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Birmingham?

Any ideas why this roof has such a distinctive pattern? Any builders out there who can advise please ? And could the yellow dot (second copy) be a church ? Holy Trinity at Camp Hill?

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Any ideas why this roof has such a distinctive pattern? Any builders out there who can advise please ? And could the yellow dot (second copy) be a church ? Holy Trinity at Camp Hill?

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It could be a church and the patterned roof might be some kind of engine shed with glass lights in the roof. The buildings in the distance look like houses on higher ground.
 
Yes, agree probably c1950s, or earliest c1940s. The street lamp behind the girl doesn't look typically Birmingham, although I did wonder if it was by a railway station having that type of lamp. The position of the chimneys to the right suggests to me that this is a road running alongside an embankment. Just a hunchl
I keep going back to this lamp which I feel ought to give us a clue. I thought it might be a lamp belonging to the railway. Just had a vague feeling it was one I remember. It had a distinctive 's' bend stem and a sort of 'coolie' hat-type shade. Any thoughts ?
 

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I thought that the structure with the pattern which it has been suggested could well be the side of a railway bridge could be exactly that. I can't see a gable end or a door. Maybe I'm missing something. I can't think why it would have a pattern on but I still think it could be the side of a railway bridge.
 
It looks highly likely now I've studied it a few more times. Bridges often have a raised pattern on the side, very like the pattern in the photo. To see it you have to focus on the dark pieces, not the lighter ones ! Thanks Clive.
 
I thought that the structure with the pattern which it has been suggested could well be the side of a railway bridge could be exactly that. I can't see a gable end or a door. Maybe I'm missing something. I can't think why it would have a pattern on but I still think it could be the side of a railway bridge.
At the right hand end there is a dark space exactly as there would be for an entrance to a hay loft.
The structure also seems to slope and not be vertical as for the side of a bridge.
 
I can see the dark space you're alluding to Janice but I am looking at the patterned area in isolation. There are many features in the photograph that could be inclusive or viewed as separate entities. In suggesting that the patterned area may be the side of a railway bridge I am viewing it in isolation. I'm thinking it runs behind the building with the gable end. It's all speculation isn't it?
 
This might help interpretation. The ‘hayloft’ is on the gable end of the building outline in red. The blue structure has a high level opening. Area marked in yellow is a fence. The green building is a type of ‘gatehouse’ to a site of some kind where entrance and exit could be monitored. Tinpot

There is a second lamppost where the vertical red line on the left meets the blue structure.
 

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hi tinpot...your green building looks to me like a bungalow..2 windows and a door on the side and a window facing us..but who knows as already said its all guess work and any of our ideas could be correct and all suggestions gratefully received

lyn
 
Burlington St this year with 2 single storey buildings at the entrance to Galena (Lead ore) Way. Do they reference back to the ‘ gatehouse’ I previously suggested as a site entrance. The second image came up when I did an image search for Burlington St . This would fit with the buildings on the left of the photograph where the children are standing as the door frames look very high up and suggest steps needed to access. Similar lamp post also.
 

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hi tinpot...i was just wondering where burlington street comes into it as it is nowhere near the blues ground

lyn
 
Bit of confusion I think. In 1950 the Jones family lived in Burlington ROAD. Runs parallel to Green Lane Small Heath
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It seems very familiar to somewhere that I remember passing quite regularly, perhaps near the railway arches by New Canal Street in the early 60s or it may resemble something similar also associated with/near to the railway around Small Heath. I can't recall exactly where I'm thinking of, but the picture below of Proof House Junction (taken in 1982) shows similar types of buildings and street lights on the left to the original photograph. Some great detective work so far one and all.

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Trouble is that there are/were quite a number of those bridges around that area.
I will be street walking on Google streetview later lol.
 
If the patterned structure in the photo is a 'bridge' (railway or canal) and if it was painted, it must be a metal one, not brick built. An example - not in Birmingham, but in Leeds below). Lots of 'if's' !
 

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this is probably way off the mark but looking at jans map post 51 and wondering if the land next to no 1 burlington road could have been the coal yard..

lyn
 
I also thought it was a railway bridge but I am now convinced that it is a roof of a factory, the pattern is formed by the skylights in the roof.
 
I also thought it was a railway bridge but I am now convinced that it is a roof of a factory, the pattern is formed by the skylights in the roof.

i agree john ...i never really thought it was a bridge...definately a building of some sort maybe a barn as we can clearly see a window on the right..

lyn
 
i agree john ...i never really thought it was a bridge...definately a building of some sort maybe a barn as we can clearly see a window on the right..

lyn
We had a similar query a few months ago for an unknown location, that also had a building with a similar pattern of skylights. That location was never pinned down, hopefully we’ll have better luck with this one.
 
Just going through where the family lived. We don't have a date for the photo and we don't know when they moved to Burlngton Road or when they left ther 1939 address.
1939 reg
128 Grange Road also Small Heath.
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