• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team

Bradford street

Viv
The address looks like 288 or 286 Bradford St , but I think this must be it:


Post office directory 1855
288 Salt Thos. Clutton,glass enamel works
288 Griffiths Thomas F, and Co glass enamel works

Dix's 1858 directory.
Griffiths Thomas F, and Co., tin plateworkers and japanners, also manufacturersof culinary utensils, &c, coated with glass, 68 and 287, Bradford st
Whites 1873 directory

288 Patent Enamel Co. enamellers

This has expanded to cover the entire north west corner of the junction of Birchall st/ Bradford St by the time of the 1888 OS map, when it makes enamelled signs
Previously when discussing the cones (can’t quite place it yet) I pointed out the round structures on the 1839 map below, and the position of these would fit well with your picture

View attachment 73088

 
Many thanks Mike, that's very helpful. So later uses in the 1850s definitely look predominantly glass enamelling. Not a whiff of bricks. But maybe that doesn't exclude bricks pre-1850s - do these cones lend themselves to other processes I wonder? Or are they built specifically for metal or brick etc? Viv.
 
Thanks Rupert. Hadn't occurred to me that the second kiln could be an entirely separate site, had assumed it was all on one site. Viv.
 
Good map Paul. By looking at the maps it's just struck me that brick making is more and more likely. The River Rea is close, so I'm thinking clay deposits, which leads me to bricks. No need for huge investment in transport as it's virtually on tap. Lyn and Paul - Who needs a time machine when you've got imagination?!! Viv.

I,m not so sure about the kilns being for bricks,( maybe very early on)We covered a thread on this.The area the other side of Deritend,Montigue St and Bordesley were covered in quarries and kilns.Dek
 
img242.jpg
The River Rea has been progressively culverted over more than a century and this view is from the culvert looking up to the bridge where Bradford Street passes over the river. 1934.
 
Lyn's first drawing in post #1 has quite possibly been used as a model for this later painting. It's called "Bradford Street, the Old London Road, 1825". The painter is Paul Braddon, a Birmingham born watercolour artist, b.1864, d.1938. The actual date of this work would therefore be between say 1880 - 1938. So a retrospective view, but very close to Lyn's 1816 drawing. I'm also posting the modern day view. Viv.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1360492908.205337.jpg1816ImageUploadedByTapatalk1360492924.874717.jpgPaul Braddon paintingImageUploadedByTapatalk1360492941.159246.jpgToday
 
Any ideas what this building on Bradfird Street was originally? A chapel? It's next to the Anchor Pub near Rea Street. Viv.
 

Attachments

  • image.jpeg
    image.jpeg
    97.2 KB · Views: 39
Any ideas what this building on Bradfird Street was originally? A chapel? It's next to the Anchor Pub near Rea Street. Viv.
Viv,
I do not know what it was originally but I think that in the late sixties it was the Cedar Club. I do stand to be corrected however.
Old Boy
 
It looks quite imposing. Looking at the c 1889 map, and checking Kellys, it looks like it was then a back entrance to Avery's Works. making weighing machines. The main entrance was in Mill lane , and it was not listed in Kellys. From 1900 it was occupied for a while by Albert Spruce , a veterinary surgeon and for WW1 it was not listed. then in 1921 it was the Birmingham & District Motor Transport contractors, which presumably turned into Midland Red.
 
the only cedar club i knew of was on constitution hill..quite strange really as although it was on my doorstep i never used it..

lyn
 
Hi All,
I have been corrected. It was probably the Buccaneer. As Lyn says the Cedar Club was elsewhere. Age does affect the memory. Now, who am I? I think I remember.
Old Boy

dont worry old boy...i can only just remember who i am...you are not alone:D
 
The Buccaneer, wasn't that on Chester Road?

The earliest use I can find for the building is Thomas Henry Eaves last maker and that was in the mid 1800's So I would hazard a guess it was some sort of a foundry as lasts were mostly made of cast iron. By the time of this photo it was JB machine tool Co, I'm sure I have a memory of this company. Though this photo looks like it was taken some time in the 40's as it still shows the war time white paint around the bottoms of the lampposts.
 

Attachments

  • Digbeth Bradford St .jpg
    Digbeth Bradford St .jpg
    108.6 KB · Views: 61
Phil
I'm not sure that Eaves was in that building, as he is listed as no 312, whereas the building we were concerned with is 314. Either 312 & 313 were combined with 314 or (as I have taken it as ) , 313 & 312 were combined with the pub . I would suggest that the outline in the maps of c 1889 (with suggested numbering) and c1950 seem to say the latter was the case
 

Attachments

  • map c 1889 showing possible numbering around 314 bradford St.jpg
    map c 1889 showing possible numbering around 314 bradford St.jpg
    310.9 KB · Views: 30
  • map c 1950 showing buildings around 314 Bradford St.jpg
    map c 1950 showing buildings around 314 Bradford St.jpg
    128.8 KB · Views: 30
Mike

If you look a the photo I have posted the building has the numbers 312 & 314 either side of the gateway. I was being guided by that, was there a change in the numbering prior to the 40's?
 
When i worked in Rea Street South,72/73,i often used to walk down to digbeth on my lunch break,saw a few cast members during those times,notably Ronald Allen.
And has been pointed out,The Castaways was indeed the club.
 
upload_2017-6-14_20-39-28.jpeg
bb0333.jpg
Im195210HVE-BKL.jpg
This company was, at one time, located in Bradford Street. It moved to Kings Norton. The first smaller poster is dated 1940, the 'photo 1968 and the large poster 1952.
 
I saw a picture, dated 1959, showing a Midland Red single deck bus parked in Bradford Street near Mill Street behind the main Midland Red coach station. The bus was a single deck S12 type, fleet no. 3733 NHA 733, new in 1950, and was destined for Coventry on the 158 route.
The building behind the bus had a prominent sign describing the company of W.G. Cheese Ltd., who boldly stated that they were factors to the cycle and motor trades.
I wonder about their history and what happened to them? A search here did not find anything.
 
Here's an old Bradford St building somewhere near Mill Lane I believe, J.
 

Attachments

  • Warwick Arms Restaurant Bradford Street.JPG
    Warwick Arms Restaurant Bradford Street.JPG
    169.5 KB · Views: 45
nice photo jonob....be interesting to pinpoint the exact location....i thought it looked a tad up market for bradford st...do you have a date for it

lyn
 
Many thanks Mike, that is a first class photo. The photo I see, in a book, has the bus obscuring the ground floor. However in my photo, below the white coloured masonry and above the ground floor window arches, is a full length sign stating who they are and what they do. My photo does now show the entrance door, side street and bus park but does include a little of the building on the right. The building on the right has that white coloured fascia and part of the sign above (what may be a large window/entrance) is SERV........?
The photo in your post gives a run down appearance. The long sign I mentioned is not there, just a name over the doorway. I wonder if they have recently ceased trading or moved elsewhere? My photos states 'in around 1959', however the new coach station in Digbeth was opened I believe in 1958 so there may well have been re-developments in the area.
 
Am not sure exactly when I took the photo, but it would have been between 1969-73 I think I can see lights on the upper floor, so don't think they had ceased trading
 
Back
Top