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Then & Now

Two photos below of the "Paradise" site (old Birmingham library site).

I was going to call them "before and after" but I guess it should be "before and during"

Both photos were taken from almost exactly the same spot showing almost exactly the same "view" (you can see the same lamps on the left, and a small part of Alpha Tower on the left, plus of course the Chamberlain Memorial in the centre).

The first was taken in September 2015 (with some of my relatives in the foreground), the second was taken yesterday (Saturday 14th July 2019)

First photo - Sept 2015
Paradise 001.JPG

Second photo, taken yesterday, Saturday 13th July 2019
Paradise 002.JPG
 
5 Bennetts Hill looked like this in 1932 and one company in the building was Parcels & General Assurance Associates Limited. A bust of a man looking sidewards sits on the ledge. Was he someone known or just a decoration ?
Bennetts_Hill_1932.jpg

In 2016 the building housed 'The Barber House' as below.
NowBennetts.jpg

In 2019 'The Barber House' had moved but a van blocked much of the view as seen in link below.
https://goo.gl/maps/BFZKU3Ju69aooYif6
 
135863
This post, 1544#, i the They were caught in old pics thread, by Old Mohawk, shows bomb damage in Bennetts Hill. It doesn't explain who was portrayed in the bust but it might suggest that is why it is no longer there.
 
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No 5 was in the higher part of Bennetts Hill above Waterloo Street. It is a strange bust looking sidewards but perhaps it was just for decoration.

Of interest, the artist Edward Burne Jones was born in a house in the lower part part of Bennetts Hill and I think there are posts about him in another thread.
 
N°5 Bennetts Hill seems to have had multiple occupancy as the 1940 Kelly's shows. The first reference I can find is 1834.

There is something above the head that may be relevant, but what is it?

E76B4415-B199-4172-BF8A-24EE7BACB0A2.jpeg
 
Pedrocut said:
The architects Harvey, and later Harvey and Wicks, were located ther from at least 1905 and may have some connection?
Click to expand...
Unfortunately I can't resolve the items above the bust apart from the top part of the 'crest' might be a spoked wheel.

There is information that the architect William Harvey was appointed by George Cadbury to work on houses in Bournville in 1895 aged just 20.
 
Pedrocut said:
N°5 Bennetts Hill seems to have had multiple occupancy as the 1940 Kelly's shows. The first reference I can find is 1834.

There is something above the head that may be relevant, but what is it?

View attachment 135864
Click to expand...

Pedrocut,

I wonder if the things above the head are insurance fire marks. The bottom one looks like a ship so maybe they have nothing to do with the head.

I like the fact that he's looking down Bennetts Hill rather than straight ahead. Perhaps this is relevant. Not sure of the date of the building - 1820's? What was down the hill at this time?
 
Peter,
Bill Dargue writes that the properties at 1-5 Bennetts Hill were built in the early Victorian period which fits with your newscutting.

After much peering at the plaques I think that the top one is some sort of coat of arms with lettering around and the bottom one looks like a man with a very prominent chin not a ship - but who knows? We need some wizards with photoshop.
 
Lady Penelope said:
Pedrocut,

I wonder if the things above the head are insurance fire marks. The bottom one looks like a ship so maybe they have nothing to do with the head.

I like the fact that he's looking down Bennetts Hill rather than straight ahead. Perhaps this is relevant. Not sure of the date of the building - 1820's? What was down the hill at this time?
Click to expand...
I was wondering why he was looking in that direction.
Now the question arises of what might he been looking at?
To narrow the field I think a time prior to WW1 would be a better starting point.
 
As the address has more than one use at any time, it seems unlikely that an individual would alter the facing? Maybe the head was there in 1827?
 
A lovely photo OM (post 768). As the head is looking downhill and there is a corner, I wonder if it was some kind of humorous thing such as the heading looking to see who was coming up the hill (visitors maybe?), Certainly intriguing.
 
We are now standing on New Street at the junction of Stephenson Place looking up Corporation Street. The first image of New Street must have been taken prior to 1878 before Corporation Street was cut trough. Then the next image is from the early 1900's, and then one from the 1950's and the final one is what it looks like today.

City bottom of Corporation Street.jpg
 
The Highgate end of Gooch Street looking toward Sherlock Street, I can only take a guess that the photo was taken from near the Barford Street junction as that has to be Barford Tower being erected in the 1960's and now some 50 years later that tower is gone.

Gooch Street.jpg
 
Here we have The Town Hall in 1834 just after it was built and opened (top left) and through the years up to 2019 (bottom right) You will note that in the later photos the hall looks longer this is because in 1837 and again in 1850 it was extended. During the original building two workmen died when a crane collapsed dropping a column killing one man instantly and another died of his injuries a few days later. One part of the column stand in St Philips Churchyard today as a memorial to the two workman, but the other is in Cannon Hill park and forms part of a flower display.

City Victoria Square Town Hall 1834 - 2019.jpg
 
The junction of Bloomsbury Street, Great Francis Street and Ashted Row in Nechells, known to some as the Junction because of the pub of that name at the location but know to other older residents as the Cab Stand for reasons made obvious by a couple of the images.

Great Francis St - Vauxhall Rd - Bloomsbury Street Junction.jpg
 
Phil said:
The junction of Bloomsbury Street, Great Francis Street and Ashted Row in Nechells, known to some as the Junction because of the pub of that name at the location but know to other older residents as the Cab Stand for reasons made obvious by a couple of the images.

View attachment 136131
Click to expand...
Phil, these are great pictures, thank you for sharing……...
As I looked at these and others on the forum, SO many pubs have disappeared! Before I left Birmingham they were a home away from home and the beer was pretty good too. where did the pubs go and those that frequented them?
 
Richarddye said:
Phil, these are great pictures, thank you for sharing……...
As I looked at these and others on the forum, SO many pubs have disappeared! Before I left Birmingham they were a home away from home and the beer was pretty good too. where did the pubs go and those that frequented them?
Click to expand...

Richard

Sadly they are a thing of the past, modern youth do not have the same interest as we had. I have said time and time again that these back street pubs were the forerunners of today's community centres only they did a better job. They looked after the pensioners and sick and needy in the neighborhood especially at Christmas time, they hosted the pub clubs such as darts, dominoes, cribbage, fishing. Of course there was always the weekend singsong and organised days and nights out on the old charabanc. Now if a pub isn't filled with one armed bandits, jukeboxes, video games, large screen televisions, it's classed as boring.
 
Phil said:
Richard

Sadly they are a thing of the past, modern youth do not have the same interest as we had. I have said time and time again that these back street pubs were the forerunners of today's community centres only they did a better job. They looked after the pensioners and sick and needy in the neighborhood especially at Christmas time, they hosted the pub clubs such as darts, dominoes, cribbage, fishing. Of course there was always the weekend singsong and organised days and nights out on the old charabanc. Now if a pub isn't filled with one armed bandits, jukeboxes, video games, large screen televisions, it's classed as boring.
Click to expand...
Phil,

Thank you for your excellent explanation......It is really sad that what we had for very little has gone for the most part! Your words bought my memories flooding back, the dart games and fishing were my favorites. The build up to Christmas and the family and friend celebrations though Christmas, Boxing Day & New Years Eve & day were so so special.
Thank you for your perspective, those times will always stay with me!
 
Phil said:
Richard

Sadly they are a thing of the past, modern youth do not have the same interest as we had. I have said time and time again that these back street pubs were the forerunners of today's community centres only they did a better job. They looked after the pensioners and sick and needy in the neighborhood especially at Christmas time, they hosted the pub clubs such as darts, dominoes, cribbage, fishing. Of course there was always the weekend singsong and organised days and nights out on the old charabanc. Now if a pub isn't filled with one armed bandits, jukeboxes, video games, large screen televisions, it's classed as boring.
Click to expand...

i also agree with you phil...i am just glad that i am old enough to remember when the local was at the heart of the community most pubs now are full of strangers eating curly fries.. 12 oz steaks and watching a tv that is so loud you cant hear yourself think never mind hold a conversation...i can do that at home

lyn
 
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