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Winson Green / All Saints Asylum

Hi Astonian
So pleased i brought back a few memories for you. Did you ever visit the malt shovel in Tudor st
or the saki club on the Dudley rd. Or did you ever visit the green swop shop in Heath st. I to have some memories
of the area. Wishing you and your family a MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR. Stars
 
Charlie said:
That building looks fascinating, I'd love to get inside and take a look - not by getting put away though!!!
Click to expand...

If you get in touch with, what is now known as, All Saints House, you can arrange to visit the original chapel that was used by the patients.
 
I worked for the Birmingham Regional Hospital Board in the 60's, and when I needed accomodation (parents moved to Daventry) I managed to get a room in the Nurses Home at Winson Green - all male this part! In what I recall as a rather dingy single storey prefab, with central heating and mutitudes of cockroachs scuttling along the line of the pipes to and fro. Anyway, it was cheap with all meals available in the main hospital dining room. The highlight was the snooker room at the very top of the main building: many an evening spent with fellow "lodgers". Occasionally also cricket matches where the home team could call on the services of some West Indian fast bowlers. Fearsome! I never went onto the wards - it seemed an imposition on the patients to me, even though the head nurse offered to show me round. Stayed there until I left the NHS and went to Keele University, in 1969. Strangest thing about the stay was that, althopugh there were usually vacant rooms, the Board Treasurer was not in favour of letting out the rooms to non-nursing staff, and did his damnedest to dissuade me, and some on the NHS management training scheme who also used the facility. My bosses just told me to ignore the flack: as long as I paid, and there were no issues with the nursing staff needing a room, there was nothing he could do! The only name amongst the nursing staff I recall was Ronnie Lascelles, a bright lad from Kikcaldy originally. Anyway, my contribution for what it's worth.
 
Top of the morning to you stars
Sorry i missed a a reply to one of your old reply,s on the winson green topic;
in answer to your question yes i was a member of the saki club ;and yes i did go into the greens swop shop on winson green rd ;
i knew the family there and i knew them before they moved to the winson green rd ; going back years the old man had the shop at the parade summer hill
way back in the forties and the fifties when the old man died the youngman moved up to winson green rd in the sixtyies
and yes i was a regular in the malt shovel down heath street there was not a pub in the area i did not use ;
yes i have great memories of familys and people and the surrounding pubs up and around the green and up to the six ways smethick and the seven stars pub and back tosummer hill the sand pitts and the old king edwards pub facing oldmans green shop in those days inthe fifties
i also drank all nighters in the shakespear on the corner of heath street and a very atractive old girl friend of mine lived across the rd facing the shakespear
we was to get married but one day after years of courtship we fell out of love and split up i have seen her from time to time in passing
and she is as beatiful as the day we first met still despite haveing a family
thanks stars for the memoryies best wishes for 2012 ; alan astonian ;;
 
hi stars
just been reading old threads on this topic i sure do have great memories of the whole are and its population
after reading all the places you mentioned i would not be surprized if i have met you in the past by one way or another
or even being friends of some-one else i knew may be its great we have people from the green on this forum
i still have not done my research yet on the stevens family but i will eventualy ;
have a nice day best wishes astonian ;;;
 
It's looking at threads like this that makes me wish my old dad was still here to read it. He was from Norman street and lived there till he got married in the late thirties.
As kids we used to get dragged across Brum on the bus to go and see Our Gran but we had to wait at a pub on the corner of Heath St and Winson Green Rd while Dad went in to see his cousin (who had a scrap yard in Smethwick), first. The wind blows very cold, down Winson Green Rd !

Just down from Our Gran's lived our Uncle Charlie and Auntie Rose. They lived opposite the Cottage of Content which apparently, was Uncle Charl's second home.
 
Charlie said:
I went along Lodge Road on the 101 bus (try it...fascinating journey through Hockley, Winson Green and Handsworth) on my way to Handsworth Cemetery.
All Saints is now a massive housing estate, though the original asylum building is still there, that seems to be used as part of the prison now.
Click to expand...
As kids we used to go to the bottom of our Gran's garden in Norman St and peek over the wall to watch the boats on the canal.

On the other side of the canal was the wall of the asylum. My mother was telling me how, before the war you could hear people in there, screaming.

Thank God modern treatments are available to help such people.
 
love the photos you no what stars im back in the 60s and 70s with you now lol goin to the swopshop meself or the ten o clock shop just before tudor st corner heath st side and running to the cornershop on tudor street and winson street for simple things and not forgettin floories the greengrocer lady on winson street getting a stone of spuds for me aunt i could spend all nite reminissin of the past good old days
 
Hi all
I also remember a fire salvage shop where i bought a drill from for a fiver. The shop keeper was not
to pleased, as i plugged it in to try it first. Down the bottom end of Tudor st towards the corner shop there
lived Dye a lovely old Welsh man, also the Smiths to mention a few. Just looking out the window this morning
reminds me of the time i popped home for a cup of tea and parked my lorry outside. It was pouring down with
rain and after finishing my tea, i open'd the door and the water was half way up to my knees. When the rain
was heavy and constant it came down from the Dudley rd, down Chiswell rd like a river. I had to leave my wife
to block in front of the doorway and try to stop it coming in the house, i had to get back to work.
Also who was the gaffer of the Malt Shovel in Tudor St ? in the late 60s, early 70s . He was an older guy and
used to put the lights out in the back room, and would put candles on the tables and everyone would have a
sing song. Does this ring any bells Katyboo.

Regards Stars
 
hi katy and stars
both very intresting stories i am sure you can remomiss to the cows come home as the old saying used to be
thats an expression wich is never heard of now by the older generation but yes there was alot of charactors around that area you speak off as i am sure you are aware of it your selfs some stories about them travel far down to london ; beleive me
and thats not to talk abouut the prison name either thats within its self a story of the carrying ons there
i am sure our brookie girl maggs father toldher afew things about the carrying on.s and i do not mean by the cons either
but it would not be ethicaly right to talk about it ; but yes the green is well known ; that being the area ;
just like brixton and peckam ;even vauxall over the london bridge ; where i once lived in my younger days ;
the swop shop was ran by a old guy named alf whom was orinionaly from the parade down by summer hill and just by the lyric picture house
probaly before your times thou and then he moved up to winson green rd and then when he moved there within two years he died
there was a young fella whom i think it could have been his son and he kept theshop running after his death
any way guys please keep your stories coming as it i am sure there are more people out there frm the area of the green
whom may be intrested in them as much as me ;
have a nice day ; best wishes astonian ;; alan ;;
 
HI KATIE AND STARS
On that subject of old Alfs swop shop on winson green rd before he moved up from the parade on summer hill
just around from the lyric flea pitt picture house wher his doble fronted shop was
he kept in the front window a lot of green heilds stamp books there was thousands of them in his front shop widow
piled up hig right up t the top of the window frame all across his shop window there was thousands of books full
I used to say to people years ago when i was growing up ;it a wonder that nobody done a smash and grab on his window for them full books of stamps as in those days they was worth money when Alf moved up to the green he started to do the second hand buying of goods within a short while of opeing
his shop was full of gear ; [ yes thats right ] knocked off goods oldlou brown and his side kick old blakie from dudley rd
used to pay him visits every week and remove goods and take them up to the nick of dudley police station;
in the end old Alf got tighened up and you had to bring ID with you and proof of your address before taking it off you ;
i beleive old blakie came from the wood cock street nick to join old louie ; i would imgine that they have since pased away after all these yers ;
God bless them ; and they was both good honest coppers whom treated there suspect with respect and they always got there man
And convictions to go with it ; i used to know the chalmers family from chiswell street and afew others down there like loads of them from around
there is and old friend of mindwhom worked on the british railway road services from barford rd he later became a special police officier and then joined the proper force alot of people from there today may know of him he was a coloured lad very nice guy whom his girl friend at the time was deired
from heath street and his nick name was pepsie ; if anybody recalls himhe still lives in the gren area
he a never left and after the demo of the oldheath stret he bought one of those new houses which today would be now facing where the malt shovel pub stood ; the green was a great place to have been living around and great characters it had within the area ; best wishes Astonian;;;;
 
My Great Gran was in all Saints and my Grandad was in Winson Green prison, my nan and I used to visit both, out of one gate in the other, this was back in the 1950s. I still remember All Saints with its big wooden doors and long corridors, a very austere place. I always preferred the prison visit to the hospital.
 
One of my colleagues is a Warder at Winson Green - he is now off the Wings and in the office receiving new clients, etc - based in the remains of All Saints!
He does the trip every day between the two - Think he prefers the Prison rather than the paperwork!
 
Astonian said:
HI KATIE AND STARS
On that subject of old Alfs swop shop on winson green rd before he moved up from the parade on summer hill
just around from the lyric flea pitt picture house wher his doble fronted shop was
he kept in the front window a lot of green heilds stamp books there was thousands of them in his front shop widow
piled up hig right up t the top of the window frame all across his shop window there was thousands of books full
I used to say to people years ago when i was growing up ;it a wonder that nobody done a smash and grab on his window for them full books of stamps as in those days they was worth money when Alf moved up to the green he started to do the second hand buying of goods within a short while of opeing
his shop was full of gear ; [ yes thats right ] knocked off goods oldlou brown and his side kick old blakie from dudley rd
used to pay him visits every week and remove goods and take them up to the nick of dudley police station;
in the end old Alf got tighened up and you had to bring ID with you and proof of your address before taking it off you ;
i beleive old blakie came from the wood cock street nick to join old louie ; i would imgine that they have since pased away after all these yers ;
God bless them ; and they was both good honest coppers whom treated there suspect with respect and they always got there man
And convictions to go with it ; i used to know the chalmers family from chiswell street and afew others down there like loads of them from around
there is and old friend of mindwhom worked on the british railway road services from barford rd he later became a special police officier and then joined the proper force alot of people from there today may know of him he was a coloured lad very nice guy whom his girl friend at the time was deired
from heath street and his nick name was pepsie ; if anybody recalls himhe still lives in the gren area
he a never left and after the demo of the oldheath stret he bought one of those new houses which today would be now facing where the malt shovel pub stood ; the green was a great place to have been living around and great characters it had within the area ; best wishes Astonian;;;;
Click to expand...
 
as an 8/9 year old I worked at the swop shop (Alfs) helping Alf in the shop. On Thursday evening we would travel around the area filling up cigarette machines that belonged to Alf. We would fill up the machine with either No6 plain or filtered and remove the money. Alf had a Jaguar car. I lived at 4 back 23 Winson Green road just up from Alf's opposite the school. Now in my seventies I remember those times with great affection.
 
Just been given a booklet called "All Saints Hospital 1847-1997: commemorative brochure 7th Sept 1997.

In 1845 an Act was passed to amend the laws for the registration and provision of lunatic asylums. Birmingham Borough Council was the first to set up an asylum under the new act. The booklet details the history of the hospital and the many changes over the years. In 1948 under the NHS Act the hospital ceased to the responsibility of the City.

It had various [official] names over the years:

Birmingham Lunatic Asylum [on opening]
Birmingham City Hospital for Mental Disorders [in1912]
Winson Green Mental Hospital
All Saints Hospital.

and in addition many "popular" names.

Hope folks find attached phots from the brochure & programme of interest.



ash 01.jpgash 02.jpgash 03.jpgash 05.jpg
 
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