details including the stairwell tucked into the building, the two-sided, corner balconies to give two very different views and overall shape/footprint. Viv.

1964
6DFEFCE3-E2EA-451B-AD11-40A0717C8EB0.jpeg


1968
19901E43-DAF1-4F80-9048-29E586D72124.jpegSource: Birmingham Mail Archives
 
They were built in the late 1950’s. I recall it may have been Harold Macmillan who officially opened them. The styles of these flats were based on our naval heritage, so when you look at them side on, they resemble the bridge of a ship, with portholes down either side and railings around the roof.

Each block had 7 staircases, 2 for communal access and five as fire escapes. When built, the site had a district heating scheme with central coalfired boilers and an unusual waste disposal system called the “Garchey system” devised by Louis Garchey, a Frenchman.

The original plans also included a communal laundrette, wood and metalwork workshops and a theatre. These never got built.

They were amazingly expensive to build and were of their time.
 
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Interesting background Mort, thanks.
I see from Pete’s current view the buildings are still there and being well maintained. Looks like they house a considerable number of people. Viv.
 
The Garchey system sounds similar to that in quarrey hill flats in leeds which were begun pre war. There, I think waste was presseddried and used as fuel
 
In the Duddeston Blocks the waste was spun dry and then burnt in a gas fired incinerator. It did not add any heat to the district heating system and seemed quite inefficient. It used to small awful, was quite labour intensive and all the ash had to be winched out of the basement and disposed of.

Matthew Hall Ltd modified the process by sucking the wet waste up into a road tanker that had a hydraulic ram that compressed the waste into a sold block, that was dumped at the local tip.
 
Between 1871 and 1891 my great grandfather and 4 of his brothers all moved to the Duddeston area from Oxfordshire.

Not worked out as good as I'd hoped but this is a map of Duddeston, Nechells and Saltley showing how they and their children moved around the area (at each census) until 1921...

Duddeston Nechells & Saltley.jpg
 
Brilliant idea, can you imagine our future generation attempting something like this, it would basically be a world map.
 
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You're right there. Can't be many people who don't have fairly close relatives living in a different country nowadays.

I was gonna make my map a little wider but I wasn't sure if the roads would be recognisable.
 
Surely this is the old brewery on Cato St. . Where the hell is Weston St. I thought perhaps it was a renamed street, but doesn't seem to be one on Google maps near Cato St
 
Between 1871 and 1891 my great grandfather and 4 of his brothers all moved to the Duddeston area from Oxfordshire.

Not worked out as good as I'd hoped but this is a map of Duddeston, Nechells and Saltley showing how they and their children moved around the area (at each census) until 1921...

View attachment 170004
One of the things that has surprised me as I have been seeking my Ford family roots is how much people seemed to be churning around in a small area of the city. In my case that is Small Heath. I suppose that moving was easier because most properties were rented.
 
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st anns. school

Duddeston Mill on the River Rea at Duddeston Mill Road was the Holte family's manorial cornmill. In 1540 the Crown Steward who was administering Birmingham manor complained that Birmingham people were using Duddeston Mill instead of Birmingham's own manorial Heath Mill. However, Edward Holte was able to prove that Birmingham's mills had often been inadequate and that his grinding Birmingham corn had been agreed with the previous lord of the manor, Edward de Birmingham. Trade increased and the mill was rebuilt c1570 with three pairs of stones. By 1744, in common with many local mills, it was being used more profitably for metal rolling, blade making and gun-barrel boring by James Farmer.

Gun-maker Samuel Galton, who lived nearby at Duddeston House, rebuilt the mill which continued to make gun barrels until 1888. The mill's weir caused problems in Deritend by holding up the raw sewage discharged from Birmingham a mile upstream. Disastrous floods in 1852 spread raw sewage throughout the lower town and prompted the weir's removal. The unreliability of a constant water supply led to the mill being converted to a steam-powered sawmill. After closure the site was bought by the Midland Railway standing as it did alongside the Birmingham-Derby line.
Duddeston House, Saltley gas works in the background 1954 photographed by Phyllis Nicklin - see Acknowledgements, Keith Berry. At this time it was St Anne's School
On the east side of Devon Street was the Galton family home. Known as Duddeston House, or later confusingly Duddeston Hall, it had been built in a neo-classical style in 1758. There were extensive grounds along the river with a lake covering 2 hectares which was stocked with exotic waterfowl. Samuel Galton Junior was a man of many interests. It was he who discovered that the seven colours of the spectrum are made up only of red, yellow and blue.

After the Galtons left in 1838 the house was used as a lunatic asylum until 1865. and with increasing urbanisation, from 1868 for the overflow of infants of St Matthew's School in Cato Street. As the population continued to increase, the building was altered the following year to accommodate a teacher's house and some 750 pupils, and was renamed St Anne's National School. However, Her Majesty's Inspectors reported poor buildings and poor education iin 1894. The Board of Education were still demanding improvements in 1912. As part of the wide-scale redevelopment of the area the school was closed and the building demolished in 1971 with the children transferring to the new St Matthews School on Duddeston Manor Road.
A wonderful potted history, thank you, and a fine picture of St Annes School where I was taught 1944-49 under Mr Hughes to my 11+ and so to Central Grammar School. Devon now but a Brummie forever!
 
Queen's Tower Duddeston 1954, still under construction
 

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That was sad seeing Bloomsbury street police station looking isolated ,we left in 1967 when all the houses were still standing
 
st anns. school

Duddeston Mill on the River Rea at Duddeston Mill Road was the Holte family's manorial cornmill. In 1540 the Crown Steward who was administering Birmingham manor complained that Birmingham people were using Duddeston Mill instead of Birmingham's own manorial Heath Mill. However, Edward Holte was able to prove that Birmingham's mills had often been inadequate and that his grinding Birmingham corn had been agreed with the previous lord of the manor, Edward de Birmingham. Trade increased and the mill was rebuilt c1570 with three pairs of stones. By 1744, in common with many local mills, it was being used more profitably for metal rolling, blade making and gun-barrel boring by James Farmer.

Gun-maker Samuel Galton, who lived nearby at Duddeston House, rebuilt the mill which continued to make gun barrels until 1888. The mill's weir caused problems in Deritend by holding up the raw sewage discharged from Birmingham a mile upstream. Disastrous floods in 1852 spread raw sewage throughout the lower town and prompted the weir's removal. The unreliability of a constant water supply led to the mill being converted to a steam-powered sawmill. After closure the site was bought by the Midland Railway standing as it did alongside the Birmingham-Derby line.
Duddeston House, Saltley gas works in the background 1954 photographed by Phyllis Nicklin - see Acknowledgements, Keith Berry. At this time it was St Anne's School
On the east side of Devon Street was the Galton family home. Known as Duddeston House, or later confusingly Duddeston Hall, it had been built in a neo-classical style in 1758. There were extensive grounds along the river with a lake covering 2 hectares which was stocked with exotic waterfowl. Samuel Galton Junior was a man of many interests. It was he who discovered that the seven colours of the spectrum are made up only of red, yellow and blue.

After the Galtons left in 1838 the house was used as a lunatic asylum until 1865. and with increasing urbanisation, from 1868 for the overflow of infants of St Matthew's School in Cato Street. As the population continued to increase, the building was altered the following year to accommodate a teacher's house and some 750 pupils, and was renamed St Anne's National School. However, Her Majesty's Inspectors reported poor buildings and poor education iin 1894. The Board of Education were still demanding improvements in 1912. As part of the wide-scale redevelopment of the area the school was closed and the building demolished in 1971 with the children transferring to the new St Matthews School on Duddeston Manor Road.

I believe this is an early photo of the same building, that later became St Anne's School. It's tagged as Duddeston Hall - dated c1867 - by photographer Henry J Whitlock. There have clearly been some modifications in the intervening years, but the basic structure looks the same. One of the Saltley gas holders is visible on the right.

Duddeston Devon Street Duddeston Hall (aka Duddeston House, later St Anne's Schools) (Henry J ...png
 
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