Recent content by Moor End Lad

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...

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...

No Lady P. As Pedro said, this farmhouse stood at the corner of Bell Lane and what is now Holly Lane opposite what is now the Presbyterian Church. The building on the corner of Chester Road was named 'Hollywood' and amongst others it was once owned by the surveyor John Fowler. I don't think that...

This photo is well known, and I've posted up a better version in recent years. There has never been anywhere called 'Moors House'; what you see here is 'Moat Barn', behind which is 'Moat House', which dated from c1600. The entire farm except for 'Moat Cottage' was egregiously demolished in 1935...

I should have added to the above that those demolished buildings in the original photos were situated along the access road leading off Spring Lane where the school now stands. Up until official closure in 1960 there were MOD guards positioned at the gates. The access road was straight and...

We can be very precise about the date of this photo, because that extension over the Roebuck's side passage was built in 1962; and everything you see in the photo was demolished 2 years later in 1964. PS: Don't get too worried about copyright in a non-commercial context. Copyright is awarded...