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Colmore Row

I found it thanks to a book called "Walks through History Birmingham" by John Wilks.

Just checked my other Birmingham books - and there are then and now comparisons of that end of Colmore Row and Snow Hill Station. In "Birmingham Up Town Through Time" and "Central Birmingham Through Time". You can get them from the local interest section at WH Smith.

Cathedral Court actually looks bigger than what it replaced.
 
I walked past 5 St Philip's Place today (site of the former Blue Coat School) and noticed that they had removed the sign for the West Midlands Government Office. As the Coalition had abolished quango's like this.


Former site of Blue Coats School - 5 St Philips Place (former Prudential Assurance building) - West Midlands Government Office by ell brown, on Flickr

The above sign is gone, but the 5 St Philip's Place is still there (I think)


Government Office for the West Midlands - 5 St. Philip's Place by ell brown, on Flickr

The Government wanted them closed down by March 2011. See Government Office
 
the demolision of old property on the colmore estate from which emerged birminghams finance centre..notice the railings of st philips cathedral on the right...just beyond the lamp post on the left is church street on the corner of which the grand hotel would be opened in 1879
 
I got some new shots of St Philip's Place today. I haven't uploaded them yet. Including one of 5 St Philip's Place with that missing Government Office sign.

Thanks BordesleyExile. You can search either Flickr or Google for Snow Hill photos.
 
Astoness said:
the demolision of old property on the colmore estate from which emerged birminghams finance centre..notice the railings of st philips cathedral on the right...just beyond the lamp post on the left is church street on the corner of which the grand hotel would be opened in 1879
Click to expand...

That's a really interesting photo Lyn. Are any of the buildings on the left still there? The building just visible in the distance on the right must be the old blue coat school, the former building to that in Ell's photo in post 19 ( I think?). Viv
 
Thanks for posting the photos of Colmore Row. Parts of it are much changed these days but the old buildings left and have been cleaned up are very imposing. When I came on this scene firstly in the mid 1940's, all of the building frontages were
literally all black and very grimy right the way down to the Council House. Over the years the buildings have been cleaned and look very good indeed. I can remember visiting some offices on the Council House side when I had a temp secretarial stint in the early l960's. The offices were were old and drab. The rents for the attic offices were quite cheap in those days but there was nothing luxurious about them. Snow Hill Station frontage would have looked great all cleaned up. Nothing architectural about the box that is there now.
 
thanks ell for the recent pics of colmore row..we still have some lovely buildings to admire...hi jenny i agree that snow hill station would have looked great cleaned up....

lyn
 
Glad to hear the Grand Hotel is still there, albeit shrouded at the moment. The hotel interior was interesting. It had a very large hall inside which had a gallery. The decor was truly over the top - lots of gilding and very ornate, but a sight to see. These buildings were very showy and obviously meant to be 'seen'! It's good to hear so many are still there. I agree with Jennyann and Lyn, we can really appreciate their beauty now they're cleaned up. My memory is of a row of pretty grubby buildings too, so it's good news to see them restored to their original state. Viv.
 
The Grand Hotel is in desperate need of restoration. It's Grade II* listing hasn't helped the owners do any work to it.

At least the ground floor with shops looks ok.
 
According to Peter Leather's book " A guide to the buildings of Birmingham" the Grand Hotel was built to the French Renaissance style around 1875- 78, possibly to a design by Plevins, later re-modelled by Martin & Chamberlain between 1889 - 90. It looks like Colmore Row was deliberately developed in the 1870s to make it a much grander and impressive street than earlier times. Well they succeeded on that score! Viv.
 
I was watching Central Tonight earlier, and they mentioned the Grand Hotel. Rewatched it on itv.com/central-west and it is not our Grand Hotel that is being restored, but the Midland Grand Hotel in London! Not sure why they mentioned it other than people going by train in the Midlands would stay there. It was the last item on the programme.
 
I remember a Kardomah on Colmore Row which was, I think, at the end of the Gt Western arcade. Looked different to this. Did they move premises? Viv.
 
I remember this quite clearly Lyn, glad you have found a photo of it. I remember when I was about seven, going into Boots with my parents (yes, Dad was there too) to buy some mascara. It was Cyclax, and to me seemed very sophisticated indeed. I can still 'feel' what it felt like to be in that shop, but I did not realise there was a break between Boots and the Kardomah - is it a road a service road, or what, does anyone know?
 
viv i am enclined to agree with you..i thought the kardomah was further along to the left....shortie i hope someone can solve that side road question...im lost now lol...

lyn
 
Lyn I shall look on my map a bit later (I am supposed to be cleaning, LOL), I suspect it will be a service road, possibly for Greys.
 
The map does not show it Lyn, my map is a little too early. It looks like the Kardomah may have replaced a former pub, and in 1911 where Greys was were several buildings - possibly Georgian houses still. Still no nearer to the answer.
 
If I remember right The Gt. Western Arcade didn,t come all the way down to the street edge. Dek
 
The building behind the Kardomah looks like the side of Building in the first photo in Ellbrown's post 19 (former site of BlueCoat School/Prudential/ westMidsGovOffice). Maybe it is at the entrance to the arcade but the long Kardomah sign makes it look a bit odd. The frontage I remember was different to this but that could have just been because of modernization. Viv
 
This is the modern end of the Great Western Arcade from Colmore Row


The modern end of the Great Western Arcade from Colmore Row by ell brown, on Flickr


The modern end of the Great Western Arcade from Colmore Row by ell brown, on Flickr

The original end from Temple Row


Great Western Arcade - from Temple Row by ell brown, on Flickr


Great Western Arcade - from Temple Row by ell brown, on Flickr


Inside the Great Western Arcade (the shot below was published in the Birmingham Post Flickr page in October 2009)


Great Western Arcade - towards Colmore Row by ell brown, on Flickr

Inside (Temple Row end) is this sign about the history of it


Our History - Great Western Arcade by ell brown, on Flickr

Zoom in on the text


Our History - Great Western Arcade by ell brown, on Flickr
 
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