Then & Now

[Radiorails]

We see things usually at a variable distance and rarely close up, with little time to inspect closely. I had reason to take someone to a small hospital today and whilst I was waiting for them I looked closely at the single storey, cottage style, brick built building. It was built using kind financial donations in the mid 1920's. It has been extended over the years but always, pleasingly, with a similar type and colour bricks. The bond is stretcher.
A portico over the entrance has been added in this century, again with a closely matching brick.
What did catch my eye, however, was the mortar used in the original building, now some 90 years old. It was mortar, a very thin fillet, and looks very neat and in perfect condition. The new portico has used cement, with stretcher bond, but the cement fillet is much thicker and has a 'roughish' appearance. The portico wall will, at some time need re-pointing, but I feel the old walls look far more pleasing and permanent.
I suggest that present day economies, coupled with so many structures having a projected short lifetime, many of our 'new' buildings will not become historic. Agreed that some post WW2 buildings are listed. but that will not prevent them deteriorating or even becoming unstable requiring considerable and costly maintenance.

 

[Robert Ensor (bob)]

some good shops names there...wimbushes..george mason and i think bradleys was a butchers although i could be wrong about that...

lyn

Spot on Lyn looks just like the shops we all got sent too by our mum.
I just see the now picture of a lifeless place devoid of community.

But what about the bull dog face above the shop on the corner ?

 

[oldMohawk]

But what about the bull dog face above the shop on the corner ?

It says 'Bulldog Motor Spares' on my laptop ... probably a business before the one which is there now.

 

[Eric Gibson]

I think the corner shop in the old picture must have been Ted Haynes, we had one similarly located on the Kingstanding Road / Dyas Road and opposite corners a greengrocer.

 

[Astoness]

A pic below of the Beeches Estate being built.

would i be right in saying this more or less the now view...the cars are coming out of thornbridge avenue which i dont think was cut at the time of the older photo

lyn

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[oldMohawk]

would i be right in saying this more or less the now view...the cars are coming out of thornbridge avenue which i dont think was cut at the time of the older photo
lyn

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Thats the spot Lyn, and where that black car is I sat in a car many years ago ....
Phil

Here's my peddle car on a sunny day during 2nd World War.
Me driving, my sister in the trailer. I remember pedalling it and trailer all the way from Beeches Estate Great Barr to my Grans in Perry Common, with a bit of help up the hill of Greenholm Rd. Wheels on it look good - tyres and spokes - and I'm wearing a uniform !

 

[devonjim]

Bull Street in the City just before the Minories / Temple Row. There are just a few noticeable changes.

View attachment 139779

Just around the corner in Colmore Row.

 

[Phil]

If you go back to post 1,226 on this thread you will see that I have posted an explanation about an error I made about these two pubs.

The pub in the corner of Bromford Lane and Farnhurst Road was actually the Bromford. Whilst The Norton was at the junction of Tyburn Road and Kingsbury Road.

 

[oldMohawk]

The Bromford looking ready for demolition.

 

[oldMohawk]

St Augustines Church in Lyttelton Road, Edgbaston.


The view today and not a lot looks changed apart from heavy pruning of the trees in the garden on the left.


The church is on an island ... have a look round it with

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[Phil]

Foremans Road, Sparkhill, Joseph Lucas Plant.

 

[sospiri]

Thanks very much for the picture, Phil, my mother used to work nightshift viewing bakelite mouldings in the building on the left. It was all ladies with a male chargehand, who would go around at random checking the items that each checker had passed. Repeated failures eventually led to dismissal. After my mother left, a trumpet playing friend of mine got the chargehand's job. However, he was at music college during the day and taking benzedrine to stay awake in the evenings, so I doubt if his checking was any better than some of the worst of the lady checkers!

Maurice

 

[Richard Dye]

Villa Road in 1979 looking towards Hamstead Road. Ansells Pub on the left.
View attachment 139758

The pub is now a Veg Hall but the word 'Head' still in the pic but more decorative. The 'Chicken Inn' seen in the old pic has become the W M J C (West Midlands Jerk Centre) selling spicy chicken.
View attachment 139759

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And a lot more cars oldMohawk!

 

[Richard Dye]

I don't think any of us look back on the 1950s with wholly rose-tinted spectacles. And black-and-white images probably block out such things as litter and general untidiness/scruffiness. But what I can't understand is why everything, if this last image is anything to go by, has become so UGLY, in comparison.

Chris

Very sad......Chris!

 

[Phil]

Maurice,

My grandfather worked at Foremans Road as long as I could remember, he worked on the Bakelite moulding machines. He died a horrible death from cancer of the chest bones which no doubt was caused by the asbestos used in the Bakelite manufacturing process.

 

[sospiri]

That's nasty, Phil, and not the way anyone would want to go. I don't think that Mom worked there for more than a year, but it was my passport to one of the famed Lucas Christmas parties. But I didn't enjoy it as I was a shy young lad and not happy when out of my familar environment with people that I didn't know. Probably the same reason I was glad to leave school, as I didn't enjoy most of that either!

Maurice

 

[oldbrit]

Then, as I remember it when I left Brum 1957 and NOW Gold leafed WHY??? Another example how Brum has changed PROGRESS????

 

[Lady Penelope]

I thought they looked much classier before the facelift. I think others feel the same too.

 

[Robert Ensor (bob)]

I thought they looked much classier before the facelift. I think others feel the same too.

You mean when it had the original patina, the very same stuff I have been told for over half my life on the Antique Road Show not to remove.

 

[oldMohawk]

A postcard pic of Highbridge Road Wylde Green unfortunately no date. The telegraph poles look unusual, possibly metal and with decorative tops. It looks an affluent area and maybe they wanted something posh or perhaps it was a different telephone company.


Today all the houses are still there but standard telephone poles.

 

[ellbrown]

Then, as I remember it when I left Brum 1957 and NOW Gold leafed WHY??? Another example how Brum has changed PROGRESS????

I like the gold leaf look.

A few changes since 2013.

August 2013 - a month before the Library of Birmingham had opened. The 1974 - 2013 Birmingham Central Library would be demolished in Chamberlain Square during 2015 - 2016.



December 2019 - and three days before the Westside Metro extension was opened to Centenary Square. They are calling this tram stop Library. One and Two Chamberlain Square at Paradise Birmingham are practically complete. Pricewaterhouse Coopers will move into One Chamberlain Square soon.

 

[Radiorails]

Those bright gilt statues suggest Birmingham does not have such a problem with starlings these days?

 

[Saqib365]

View attachment 116885
Mary Street in Balsall Heath. I had cause to drive down here when taking pictures for the book and I was delighted to see those unusual balconies still in place.

The popularity of smoking in the 1950's in made clear by all the signs on the corner shop - Player's, Will's "Gold Flake" and "Three Castles" and Capstan.

Victoria got in touch to say that the shop next to the corner shop was run by a lady called Zelda. Then Maria was kind enough to provide this amusing story about another resident of the street:
"There used to be an Egyptian Dr called Dr Dearey, he had a very strange set up, what ever the ailment he always gave you an injection, my father like most of his patients would tip him and he took it. The larger the amount the better consultant you got to see if you needed to be reffered to the hospital for anything.

I always remember he had a skull on his desk with a cigarette hanging from his mouth and a plaque which read Poor old Fred died in bed. I kid you not, it was quite a scary thing for a child to look at. I'm sure he died in the 70s and his son took over the surgery. Not sure if he is still running it now though"
Photo by D J Norton, words by his son.

I live here now and no his son no longer runs it, in fact even the shops in this picture no longer exist, they are all terraced houses now

 

[Morturn]

So, does anyone know the story behind gilding the statues? Were they originally supposed to be gilded when they were made but it didn’t get done, or were they done on the cheep with gold paint that went dull.

 

[mikejee]

I think somewhere on the forum it is stated that they were not meant to be gilded

 

[oldMohawk]

This might be of interest ... scroll down a bit in the website for the notes and pic ...

The larger-than-life size figures are in bronze, with a gold finish, on a pedestal of Portland stone and are depicted discussing engine plans. The piece is in a temporary position and was originally intended to stand outside a Planetarium, which was never built, but which would have stood outside what is now the Repertory Theatre.

quoted from the following ....

Boulton, Watt and Murdoch | Statues and public art | Birmingham City Council

Birmingham has fine pieces of public art by internationally respected artists such as Anthony Gormley, Dhruva Mistry and William Bloye.

www.birmingham.gov.uk

 

[ellbrown]

Hope they bring this sign out of storage in 2020 as well.

William Bloye's statue of three of Birmingham's most famous figures was commissioned in 1939 but was not installed in this location until 1956.

The statue was originally intended to form part of an ambitious new Civic Centre complex - the only parts of which were built were Baskerville House and the Hall of Memory in Centenary Square.

The bronze statue was originally gilded but this gradually faded over the years. It was regilded in 2006 to return it to it's original appearance.

Could have been installed outside of the never built Planetarium.



When it returns in 2020 near Symphony Hall (when the foyer rebuild is completed) it might be close to where they originally envisioned it to be. So 81 years late.

 

[Morturn]

Thanks all.

 

[ellbrown]

Best view of the future location of Boulton, Watt & Murdoch from the Library of Birmingham, Discovery Terrace. Or if you are brave from the Star Flyer at Ice Skate Birmingham.

 

[Banjo]

Mary Street, near the junction of Edward Rd, Balsall Heath. My Aunt Betty Middleham ran the café on the left around 1960. What is obvious now is that while all around has disappeared since then, the post box still stands.