Hurst Street

[superdad3]

Universal Sewing Machines Hurst St 1950s.

Hi, Just to be certain, was Universal the building on the corner of Thorp Street on attachment 194892?

Many thanks.

 

[aggie2347]

Yes that's right demolished and rebuilt. Universal Sewing Machines went out of business years ago. Regards.

 

[poker_pete82]

View attachment 205129

Great photos. Could somebody tell me when the 'tower' at the hippodrome was taken down? It's quite impressive. Was it taken down in the name of progress? ‍

 

[mikejee]

It was said to be unstable, and was removed in 1963

Hidden Hippodrome – A History of Access Through The Ages – Birmingham Hippodrome

www.birminghamhippodrome.com

 

[izzy eckerslike]

sat afternoon spent mooching around all the electrical shops

And me, they used to put out containers on the pavement of low priced weird switches and other strange bits of electrical gear which I used to buy occasionally thinking ,this might come in handy.

 

[superdad3]

This area of Bham around the junction of Smallbrook Street and Hurst Street facinates me. Probably because of the brilliant photos of the area on the forum. Intend to research the area and the shops etc as time allows. Second phot above posted by Astoness is classic showing part of Hurst Street as it looked originally.

Hope I have got this right! Reading from right to left:

Smallbrook Street
Empire Vaults Public House
Empire Theatre
Empire Fish Restaurant
Empire Comercial Hotel
Hippodrome tower beyond Thorp Street

This area of Bham around the junction of Smallbrook Street and Hurst Street facinates me. Probably because of the brilliant photos of the area on the forum. Intend to research the area and the shops etc as time allows. Second phot above posted by Astoness is classic showing part of Hurst Street as it looked originally.

Hope I have got this right! Reading from right to left:

Smallbrook Street
Empire Vaults Public House
Empire Theatre
Empire Fish Restaurant
Empire Commercial Hotel
Hippodrome tower beyond Thorp Street

This area of Bham around the junction of Smallbrook Street and Hurst Street facinates me. Probably because of the brilliant photos of the area on the forum. Intend to research the area and the shops etc as time allows. Second phot above posted by Astoness is classic showing part of Hurst Street as it looked originally.

Hope I have got this right! Reading from right to left:

Smallbrook Street
Empire Vaults Public House
Empire Theatre
Empire Fish Restaurant
Empire Commercial Hotel
Hippodrome tower beyond Thorp Street

Empire Vaults P.H. - timeline
1852: James Day listed as a wine & spirit merchant at 76 Smallbrook Street.
1855: James Day now described as a victualler at Crystal Palace 1862: James Day’s Crystal Palace Concert Hall now listed at 75 Smallbrook St.
1868: Concert Hall at 75. Crystal Palace at 76.
1883/1890: Now listed as Day Brothers.
1893: Concert Hall closed and site sold to Moss Empires who demolished it and build the Empire Theatre and Empire Vaults PH on the site [opened 1894]. Both owned by Empire Palace Co. Ltd.

1941: Theatre bombed and PH damaged.
1951: Theatre demolished.

Photo 1 said to be of Empire Pub in 1951under demolition. Photo 2 very odd – ground floor of pub still there with a bit of 1st floor above. Not sure when whole site was cleared
1955: Temporary prefabricated shops built on site.