1953 Coronation Street Parties

[oaktree.185]

I wonder if any one has any photos of the 1953 Street Parties. I lived in Green Lane Handsworth at the time and I remember the street party well, I was 6 and was dressed up as Cow Boy and won a prize for my costume. I had photos but silly me I gave my best photos to work mats to use in competitions and never got them back.

Another issue that I am interested is the Pea soupers - those really dense fogs caused by pollution. I remember walking in front of cars from Five Ways when you could not see your hand in front of your face & I guided a car straight across a road until I found myself next to a house wall. I cannot recall how long this event happened and when they disappeared. Is there any information about their history & how long it took before they disappeared.

John Layton

 

[Morturn]

I wonder if any one has any photos of the 1953 Street Parties. I lived in Green Lane Handsworth at the time and I remember the street party well, I was 6 and was dressed up as Cow Boy and won a prize for my costume. I had photos but silly me I gave my best photos to work mats to use in competitions and never got them back.

Another issue that I am interested is the Pea soupers - those really dense fogs caused by pollution. I remember walking in front of cars from Five Ways when you could not see your hand in front of your face & I guided a car straight across a road until I found myself next to a house wall. I cannot recall how long this event happened and when they disappeared. Is there any information about their history & how long it took before they disappeared.

John Layton

Hello John welcome to Birmingham History Forum. I do recall the pea soupers of the late 50’s early 60’s and how it was impossible to see the other side of the road. Not quite a London smog, but certainly not good for health either. Lots of houses with coal fires and factory’s all belching out black sulphurous smoke. You could taste the coal in the air. Public information films were made to dissuade people from burning slack etc.

I cannot remember when they started to declare certain areas as “Clean Air Zones” where the households had to start using smokeless coal, I recall it being in the early 60’s. The council came and changed my moms fireplace and fitted an “all night fire” with back boiler for hot water. Hot water on tap was quite luxurious then.



About the same time, people were switching from coal to gas fires. The Cannon Gas Miser was a classic fire which I recall was hellishly expensive to run and did not heat the water.

There seems to be a second phase when a lot of social housing was fitted with Parkray smokeless fires. There were quite efficient and gave out a lot of heat and hot water.

So really the change was over a number of years, so there may be a local By Law or some other legislation that could date it for you.

 

[pjmburns]

I remember bad fogs in the 50s. I have one vivid memory which must have been before 1956 - I was allowed to sit up to wait for my Dad coming home from work in Birmingham to our house in Sheldon. He was very late and I could tell my Mom was worried. I can't remember what time he arrived but he had walked most of the way along the Coventry Road. The bus driver had deemed it too dangerous to continue driving.
(Before 1956 as in July that year we moved to Shirley).