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Does anyone remember - back in the 70s and early 80s there was an absolute craze in the UK for putting fake snow spray on windows at Christmas time.? - A few people still do it and I believe its more prevalent in other countries, but here in the UK it seemed that for a decade every other house...

The Berry Mound site is mentioned in the National Trusts "8 Hills" project for a "Regional Park" to the South West of Birmingham as one of the sites for an "Enhanced Visitor Experience". Dunno if that means they have plans to acquire it as part of the project or just sponsor improved access to...

That's a really nice video of the modern Christmas market. Its interesting to think of someone in 2090 finding that video and it bringing back nostalgic memories of being taken to Birmingham Christmas market as a child in the same way as we look back at Lyn's posted video of Birmingham in the 1960s.

I remember that giant neon "S" for Schweppes sign. On the side of a tall building in Digbeth. - Didn't it then transform into a glass that would fill up? - As remembered in this thread... https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/threads/neon-pint-glass-sign.52979/

Returning to the Flight Shed at Longbridge. Here is a photo of the Flight Shed when production of Fairey Battles was in full flow. You can see the rail for the "ski lift" up to the airfield through the doors at the end. Austin built 1,096 Battles in all. The first one from the Austin factory...

There are some good views of the interior of the Longbridge CAB buildings and offices in this film on quality control. Naming the well-known actors in it is quite a game!.

Great that you saved that bit of roof! - I used to often work as a sub-contractor in the Flight Shed in the 80s. I maintained the computers that were part of the Froude engine test cells. At that stage the interior of the shed was taken up with mezzanine floors, so you got little sense of its...

Gotta say, the fancy bargeboards they put on the building to match up with the one on the right of it (and the one further down the street on the left) certainly gives an impression of age at first glance. You've got to applaud that sort of development that pays heed to its surroundings.

Thanks very much for recommending this - Its a really good video - The other videos on the same YouTube channel are excellent. Thought I recognised the voice behind them - It's Peter Plisner, who was a reporter for Midlands Today.

There have been major outages across multiple sites today - Hopefully resolved now... https://www.itv.com/news/2025-11-18/spotify-x-and-chatgpt-users-impacted-in-another-major-internet-outage also... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c629pny4gl7o

Done the maths - Obviously it depends on what mpg you get out of your car - Tax on every litre is just just under 53 pence (52.95) (that's not including VAT) - I reckon that if you're getting 40 mpg from your car you'll be paying about £5.80 petrol tax every 100 miles.

Corner of Edmund street, Margaret street and Eden Place...

Aerial view of the Newman College campus - About 1982/83

Streamlined indeed! - Those Holland Coachcraft vans look like something out of Flash Gordon! Here is the exact opposite of streamlining. - A van built to look like an off-licence for the Magee Marshall & Co Brewery of Bolton in Lancashire. They were notable for brewing beer made with water...

Great website you're building there! - well done. https://www.sparchive.org/

I hope it found good use during the war. It would have been the ideal NAAFI van, or to offer relief in bombed-out districts.

The other maker of three-wheel "Mechanical Horses" was the Karrier company with their small "Colt" and larger "Cob" models. Here is a Karrier Cob taking part in ARP exercises in 1938. - Washing down streets after a practice poison gas attack.

Pictured in about 1938: A van built by Benson Motor Bodies of West Bromwich for Cadburys. It was to advertise Cadbury's Bournville cocoa. The blurb accompanying the picture said it was "fitted with an electric gramophone and loudspeaker system".

The film I always try to catch at Christmas is the 1952 "The Holly and the Ivy" (often shown on Talking Pictures TV at that time of year). - It's so full of memories of a by-gone Christmas in Britain. Not putting up Christmas decorations until Christmas Eve, Sending a letter with the full...

Traditional phone lines are being phased out . But that does not mean you'll loose your "landline" phone or number- The current "target" is the end of 2027 - but that targets have slipped a few times already. There is absolutely nothing to worry about - Your telephone provider has the...