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Handsworth

I remember the band stand, the flower show, the dog show, the scouts rally and the grass tennis courts which were well looked after and I think it was 1/3 (ie 7p) for a 1 hour session probably c1966-ish. Also Grove Lane swimming baths with the Womens and Mens entrances. The front facade is still there. I seem to remember that at some time before they were also real baths - as in tubs too.
 
My dad used to have a little job when he was about 11 or 12 collecting tennis balls at a tennis court in Perry Barr. Don't know how much he was paid, but I doubt it was much. Viv.
 
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Viv great picture that - it could be me in that pic too :-) (it could, but it wasnt) - lovely park

Unsure if we have listed any of these pics previously ... but I came across this excellent website and thought I'd share them using the link below.
Credit to John Houghton & Mike Ingram. (is this... "our" Mike Ingram ?)

https://www.handsworthhistory.co.uk/index.html
 
The last photo is really lovely - this is by what is now The Endwood pub, the lych gate of the church on the right. Endwood Court Road still looks almost the same but not quite as tidy. (No 's' in the name Endwood). The JJ Hughes picture is of a farm in Wood Lane, the cottages still exist on the corner of Butler's Road. The next time I go I will take my camera - I know this part very well.
 
The Bull Baiting one is a puzzle. There is a bridge at the bottom end of Ninevah Road, but there is a hill and this photo does not show any incline. Not sure if this is a railway bridge or an aquaduct.
 
Thank you for filling in detail, Shortie. I was hoping the pictures would trigger explanations & discussion. I'll look forward to some current pictures of any places that still stand. The Bull baiting picture came from Dent. I hope he got his facts right.
 
Shortie said:
The Bull Baiting one is a puzzle. There is a bridge at the bottom end of Ninevah Road, but there is a hill and this photo does not show any incline. Not sure if this is a railway bridge or an aquaduct.
Click to expand...

It's a bridge for the freight trains that came from Lea Hall. Still there. See Google Earth street view.
 
Oh I know it's still there, I am in the area fairly frequently for one thing or another - I meant the bridge in the picture may have been an aquaduct, not the Ninevah Road one. I am now wondering if it will be a railway bridge - Bull Baiting was illegal by 1842, so it is more likely to be an aquaduct.

The only aquaduct I know of is in Hamstead village, and again, there is a sharp incline in the road which does not show here, but that could be just artistic licence. I have put a call into my friend at Handsworth Historical Society but she is not at home at the moment. I am sure they will have some idea. I am wondering if Hamstead was once part of Handsworth - as part of that later became Handsworth Wood. I am very puzzled by this. I know a lot of the canals were abandoned but I am not sure if there were many in Handsworth to begin with.

I am about to go out now, but I shall look on my maps of Handsworth later today to see if I can get a clue.
 
Thank you, Shortie. Yes, Hamstead was listed under Handsworth in the old directories & books. It was Mike Gee's text to the Alan Godfrey Hamstead map that prompted me to "revisit" the pictures I do have of Handsworth.
Thank you for the link, Sue.
 
This picture, from Images of england book "Handsworth, hockley & Handsworth wood", does not give a place, other than handsworth, but shows a tree which can be identified in the drawing, as can the house in the centre

site_of_bull_baiting_handsworth.jpg
 
Thank you, Mike. I have not seen that picture before.
Running north to south the railway line passes over or under Wood Lane, Wellington Rd, Hamstead Rd, Holly Rd & then Soho Rd so perhaps that will narrow down the possibilities for the bull baiting location.
 
As to the site of the bull baiting. According to Digital Handsworth, Queens Head Lane was near Boulton Road, so maybe it became Queens Head Road? Here is the photo on Digital Handsworth with the wording: Narrow by-way from Queenshead Lane to Boulton Road c1908 from a negative by W.O.Brooke
829-0.jpg
 

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Wonderful photos Bordesleyexile. Had a look on Streetview of Villa Road and it's still pretty much recognisable, although not in such good shape.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1342281490.032683.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1342281504.499565.jpg

The buildings further along from the chemists have gone. I like the shade pulled down over the shop window on Bordesleyexile's older image. Remember those? They lay flat against the shop window and were hung on hooks at the corners and edges. Viv.
 
A bit more to add to my previous post. There was once a toll gate, I think at the junction of Villa and Hamstead Roads. The black and white building on the corner of Hamstead Road and Villa Road (known as Bendall's Corner) is still supposed to be marked "Toll Gate House" over the side doorway, but can't verify that. Maybe someone else knows. Viv.
 
Phil posted on another thread these pictures of the toll gate at Handsworth. As Viv brought the subject up I hope that you do not mind them being included here, Phil.

Hamstead Rd Handsworth Villa tollgate Phil.jpgHamstead Rd tollgate Handsworth Phil BHF.jpg
Locations well found, Mike & Viv for the bull baiting site & Villa Rd respectively.
 
What a beautiful drawing Bordesley! And thank for the letting us know about the book. I shall definitely be getting a copy as I grew up at Soho and will look forward to reading it and seeing the illustrations. Here is another drawing of Soho in 1798, which I have put on previously on another thread but thought it worthwhile putting on again as it goes nicely with the illustration from the book. Judy

Soho 1798001.jpg
 
How interesting Shortie. I can't wait to read it, it sounds fascinating. When I was growing up at Soho and it was a hotel, I was allowed at weekends, when the hotel was quiet, to choose a room to be mine for the weekend and often slept in the room that used to be Anne Boulton's bedroom. The hotel mainly catered for commercial travellers or reps as they would be called today, but there were a couple of residents too.

Judy
 
Oh Judy, how lucky you were to be able to sleep in that house! One of the things that is in the book, without giving much away, is a part where Sheena Mason talks about a meal that was eaten someone by Matt Boulton, possibly with Anne. The cost is mentioned, as I think it was diarised - and it was not cheap! It did make me consider the vast difference between their lives and the lives of the ordinary man, but as I know Boulton was very ahead of his time and looked after his workforce, I forgave him for it! Descriptions of clothes, fabrics and trimmings too are there. I had heard of Matthew Boulton and knew what he did, but until the Council Bought Soho House in the 1990's I knew very little. I used to read of the transformation of the house in the Birmingham Mail which my boss used to take daily at work. I registered an interest and was able to go to the lectures at Birmingham University about the furnishings, etc. I was by then, totally hooked. I visted the house just after it opened and have gone frequently ever since. To stand in Boulton's bedroom and know that Nelson went into that same room was quite something. They have made it rather more child-friendly fairly recently, and that is great so that youngsters can learn and see right where it happened.
 
Shortie, I was very lucky as a child to grow up in that lovely house, although I didn't appreciate it at the time, it was just home, but there were always people around and I just wished I lived in an ordinary house! Still we had a lovely garden so all my friends could come to play. Boulton's bedroom was used as our family bedroom when I was very small. My Mom, Dad, sister and me all used to sleep in there together as it was a very large room and the other rooms were used by guests. I was told that Nelson also brought Lady Hamilton to Soho during Boulton's time there. I also went to a lecture at the Birmingham University before the House was open to the public and it was most interesting to learn about all the renovations that had been carried out. We were then coached to Soho Avenue to have a look round the house and by then it no longer looked like the house I remembered.

Judy
 
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