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Aston Cross
- Thread starter Astonian
- Start date
hi Carol
Well it all depends of which way you are looking at the clock and from what side and the right hand side corner was lichfield rd before Ansells built there entrance into the brewerery
which was built up into a slope for the dray wagons to go in to the brewerery the horses use to walk up this slope on returning to the brewerery at the enmd of there days work
and when they built the motorized vechicales they put traffic lights inside the drive up to control the traffice coming in but before they built this entrance if you like
the little shops was where you see the main entrance of today but before that thats where the shop was on the right hand side
so coming down from the city coming towards ansells would be that right hand i also can remember when they rebuilt the portlad rd end with the little yard
there is some pictures of the old view of the yard and i remember when they built the the boilers systems and the coal pit and opened up the yard
best wishes Astonian
Well it all depends of which way you are looking at the clock and from what side and the right hand side corner was lichfield rd before Ansells built there entrance into the brewerery
which was built up into a slope for the dray wagons to go in to the brewerery the horses use to walk up this slope on returning to the brewerery at the enmd of there days work
and when they built the motorized vechicales they put traffic lights inside the drive up to control the traffice coming in but before they built this entrance if you like
the little shops was where you see the main entrance of today but before that thats where the shop was on the right hand side
so coming down from the city coming towards ansells would be that right hand i also can remember when they rebuilt the portlad rd end with the little yard
there is some pictures of the old view of the yard and i remember when they built the the boilers systems and the coal pit and opened up the yard
best wishes Astonian
Angela Ford
Brummie babby
I have so enjoyed reading through this. I remember Aston Cross so well - going through it on the No 8 from High St Aston, where we lived for a time, to Bordesley Green, where I went to school. Later, I worked at Tubes in Rocky Lane - dear Lord, the smell of HP Sauce mixed with the smell coming from Ansells Brewery - if the wind was in the wrong direction! There was a lovely cafe there I remember, which my dad used to take me to - he worked in Saltley and used to meet me at Aston Cross. Bacon Butties - delish! There was also a snooker hall I remember just by the No 8 Inner Circle bus stop. Never went in there, but remember seeing it from the bus. Those were the days indeed. Later on, I was appointed as Secretary to the Group Personnel Director for TI Limited, and married the Sales Director. A story indeed.!
Work has started on the site of HP
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-12689759
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-12689759
Hi jean
hope you are all okay yes i remember the little jewerlers shop oppersite the ansells brewery very well
and the posh furtiture that opened up a little while late and the little houses along the cross on ansells side and when they demolished them for there exit to go in and out on the dray and when they installed a traffic light inside the drive up into the brewery
when they got to the cross to turn into the brewery even thou the lichfield rd said go they would pull across the rd to exit only to be stopped by the incoming ansells traffic lights so they would cause a bottle neck for the tramscoming from aston rd north which was the city centre
and until ansells lights says enter that was a problem even when they had the shire horses
one year the dray man came back with the car the horse stopped at the lichfield rd traffic lights with is driver because the traffic lights was red and for many years this horse knew the route and the traffic lights colours so he stopped at red before turning into the brewery
and when proccedding ito he brewery he stopped again because of red only to find the drayman whom was driving him had a heart attack and died but the funny thing is how clever the horse was i used to watch and follow them down down the rd to the junction of wainwright st and portland street
and give them there drink before walking up the upper portland st to vicarage rd and turn to the stables but most morning or afternoons
coming or going the drivers alaways stopped at the corner of the rd which was the care takers house and they stoon on the pavement and the caretaker wife would always feed them bread they was big massive shire horse all in there brasses and medals also the police horse had the same treatments
best wishes astonian alan
hope you are all okay yes i remember the little jewerlers shop oppersite the ansells brewery very well
and the posh furtiture that opened up a little while late and the little houses along the cross on ansells side and when they demolished them for there exit to go in and out on the dray and when they installed a traffic light inside the drive up into the brewery
when they got to the cross to turn into the brewery even thou the lichfield rd said go they would pull across the rd to exit only to be stopped by the incoming ansells traffic lights so they would cause a bottle neck for the tramscoming from aston rd north which was the city centre
and until ansells lights says enter that was a problem even when they had the shire horses
one year the dray man came back with the car the horse stopped at the lichfield rd traffic lights with is driver because the traffic lights was red and for many years this horse knew the route and the traffic lights colours so he stopped at red before turning into the brewery
and when proccedding ito he brewery he stopped again because of red only to find the drayman whom was driving him had a heart attack and died but the funny thing is how clever the horse was i used to watch and follow them down down the rd to the junction of wainwright st and portland street
and give them there drink before walking up the upper portland st to vicarage rd and turn to the stables but most morning or afternoons
coming or going the drivers alaways stopped at the corner of the rd which was the care takers house and they stoon on the pavement and the caretaker wife would always feed them bread they was big massive shire horse all in there brasses and medals also the police horse had the same treatments
best wishes astonian alan
G G Jean
Brummy Wench.
Alan my friend Patsy's dad owned the shop and he took me in the back once when I called to go out and he had fish tanks built into the wall. The sir name was Sintarver or that's how it sounds. My other friend Marion Hardwick lived opposite the brewery on the Park road side and they had a little printers shop at the front. Jean.
Hi jean
yes i also know them and he printer shop i remember well just up the hill a little way was the bookies rnner and the coxs family whom was friends of mine
also the little record shop bought bought winnie attwell and afew more from there on the old seventy eights for my old dannazette player
cor blimey jean its a small world aint it astonian alan
yes i also know them and he printer shop i remember well just up the hill a little way was the bookies rnner and the coxs family whom was friends of mine
also the little record shop bought bought winnie attwell and afew more from there on the old seventy eights for my old dannazette player
cor blimey jean its a small world aint it astonian alan
sistersue61
master brummie
Mom also worked in Woolworths at Aston Cross an Saturdays - must have been a good place to work then!!
Sue
Sue
Hi jean
top of the mornin to you both yes i most certainly know both the familys you have mentioned they lived very close to us
along with denises family which i am ashamed to say that i still cannot find the book in the loft i can only blame my old dear for shifting things around
but i am doing my dammed hardest to locacate the book from other sources and when i do come across it i have promised to send her the book
to keep for compensation for keeping her waiting this lenght of time by the way the paper shop across the rd from thompsons was greens
it was a little shop where you stepped down into it and it only hold about three people in to get servdthats how small it was
have a good day best wishes alan astonian
top of the mornin to you both yes i most certainly know both the familys you have mentioned they lived very close to us
along with denises family which i am ashamed to say that i still cannot find the book in the loft i can only blame my old dear for shifting things around
but i am doing my dammed hardest to locacate the book from other sources and when i do come across it i have promised to send her the book
to keep for compensation for keeping her waiting this lenght of time by the way the paper shop across the rd from thompsons was greens
it was a little shop where you stepped down into it and it only hold about three people in to get servdthats how small it was
have a good day best wishes alan astonian
Hi jean
i am very sorry to hear about her and having a stroke i hope she gets a little bit better
and that is very thoughtful of you to do that and help her it would be great for us all to hear from some one of her age whom can possible tell us more about her memoirs of aston and of birmingham give her all our best wishes from the whole forum members
have yourself a good day jean and keep us informed alan astonian
i am very sorry to hear about her and having a stroke i hope she gets a little bit better
and that is very thoughtful of you to do that and help her it would be great for us all to hear from some one of her age whom can possible tell us more about her memoirs of aston and of birmingham give her all our best wishes from the whole forum members
have yourself a good day jean and keep us informed alan astonian
dek carr
gone but not forgotten
Hello Jean When did you post this thread? "St Mary,s School I can,t find it. Dek
Peg Monkey
master brummie
Hi Folks, Aston Cross occupies a special place in my memory as it was half-way house on my journey to and from my senior school, Harry Lucas Secondary. It's worth taking a minute or two to navigate around this fantastic shot of the iconic landmark clock, but more of that later.
I lived on the Erdington-Sutton border and had the choice of two ways to get home from school, Option 1 was walk from school to top of Hockley Hill get any bus into the city via Snow Hill and get the 64 bus in Steelhouse Lane (at the back of the Law Courts and near to the Nurses Home) to Erdington; Option 2: Get the Inner Circle 8 bus from school to Aston Cross and then get the 64 bus, from the right-hand side of the Ansells building - generally I chose the latter, it was a bit quicker and shorter.
(Why on earth I did this commute for all of my 5 years at HLS? I'll never know - initially it was because I went to Farm Street Junior school, when I lived in Heaton Street, Hockley, and I wanted to stay with my friends when they moved up to seniors).
So here I am homeward-bound getting off the Inner Circle 8 by the butchers at Aston Cross, about 4.00pm. I don't think a day went by when I didn't look longingly at the ready-to-eat steak and kidney pies being kept hot in the glass cabinet in the butcher's window, on odd occasions I would indulge, if by some good fortune I was in funds at that time of the day, usually I had just got my busfare.
Quick glance city-ward to see if the 64 was insight, if it was I had to decide if I was going to risk life and limb to get to the bus-stop in time (Right-hand side of Ansells on the Lichfield Road). I'm now settling into my seat on the upper deck, breathing a sigh of relief that I was now well on my way home, if fortunate I'd get home by 4.300pm, (Total journey time: circa 1.1/4hrs).
The photo: Ansells sign - conspicuous by its absence? Look closely: It's April 1952 and the building is under construction - sign would be the cherry on the cake. (The Ansells building, with Park Road joining steeply to the left and Lichfiedl Road to the right, reminds me of the iconic Flatiron Building in New York).
Interestingly this photo can be timed to the minute (assuming clock is working OK!). I wonder what the castle-like building is towering over and to the rear of The Royal George? It certainly looks impressive but I can't find out what it was, I think there was a vinegar factory up that way. The tram in shot must have been on an important route - allocated No 2 - The advertisement for Blacks was for, I believe, their store almost alongside the Aston Hip.
Must go the 64 is coming!
Ah! Happy days!
Regards,
Peg .
PS I wonder how far the tram went? Probably to 6 Ways Erdington, beyond that was bandit country in those days.
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cookie273uk
master brummie
Peg Monkey, I have attached a painting by Eric Bottomley completed in 1953 (1 year later than your pic) and this show's the Ansell's sign, they also both show the 39 bus descending Park Road having recently replaced the 3x tram (which I used to go to work on), but the trams along Lichfield road are yet to be replaced. Eric
Peg Monkey
master brummie
Fantastic Eric! Thanks, great painting, hope it will remain on the thread for future generations to see.
Regards,
Peg.
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adap2it
master brummie
That painting looked very familiar to me Eric, so I turned around and hanging on my wall is a framed picture of Aston Cross. Similar, but not the same. It's by a R.K.CALVERT and shows 4 trams and a little of a Midland Red bus heading up the Lichfield Rd. I bought this picture in Birmingham together with a picture of Newtown Row by DAVRON. Interestingly, it is High St Aston, not Newtown Row because you can see The House that Jack Built, he must have been a local...
Dave A
adap2it
master brummie
Looked into RK Calvert...
https://www.google.ca/search?q=rk+c...rXqJ_TAhVs5oMKHYFCAyoQsAQILA&biw=1280&bih=591
https://www.google.ca/search?q=rk+c...rXqJ_TAhVs5oMKHYFCAyoQsAQILA&biw=1280&bih=591
cookie273uk
master brummie
Yes Dave. I am a great admirer of both Calvert and Eric Bottomley, Bottomley specialises in City scenes and Railways. The original Aston Cross painting is for sale at £1400 , I settled for a signed print at £25 !! and I framed and mounted it and it hangs in my living room. Aston Cross means a lot to me, started my first job there at age 14 in 1944 at Hercules Cycles down Rocky Lane, some times walked, sometimes caught the 3x tram. Many years later my late Wife worked there at George Masons, we had an account at the Birmingham Municipal Bank opposite, used the Library, had my first suit at Birds Tailor's by the bank, I could go on ..... Oh. and sold my first painting of Aston Cross at the RBSA Gallery in New Street in 1980. Eric
cookie273uk
master brummie
Dave, Just noticed that Peg Monkey's pic (1952) does not have the Ansell's sign, and your Calvert painting does and also depicts the 3X tram which was replaced by the 39 'bus before (1950 0r 51). Artist's licence maybe ?? Eric
adap2it
master brummie
When Peg says that it was under construction in 1952, I don't think that it meant that it was actually being built. It was there for many years before that. It was probably getting a "facelift", meaning removal of the sign.
Dave A
adap2it
master brummie
So you are 10 years my senior...more memories eh? So, you paint? I'm thinking of moving in that direction. Never been much of a painter, drawing was always my forte. BTW, my framed pictures cost 15 pound each, at a store in Birmingham called Dillons, is it still there?
Dave A
cookie273uk
master brummie
Dave, have been a watercolourist for about 40 years and taught the techniques to a few amateur societies but ceased both exhibiting and teaching in 2007, no longer had the stamina for chasing round galleries, recently resigned from the BWS. Still enjoy painting though, have painted over 100 for members during my 8 years as a member. Have about 70 paintings on the 'Original Artwork' thread. Suddenly realise I am way of thread so better shut up ! Eric