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Bull Ring Print

Oisin

Oisin

gone but not forgotten
I acquired this in a charity shop yesterday and wondered if anybody knew anything about the artist - Robert K Calvert. I've checked the web and the only reference I can find is to this actual print fetching £20 an an auction in 2005.
Sorry 'bout the poor quality of the photo, it was a bit difficult through glass and the format didn't quite fit that of the camera.:redface:
 

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Bull Ring Prints

Robert K Calvert has done quite a few painting of Brum scenes which were made into prints, there was a shop on Gravelly Hill called Four Seasons that sold them. not sure if its still there.
 
Four Seasons is long gone from Gravelly Hill. I went to it when it was open
several years ago. I went back three or four years ago and it had disappeared.
 
bull ring prints

hi jenny ann
just been reading the thread about the picture of the bull ring
i asatained a print from a shop in erdington,and paid a price of twentypounds
and this shop is or was [should i say ] down at the bottom of the high street
erdinton , its a small shop , and if youmake your way towards
the erdingto libary and the fire station the shop was oppersite there
i cannot recall the exact name of the road but it is on the oppersite side of the road as you walk to the fire station
i don,t know if this is thesame shop you are all on about
because i can recall a shop of painting being at the top of gravelly hill years ago and i do know that went along time ago
so i thought i would mention it because i would,nt call this shop at the top
of gravelly hill ,because you do have to walk all down the main high st
to the very botton before you get to the libary
once passing the libary cross over to the oppersite side and its the end shop best wishes to one and all astonian,;;;
 
Thanks for the replies folks. It was the detail that caught my eye. I thought it would be interesting to see the original just to compare it with the print. Nobody's got it by any chance, have they? ;)
 
Great picture Oisin. I am sure that this is the Bull Ring that most of us remember. The flavour of the place can be seen in it. The trees around St Martins and the Midland Reds turning down Jamaica Row. Woolworths on the right and Nelsons statue. My god it was a human experience of cobble stones and carts. All subsequent itterations are junk built for robots. It's in our dreams now and I fear that even these are about to fade away.
 
hi rupert
you never said a truer word its a memory we,ll never forget in our heads
i know i certainly will not like many other people older enough to remember
the hustle and the bustle of the hand carts and the good old hawkers ,
[ the barrow boys ] and the old lady,s calling out the wear of the
handy carrier bags for an old penny .
and the extra treat of doing your shopping down the old cobble stones
pushing and shoving to get close to the barrow boy , for your free sample
of the fruit he or she may have been selling , as every barrow boy
going down the hill all in aline shouting agaist each other
come on darling try this lovely fresh orange ,and they was cutting and slicing them all day to encourage you to buy from him or her
i hope and thank osin for him for putting on his print on the forum ,
for those whom haven,t got a print or painting of that era ,
for there memory ,
my memory will stay with me for ever ,because i have got a large one
hanging on my wall
thanks rupert and osin , best wishes astonian ,;;;;;
 
While it's true about the memories, being a youngster I only have vague memories of the Bull Ring as it is in that print. My most vivid recollections are of the 60s development as this was the era I grew up in. Images of that decade conjure up people I met at that time - work mates, drinking buddies, girls I went out with, places we went, the fun and heartaches I had :(... aah, I'm getting all sentimental now and everybody knows that ain't me!
 
I bet ya nobody is old enough to remember the Bull Ring like this !
 

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You are right Postie, is that the old Manor House that you can just see down Jamaica Row and the semblence of the moat, if you zoom in.
 
Both great pictures of the Bull Ring in days gone by....the more contemporary one is the one I remember the most, of course. I used to walk up from Edgbaston Street every work day in l959 when I worked at Francis Nicholls(Wholesale Grocery) in Upper Dean Street.
It's hard to imagine that scene today since the two renovations.
I, like many other kids, first went down the Bull Ring with our moms and it was a scene of total hurley burley for the most part and in my case my opinion about what we were doing there was not called for by my Mother. She had an agenda and it was completed as fast as possible, likewise most other Moms with kids in tow. We usually ended up in Lyons on New Street for a cup of tea and a glass of orange.
I attended school on Corporation Street for a couple of years in the early l950's and was drawn to it on my lunch hours especially going into Woolworth's to try on lipstick! There was, of course, the escape artist by
Nelson's statue, that I would watch.
Working in the area every day was great. The people I met were really
the best and I often had a walk around the area and markets in my lunch hour...the Rag Market was just across the road and round the corner. The little book shop in the amazing building across from St.Martin's was a good place for a browse on a rainy day.
By the time I left my office at 5:30pm the area was deserted for the most part. Even coming to work at 9:00am saw the very early morning marketers
packing up. The barrow people were gone by 5:30pm except on Friday's when they had "late night opening" to catch people with their pay packets.
By the time of the l960's renovation I had gone from Birmingham but have
some postcards of the new Bull Ring. I visited it in the summer of l965.
It was such a change and the images on the postcards were very flattering. Sadly, over several visits over time with a couple of years in between I saw the whole place going downhill. I often wished for the old
Bull Ring then since it was certainly more interesting even with a roofless Market Hall.
I have written about my first visit to the latest reincarnation now the Bullring on this site.
 
https://www.kingsheathbusinesses.org/member_pages/briantovey.htm
I went back to have a look at what I had written about the Bull Ring several years ago on this site and realized that the links in two messages did not bring up another super print of the Bull Ring painted by Brian Tovey. I remember this scene so well and love the painting. I think you will find that this link works at least it did today. Scroll down to the third painting.
 
Jenny - that is a lovely painting of the Bull Ring. I have only just seen it.
I wasn't able to open the photo for some reason, wish I could.:) Mo
 
Here ya go, Mo I've changed the picture specially for you. ;)
 
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Bull Ring picture

Hi Mo. I can open the site I put up for the Brian Tovey picture of the Bull Ring. Not sure what the problem would be.
 
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Thanks Postied that is the one I couldn't open, you are right I am not old enough to remember it like that.
The Brian Tovey one is nice Jenny and that is how I remember it when I was young. I have to admit I prefer it like that except for the water from the fish market.:) Mo
 
I am old enough my Aunt Doris had a Fruit & Veg Barrow outside Woolworths for years.:rolleyes:
 
I presume the photo Postie posted was before the war as all the buildings are still standing. It must have been very nice.
We had a friend who had a market stall inside the old market, it was called Mountfords. We are still in touch with them.:) Mo
 
Sakura I think it was just after the war and the artist used his licence to doodle a bit.

The only thing I don't remember are the Gas Lamps around Nelsons Statue. I have a print on the wall of the Bull Ring, with Woolworth's and the Barrows plus the Midland Red Buses and its a 1948 scene.???
 
A close friend of mine was throwing out a oil painting of this print some years ago....I was able to save it and hanged it in my study, when we moved my wife didn't like it due to the man with his wife and kiddie in the front right of the picture having his head removed from his body....sorry to say it ended up in the skip......
 
Bull Ring Prints

Hi

Just found this site, I actually painted all the Birmingham tram pictures including The Old bull Ring, Snow Hill Station etc, if you want to know any info please contact me.

Kind regards

Robert Calvert
 
Bull Ring Prints

Hi

You have probably found one of the most rarest prints still out there, is this in good condition, if so will be worth keeping.

Kind regards

Robert calvert
 
What a brilliant artist you are, it must have been a surprise seeing your painting posted on here.
 
bull ring

Welcome Robert what a pleasant suprise to see your name on our site in person you have been well talked about in referance to your Birmingham paintings I have one of your paintings that my son bought me many moons ago, how long have you been painting Birmingham scenes and what was your first, I hope you enjoy the sites and forum John Houghton
 
Are the prints still available Robert?
Obviously you are a very talented artist, do you still paint?:) Mo
 
Robert,

Welcome and thanks for the info. It's good to have you on the site.

Other than being slightly faded, my print of the Bull Ring does appear to be in fairly good condition. I had intended it as a present for my sister but, after reading your comments, I'm having second thoughts. ;)
 
robert calverts paintings

hi there robert
i have got one of your large prints of the bull ring with all the old hawkers flogging fruit and veg when they was all lined up next to each other
going down the hill and with woolworths in viewand the handy carriers sellings
this print is dated 1953 ,and i bought it from a shop who specialied in paintings and prints i payed twenty pounds for it many years ago
at a shopup the high street erdington, it looks fantastic on my lounge wall
but i cannot find any where else where i can build the collection to
obtain them i live in worcestershire in a village called hartlebury
we have only got our little villageand combined post office
any idea,s where i might get them
many thanks for the memories , best wishes astonian ,;;;;
 
I Can Well Remember It,also Being Evacuated To Evesham And Catching The Train From Moor Street Station, While Waiting For The Train The Barra Boys Came Over With Apples And Oranges For The Kids. I Also Have A Print Of The Same
 
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