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New unseen photos of brum
- Thread starter Astoness
- Start date
oldMohawk
gone but not forgotten
I'm pretty certain it was the coronation and vaguely remember seeing those decorations as I often waited at a bus stop opposite the car park. I had a very close look at the pic and tried something in another thread here https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=38017&p=548233#post548233
Re. post #17. Hadn't noticed at first, but the sign to the left indicates the way to the Top Rank Suite. Must have been very new when this photo was taken. Also look at the little cherub tagging along behind his/her dad. The poor little thing can't ride in the pram cos his dad's conveying a large parcel in it! Love those buildings that were built on a triangular plot, usually with a curved corner. It's similar to the one on Constitution Hill. Think there was also one near Martineau Sq before the 1960s re-development. Viv.
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Re. post #19. What on earth are all those traffic lights for? And TWO traffic islands! Not too sure I'd know how to negotiate this stretch of road. But then it doesn't look very busy .... just as well! Viv.
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Re. post #66. Probably an impressive civil engineering achievement, but I'm not convinced the site would pass the H & S standards of today. That shoring up looks a bit dodgy. And all that stuff left lying around. Well, an accident waiting to happen. Viv.
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crazylegs109
New Member
Dad used to work for Brooks saddles. Took me in there once -happy memories.
Like it Phil. Only another 500, 454 photos to do on the Forum! (Made that number up) . Viv.
Phil
Gone, but not forgotten.
Concerning the High Street Co-op photo, at first I thought it might be the Festival of Britain in 1951, and I knew it had to be between 1941 when the corner of New Street and High Street was bombed, and when they started to redevelop the Big Top site in 1957 as it later became known . So I kept looking and came up with this, its a photo that confirms it was in 1953 and the image of the lady was indeed HM the Queen.
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hi folks i will be starting a new thread up shortly for the unseen photos i have that do not have locations written on the back of them..i have a idea of where one or two are but not confident enough to say for sure...thanks to everyone for posting memories these photos have bought you and to all members who have made great contributions...over 6000 views in just a week..cant be bad...
lyn
lyn
thank you redken...not only is it a pleasure to post them but i am learning all the time...
lyn
john knight
signman
Can't wait to see them Lyn,great collection.
oldMohawk
gone but not forgotten
Hi Viv, Lyn's photo reminds me of 1953 when the rather drab times of the 1940s suddenly became colourful with many shops in the city putting up decorations for the Coronation as can be seen in the view of Lewis's in post #4. It seemed to be a time of optimism and the future looked bright and the memories led me to get my colouring pad out and do some colouring but have to confess I pinched the blue sky and clouds from Lincolnshire ....
Phil
Gone, but not forgotten.
Lyn
What I find about photos is that they refresh our memory and can sometimes point out that not all that we remember is true. I agree that collecting photos can be educational and there is nothing better than finding a photo of Birmingham that you have never seen before, especially if it of an area that you did not know, consequently we can learn something from each photo we collect. Especially if when posted here on the forum it is discussed and analysed by the membership of the forum then we all end up that little bit more knowledgable about our City.
could not agree with you more phil...forums such as this is the place to be if you want to learn about our city...i love it when we are trying to pin down a location as well...our members are like dogs with bones...they dont give it up easily lol
lyn
lyn
Glassman, never be afraid to share your knowledge, where would us less informed members be if no one shared their expertise.
Smudger
master brummie
It`s almost certainly a fag. Those kids at the front don`t look old enough to be workers ( or smokers ) Not so many people wearing hats either, even some of the women are hatless. All got their Sunday best on. Oh the joy of Sundays past. No shops open, a chance to wear your best gear & hopefully impress the girls. Get the guitar out & look like a plonker trying to find a chord that didn`t sound like demented cat. Simple times.
paul stacey
master brummie
I'm not sure there ever was a legal limit for smoking, unlike drinking, school boys as young as 11 used to smoke at my school in the 50's early 60's, could get "caned" , for it, but they could be served in all shops by us.Paul
adap2it
master brummie
I started smoking at age 9. Rolled up paper at first, looking in the mirror and blowing smoke. Then moved on to our mom's dog ends, which were real small. There was a shop in Summer Lane, close to Milton St, where you could buy 1 cigarette at a time...I got caught smoking at school (on Saturday morning detention) and got caned in front of the whole school. I quit smoking 20 years later.
Dave A
paul stacey
master brummie
Most shops by us sold fags in one's and two's, as well as 5's and10's, never smoked at school, started in the army , (mostly due to the stress, and everyone else smoking) stopped in 1975.Paul
norfolk brummie
gone but not forgotten
In 1945, not only could you buy just one cigarette (hate the word 'fag', spent too much time in the States), but I would buy that from a tobacconist, for my father, when I was still fourteen.
Like Paul, I never smoked until I was posted to Germany in 1952. Players & Senior Service were a shilling for twenty. Won so many at poker, that I started to smoke them. Never a big smoker, I would go for weeks without smoking a cigarette. Gave the habit up completely in 1970, aged 37, forty seven years ago. Never a big smoker, nasty habit. My wife still smokes!
I recall friends aged 12 & 13 at school, in the forties, who smoked, and yes, they received the cane, if caught.
Eddie.
Like Paul, I never smoked until I was posted to Germany in 1952. Players & Senior Service were a shilling for twenty. Won so many at poker, that I started to smoke them. Never a big smoker, I would go for weeks without smoking a cigarette. Gave the habit up completely in 1970, aged 37, forty seven years ago. Never a big smoker, nasty habit. My wife still smokes!
I recall friends aged 12 & 13 at school, in the forties, who smoked, and yes, they received the cane, if caught.
Eddie.
sospiri
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
Neither my late wife nor my current other half have ever smoked, so I consider myself lucky in that respect. I didn't start smoking until after I came out of the RAF into the coffee bar era, where almost everyone seemed to smoke. Nevertheless, I never smoked more than seven a day, and most of those had one puff taken and then burned their way into the varnish on the end of some establishment's piano keyboard. As my wife was an asthmatic, that made it easy to enforce a no smoking rule in the home which applied to both visitors and one of my teenage sons - the other two never smoked. I never liked smoking outdoors and my habit would never have survived in today's environment anyway.
One or two schoolboys out of the 700 at my senior school occasionally smoked behind the bike sheds, but it was such an insignificant problem that I never heard what happened to any offenders if caught. Unlike Eddie I was based in Shropshire in the RAF and by the time I'd paid my coach fare home every weekend, I didn't have the money to buy cigarettes! Never gambled - I don't think I would have been any good at it - and spent most of my spare time either practising piano or in the amateur radio club. I haven't smoked now for well over 40 years and certainly don't miss it.
Maurice
One or two schoolboys out of the 700 at my senior school occasionally smoked behind the bike sheds, but it was such an insignificant problem that I never heard what happened to any offenders if caught. Unlike Eddie I was based in Shropshire in the RAF and by the time I'd paid my coach fare home every weekend, I didn't have the money to buy cigarettes! Never gambled - I don't think I would have been any good at it - and spent most of my spare time either practising piano or in the amateur radio club. I haven't smoked now for well over 40 years and certainly don't miss it.
Maurice
Smudger
master brummie
I suspect that like most smokers i started at an early age. There were no health warnings back then, & even if there were, i doubt if we youngsters would have taken much heed. We were rebels, with a ciggie hanging from the corner of the mouth, just like the film stars we saw at the cinema. During my illustrious army career, i received 7 days in the glasshouse. We were allocated two ciggies a day, & boy did we look forward to that heavenly smoke. I haven`t smoked for 30 years, & i don`t think i could afford to start again at todays prices.
PS. I`m surprised we haven`t been threatened with the cane for going off topic.!!
PS. I`m surprised we haven`t been threatened with the cane for going off topic.!!
Phil
Gone, but not forgotten.
Being a once hardened smoker from an early age, I always thought that there was no age limit for smoking, but the legal age limit to purchase cigarettes was over 16 years of age.