• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team

OLD BIRMINGHAM PHOTOS FROM STEVEBHx

COMPRESSORMAN said:
Anyone have a pic of Belmont Row with its houses at all my Mum lived there in 1920s...only have the Workhouse one still standing.
Click to expand...
Here are a couple of Belmont Row: 1- Belmont Row/Prospect Row, 2 - St Peter's Church. There is also another thread titled, "Lock Keepers Cottage Belmont Row" that contains some other pictures, but I haven't been able to spot any other photos taken of the houses that were once there.

​


1730388978730.png 1730389813206.png
 
SteveBhx said:
As always I tend to finish with a colour photo, and as always with the colour pictures there are no location details, these been scans of slides put on to disc. I am guessing this is Bath Row direction, but will be corrected , I could cheat and google Midland Shotblast but that would be too easy, also note the Greyhound Inn with its ornate windows and entrance. There is also a fine variety of vehicles from vans and lorries to standard cars to some very high end vehicles here.

View attachment 168035
Click to expand...
Holloway Head, corner of Marshall St. The Greyhound is now a bar/pub (or was).
 
SteveBhx said:
Steve here,
I had the fortune to work with the great Geoff Thompson at Birmingham planning department when they were clearing out their offices, I also came across the same selection of photos and slides that were been thrown out and could only work out later why the number of pictures kept reducing and often panicked me that actually someone needed the pictures!!
As you may be aware the black and white pictures were used for advert applications, colour slide were for urban regeneration comparison.
I have 100+ colour slide and 300+ black and white pictures, these have occasionally been used in local history books and for study purposes.
I have started scanning the photos and hope to post a selection on the appropriate pages - I have attached a sample from the selection of corner shops many no longer exist and include the many old adverts and vehicles from the age - the one I have attached is 121 Borsesley Green from 1974
Hopefully you will enjoy my posts
Steve

Many thanks to oldMohawk for providing the document below:

Index to Photos in this Thread:
Click to expand...
Hi Steve,

A very late reply, more of an enquiry actually, but were all the photos rescued from the planning department, or was it too late. It's unbelievable that the whole lot would have all been thrown away but for your and others efforts to save them. Well done !
 
trevor bow said:
Hi Steve,

A very late reply, more of an enquiry actually, but were all the photos rescued from the planning department, or was it too late. It's unbelievable that the whole lot would have all been thrown away but for your and others efforts to save them. Well done !
Click to expand...
Hi Trevor, these photos were all stored in a room in the Basement at Baskerville House (Broad Street), there was a large cabinet with slide trays, all the colour pictures are from them, not all slides were saved, it was a case of a quick hold up to the light and save it, the pictures were all on sheets and put in albums, the same process, quick look and remove. Not a foolproof method, I believe I have a large amount of slide due to Mr Norton, who had a copy of Geoffs slides so we arranged for him to scan mine and upload both sets to disk. Regarding the pictures, you have seen all mine, I assume Geoff has some, and I am aware someone else has a selection but I am no longer in touch with them. As you say, luckily they were saved by us but if anything was held elsewhere they would have been scrapped either then or even before that. Hope that helps Steve
 
SteveBhx said:
Hi Trevor, these photos were all stored in a room in the Basement at Baskerville House (Broad Street), there was a large cabinet with slide trays, all the colour pictures are from them, not all slides were saved, it was a case of a quick hold up to the light and save it, the pictures were all on sheets and put in albums, the same process, quick look and remove. Not a foolproof method, I believe I have a large amount of slide due to Mr Norton, who had a copy of Geoffs slides so we arranged for him to scan mine and upload both sets to disk. Regarding the pictures, you have seen all mine, I assume Geoff has some, and I am aware someone else has a selection but I am no longer in touch with them. As you say, luckily they were saved by us but if anything was held elsewhere they would have been scrapped either then or even before that. Hope that helps Steve
Click to expand...
Hi Steve,

Thanks for your informative reply and as you say,if they had been stored somewhere else then it's likely the lot would have been binned. But actually, couldn't someone, perhaps yourself, have asked the planning department if you could take the lot ? Or was there the usual beaurocratic red tape that prevented this ?
On a tangent, a mate ofmine in the 70's gave me some photos he'dgotfrom the planning office and a list of others. I'll find them and post them soon.
 
Good point Trevor, and with hindsight a good idea - but at the time, I and perhaps others did not connect the importance or the interest these sort of images would generate. ( I totally agree with your comment - its not seen as a "dig" )
There was also a change in working practises - the majority of the black and white images were in support of advert applications - a shop applying to have an advert on their building would submit an application to the council and someone would go out and take a picture of the building and the position of the advert was then drawn on the picture with a chinagraph pencil and this was used in the planning process , Two changes stopped this firstly the advert section was combined into the general day to day planning applications and secondly as a cost saving excersise the photos were stopped hence the picture disappeared and with a rolling cut off date applications could be disposed of.
There was also a space issue each planning / advert application has a number of paper pages,this all took space I cannot recall why the advert picture were kept seperate but these were all to be thrown - no one was interested.
One final point - these were not seen as historic, while major changes were happening who would want a black and white picture of an old shop :laughing:
 
SteveBhx said:
Good point Trevor, and with hindsight a good idea - but at the time, I and perhaps others did not connect the importance or the interest these sort of images would generate. ( I totally agree with your comment - its not seen as a "dig" )
There was also a change in working practises - the majority of the black and white images were in support of advert applications - a shop applying to have an advert on their building would submit an application to the council and someone would go out and take a picture of the building and the position of the advert was then drawn on the picture with a chinagraph pencil and this was used in the planning process , Two changes stopped this firstly the advert section was combined into the general day to day planning applications and secondly as a cost saving excersise the photos were stopped hence the picture disappeared and with a rolling cut off date applications could be disposed of.
There was also a space issue each planning / advert application has a number of paper pages,this all took space I cannot recall why the advert picture were kept seperate but these were all to be thrown - no one was interested.
One final point - these were not seen as historic, while major changes were happening who would want a black and white picture of an old shop :laughing:
Click to expand...
Steve, I think you make a number of really good and interesting points, the lack of any foresight of the potential historic nature and of course the black’ & white.
 
SteveBhx said:
Good point Trevor, and with hindsight a good idea - but at the time, I and perhaps others did not connect the importance or the interest these sort of images would generate. ( I totally agree with your comment - its not seen as a "dig" )
There was also a change in working practises - the majority of the black and white images were in support of advert applications - a shop applying to have an advert on their building would submit an application to the council and someone would go out and take a picture of the building and the position of the advert was then drawn on the picture with a chinagraph pencil and this was used in the planning process , Two changes stopped this firstly the advert section was combined into the general day to day planning applications and secondly as a cost saving excersise the photos were stopped hence the picture disappeared and with a rolling cut off date applications could be disposed of.
There was also a space issue each planning / advert application has a number of paper pages,this all took space I cannot recall why the advert picture were kept seperate but these were all to be thrown - no one was interested.
One final point - these were not seen as historic, while major changes were happening who would want a black and white picture of an old shop :laughing:
Click to expand...


Hi Steve,
You've made some very good points. Who would be bothered to save any photos when they were seen as of no interest and only took up space ? Thankfully, yourself and one two others managed to save a lot of them.

Apparently, something similar happened when Mason College, next to the old Reference Library, were both demolished by the Council vandals in the 1960's and early 70's. Clearing out the College, someone noticed some old photos of Birmingham and managed to save a few, but an awful lot were just thrown away. I suppose no one thinks at the time how interesting photos will be in the future.
 
trevor bow said:
Hi Steve,

Thanks for your informative reply and as you say,if they had been stored somewhere else then it's likely the lot would have been binned. But actually, couldn't someone, perhaps yourself, have asked the planning department if you could take the lot ? Or was there the usual beaurocratic red tape that prevented this ?
On a tangent, a mate ofmine in the 70's gave me some photos he'dgotfrom the planning office and a list of others. I'll find them and post them soon.
Click to expand...
hi trevor it would be great if when time permits you could share your photos with us...many thanks

lyn
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top