Recent content by Moor End Lad

'Wood End Hall' is distinct from 'Wood End House' and remains in Wood End Lane, although it has been converted into 20 apartments. Ironically, my neighbour's parents were the previous owners with a view to development, but vandals gained access with disastrous results including taking an axe to...

Lady Penelope, 'Pype Hayes Hall', which remains in Pype Hayes Park, was incorrectly cited in post #3 (see my post #4). Erdington Grammar School was built on the site of 'Pype Manor' replaced in Jacobean times by 'Wood End House' between Kingsbury Road and Wood End Road. The demolished Erdington...

Are you sure that that photo is from 1964 ? I don't recognise a single pupil, and the teachers that I recognise all seem younger than I remember them. It definitely says 1964 in the title, although my crowd didn't arrive until September of that year, but I should remember somebody.

And here's 'Puffer' Hayden:

I've seen a couple of references to 'Slasher' Lazenbury, so here's a photo of him together with fellow geographer 'Chubby' Checkland:

Interesting that the above history fails to mention that the site was taken over in 1923 by Erdington Grammar School, which was the go-to school for girls on this side of Birmingham. In 1932 the school was expanded - did this account for the tragic demolition of the elizabethan Pype Hall? Double...

I may be wrong but I don't think that those buildings were ever on the Pype Hayes Hall estate. I associate them with the old buildings of Wood End Road.

Sorry Mrs Burns, but the redacted word definitely has a 'g' tail hanging below the redaction, and possibly a 'p', both in their expected positions. However, the window does seem to match the orphanage.

Perhaps this is a photo from Mason's Almshouses in Station Road, Erdington that has been misattributed to the Orphanage and manually corrected.

@Vivienne14: You've moved a number of posts to here from the Erdington thread, but you've left my post #639 behind, which now has no context, and instead is a missing reference from post #9 in this thread.

The 4/3/1782 reference to John Dingley at the Bell conflicts with my reference (derived from N C Meacham) in post #11 of his being resident at 'Hollywood'.

The only old cottages standing in that area on the south side of Chester Road were 'Berwood Cottages', which dated back to the 17th century and are shown on page 25 of Marian Baxter & Peter Drake's published Archive Photographs of Erdington (First Edition). PS edit: There is a better photo of...

Whilst looking for more evidence of the 'Old Bell' I've discovered the 'Old Cuckoo' on the 1817 sketch map prepared to support the Mary Ashford investigation. It was situated on the south side of Chester Road just east of the Grange Lane junction, probably where the congregational church stands...

According to local historian N C Meacham an 'open day' was held on 6th April 1964 to inaugurate the new school. This was the 151st anniversary of the opening of the original school in Bell Lane in 1813.

Here's the 1833 Turnpike Map, which shows the Bell & Cuckoo on Sutton Road: On the corner of Bell Lane we can see two buildings similar to those on the 1804 Enclosure Map, which names the eastern building as the 'Old Bell'. I suggest that the westmost building is 'Hollywood'. Here is the 1760...