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Erdington

Lyn that was also the ERDington telephone exchange and Control Centre (dealing with 'phone faults) on the 1st floor, I worked there for 6 months in 1959. Eric
 
Viv, I've just asked the question on the post office thread which you've answered on this one! Amazing...mind reading added to your other skills. Now, do you know what replaced the post office and other shops before Blockbusters arrived please?
 
hi pen have you ever used this useful map site before??..i cant praise it enough..had such fun travelling all over birmingham to see what was there back in the day...just move the blue dot to the left and it will show the position of the post office..does not look like there was much there before it was built..i have had many a late night playing with this map site:D


https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=18&lat=52.5251&lon=-1.8410&layers=176&b=6
 
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That's interesting Lyn, thanks. I shall have to get my head round it because the Swan stayed there until the 1960's. I will have to get some of my later maps out to compare. I'll get back to you.
 
Astoness said:
hi pen have you ever used this useful map site before??..i cant praise it enough..had such fun travelling all over birmingham to see what was there back in the day...just move the blue dot to the left and it will show the position of the post office..does not look like there was much there before it was built..i have had many a late night playing with this map site:D


https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=18&lat=52.5251&lon=-1.8410&layers=176&b=6
Click to expand...
Thanks you a new toy!!! However it also confirms the Birmingham/Sutton boundary question and where the Greyhound was and it would appear to be in Sutton, now back to playtime. Thanks again
Bob
 
Hi Bob, the Greyhound was always in Sutton but was originally in the middle of 'The Waste' that's the rough common which stretched from Castle Bromwich to Stonnall or thereabouts. I paid a visit to Warwick Record Office but they told me the maps were in Sutton, Sutton said they were in Birmingham and around I go. All the Erdington maps, which I found in Warwick, end just before the Greyhound. I'm saving all this for the autumn as I don't want to be in a library in the summer (unless of course it's raining....).
 
This postcard is a view of the Village Green and the Free Library. But the 1906 library was to the right of the image out of view. Don't know the date of the image but looks around the early 1900s. Was there another earlier library near the green ? If so where was it in the image? Otherwise has the photographer labelled this image incorrectly? Viv.

image.jpeg
 
Viv, I seem to remember that there was a workhouse around the site of the library or chapel. I don't remember another library being mentioned until Erdington applied to the Andrew Carnegie Foundation. You can just see a bit of the wall of the library - maybe the photo originally showed a little more and it was cut off but the caption remained.
 
Quick put together of 1885 ish and 1913...quite a bit of development. Notice the Library, Picture House and Skating rink!

IMG_2049.JPG
 
This is a 'PS' to my previous posts. I knew I had a map somewhere and found it last night while I was looking at stained glass windows! Perhaps time to revise my filing system? This map is dated 1914 so it was some time before I actually went to the fete, in case anyone is wondering. I also noticed the two football grounds complete with pavilions as is the cricket ground. On another map there is a hockey ground so sport was really big at that time. Then WW1 came.
 

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I can remember in my local pub in reading them marking the (few ) bottles that were purchased as they would only pay out on bottles purchased there. this would certainly have been in the 1980s.
 
Witton Lodge Road seems to be on the border of Erdington and Kingstanding ... I've chosen the Erdington thread. The 1st pic looks late 1920s and the road surface is not finished but the houses are completed. Foreshortening in the photo makes distant items look closer than they are. Two trees have been coloured in and the same two trees (coloured in) appear to be in the 2nd pic which is an aerial view dated 1926 . The probable camera position is marked with a red spot. Many of the houses unfortunately had to be demolished in the 1990s because of serious structural problems and replacement houses can be seen on Google Earth.
colWittonLodgeall.jpg
WittonLodge1926.jpg
shoothill
 
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Somewhere on the forum we had a discussion about the shops opposite Erdington library and what was in place after Sutton New Road was built but before Blockblusters. I just couldn't remember what was there but I was talking to my friend the other night and she caught the bus for work (in the 1960's) on the other side of these buildings. She remembers these shops as she came from the other side of the green and L - R they were, from memory, a Photo shop with a man's name, a school outfitters and then a shop she can't remember. So they were there well into the 1960's and possible later.
 
Absolutely no idea why this little snippet would appear in a newspaper for the Bristol area. It was reported right at the very bottom of the page. Must have been a 'no news day' Where was the dance hall ? Viv.

image.jpeg
 
I suspect it was just one of those things that newspapers did in those days.

I remember finding a story about one of my distant relatives that happened in Newport and as well as appearing in a local newspaper it appeared in Derby, Plymouth, Hartlepool, Dundee and possible others.
 
gingerjon said:
Erdington High street
Click to expand...

Just found this thread. I do not see the photo of Erdington High St that others are referrring to. Or indeed any photos. Am I missing something obvious? Or maybe the photo is no longer accessible?

Terry, East Grinstead, UK
 
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Hi Terry,
Lots of pictures were hacked apparently some time ago. I know that people are trying to replace them. Are you looking for anything specific?
 
Hi Lady P,

Thanks, appreciate the fast reply.

No, I wasn’t looking for anything specific. Just browsing in one of my occasional bouts of nostalgia!

I’ve since discovered many photos, so presumably the patchiness is down to that earlier hacking you mention.

Shortly after posting I also remembered that I’d contributed many photos myself, in the 'image history' section or something like that. But I'm darned if I can find that now. To be honest, I find navigation here something of a challenge!

And somewhere here in a location I’ve also not yet found there’s a video I uploaded a few years ago. I expect that all of the photos in it are already here. But I’ll paste the link to Erdington: Then & Now (45 mins) again below. Anyone should feel free to take any snapshots. Viewing the 12-year old video just now I reckon it's about twice as long as necessary, but there's always the fast-forward button for the boring bits, especially the many maps. Remember to switch to full screen and turn up the volume!

Terry, East Grinstead, UK
 
No sure if this has been mentioned but there's going to be a big development on land which was originally earmarked for a Sainsbury's supermarket. This is opposite the Cross keys and includes the old Honeycomb building. Now lots of houses and flats are to be built. Shops along the main road are mostly empty and very run down. Only the painter's shadow remains on the empty shop opposite. Will that be going too?
 
oldMohawk said:
I've linked to the pic which is in a Furniture Removals thread and the address 76, Summer Road, Birmingham, can be seen on the vans. Would this have been a separate office and it would also be interesting to know where these vans were parked for the photo?
index.php

from https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/furniture-removals.44095/
Click to expand...
 
Photo taken in front of Sutton Coldfield Town Hall. I drove past theredsc_0025.jpg today and noticed some remembered features!
 
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