• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team

Victoria Square

That's a very nice pic of Victoria Square. From the traffic I would guess it was taken very shortly before the one-way system New Street - Corporation Street - Bull Street - Colmore Row was introduced on 5 June 1933.
I'm intrigued to see what I remember as Joe Lyons Tearooms on the right, but which don't appear in the Kelly's until after WW2. It's just as it was in the 1950s, from what I remember.
Peter
 
I like these...I think it was at the time of the Queen's Coronation in '53.

ClHcelebcor53.jpg


ClHscelebcorQuE253.jpg
 
thanks for posting those photos Mazbeth. Very colourful. I remember seeing those decorations in Victoria Square. I bet that on of thoses buses is a 5a or No 7 bus at the bus stop in front of the Council House. I remember the bus stops with the sign on the top saying "Stage".
 
Jennyann, you've got me thinking. I believe you're right that only the 5s and 7s stopped in Victoria Square opposite the Council House, while the other buses that went up Broad Street (1, 3A, 6 and 9) stopped in Paradise Street.
The 'Stage' plates were put at the fare zone boundaries, but outside the city centre, a 'To City' or 'From City' plate would be put over every bus and tram stop sign. which it was claimed made it unnecessary for the destination indicators to be changed at termini. Only the outer terminus was normally shown.
Peter
 
Peter, You are right that only the 5a and 7 stopped at the Council House and that may have been until the l960's though I'm not sure. I worked in Queen's College Chambers in 1960 and used to have to cross the Square to get to Paradise Street. My brother used to
have to cross the square to catch the No. 6 when he was going to school at King Edwards Five Ways.

I remember the "To City" and "From City" signs but never really thought about what that meant. The "Stage" ones you had to pay attention to because the conductor
or conductress could call you up on going over the stages you had paid for. If there weren't too many passengers they would question you if you went one stop over the stage you had paid for or the flat capped Inspector in his long overcoat and clip board would board the bus and check everyone's tickets with similar results. I have to say I often went stop over the stage I had paid for but never got questioned.
 
I can't remember where this picture came from, I must have downloaded it from somewhere and forgot all about it.
Anyway, the caption reads Victoria Square c.1910

Terry
 
That's a smashing picture Terry I don't remember seeing that one before.
 
Great photo terry, I love zooming in on these photos and looking at the detail - is that a newspaper the man is reading while walking along. Also is the woman on her own or is there someone at her side - I can't quite tell if I can see another hat. When did it become acceptable for women to walk around on their own?
Polly
 
I can't remember where this picture came from, I must have downloaded it from somewhere and forgot all about it.
Anyway, the caption reads Victoria Square c.1910

Terry

Ah! Those were the days....when one could walk around Birmingham without getting run over...in a pedestrian area!!
 
Picture of Victoria square in 1971 , after the demolition of Galloways corner, but before anything else had been done
Mike

victoria_square_1971_after_demol__Galloways_cornerA.jpg
 
When I was at Birmingham Lives last Sunday, I bought a copy of "All About Victoria Square" from the Victorian Society. It is an excellent booklet, with lots of beautiful old photos. The booklet (published in 1989) has been out of print for sometime, but apparently they found a box full recently. Well worth checking to see if they have any left!
 
View attachment 63910
This building was known in the eighteenth century as 'Allins Cabinet of Curiosities', an intriguing name for a general clothing store. In the nineteenth century it became 'Bryan's Pastry Shop' and was much patronised by Town Hall audiences. The property was demolished when the Council House built. The photo is from 1867.
 
View attachment 63915 I have been inside the Council House on several occasions, lunch with the Lord Mayor was one of them and each time I was amazed at the splendour inside this beautiful building.
 
Hello Jennyann, that room seems vaguely familiar with the one I sat in when invited for lunch with the Mayor. I was invited because a business man from Norway told his government about me after I had carried him in my Hackney Carriage in Birmingham. I first picked him up at the airport and he booked me for the four days he was here attending a conference at the NEC. When he left for home he said he would be back and he would contact me. He came back a few weeks later with his wife and two friends and they asked me to show them around Warwick Castle. As you may know, you can book for a tour of the castle so I booked one for the 5 of us but first I took them to Kenilworth and showed them the ruins there. Over the next few days, being a registered guide for Birmingham, I showed them most things that were of interest in the city then they left for home again. In Norway, he contacted his government about my enthusiasm for life and the City, then nowegian government official contacted the council here and told them about me. The second time I was in there was to collect a document thanking me for my charity work.
 
Back
Top