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Bow Street, Horsefair

Before planning consent was given the developers had to come up with a "residents travel plan" - it on the planning site but as it is 31 pages I haven't read it. :rolleyes: I did see there is a basement car park for 103 cars which apparently meets the requirements for this type of development and 89 more spaces nearby. There will also be 236 cycle parking spaces o_O
I didn't look any further.
 
sylviasayers said:
Izzy, if I remember rightly Boulton & Paul was the Holloway Head end of Bow Street.
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It was no longer there in 1961, it must have been a very small building as back in 1954 the Catholic school was on one side and Hopkins clothing factory on the other, one of the photo's above shows a section of waste ground leading up to the Hopkins building so maybe it was there but got demolished?
 
izzy eckerslike said:
Bow Street, looking towards Windmill St
this is a photo of the building I first started work at in 1961, this photo is from 1956 but G.W.Stokes shopfitters took over the old clothing factory not long after and I worked for them for 18 years. Incredibly the building survived and is still there to this day and the only old building surrounded by modern construction inc the Sentinel tower and a new development right next door. and I've often wondered how this happened.

My workshop was on the top floor and right opposite the Catholic school, if we had no work to do we used to make paper planes and launch them out the window, all the kids on the top floor used to start watching and waving until the teacher pulled down the blinds! when the school and church were demolished we had a panoramic view right across townView attachment 148395
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This vacant land was where G W Stokes use to store builders materials and the van at night. We use to call it the "Ponderosa". Oldies will get it.
 
izzy eckerslike said:
Bow Street, looking towards Windmill St
this is a photo of the building I first started work at in 1961, this photo is from 1956 but G.W.Stokes shopfitters took over the old clothing factory not long after and I worked for them for 18 years. Incredibly the building survived and is still there to this day and the only old building surrounded by modern construction inc the Sentinel tower and a new development right next door. and I've often wondered how this happened.

My workshop was on the top floor and right opposite the Catholic school, if we had no work to do we used to make paper planes and launch them out the window, all the kids on the top floor used to start watching and waving until the teacher pulled down the blinds! when the school and church were demolished we had a panoramic view right across townView attachment 148395
Click to expand...
Vic. I was there at the same time as you. I was the little office lad who worked in the officer above Mr Fitter who owned G W Stokes & Son in 1972. I worked with Dennis Pearce who eventually became the managing director. My name is Phil. Did you know that the "Son" was actually his daughter? G W Stokes & Daughter would not have been right then. Remember the lean-to outside Fitter's office and the white glazed tiles, the outside hoist, top floor painters and decorators shop, worksop first floor with setting out office at the end, ground floor machine shop full of sawdust, toilets with Fitters personal locked toilet door, basement wood and drawing store, secretaries office opposite Fitter's office. Happy days :-)
 
izzy eckerslike said:
Bow Street, looking towards Windmill St
this is a photo of the building I first started work at in 1961, this photo is from 1956 but G.W.Stokes shopfitters took over the old clothing factory not long after and I worked for them for 18 years. Incredibly the building survived and is still there to this day and the only old building surrounded by modern construction inc the Sentinel tower and a new development right next door. and I've often wondered how this happened.

My workshop was on the top floor and right opposite the Catholic school, if we had no work to do we used to make paper planes and launch them out the window, all the kids on the top floor used to start watching and waving until the teacher pulled down the blinds! when the school and church were demolished we had a panoramic view right across townView attachment 148395
Click to expand...
 

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Philip Briant said:
Vic. I was there at the same time as you. I was the little office lad who worked in the officer above Mr Fitter who owned G W Stokes & Son in 1972. I worked with Dennis Pearce who eventually became the managing director. My name is Phil. Did you know that the "Son" was actually his daughter? G W Stokes & Daughter would not have been right then. Remember the lean-to outside Fitter's office and the white glazed tiles, the outside hoist, top floor painters and decorators shop, worksop first floor with setting out office at the end, ground floor machine shop full of sawdust, toilets with Fitters personal locked toilet door, basement wood and drawing store, secretaries office opposite Fitter's office. Happy days :)
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Hello Phil,

Yes I remember you very well, when I had no work upstairs I would sometimes sneak up to the drawing office, usually the 'delightful' o_O Pauline was in there as well! Strangely enough I have seen Dennis twice in the last few weeks, he called in to see me here in Redditch as he had a little model G.W. Stokes van to give me. He has seen this site but declines to contribute. Aged 80 he now lives in an apartment near Longbridge
 
izzy eckerslike said:
Hello Phil,

Yes I remember you very well, when I had no work upstairs I would sometimes sneak up to the drawing office, usually the 'delightful' o_O Pauline was in there as well! Strangely enough I have seen Dennis twice in the last few weeks, he called in to see me here in Redditch as he had a little model G.W. Stokes van to give me. He has seen this site but declines to contribute. Aged 80 he now lives in an apartment near Longbridge
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Yes I remember you coming down quite regular :) Thanks for the info please e-mail me Vic @ phil@troyka-associates.com I have a few more photos you may be interested in and have been trying to make contact with Dennis.
 
I was there from 1961 and remember everything about that place as though it was yesterday, sometimes us painters had no work so might spend days or even weeks up on the top floor playing 'span it' with Dennis who was upstairs like a shot the moment Fitter went out. Span it was throwing a penny across the floor and you had to try and land yours close enough to touch both pennies with one hand to win it, usually Dennis ended up with a huge pocketful of those big old pennies.
 
Philip Briant said:
Yes I remember you coming down quite regular :) Thanks for the info please e-mail me Vic @ phil@troyka-associates.com I have a few more photos you may be interested in and have been trying to make contact with Dennis.
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I'll email you for sure, Dennis has my phone number but we don't have his details, he also gave me a list of everyone he could remember inc the staff, just had a look but both you and office girl Pauline Harpun are not on the list :oops:
He doesn't like any forms of social media so you can't find him there, his second name is Peace rather than Pearce if you try tracing him. Obviously if he visits again I can give him your email
 
Brilliant photo's Phil, those photo's show Mr Fitters Jaguar and also I can see the Bedford van that Albert Mountford ( alias the monk) drove us around in. When they flattened the Catholic school which was right opposite we could suddenly see right across the town, in fact we could see buildings coming down everywhere as planners destroyed the heart of Brum
 
izzy eckerslike said:
Bow Street, looking towards Windmill St
this is a photo of the building I first started work at in 1961, this photo is from 1956 but G.W.Stokes shopfitters took over the old clothing factory not long after and I worked for them for 18 years. Incredibly the building survived and is still there to this day and the only old building surrounded by modern construction inc the Sentinel tower and a new development right next door. and I've often wondered how this happened.

My workshop was on the top floor and right opposite the Catholic school, if we had no work to do we used to make paper planes and launch them out the window, all the kids on the top floor used to start watching and waving until the teacher pulled down the blinds! when the school and church were demolished we had a panoramic view right across townView attachment 148395
izzy eckerslike said:
Hello Lyn,
I never saw the Wheatsheaf building when it was a pub, that's strange name for a pub in the middle of the city. The link that Radiorails posted sounds to me like it's the Stokes building which must have been taken over by Keane Brands after Stokes moved to Droitwich long after I had left.
I can remember the interior vividly, the worn wooden steps leading to the first flooor, an old clocking in machine at the bottom. wide stone steps up to each floor and toilets on one floor only. What would have been the Ladies toilet was presumably a room at the top floor which Stokes had turned into a paint stores. Parts of all the floors were like concrete with sections of Parquet wood blocks like you would find in a weaving mill, to prevent vibration from machinery I presume
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hi my Great Grandparents lived at 45 Bow Street in 1881 and then moved to 54 Bow Street, would be great to be able to see pics of that era
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I think the caption on this Library of Birmingham photo might be wrong. Looking at a map posted by Mikejee, I think the photo is taken from Little Bow Street with steps leading up towards Bow Street - steps are marked on the map (next to blue dot), as are some bollards and a lampost. Can anyone clarify please?

What a great photo. Lots of detail. The 'bollard' to the right of the lamp looks like some sort of measuring device.
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Thanks Mike and Vic. The top of the steps on Bow Street must have been around this point, hard to tell exactly as it's mostly been built over.

Screenshot_20241103_170519_Maps.jpg
 
would this help viv..although little bow st and bow st are not marked on below map if you look where it says bristol street to the left of the letter E in street is little bow st and that runs into bow st again not marked windmill st runs across the top of bow st...as shown on map on post 2...as you already know just move the blue dot for what is there now....also i can now see the spot where the wheatsheaf pub stood

 
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izzy eckerslike said:
It was another world Lyn, demolition was going on everywhere in Brum and they are still at it now wanting to pull down the indoor and rag markets. The Victorian building in Bow street I worked from for 18 years is still there today :worried:
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i know how you feel izzy...thanks goodness we have our memories and of course some great old photographs

lyn
 
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