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National Trust Back to Back houses Inge Street & Hurst Street
- Thread starter Di.Poppitt
- Start date
Radiorails
master brummie
These places sound quite interesting. I have never lived in anywhere quite like them but have stayed in similar places in the Potteries which visiting relatives there.
Up to my fifteen year I always lived a modern house (at the time) but Devon found me in large villa style premises. My next home was in a 450 year old farm house (now 500 years old). After that it has been an assortment of cottages and my last house, where I have been since 1965, is now 65 years old.
Up to my fifteen year I always lived a modern house (at the time) but Devon found me in large villa style premises. My next home was in a 450 year old farm house (now 500 years old). After that it has been an assortment of cottages and my last house, where I have been since 1965, is now 65 years old.
horsencart
master brummie
I have too say having lived in a back to back house for the first 8 years of my life, things like sharing a toilet block with other family's not my scene thank you
cookie273uk
Gone but not forgotten
I too spent 4 years in a back to back in late 50's after leaving the RAF, cold, damp, no kitchen, no bathroom, no hot water outside shared toilets, I certainly do not wish to repeat that experience. Eric
JohnJames
master brummie
They are fully modernised with a four star hotel style bathroom/toilet and a fully fitted kitchen, with everything you need to self cater if you don't fancy eating out. Definitely not roughing it when you stay here!
cookie273uk
Gone but not forgotten
Just goes to goes to show what a farce it is, nothing like the original with leaking attic and rotting woodwork. Also you could not have put a bathroom or kitchen in the originals, simply no room, just a ground floor room, a bedroom and a leaky attic and stairs, we were slightly lucky we did have a small garden. Sorry to rant but they were terrible places to live in. At least they were low rent (12/6) so we could raise a deposit for a 'real' house that much quicker. We bought a 3 bedroomed semi with garage in Erdington, it seemed like paradise after our back to back in Vicarage Road Aston. Eric
I see, having just viewed it, that the latest episode of Tony Robinson's "History of Britain", concentrating on victorian times, illustrated the living conditions of workers in the Briant & May match factory in London using the the Inge St back to backs, though not mentioning they were 100 miles away from there
A Sparks
master brummie
I expect it's because there isn't really anywhere in Bow where there are authentic houses from that era now!
Edit: the factory is still there and some of the cottages but it's now all fancy apartments https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bow_Quarter
Edit: the factory is still there and some of the cottages but it's now all fancy apartments https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bow_Quarter
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I'm sure that is correct. Similarly , in another section, they used a lot of shots from Beamish to illustrate shops and streets. It is just that, in factual programs, I think it would be useful to mention where a place is, as otherwise it could be confusing to viewers
abigailcasson
Brummie babby
Hi all!
I am looking for information about the people who once resided in what is now the National Trust's Back-to-Back property at the corner of Inge Street and Hurst Street. The National Trust gives some information on the Mitchell's, the Oldfield's, and claims that a Jewish family, the Levy's, also lived there. I have looked through some of the census records and cannot seem to find any record of the Mitchell's living in Court 15, only at 24 Hurst Street and 53 Inge Street! As for the Levy's, the record shows that they lived at 28 Hurst Street, not in the NT property itself!
I am writing a project for a National Trust internship on "home beyond the four walls" and was hoping to find some evidence of community formed in the courtyards of the back-to-back homes. If anyone has any information regarding the NT property, or stories of community in any Birmingham back-to-back then I would be very grateful to hear it.
Thank you!
I am looking for information about the people who once resided in what is now the National Trust's Back-to-Back property at the corner of Inge Street and Hurst Street. The National Trust gives some information on the Mitchell's, the Oldfield's, and claims that a Jewish family, the Levy's, also lived there. I have looked through some of the census records and cannot seem to find any record of the Mitchell's living in Court 15, only at 24 Hurst Street and 53 Inge Street! As for the Levy's, the record shows that they lived at 28 Hurst Street, not in the NT property itself!
I am writing a project for a National Trust internship on "home beyond the four walls" and was hoping to find some evidence of community formed in the courtyards of the back-to-back homes. If anyone has any information regarding the NT property, or stories of community in any Birmingham back-to-back then I would be very grateful to hear it.
Thank you!
mw0njm.
A Brummie Dude
i lived in a back to back in nechells. it had 2 small bedrooms.1 small living room,a very small kitchen. just enough room for one at the brown sink.no loo. it was down the road in a courtyard.next to a brew house were mom did the washing we had a bath on a sunday night in front of a black cast iron range. and slept in a big bed. freezing in the winter. a x army greatcoat on the bed on top of a feather eiderdown. one night the ceiling fell on us. if you wanted a wiz,it was in a po.then in the morning it was emptied into a bucket,and dumped down the loo.you could hear the rats running around the roof space
only too glad they did not land on us when the ceiling fell down. good old days you must be joking
abigailcasson
Brummie babby
Thanks so much for this, Pete. This gives me a real insight into what it was like - I often find that the National Trust can romanticise the past. What a terribly tough time... Thanks again.
Radiorails
master brummie
That reminds me of CRB checks. I was told, last year, that mine needed renewing, although I have held one (and its predecessor) for some years. I was told it was to protect old and vulnerable folk. Really! I replied, well you are talking to one. Subject changed. 
abigailcasson
Brummie babby
Is anyone able to help me figure out the street numbering on Inge Street and Hurst Street? It's quite confusing. I know that the houses were renumbered between 1883 and 1900, but what did the before and after numbering look like? 28 Hurst Street became 63 Hurst Street is as much as I know. Does anyone have access to maps that demonstrate both numbering systems? I'm looking for the numbering system between 1841-1881, and then how it changed by 1901.
Abigail
There are no maps that show earlier numbering, but the reason that , in this case, the houses were renumbered in hurst St was that hurst St and Lower Hurst st were combined into Hurst St in around 1898 (between the 1897 and 1899 Kellys directories) If there are any particular numbers you are interested in, I can probably work out the equivalent before and after from directories
There are no maps that show earlier numbering, but the reason that , in this case, the houses were renumbered in hurst St was that hurst St and Lower Hurst st were combined into Hurst St in around 1898 (between the 1897 and 1899 Kellys directories) If there are any particular numbers you are interested in, I can probably work out the equivalent before and after from directories
john knight
signman
Never been.
abigailcasson
Brummie babby
Hi Mike,
Thank you! I have a couple of requests that would be great to know. I have attached what I have worked out so far, based off the national trust map, with black pen being the new numbers and pencil being the old, with past residents being circled in a blue box.
1) Where is 53 Inge Street? If it is next door to 50 Inge Street, then what happened to number 52?
2) Mathew Oldfield lived at 5 Court 13 Inge Street, would you be able to point out where that is to me?
Thanks again.
Abigail
Tthe whole, matter is somewhat confusing, more so than you have probably realised, I do not know if your numbering of Inge st came from the c1950 OS version on the old maps site. But I show it here. As you can see, the numbering is the same.
However, directories over 100 years show no 54 as being the Fox Inn, on the other side of Hurst St. Below are examples from 1872,1950 and 1973 (1973 being the last Kellys published for Birmingham
The OS maps are very reliable for actual position and shape of buildings and areas, but I have found on a previous occasion an error in numbering. Kellys also have errors, but I think consistency over three samples in 100 years gives them the edge.
I think good confirmation is from the electoral rolls #9in this case from 1920, where court 15 is between nos 52 and 53
Tthe whole, matter is somewhat confusing, more so than you have probably realised, I do not know if your numbering of Inge st came from the c1950 OS version on the old maps site. But I show it here. As you can see, the numbering is the same.
However, directories over 100 years show no 54 as being the Fox Inn, on the other side of Hurst St. Below are examples from 1872,1950 and 1973 (1973 being the last Kellys published for Birmingham
The OS maps are very reliable for actual position and shape of buildings and areas, but I have found on a previous occasion an error in numbering. Kellys also have errors, but I think consistency over three samples in 100 years gives them the edge.
I think good confirmation is from the electoral rolls #9in this case from 1920, where court 15 is between nos 52 and 53
Therefore I have added to your plan in red what ?I believe to be the correct numbers for Inge St. Below also is a map c1889 where I show court 13 in green.
Ignore the other court in red. I am having trouble with the old maps site (I suspect with the lockdown they are having a very large demand which is causing it) and have used a previoues map I had for another purpose.
Ignore the other court in red. I am having trouble with the old maps site (I suspect with the lockdown they are having a very large demand which is causing it) and have used a previoues map I had for another purpose.
abigailcasson
Brummie babby
Thank you, Mike - this has been incredibly helpful for my research!
cookie273uk
Gone but not forgotten
My late Wife and I lived in a back house in the 50's in a court yard in Aston, a living room a bedroom and a leaking attic it was terrible, rotting window frames, damp with peeling wallpaper, mildew, outside toilets, 4 shared by 12 houses, freezing cold in the winter. The only good thing was the cheap rent allowing us to save a deposit for a 'real' house that much quicker, it was paradise to have a kitchen, bathroom indoor toilet 3 bedrooms and warmth. Those restored houses in Hurst Street are nothing like the real thing, they are practically rebuilt. Eric
hi eric i think journey66 could be referring to the properties on the front including the 3 houses you can pay to stay which of course would have to be made liveable hence a bit of renovation.. the actual back houses in the courtyard that the public can tour round i believe are more or less the same now as the day the last people moved out of them....minus the mice..rats dirty sewer water and bed bugs...i dont think any of us would like to see those back again 
but you are quite right of course..life in a back to back was not easy and not very pleasant...i was born in one...
lyn
but you are quite right of course..life in a back to back was not easy and not very pleasant...i was born in one...lyn
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cookie273uk
Gone but not forgotten
Lyn, my Wife was born in a back house in Aston in 1928, but I was born in a 'proper' house in Aston (queens road in 1930) next door to Atkinsons Brewery,' things have certainly changed since then. Eric
hello eric hope you are keeping well...yes things have certainly moved on from shared toilets down the yard and no running hot water and in our case no kitchen...the cooker was up the corner in the tiny living room...just a small scullery at the other end...always kept clean and tidy and the thing is we all got by...we had to..thats how it was in those days..its history...take care eric
lyn
lyn