W M Taylors of Erdington

[susan]

Hi....this department store was in the High St ,before that in Aston,my Mum worked there in the 50's.....lovely staircase...any interest?

 

[jennyann]

Definitely Susan.....I am from Erdington and most Saturdays the decision to go shopping was made between going to Town or going "Up the Village". The era would be late l940's and through the l950's. I think Taylor's main High Street store lasted into the late l960's maybe longer.

I loved going to the main store. They did have a hardware store on the corner of Harrison Road and the High Street in Erdington. You received excellent service in the main store especially in the Ladies and Children's Dept. They had chairs for the customers to sit on whilst waiting to be served and I always liked it when they showed your Mom the lingerie items and laid them out on the counter. It seemed that a large range of items for sale and no trip "Up the Village" on a Saturday was complete without going into Taylor's.

The other store was In Potters Hill, Aston and I can remember their ads on the sides and front of some trams.

 

[Frothblower]

I think Erdington high street went down hill when Taylors closed.
I do hear, Argus and Wilkinson stores are going to be built in the precinct. That should breath some life in to the place, it needs it.

 

[GeorgieG]

Was Taylors towards the end of Erdington called ... 5 Ways... have I got this right... it wasn't 6 ways was it? I can remember a lovely store there... Georgie

 

[Frothblower]

Taylors was 6 ways side of the High street, between Harrison road and Newman road. didn't Owen Owen take over the store?

 

[jennyann]

Right on Frothblower...I kept thinking Beattie's but it was Owen Owen. I believe they were a firm with roots in Wolverhampton. I worked for Kosset Carpets years ago and we used to put displays in Owen Owen stores....remember the lovely white cat that Kosset used in their adverts on tele.

The last time I walked Erdington High Street from Six Ways up to Mason Road it was a bank holiday and the street was deserted. This was a couple of years ago in fact and it was so sad to see one of Birmingham's top High Street shopping areas looking so downtrodden.

I have to say that not many British High Streets have fared well since the
"Big Box" stores have come into the picture. Basically, leaving the High Streets to charity shops, restaurants, Super Drug type stores and short term lease businesses. Also, service businesses have moved in as well. These businesses are ok but they don't add to the shopping experience.

I'm not sure what effect Wilkinson's will have on Erdington High Street.
I didn't much like the Wilkinson's that replaced Sainsbury's in The
Parade precinct in Sutton. Argus might give Erdington a jolt.
What's happening on Six Ways now that the Queen's Head finally been demolished?

 

[Frothblower]

Flats,yes more flats! were the Queens head was.
What the High street needs is market stalls on Saturday, now that would be good.

 

[Mrs T]

The Queen's Head has now gone and in it's place is this:

(their words not mine!!!)

Exciting new development in the heart of Erdington
Queens Court is an exciting new development located in the heart of Erdington.Queens Court will comprise 24 one and two-bedroom apartments all offering spacious,open-plan accommodation. Selected apartments will also benefit from a balcony or terrace with views of the inspirational Sedum roof. Queens Court is ideally located with the amenities of Erdington on its doorstep and Birmingham city centre within easy reach. The development is close to transport links including bus, rail and the motorway network.




There are photos on prime location web site. Should be finished soon.

 

[susan]

Taylors

Taylors was 6 ways side of the High street, between Harrison road and Newman road. didn't Owen Owen take over the store?

Hi..thanks yes....it as Mum worked here for years...do you remember the staircase....and...get his floorwalkers......blast from the past!..I will get more info from her.
Is Birches Green Junior school still going?...
.does anyone remember Mr D G Watson and scrubbng your mouth out with carbolic soap if you were naughty.....I was there when Mr Carr (lovely man )...Mr Parkes ..thought he was a sargeant major:redface: and used to throw the board duster at us...would be assault now!...he had a big metal ruler which used to sit on his desk and you would get it across your knuckles if you were naughty...frightened you to death but didnt do any harm..I still have both eyes and all my knuckles !!

 

[susan]

WM Taylors

Definitely Susan.....I am from Erdington and most Saturdays the decision to go shopping was made between going to Town or going "Up the Village". The era would be late l940's and through the l950's. I think Taylor's main High Street store lasted into the late l960's maybe longer.

I loved going to the main store. They did have a hardware store on the corner of Harrison Road and the High Street in Erdington. You received excellent service in the main store especially in the Ladies and Children's Dept. They had chairs for the customers to sit on whilst waiting to be served and I always liked it when they showed your Mom the lingerie items and laid them out on the counter. It seemed that a large range of items for sale and no trip "Up the Village" on a Saturday was complete without going into Taylor's.

The other store was In Potters Hill, Aston and I can remember their ads on the sides and front of some trams.

Hi jennyann..thanks for replying...my Mum worked in the Ladies dept,I told her what you had written..it made her day...wonder what happened to the people she worked with? do you know anybody called Mona Wilks?

 

[susan]

Taylors

Was Taylors towards the end of Erdington called ... 5 Ways... have I got this right... it wasn't 6 ways was it? I can remember a lovely store there... Georgie

Hi..it was six ways yes...wonder if there are any photos of the High St with Taylors in...I would love one for my Mum

 

[Frothblower]

Hi Susan.
Yes Birches green school is still there, my grandson goes there, my other grandson starts next term.

 

[jennyann]

I am so glad that your Mom,Susanne enjoyed the piece about going to Taylor's. My Mother liked the Ladies Department over some of the stores in town because you received excellent service and nothing was too much trouble for the ladies who served in the Ladies Department. I used to sit on the chair and watch all the merchandise being fetched and shown to my Mom in particular.
It was always great when an item "suited" everyone was happy. Does your Mom remember if they had the tube system for paying for merchandise in Taylor's early on.

I am sure that I remember a small cafe in Taylor's where you could have a nice cup of tea in between shops. I certainly remember the staircase which was quite impressive. Oh. yes we always went to Taylor's to look at the pattern books. Mom was a great sewer and I remember going to match up cottons for project Coton's I believe. I loved sitting on the high stools looking at the patterns especially if it was my clothes that were being planned. Then on to the material area where I always loved the sound of the large scissors cutting the cloth one cut at a time. I would like to put together a memory collage of the shops in Erdington High Street going from say l947 on to mid l960's. Those were the glory days no doubt about it.

I went to Erdington Parish three times on a Sunday and we had the street to ourselves...only Meeson's sweet shop was open in the afternoons and we would walk from Stockland Green to save our bus fare and into Meesons we would go looking at all the jars filled with sweets of which Barker & Dobson brand was prominent...... my brother and I that is. We used to play in the doorways and stand at the end of the windows which had blinds on them and do funny actions.

One of my favourite shops in the High Street as I grew up was Norton's.
I think they were an opticians as well as a seller of high end makeup, etc.
No one else in Erdington sold the merchandise that Norton's did. The lady I always dealt with into the l970's was Miss Norton I am pretty sure anyway.
She handled a lot of Lancombe products, Estee Lauder, Elizabeth Arden and such. The shop was a bit of a mismash but Miss Norton always knew where to find anything amongst all her products. When I went to Canada and came for visits I would always go to Norton's to stock up on make-up. It was always a great experience. She used to give me lots of samples as well. Norton's was on the Newman Road side going towards Six Ways. In later years Andre Drucker opened a cake shop and cafe just a few doors down. I loved going for a cream cake in there and they provided a huge cheesecake for my Mother's funeral tea which
was the best I have ever tasted. Sadly, they left the High Street several years after l985. I have to be content with the Sutton Parade shop and the one at the end of the Great Western Arcade at Temple Row nowadays.

 

[Alberta]

I worked at Woollies on the High street at the weekends and holidays in my last year at school(Erdington Grammar)

I had my first pair of high heels,well Louis heels really,from Dolcis opposite the Church.

My sister still lives in Erdington and knows the Village like the back of her hand.She does not 'supermarket shop' but buys from all the small traders along the High Street.
She knows most of the shopkeepers by their names and they all know her,a bit different to shopping in Asda like me.

She still works in the mornings,at the six ways end of the village.On her way home she she visits shops all the way along the High Street and then down Station Road,filling her trusty trolley.
No wonder she keeps fit.

 

[jennyann]

Great post Alberta and good that your sister supports local merchants in the High Street. I like the butchers in the precinct. They always have such good deals and are very friendly. I hope that shop down towards the end on Newman Road side is still going...is it Robinson's. They sell fruit and veg and cheese, yogurt, etc. at exceptionally good prices?

 

[susan]

Birches Green

Hi Susan.
Yes Birches green school is still there, my grandson goes there, my other grandson starts next term.

Thanks for that,its been 50 years since was there so i was wondering!
Are there still two entrances?..I remember we had to walk from bromford Lane,past Highcroft Hospital and go in that way.I had a friend who lived in the road (forgoten name! at the other end.There was quite a lot of ground with the school and also I believe it was an infant school in the same grounds,I think we used to do sports on the grass in between them...Robert Farnsworth and myself were fats runners....I also remember a big old derelict house we used to play in(no danger when you are young?)..is it where the garage is now on the corner of the park and Spring Lane? I wish my parents had taken photos of the school then it would have been interesting now eh?...mind you we didint have much money so memories are all to rely on...

 

[Frothblower]

Their are 2 entrances, Birches Green Road and Fir Tree Road.
I think you might mean Jaffery Hospital Susan.
I also remember playing in that big old house. Their was the house in Rookery park and the one over the road where the prison is now.
I think the one we use to play in was called Birches Green house, I would love to see a photo of it.

 

[susan]

Birches Green

Thanks for replying.....I would love to see a photo of it too,and I wonder why it was left derelict for so long?...has somebody somewhere got one?
It was Highcroft hosp ....remember when it was a home for (we VERY unkindly called them )"loonies"..it was referred to as the loony bin...horrible little kids !!...we used to go scrumping in their orchard,and I think its where the prison is because the two evil children that killed the little boy from Liverpool a few years back are or where in there..cant remember where Jaffrey hosp was..Jaffrey rd,but cant remember where that was

 

[Frothblower]

The house over the road from Rookery park was an asylum before the prison and I also knew it as the looney bin and went scrumping there Highcroft is near Stockland Green.

 

[jennyann]

Lots of photos of Highcroft Hall on the super Skyscraper web site. I am really glad that the Main Building is being redeveloped. I finally got to go inside the ground three or four years ago and passed by the place on my to school for a few years.
https://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=364145
Highcroft is now being redeveloped with amazing apartments....very expensive to buy and houses as well. The views from the Penthouse suites must be stunning.

The Erdington Cottage Homes site appears on here https://www.institutions.org.uk/pictures/orphanages/aston_cottage_homes.htm
As far as I know the buildings are mainly used as Admin office for Social Services...someone else may know for sure.

 

[Suze]

Reviving this thread....is it Highcroft oposite Rookery park? I used to walk past the hospital on my right,when I went to Birches Green School.I lived in the maisonettes at the top of Bromford Lane,by Cleeve House,turn right and go down to school past the hospital in question......please help me to remember what its called!!

 

[Suze]

My last post wasnt connected to Taylors...sorry...meant to ask whether there was any news from anybody re the Taylor family...if not of the present,as Mum still asks about Michael Taylor...how about the history of how the store started,what was there before it etc?

 

[Alberta]

The hospital you recall was called Jaffray Hospital.
Highcroft was much further away the other side of Six Ways.

 

[Robert Perry]

Hi....this department store was in the High St ,before that in Aston,my Mum worked there in the 50's.....lovely staircase...any interest?

Hi .....I was most intrigued to find this thread of messages. I am the great-grandson of W M Taylor and have fond memories of visiting the shop in Erdington when I was visiting my grand-parents (Arthur and Olive) when I was a boy. I have a vague memory of the old shop and a better one of the building after it was rebuilt. I even spent one amazing week as a young man working in the Toy Department over the run-up to Christmas. The shoppers on the afternoon of Christmas Eve were something else!! There were also shops in Sutton Coldfield, Kings Heath and Solihull for sure.

 

[Robert Perry]

My last post wasnt connected to Taylors...sorry...meant to ask whether there was any news from anybody re the Taylor family...if not of the present,as Mum still asks about Michael Taylor...how about the history of how the store started,what was there before it etc?

I am Michael Taylor's nephew and can provide plenty of information on the present and past members of the Taylor family.

 

[jennyann]

Hi Derek: That's a great photo (Lost)of the High Street. Must have been before 1938 when the by-pass Sutton Road was put through since the trams are still running through the High Street. The church spire you can see is the Methodist Church on the corner of Newman Road. I'm not sure when Taylor's came to the High Street. Any info that Robert Perry has to share about the history of the store and the family would be very much appreciated. I remember the Erdington store well. In fact there were two stores in the High Street at one time after WW2. They had a hardware store on the corner of Harrison Road and High Street. I also remember there other store at Hockley. I remember the building becoming Owen Owen's towards the end of ithe buildings life as a department store.

 

[Suze]

I am Michael Taylor's nephew and can provide plenty of information on the present and past members of the Taylor family.

Hello Robert,I am wondering if you could tell me more about Michael,for instance is he still alive. He went to Cheltenham I believe. I was speaking to my Mum,and she would be interested to know of any information at all. I dont suppose there is such a thing as the history of WM Taylor store,how it was started,who in the family worked for Taylors etc.She has very fond memories and it would make her day...really.In fact if I could assemble some sort of portfolio about WMTaylors ,it would solve a Christmas present for someone who has everything! If you would like to contact me privately,I know it can be done,but not sure how.Perhaps someone could help.Many thanks for all help Suze

 

[thornhill]

The name of the building opposite Rookery Park on Kingsbury Rd where there were many aged men being cared for was called "Glenthorn".
My pal from Birches Green School lived in the house which was near the entrance.

 

[pipmk]

Re Nortons in Erdington
Mr Norton who owned the shop was married to Olive M Norton who wrote books, also under the names Kate Norway, Bess Norton, Hilary Neal, in particular nurse stories based on her past as a nurse. They and their 3 children lived in Holly Lane, Four Oaks, Sutton Coldfield.

 

[barryth1949]

RE:W M Taylors Is my memorry still up to it? Can I remember going to Taylors with my mother to collect (upstairs I think) cod liver oil and thick gooey orange juice. Aged 3 1952. I lived at No. 1 Oxford Road only a couple of minutes away. Does anyone remember the first supermarket ELMO ?