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Gosta Green Through Duddeston

here is Coleman st ,
221 Cross Keys P.H. George
Davies
227 Preece Robert, baker
here is Great Lister st

This is from Kelly's 1904. The " Cross Keys " pub stood in Windsor Street but was on the corner with Coleman Street. Not sure what date it disappeared and why. Would anyone out there Know any facts about this pub ?

The Photograph of this pub can be found on page11 and post106.
 
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The Cross Keys seems to have disappeared between 1921 and 1932. not very precise I'm afraid
mike
 
Mike. Thank you for your reply, I wait in anticipation that someone may add more. It all helps to build up a picture of the past and the way things were.
 
Ernie

As you know when I arrived in Nechells, yourself along with Coleman Street were in the process of removing yourself to greener pastures.

So I know very little about Coleman Street, but I suspect the disappearance of the Cross Keys has something to do with the industrialisation of the area in the 20's.

On this map it shows Coleman Street crossing Windsor St and Adams St and meeting up with Dartmouth St. I never knew it go further than Windsor St and I always remember it being mostly factory's and industrial premises on the West side of Windsor St

Phil

ColemanSt-1.jpg
 
I have just trawled through 71 pages to check if some Photographs I have were posted. I am pleased to say that I cannot see them so I shall try to post them later as I have been having trouble scanning.
 
Hello Phil. Coleman Street went from Dartmouth Street to Bloomsbury Street many years ago but I only knew it as from Windsor Street to Henry Street.
One part of it was built over all those years ago and the other part was renamed as Lupin Street which of course ran from Henry Street to Bloomsbury Street.
The site of the " Cross Keys " pub was always waste ground on the corner.
 
I used to live in Heneage Street,it was number 157, it was at the front,a potato shop, and me and my mum and dad lived at the back. I was born in 1946. We lived next door to a shop,but before you came to the shop there was a big entry that went up the back into a big yard with some more houses. I remember it as well as I can with my 62 year old brain. My dad came from Great Francis Street,his mother was of Astonian descent, she was a Masters who married a Henry Scott. Her mother,Amy was an Ansell,her father a William Ansell,but not THE Willaim Ansell of the Ansells family, although I think they were related.
 
Linguard Street

Bloomsbury Street

Bloomsbury Street

Bloomsbury Street
 

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that's a really nice story Jacky 46,
i did,nt live a million miles from you in Cromwell st,
great on here though takes you back to you roots
happy days regards dereklcg.
 
Pete. I said that was the lot, it really must be now unless there might be one or two more hiding away in a corner somewhere. only wish I had some more to post. I guess I shall have to rely on Phil, yourself and others to keep
Gosta Green alive.
 
Jacky. Your house in 1904.
here is Bloomsbury st
here is Francis st ,
151 Jones Thomas, metal dlr
152 Jackson Harry Charles,
confectioner '
155 Foster Edward, baker
157 Weston Thom. Pawnbroker.
r5§ Ta5'lor Henry, shopkeepr
160 Swinfen George, tailor
here is Godwin st
 
Hi jacky,

When did you leave the area, about the same time as Ernie I would guess as your end on Heneage St was among the first to go under the hammer.

Phil
 
Jacky. I lived with my Gran at 4 back 191 half way between Willis Street and Henry Street. I did not know down your end very well apart from the bookies just off Heneage Street.
 
Hi brumgum, have to say I loved the photo of B Terrace Lawrence St. My nan and family lived in A terrace it certainly brought back memories.
the photo of Coleshill Street also reminded me of the times I crossed over that road to get to Bishop Ryders School from Curzon Street, where I lived as a child.
Hope there are more photos to come.

st.even lucy.
 
Another photo of Lawrence St in not so happy times, or happier times if you were glad to get out of there. It all depends on how you look at things. I think it is a very sad sight indeed. I sometimes wonder how much of the slum clearance done around Gosta Green was needed and how much was done to make room for the aston uni campus.

Phil

GostaGreenLawrenceSt1970.jpg
 
Phil. I always thought that they looked very smart in comparison with Coleman Street and a lot of others around, the best i guess was those in Barrack Street and Windsor Street on that side on the site of the old Barracks.
 
Ernie

As I never went inside any of the houses in those Courts in Lawrence St I am assuming they were back to backs. They always looked of a good strong sturdy construction to me, and they always looked to be in a good state of repair.

I am sure that with very little thought and effort they could have been renovated and adapted as student halls of residence. Although that wouldn't tie in with Birmingham's predilection for tearing anything old down.

Phil
 
phil. dont get me going again. as i have said before i know that certain houses had to go. those that were poorly built etc but you cant tell me that a total clearance was necessary. i think we all know streets and houses that are very much still up and running that are just as old as some that was pulled down in the 60s. its just that where they are situated was not the areas chosen for redevopement. the ones demolished unecessary were and what really gets my goat is in some areas such as newtown the houses put up in the 60s are now themselves being demolished. cant work it out. lyn
 
Phil. I can only think that it was out with the old when the opportunities arose to create wide open spaces for grander developments as they materialised.
 
Wales

I would have gladly demolished the house I lived in, when I lived in Francis St for free. There were certain areas of housing that needed demolition. As you say they demolished one slum to replace it with another, in my early years I watched all the new housing in Nechells being built. Little thinking that it would all be gone again in my lifetime.

Even in Nechells there were some wonderful houses. They demolished some beautiful houses in Ashted Row to replace them with a couple of blocks of maisonettes and a block of flats.

Phil
 
so to me phil it begs the question where is the history of the future going to come from. cant see any at the moment. lyn
 
GER22VAN said:
Phil. I can only think that it was out with the old when the opportunities arose to create wide open spaces for grander developments as they materialised.
Click to expand...

Ernie

Have you looked at Gosta Green, sorry Aston University Campus lately on Google. Its a horrible place it looks like a collection of factories and offices.

Phil
 
Phil. You say "I would have gladly demolished the house I lived in,"
I did not demolish my Gran's house but I did help to demolish others in the street. I think they were so unsafe to demolish them after we had a go that they could not demolish them from the top down like they normally did, they tied a rope around the bottom half and pulled them down with the lorry they had. Used to love to stand and watch them come crashing to the ground.
 
re Lawrence Street.
the last photograph was obviously taken after everyone had moved out.
the houses were NOT back to back they had a front door leading out to a terrace
A.B. and C terrace and a back door leading out to a yard, where the kids played
and the washing was hung out.
 
Ernie

Not a very cost effective way of demolishing houses. In those days they only got about £10 per house. The profit was in the reclaimable materials such as slates timber quarry tiles etc and the bricks went as hard core on the motorways until they discovered the chemicals in the mortar was causing the motorways to crack up.

Phil
 
st.evenlucy

Forgive my assumption that they were back to back houses. As I stated I had never been inside one. So you were one of the lucky families in the area, you had a real house instead of half a house like a lot of us.

Phil
 
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