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Then & Now

This is a rant with a question, every photograph I see of Birmingham l see tower cranes, construction, streets tore up, I understand that progess never stops but in order for all that progress to happen a piece of Birmingham has to be demolished.
Will this wholesale destruction ever stop or at least slow down ?
I nevér dreamed I would see the Bullring go I no longer recognize my home town when I look on the net.
I have always felt that England was full of history and slow to change and I like that, but looking at some of the changes its hard to see my history
Gosh remember when the Rotunda got built seems tame by today's standards
 
Robert Ensor (bob) said:
This is a rant with a question, every photograph I see of Birmingham l see tower cranes, construction, streets tore up, I understand that progess never stops but in order for all that progress to happen a piece of Birmingham has to be demolished.
Will this wholesale destruction ever stop or at least slow down ?
I nevér dreamed I would see the Bullring go I no longer recognize my home town when I look on the net.
I have always felt that England was full of history and slow to change and I like that, but looking at some of the changes its hard to see my history
Gosh remember when the Rotunda got built seems tame by today's standards
Click to expand...

Yes, I can remember the Rotunda being built . I did visit Birmingham when we came back for a visit in 2001, didnt recognise it even then but its something else now with all the construction from the photos, pretty sad isn't it?
 
Richarddye said:
oldMohawk what year was the old photo taken? I never remember it looking quite that nice in the 50's and early 60's,
Click to expand...
Richard, I have no date for the pic but at a guess I would say early 1930s.
Here is an aerial view taken in 1935. The garden with it's path, benches, and nearby telephone box visible.
FiveWays1935.jpg
the image is from 'britainfromabove'

Apple maps view of the area now. I suppose there is a grassy space roughly in the same position but who would want to sit there.
IMG_1219.jpg
 
oldMohawk said:
Richard, I have no date for the pic but at a guess I would say early 1930s.
Here is an aerial view taken in 1935. The garden with it's path, benches, and nearby telephone box visible.
View attachment 140020
the image is from 'britainfromabove'

Apple maps view of the area now. I suppose there is a grassy space roughly in the same position but who would want to sit there.
View attachment 140022
Click to expand...


and the thing is OM who would want to try and get there to sit down the way the traffic is today...
 
Robert Ensor (bob) said:
This is a rant with a question, every photograph I see of Birmingham l see tower cranes, construction, streets tore up, I understand that progess never stops but in order for all that progress to happen a piece of Birmingham has to be demolished.
Will this wholesale destruction ever stop or at least slow down ?
I nevér dreamed I would see the Bullring go I no longer recognize my home town when I look on the net.
I have always felt that England was full of history and slow to change and I like that, but looking at some of the changes its hard to see my history
Gosh remember when the Rotunda got built seems tame by today's standards
Click to expand...

hi rob i echo your sentiments...been saying for years now that birmingham as we knew it is almost finished....the powers that be will not be satisfied until they have robbed us of every scrap of visible history we had...to my mind that is fact

lyn
 
Hi oM, what's the big building where the bus is just passing please? Almost on Five Ways. I don't remember this area at all as the furthest we went up Broad Street was to the Collonades. No reason to go any further as we lived on the other side of town.
 
Lady Penelope said:
Hi oM, what's the big building where the bus is just passing please? Almost on Five Ways. I don't remember this area at all as the furthest we went up Broad Street was to the Collonades. No reason to go any further as we lived on the other side of town.
Click to expand...
Hi lady P,
I think it is the King Edward VI Five Ways Grammar School but perhaps someone can confirm this
oldmohawk .. :)
 
Astoness said:
and the thing is OM who would want to try and get there to sit down the way the traffic is today...
Click to expand...

Go down the subways. There is sometimes rough sleepers under the walkways.

New paving near the Park Regis Birmingham Hotel.

The Metro tracks are being laid on the Five Ways underpass from Broad Street to Hagley Road.
 
Astoness said:
hi alan do you mean the photo post 1415...i can only see 5 roads...unless ive missed something
lyn
Click to expand...
The aerial view in #1415 shows
The 'Five Ways' are
1. Ladypool Rd going left.
2. Broad St going top left.
3. Islington Row going top right.
4. Calthorpe Rd going bottom right.
5. Hagley Rd going bottom left.

Harborne Rd going directly bottom of the view has a junction with Calthorpe Rd before 'Five Ways' so is technically not one of the 'ways'. Old maps show this more clearly, but changes over the years have altered things.
Phil ... :)
 
Google Maps view of Five Ways. I can't rename the cropped screenshot on my phone.

Maybe Harborne Road and Calthorpe Road are considered just one part of the Five Ways. Being they are one way._20191220_112907.JPG
 
Last edited:
Is there a Five Ways Island thread?

Some views from the no 24 bus today, starting from Harborne Road near Costa.



Heading around just before Hagley Road.



Tracks laid for the Metro extension on the Hagley Road side.



And on the Broad Street side.



The bus went onto Islington Row Middleway before heading down Tennant Street and Bishopsgate Street.
 
Many people out and about on a 1970s sunny day in the Bristol Road, Selly Oak with the Plough & Harrow visible on the corner of Chapel Lane. The university clock tower seems to loom over the scene but it is somewhat further away than it looks. The position of the traffic lights in the foreground suggest that the photo was taken from the corner of Oak Tree Lane.
ZIMG_1217.JPG

A Google street view from almost the same spot shows the clock tower looking further away. Since the date of the old photo a supermarket had been built on the left but the supermarket relocated and the building is disused. The site could eventually house a block of student flats.
BristolRdSellyOak.JPG

Have a scroll around with streetview using your mouse ...
goo.gl

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.
goo.gl goo.gl
 
oldMohawk said:
Many people out and about on a 1970s sunny day in the Bristol Road, Selly Oak with the Plough & Harrow visible on the corner of Chapel Lane. The university clock tower seems to loom over the scene but it is somewhat further away than it looks. The position of the traffic lights in the foreground suggest that the photo was taken from the corner of Oak Tree Lane.
View attachment 140545

A Google street view from almost the same spot shows the clock tower looking further away. Since the date of the old photo a supermarket had been built on the left but the supermarket relocated and the building is disused. The site could eventually house a block of student flats.
View attachment 140546

Have a scroll around with streetview using your mouse ...
goo.gl

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.
goo.gl goo.gl
Click to expand...
Well I'm shocked nothing looks familiar to me, I was born in Selly Oak, l worked in Selly Oak then travelled through it every day into town I know Selly Oak or use to ?.
Going to fire up the desk top and street view Selly Oak.
 
Bob
Your last post gives me an image in my mind of starting up a steam tram and going to visit Selly Oak (OK. I know they never had steam trams in Selly Oak)
 
An earlier pic I posted in another thread. The Plough & Harrow on the left and the university clock tower in the distance to the left of the tree.
oldMohawk said:
The Bristol Road, Selly Oak, near the junction with Chapel Lane. No exact date but double yellow lines were introduced in 1960 so probably a year or two after then. The road sweeper was keeping the road tidy ... just one last shovelful to put in his bin.
index.php
Click to expand...
 
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