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  1. S

    Then & Now

    The open areas shown in the aerial view at #1496 are propably the remains of a roadway, (on the left), and the roof of the tunnel, there being very little cover. [From The Birmingham Press]
  2. S

    Then & Now

    Quite a long walk to the platform?
  3. S

    Pre-decimalisation money

    Yes, I am fully 'metricated' up to about 10 metres but beyond that I haven't a clue as I think in miles. Fuel consumption measures in this country are stupid, the choice is miles per gallon or litres per 100km, not only different units but one the dimensional inverse of the other (as one gets...
  4. S

    Pre-decimalisation money

    I have heard rumours that the teaching of arithmetic has changed in recent years and the skill of estimation is being encouraged, however a) there must be at least one calculator generation that wasn't taught, and b) I am convinced that the majority of pupils learn enough to pass exams but...
  5. S

    Pre-decimalisation money

    Correct Dave! Often these old problems weren't as hard as they seemed, using dozens for quantities fitted in nicely with having 12 pennies to the shilling, i.e. if one egg cost a penny farthing (one and a quarter pennies) then a dozen will cost one and a quarter shillings or 1 shilling 3 pence...
  6. S

    Pre-decimalisation money

    Many exercise books for children would have tables like this on the back. Children would also need to know quantities like 'a gross' and 'a dozen'. Dividing money between three people would be considered quite simple. From my '11+' book - Q.10 Discount is an allowance on a bill for paying...
  7. S

    Then & Now

    Surely the whole point of 'zig-zags' before and after the pedestrian crossing is to help ensure that the crossing and its approaches are visible? Putting all that pavement cluture alongside a 'zig-zag' defeats that aim. By the way it is an offence for a pedestrian to walk over a 'zig-zag' line.
  8. S

    Then & Now

    Something like these?
  9. S

    They Were Caught In Our Old Street Pics...

    To avoid any doubt I am quite sure that Lloyd 'nailed it' as a Morris. My Rolls-Royce and Cadillac were only 'maybes', tentative steps towards the right answer. As an aside, my aunt did own a 1936 R-R and it had both RAC and AA badges but I can't remember now how they were fitted. (It was quite...
  10. S

    High Speed Train 2

    I suspect that the 'northern' section would have been built with fewer public protests and with far fewer tunnels per mile than are now proposed for the 'southern' section. Perhaps Birmingham should be grateful that it is on the proposed route, albeit by a spur. Remember the 'London to...
  11. S

    Computer Security.

    I suspect that just about everything is spying on us. Isn't it strange that if you search for left-hand threaded chocolate teapot spouts an advert for some such pops up on Facebook a few days later? Then there are those little alerts that a software update is available and you didn't even think...
  12. S

    George Clay - Music Centre

    Didn't George Clay have a display window inside the ice skating rink at one time?
  13. S

    GOING TO THE CIRCUS

    There was a time when a televised circus seemed to be broadcast every bank holiday. I recall a circus at Bingley Hall where someone poured water into a desk drawer which later proved to be empty. My memory of a proper circus was Chipperfields performing at Hay Mills in the recreation ground...
  14. S

    Children's games - late 19th century

    RobT, above #4, quotes from the Carl Chinn book that the OP references and it is quite clear, I thought, that it is street games that are being discussed!
  15. S

    Children's games - late 19th century

    I wonder if 'bear and tender', where 'tender' might be his 'handler' or 'keeper' is related to this?: Badger the Bear A rough game, sometimes seen in the country. The boy who personates the Bear performs his part on his hands and knees, and is prevented from getting away by a string. It is the...
  16. S

    Sheldon

    Not that it changes much but the overlay map certainly isn't from 1953. Sheldon Post Office was near to Coalway Avenue, not in Wells Green shopping centre, which didn't exist then.
  17. S

    New Street City Centre Birmingham

    Anyone that visits the BBC News website will find that most, if not all, the images are stock photos from a big agency and are there 'merely' to illustrate the story, (or push an agenda, if you are sceptical), they weren't actually taken at the scene and time of the story. Could this be the...
  18. S

    Science Museum Newhall Street

    I remember City of Birmingham sitting outside, all sheeted over, in 1969, before the new hall was built around it. Wasn't it pulled along by a steel cable? I don't know what was used to power it. There used to be a leather Japanese suit of armour at the bottom of the stairs in the Museum and...
  19. S

    They Were Caught In Our Old Street Pics...

    How about a 1931 Cadillac?
  20. S

    They Were Caught In Our Old Street Pics...

    It has something of the look of a 1938 Rolls-Royce Wraith, but why does the radiator detail not look quite right? If it is a Rolls-Royce then that goes to show the difficulties of pushing a photo beyond the limits of resolution!
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