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Farm Street Hockley

hi alan..hope you are well..do you know i have been looking for a pic of broughs the builders for ages...the nearest pic i have to it and i think i have posted it on the forum is of the provident dispensary on the corner of farm st and the pic just shows a little of the shop that was next door...will keep searching....just in case you missed this pic alan here it is...the dispensary building is still there of course and broughs would have been just a little way up from the little shop...our mom used to get our shoes from that shop..

lyn
 
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HI LYNN
Many thanks for posting and digging out the picture thats certainly is there building and there shop as it took the old corner up
there was always a load of old lavetrys spread across the exit you can see that was a arch way into there yard where you see the black space in the picture
and i certainly remember the shop you are on about and old friend of mine from school by the simcoxx family lived close bye
and that was in the days of the old copper on point duty stood in the middle of the brook doing traffic duties in a white coat you have not got of those have you lynn
thanks again lynn have a nice day best wishes astonian alan
 
Wendy said:
Alan this link may help.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_Back_to_Backs

My great grandfather owned at least two houses in Farm Street maybe more around 1860. Here is his obituary which may throw some light on the subject.

A Handsworth Octogenarian’s Death

The late Mr. Jennings, of Lozells Road, who died on Sunday in his 88th year, was one of the oldest inhabitants of Handsworth, and his recollections of that portion of Greater Birmingham were very interesting. He was by business a baker, and at one time was known as the largest buyer of flour in Birmingham. He was also a large buyer of house property, and was considered as great an expert in this class of speculation that many people used to go to the old gentleman or advice and information on prospective purchases. In the early days the populous and busy street now known as Burbury Street was a large clayhole on a piece of waste ground, where the only dwellers were a few squatters in ramshackle huts. Mr. Jennings bought the last stack of bricks from Lewis, the owner o the brick works, when the work of building on the land was begun. It is a matter of regret that three old residents of the district- Mr. Jennings, Mr. H .H. Hartshorne (the first president o the Aston Villa) and Mrs. Alfred Taylor(the widow of the late Alderman Taylor)- have all passed away within a few days of each other.

Aris’s Gazette, January 25th 1913.
Click to expand...

Wendy, that's brilliant, I reckon it is just the sort of info this website was meant for. Regards Alan
 
Thanks Alan, you can imagine how I felt when I found it in central library!
 
hi wend...i meant to post the other day how proud you must have been finding your gt grandad obituary...wonderful stuff...

lyn
 
Thanks Lyn, it was also the discription of the area and the information contained in it. I have a lot to thank my gt grandfather for as he left me so much information in a family bible which sent me along the quest to Key Hill Cemetery. Strange sometimes how we are led down certain paths..
 
think i shall have to start delving in the library again soon wend...i may find some of my lot there with a bit of luck...will let you know if i do..

lyn..
 
not of historical content really but when farm street was being demolished our dad and my brother managed to salvage 3 chimney pots from the houses..from that day until dad had his stroke he always put plants in them and they looked lovely..now the family home has gone myself and two brothers have one each...i shall be repainting it and will plant pansies in it this year...nice to have a little bit of farm st in my back garden and carry on the tradition...

lyn.
 
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lol mike...i seem to be getting a reputation with all things brick...

hi michael the chimney pot i have does not look anything special really..its quite plain..originally terracota..not one of the more ornate ones but none the less i am still happy to have it...will take a pic soon and post it for you...

lyn
 
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Any body remember a Co. called Walker Bros I think they had a site at the Hockley end I,m not sure what they did maybe Refridgeration. Dek
 
Great photo Lyn it must have been just up from my relative David Jennings's bakery at no 237 which was on the corner.
 
thats what i thought wend....its been a while since a farm st pic came up....always searching...

lyn
 
Which end of Farm Street is this photograph taken Lynn? Is it near Hockley Brook or Wheelers Street end? Mabz
 
hi mabz..cant be certain its only a guess but i think it may not be far from guildford st....

mike if you read this post i wonder could we have a map please showing where number 243 was..thanks mike theres no rush...

lyn
 
Lyn
I think the date of the picture is wrong, as the last year Faylite (or anyone else) was listed at 243 Farm St in Kellys was 1964. After that (1965 on) the address was:
1967 Faylite Ltd. neon sign mfrs. 42 St. Stephens st 6. Aston .
As yiou thought, it was close to Guildford st, which is the street on the far right
Mike

mapc1913no243FarmSt.jpg
 
many thanks for the map mike and for the info on the date of the pic...really chuffed to have found it as considering the length of farm st pics of it are not easy to come by...

lyn
 
hi folks...cant believe i have had this pic for 3 years and did not post it on the forum...i think alan will be pleased as it shows what i believe to be the only pic so far of broughs the builders merchants in farm st(not a full shot but better than nothing)...further down on the corner is the peoples dispensary and the shop with the shades down was miss bunches were our mom always got our shoes from.. on the far corner is the white swan pub...dated 1958

lyn
 
Gt Photo Lyn #133 I ask a question which no one answered but the answer is there in your photo I worked for them but they had moved by the time I started. Dek
 
thanks dek..astonian asked ages back about a pic of broughs builders merchants and i had this pic framed and hanging up me landing for 3 years..lol
 
hi lyn
Ihave just picked up on your thread regarding broughs ; since we last spoke as i have been very busy ;
and that i have just read you have got a pic ofold broughs ; thats great news i wish i had one ; still i will keep my eyes open
you never know ;as i know there is a guy whom does go to certaincar boots with old photographs by the hundreds
and he sells them over the years i have accumelalated quite afew and i mooch through his catologuges to see what i can find its worth half an hour on his stall to go through his collections ; some good really old stuff; i got one of the old bull on station rd stechford
which i think you put up about 12 months ago with the horse and cart out side i have that in a frame
any way lynn thanks for putting broughs up for us i will down load it its a little treasure ; and so are you ;
may be one of these days i will get the opportunetity in meeting you at one of these future meeting of forum members when i get the chance
lynn have a nice day even thou the weather aint to good ; best wishes to every one alan ; astonian
 
hi alan..glad you like the pic of broughs..i know its not a full pic but its a start.im sure there will be others its just finding them...you are most welcome to join us at any of the forum meets so maybe we will see at one one of the days...happy hunting at the boot sales..

have a good day....

lyn
 
hi mabz..you may well be right about that..wasnt it a tad further up...cant swear to that though..as you know we have pics of the 3 corners of farm st and villa st but that 4th one still eludes me..the one of the doctors surgery facing the white swan..our gran lived next door...

lyn
 
As a lad in the late 1940s I helped a relation who was a roundsman for Price's Bakery.On a Friday afternoon he would,unofficially,pick up a couple of dozen large fruit cakes from a bakers in Farm St.and sell them on his round on the Saturday.The bakery had a shop front and was on the north side of Farm St. at the Summer lane end.Would this be David Jennings ,Wendys relations, or was there more than one bakery in Farm St.at that time.
Thanks
Pembroke
 
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