• 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

Gosta Green Through Duddeston

BobS, My Brother in Law worked at the Co-Op Funerals in the late 1980's and early 1990's. He said collecting bodies from Chelmsley Wood was a nightmare, all those Crofts and Groves running into each other and no straight through roads to go through with the hearse. They sometimes had to trundle the bodies quite a way from some of the houses to get to where the hearse was parked.

Pom
 
Ernie,

Do you remember this one, The Britannia on the corner of Bullock St and Proctor St, just off Windsor St.

Phil

Nechells Bullock St Britannia Proctor St 1951.jpg
 
Last edited:
Phil. I remember the pub ( never been in as I did not drink and still do not drink.) Mom told me of a person she knew who lived next door, he used the pub and she and her friend used to use it. Great for singalong and he used to sing " Ragtime Cowboy Joe" along with many other songs.
Can anyone imagine walking past a pub on a Saturday night and hearing the songs being belted out then along past the next pub with its own version of the hit songs of yesteryear?
 
Ernie

Same here, I remember the pub but I never drank in there. The only pubs I drank in around that area were the Raven and the Green Man and that was only at after time lock ins with my step father. I was only 15 and couldn't get in during licensing hours.

Pom

Only too glad to be of service, and I am glad the photo rekindled some old memories for you. Did your dad ever play in the Raven?

Phil
 
The Raven - The Green Man.

Phil. I was told by my mom that my Gran used to have a drink with her friend in the Raven which stood at the corner of Great Lister Street and Dartmouth Street. Am I correct in thinking that the " Green Man " stood on the corner of Dartmouth Street and Richard Street ?
 
Pom

Ernie is right, the Raven stood on the corner of Great Lister St and Dartmouth St. I think it was replaced by Fletcher's?. It was my parents local when we lived in Francis St.

Ernie

The Green Man was on the corner of Richard St as you say. All I remember about it was I spent quite a few after time sessions in there with my step father and one dinner time session when I was a little older. It must have been over a Christmas break because I remember going in the house next door when the pub closed and being kissed by all the women under the mistletoe.

Would that count as sexual harassment today, or just good luck?

Phil
 
It's so sad to See those blocks looking like that. They looked so Posh when they were first built.
BobS the first pic with just the one block in was that Offenham house do you know? I can't quite read the name on the side even when I've lightened the pic'

Pom
 
Pom

I also remember them just after they were built, they seemed so clean and antiseptic then. Surrounded as they were by all the grey crumbling back to back terraces and streets. And they actually had grass in places a sight rarely seen outside of a park.

Phil
 
Bob. Lovely photograph of the " Old Union Mill ". I could never have told you the name of that Pub but used to pass it on the way to Woodcock Street swimming baths every week at school swimming lessons and Sunday mornings when the "Gang" went swimming.
 
Ernie and all you other past residents of Nechells, can any of you reassure me about this photo.

The caption to the photo reads, Saltley from Cato St 1952. I think that is wrong. Apart from the date being wrong (too early) I think it is a view of Great Francis St which became Little Hall Rd and they also added Melvina Road behind that alongside the railway track. I think it was taken from Bloomsbury St.

What do you think?

Phil

Nechells Ariel Bloomsbury St..jpg
 
Last edited:
Does and body know if ''Moby Dicks'' pub is still there it was off New Canal St. in Nechells,and for the life of me i cant remember the name of the pub before

Mossy
 
Phil. I hav'nt really got a clue, as there seems to be so much redevelopment going on. I can only say that would it be Saltley Gas Works ? Did they have two gasholders whereas Rupert Street had three. They are now listed and I dought if any had been demolished.

Have a look at page 20 on this thread, half way down the page at the top of the Photograph, The two Gasholders ( Are they the same ones ?)
Go to original and magnify.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ernie

That they are Saltley Gasworks is not in dispute. What I am saying is when the photographer says it was taken from Cato St he is wrong. If you look at the photo in front of the gasholder there is a large building. If you look at this other photo I am posting you will see it is in Cato St North, So it can't be took from Cato St.

As for the date, I had a mate who lived in those flats that are being built. I'm sure his family moved in to them when they were new about 1960 ish, but I could be wrong about that.

Phil

Saltley Cato St North 1956.jpg
 
Last edited:
Phil. I get a bit bewildered with the new development so I am not sure I can help but I see the point you are making. I printed this map but it still will not help me.
 

Attachments

  • map Nechells map x.jpg
    map Nechells map x.jpg
    122.5 KB · Views: 10
Ernie

On the map you have posted I reckon that photo was taken from near the end of Duddeston Manor rd, as those flats were being built in between Melvina Rd and Little Hall Rd. I noted the last time I passed that way that they had been replaced by houses.

I seem to remember one of them big old fashioned tower blocks at the end of Duddeston Mill Rd, so the photo could have been taken from there.

Phil
 
Phil. I began thinking along the same lines, I noticed the railway coaches in the middle right hand corner of your pic, I ask myself would this be the main line from Vauxhall & Duddeston Station ? Oh Dear second thoughts they look like coal barges.
It still puts it at those high rise flats where you said.
 
Last edited:
Ernie

I am satisfied in my own mind that the photo was taken from the location of what is now of Duddeston Manor Road, what you see in the middle of the picture is the railway lines leading up to Vauxhall Station.

The photographer was obviously in error when he claims it was taken from Cato St as that location was the other side of the track and much nearer to the gasworks.

Just to the near front left of the new masionettes being built is where they built the new community centre on what became the junction of Little Hall Rd and Melvina Rd.

Phil
 
Phil yes that's where I would have put it, maybe it was meant to read View of Cato St nth and not a View from Cato St nth.

Pom
 
Pom

You could be right in what you say, its from Alton Douglas's book Birmingham Back to the Fifties and the caption actually reads "Looking towards Saltley from Cato St 12th of December 1952".

I buy a lot of books on Birmingham, and I come across this sort of think all the time. I think the problem is that a lot of the people who compile these sort of books put too much trust in young researchers, who are very often young students just trying to earn an extra few bob. I suppose in most cases they were not even born in Birmingham.

What they need is some old codgers like ourselves who remember these places to do their research for them.

Phil
 
troach drops

on my travels today.i popped into a shop in shard end crescent to get some veg.and was surpised to see they sold TROACH DROPS in a large jar.the owners told me that a lot of elderly people buy them.the shop is l.s.skermer.fruit and veg next to the post office.they gave me a troach sweet to try.but i have not tried it yet.it says on the jar they are herbal sweets.as its been mentioned on here a few times.you now know where to get them from.
 
Re: troach drops

hi winston you can get troach drops for quite a few places.
i.e hatton country world, they have a shop there with all the jars like they used to be way back when.also there,s a sweety shop in bewdly.
when i wer nowt but a lad you could get home made troach at eaves home made sweet shop grt lister st. fantastic, home made ice cream with bits of ice in mm and coconut ice. the way we were. regards dereklcg.
 
Hello Derek
This Shop Had Aniseed Balls And Liquorice Sweets.handy If You Are Near There.shard End.the Ones I Liked Were The Sherbet Sweets.mm Memories.
 
i,m or we,re in Brum on Saturday,we,re taking the grandchildren to ast manor to see the buses,, i mite arrange a detour, sherbet dabs Berty Basett style,i,ll have to sample them first they,re only 4 and 7 years old,don,t want it to be to strong for them do i.
cheers mate happy days.. regards Derek
 
Last edited:
Keep them clear of the wine gums,Derek. The Gordon's is only a step away!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi Derek have a lovely day. Don't forget the old sweet shop on the corner of Inge Street over the road from the Hippadrome next to the back to backs. All the sweets mentioned are there.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top