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National Trust Back to Back houses and memories of them

Stokkie said:
Thanks Morturn, another reason to revisit the Black Country Museum as there is always plenty to see. In my mind, I thought Reservoir Terrace was two stories, but as I last saw the place in 1963 and we didn't invite ourselves inside, I might well have misremembered.

I welcome the National Trust's turn to working class history and looking back to the first post in this thread it seems that they gathered stories and people from the immediate area to be representative rather than the people who lived in Court 15 over the years. That's fair enough. Derek
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The National Trust has been saving stately homes ever since it was set up. The Birmingham Back to Backs were an unusual project for them. The NT was very much all about the great man theory of history as if everyday people did not make history. They did not expect the attention, or the visitor numbers the back-to-backs generated. 30k people in the first year. I recall them saying it was a blip and would not continue the following year. It did of course as people sort to engage with a past that they could relate too. The popularity of the open museums like Beamish, Black Country Museum and Ironbridge should have told them that.

Just by coincidence, I was thinking exactly the same, a visit to the Black County Museum is well overdue.
 
i remember going with dad to fetch a settee and dressing table on a handcart from nans in washwoodheath back to nechells.and trying to get it through the door... talk about right said fred.

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Was in a French back to back.It was beautiful inside. It had a yard at the front the owner had made in to a pretty garden.It was a shop in WW2 produce sold from the kitchen window. The oriel Window in the outhouse looked out on to a farm yard.
The stairs were really steep and spiralled I had trouble as I have big feet, pressing on to the wooden staircase walls, there was no hand rail. A lot of them still are just stuck on to each other at right angles with no backs.
My cousin here's cottage had a rope to hang on to to go up the stairs.
 
Astoness said:
over the years quite a few people have asked what exactly is a back to back house..petes link above explains it perfectly but i was just thinking that what a fire hazard they were too..the best way i can explain to people who have never lived in one is to imagine 2 people standing back to back...the houses were joined with just one wall...the front house was facing the street the back house facing the yard...they only had 1 door to get in and out...as you entered a back to back house you went straight into a tiny living room..in the living room up the corner was a door leading up to 1 bedroom and 1 attic..we have read many newspaper reports on the forum of many tragic fires because if a bad fire broke out in the living room while everyone was asleep the only means of escape was from the bedroom windows...

lyn
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The horror stories of oil lamps being knocked over and setting the place ablaze were passed down to later generations.
 
whe had a parafine heater in the living room.becouse it was always cold mom put the replacement bottle in the back.but it was not seated correct,so it flooded and ignigted the hot parafine fumes i was in so i dint think i just picked it up and threw it out side.
mom said it was silly thing to do. i could have been injured. ..i think it was better than the house burning down
 
Morturn said:
Yes, you would remove the sashes and put a couple of ladders up the wall outside to guild the wardrobe up as you pulled it up with ropes. Someone would be pushing up at the bottom.
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With a couple of pieces of old sacking or carpet to stop the back being rubbed on the ladders
learnt that when I helped my mates family move into HeyBarnes road
 
Covroad said:
With a couple of pieces of old sacking or carpet to stop the back being rubbed on the ladders
learnt that when I helped my mates family move into HeyBarnes road
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That's how my Nan's wardrobe went in. I moved in put in new windows had to smash it up to get it out.
 
I know the back to backs did not have baths fitted, people used the tin bath. In the social houses there were cast-iron baths, they weighed a ton. It used to take two of use to pick them up and move them inside.
 
Morturn said:
I know the back to backs did not have baths fitted, people used the tin bath. In the social houses there were cast-iron baths, they weighed a ton. It used to take two of use to pick them up and move them inside.
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I remember those cast iron baths...........With the porcelain coating. Here in the US they have become very popular for re use in retro style homes. They are cleaned and re porcelainized to look like new and sell for a very large premium.
 
Morturn said:
I know the back to backs did not have baths fitted, people used the tin bath. In the social houses there were cast-iron baths, they weighed a ton. It used to take two of use to pick them up and move them inside.
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quite right mort there was no fitted baths in the back to back simply because there were no bathrooms..had the tin bath in front of the open fire in the living room...cleanest in first and dirtiest in last....did us no harm

lyn
 
Tom Mann speaks at the Town Hall In September 1917…..In Birmingham…..40,000 back to back houses, 27,000 houses in court-yards, 42,000 houses without water, and 58,000 houses without separate sanitary accomodation.

(Birmingham Gazzette)

7271EDC8-6A88-4E57-9797-99796114DE21.jpeg2D291DF9-BF5B-4ED4-A0BD-D719396B64F5.jpeg
 
Covroad said:
Just on a side issue but on the same theme, earlier this year we had the bathroom replaced , my wife choose a bath that was more a swimming pool than a bath. My concern was it would not go up the stairs , I got my son and his mate around to give me a lift with the bath , I said we will try as test run to see if the bath will go up the stairs, when I mentioned the back up plan was to take the double glazed window unit out , set two ladders out as runners and ‘push and pull‘ the bath up and take it through the window. They all looked at me like I had lost my mind , when I told them it was a proven technique from way back was greeted with looks and laughing.
thankfully it went up the stairs but to this day I still get mocked for my suggestion.
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Astoness said:
quite right mort there was no fitted baths in the back to back simply because there were no bathrooms..had the tin bath in front of the open fire in the living room...cleanest in first and dirtiest in last....did us no harm

lyn
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Our tin baths, in the very early 60s, we had two my parents' was long with rounded ends and mine was oval. Nan kept my mum's baby bath for her washing, it was while aluminium with a navy rim. It had a matching lidded pail, with a ventilated top. Mum said thee used to be a potty to complete the set. I kept the bucket for years when I moved in to her house and used it as a kitchen bin then it became a plant pot holder.
 
Pedrocut said:
Birmingham Daily Post, March 1973….a letter to the editor.


View attachment 175095
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Dartmouth Street School in Nechells, I guess? I think teachers were providing breakfast and washing children before school at the start of her teaching career. Home visits were expected in the case of truancy, so she might well have seen inside what she terms their 'sordid homes.' I remember the School Board man coming to inspect our house in the 60s, as the child of a one-parent family, I was on the list, though I never missed a day. Teaching has always been divided between middle class and working class intakes. She seems a hanger and flogger, I wonder if they edited her letter before publication?
 
.being born in deprived areas then and indeed now does not mean that we do not have a brain and appetite to learn..given the help..support and encouragement we can achieve....but back in the day it was so much harder for children to do this..children reaching the age of 14 that were a part of large families had no choice but to go and seek work to help the family income and who knows what they may have gone on to do given the chance.....having said that it is part of our social history and how things were back then and we cant change history

lyn
 
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Astoness said:
.being born in deprived areas then and indeed now does not mean that we do not have a brain and appetite to learn..given the help..support and encouragement we can achieve....but back in the day it was so much harder for children to do this..children reaching the age of 14 that were a part of large families had no choice but to go and seek work to help the family income and who knows what they may have gone on to do given the chance.....having said that it is part of our social history and how things were back then and we cant change history

lyn
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I knew people had much more than me but I was where I was. While I might have envied I never begrudged anyone for what they had or didn’t! It was not until I got to 16 or so when I realized that regardless of how hard I worked or well I did, it was not enough. We talked about this previously as Mort said there we’re deniers. I was old enough to understand what was going on but not why! Why was the opportunity to improve our lot taken away?
 
same here richard...i was never jealous of anyone who had more than i had....i had all i needed and that was love from my parents...i have said this before on the forum but i was the eldest of 6 children..i really wanted to work in an office but that meant staying on for an extra year to take among other subjects shorthand and typing...mom and dad said you will stay on..we will manage so mom took on outwork to make up the money i would have bought in for that year...always be grateful to them because i did go into office work..

lyn
 
The steepest staircase in a house that I ever climbed was in Marston Green, at a friends. Probably built around 1900. They had 2 stories. The top was reached by really steep very narrow stairs. I was alright going up, but not coming down. I was in my mid 30s too then. The other steepest stair was in a water mill.
 
abigailcasson said:
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!
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I lived in a back to back from 1948-1958 in Wilton Street, Lozells. Even after all these years my memories are still vivid. Ours had three bedrooms - large one on first floor and another on the second together with a small one where I slept. My mother had lived there from her early childhood - probably since the 1930's. The living room was small and an even smaller kitchen, which I think had been built on later because of the different bricks. No hot water so it had to he heated on a black stove. No fridge. Having no bathroom, I was washed in a tin bath in front of the open fire. I believe the adults used the public baths. I remember the wash house and 2 outside toilets, which were shared amongst 4 houses (two facing the street and our two at the back) At least the toilets were sewered and I don't remember seeing any rats but it's not say they weren't around! We had a cellar which was very damp and dark. It wasn't used for anything but to store coal. I remember there being a shelf near the top of the steps and it was cold enough to set a jelly. Mum, my stepfather and I moved to Great Barr after they married and almost felt "posh" because we finally had a bathroom and garden. A few years later we emigrated to Australia but my Grandmother was still living in the back to back for several years until she was rehoused before they were demolished. I think it was in the early 1970's (?)
 
Geminidi said:
I lived in a back to back from 1948-1958 in Wilton Street, Lozells.
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There are a couple of threads about Wilton St (assuming they're the same one) with some photos, articles and memories...

Wilton Street Lozells

Can anyone tell me please where Wilton Street is or was? I have a birth certificate with the address 84 Wilton Street in the sub-district of Aston this was in 1914. I have another birth certificate showing the address 2 back 33 Wilton Street in the sub-district of All Saints. this was in 1916.
birminghamhistory.co.uk birminghamhistory.co.uk

Wilton Street

Can anyone tell me please where Wilton Street is or was? I have a birth certificate with the address 84 Wilton Street in the sub-district of Aston this was in 1914. I have another birth certificate showing the address 2 back 33 Wilton Street in the sub-district of All Saints. this was in 1916.
birminghamhistory.co.uk birminghamhistory.co.uk
 
JackiePritchatt said:
This brings back memories, I was born in Porchester St. back to back in the 60s I remember going up the entry to the toilets where we all shared, there were plenty of spiders in there, squares of newspaper on a nail, for toilet roll. My sisters use to go to the bomb peck to collect wood for the open fire, when we ran out of coal. There were 5 children in the attic. I love hearing all your stories keep them coming.
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My mother was born in 1925 in Porchester Street (will ask her the number - yes she is still alive) As a child she moved to Wilton Street, Lozells where I was born in 1948.
 
hi geminidi we also have a large thread on porchester st with plenty of photos so start reading from post 1 so that you do not miss anything...i was born in nans back to back in paddington st in 1953 which your mom will remember...click on link below and enjoy the forum

lyn

Porchester Street

couple of pics of porchester st folks....if anyone has anymore would love to see them. pic 1 shows alma st school on the right...i went there for the first 6 months of my school years lyn
birminghamhistory.co.uk
 
mw0njm. said:
sunday morning out cleaning the front step and polishing with red cardinal polish :grinning: wonder how many of us original b2b dwellers are on this forum and who is the oldest?
en.wikipedia.org

Back-to-back house - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
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I'll get you started.I'm 78 and lived in proper back to back from birth to age 14. My kids find it hard to believe the general conditions,as they didnt have to live through those times, Still here though, with some happy memories and in good health
 
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