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OLD BIRMINGHAM PHOTOS FROM STEVEBHx

SteveBhx said:
Here we have a couple of distinctive shops, 134 - 136 Warwick Road from1974, did Sparkys have another shop?, I had seen adverts for them years ago and assumed it was a much larger building it doesn't look capable of holding Grand Pianos, next door is a tailors shop, seldom seen today. Everything above street level is ornate and the houses next door look very well kept

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Apparently had a huge warehouse in Pitsford street, opposite Birmingham Stopper Company
 
SteveBhx said:
Here we have a couple of distinctive shops, 134 - 136 Warwick Road from1974, did Sparkys have another shop?, I had seen adverts for them years ago and assumed it was a much larger building it doesn't look capable of holding Grand Pianos, next door is a tailors shop, seldom seen today. Everything above street level is ornate and the houses next door look very well kept

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Apparently one shop in Digbeth
Sparky's Piano Shop video

 
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Bit damp this evening, first up 139 Bordesley Green 1974 a well kept row of shops from a bygone time, from the left a bicycle store offering wheels trued and rebuilt , good old Interflora - 20th October Grandma day - thought that was a modern thing, next the strange mix of drug store and Opticians, nice Ilford film window advert and a fine selection of bottles in the window, also note you can pop your films through the letterbox if you follow the arrow. Finally an electrical repair shop offering BBC2 aerials!!

139 Bordesley Green- 74.jpg
 
SteveBhx said:
Bit damp this evening, first up 139 Bordesley Green 1974 a well kept row of shops from a bygone time, from the left a bicycle store offering wheels trued and rebuilt , good old Interflora - 20th October Grandma day - thought that was a modern thing, next the strange mix of drug store and Opticians, nice Ilford film window advert and a fine selection of bottles in the window, also note you can pop your films through the letterbox if you follow the arrow. Finally an electrical repair shop offering BBC2 aerials!!

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nice photo steve....i wonder if those shops are still there

lyn
 
Now we are a bit more modern , 139 High Street Harborne 1980, seems the shops are in the process of rebuilding, first a building society/ solicitor/ estate agents, another building society, now part of Santander group, and a Travel agent, nothing much to add apart from pointing out the lady with standard uniform of sandals, carrier bag and handbag!

139 High Street Harborne - 80.jpg
 
Knew those shops well. .... love the sash cord windows above.....
have the very same windows and brickwork above them in my current house.
Sadly, I may now have to succumb to replacements, but hoping to replace with as near to original as possible
Annie
 
151 Anderton Road 1974, an interesting Co Operative store - apparently branch 92, spread across two different buildings if you look above street level. I like all the ornamental additions to both the shop fronts and the very ornate bay window on the left and the brickwork under the eaves.

151 Anderton Road -74.jpg
 
Next up is 159 Soho Road in 1975 , classic soon to be gone Paynes shoe repairs with its selection of suitcases, bags, purse and wallets in the window. Note the arched shaped windows and frames - they must have been a pane ( see what I did there) to replace if they were broken. Next to it textile store with a window full of clothes. Next to that an interesting shop selling Indian, Pakistani and Japanese dress material, when I pass these shops it amazes me the shear amount of stock they hold, bit like looking for curtains in the hole in the wall in Walsall - if you know that way. Note also the well wrapped up baby in the pram. Oh and a fine Ford Escort.

159 Soho Road - 75.jpg
 
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.

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SteveBhx said:
Next up is 159 Soho Road in 1975 , classic soon to be gone Paynes shoe repairs with its selection of suitcases, bags, purse and wallets in the window. Note the arched shaped windows and frames - they must have been a pane ( see what I did there) to replace if they were broken. Next to it textile store with a window full of clothes. Next to that an interesting shop selling Indian, Pakistani and Japanese dress material, when I pass these shops it amazes me the shear amount of stock they hold, bit like looking for curtains in the hole in the wall in Walsall - if you know that way. Note also the well wrapped up baby in the pram. Oh and a fine Ford Escort.

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Buildings still there, just one business taking up what was once Paynes and the Textile shop.
Screenshot_20220228-214232_Maps.jpg
 
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.

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Midland Sandblast were at 85 Holloway Head in 1955, but seem to disappear from 1960.
 
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SteveBhx said:
Bit damp this evening, first up 139 Bordesley Green 1974 a well kept row of shops from a bygone time, from the left a bicycle store offering wheels trued and rebuilt , good old Interflora - 20th October Grandma day - thought that was a modern thing, next the strange mix of drug store and Opticians, nice Ilford film window advert and a fine selection of bottles in the window, also note you can pop your films through the letterbox if you follow the arrow. Finally an electrical repair shop offering BBC2 aerials!!

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Is the bike shop Harry Craig's?
 
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.

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Rather smart Riley on the corner.
 
SteveBhx said:
First up tonight we have 171 Holyhead Road in 1974 next to The Royal Oak, fine building built in 1907 on the left, with three shops, the pub has a fine M & B globe over the door and on the road a fine selection of vans.

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nice photo steve we used to pop into the bull sometimes on our way to watch west brom play

lyn
 
171 Knightlow Road, Edgbaston from 1977, from the look of it a Sunday, good old Wine Sellers, the place to go for your drink of choice, not sure of the word Druggist but it was the word of choice then, note the leaded top to the window, the band od Kodak signs and Revlon in the panel of the leaded band. Fine selection of leaded windows and an Austin Maxi on the pavement. If you look over the bonnet you will see one of the child collection boxes - if i remember it usually had a title we would find inappropriate today.

171 Knightlow Road, Edgbaston - 77.jpg
 
This is a fine row of buildings - 201-209 Hagley Road 1975, reminds you of a posh row of buildings you see on the way into London. Three floors of Hagley Court, a quick google sees that 3 bed flats are £1500 per month !!, Back then a bit cheaper. Row of shops with Blinds down, a crusty sandwich shop, dry cleaners all looking tidy and well kept.

201-209 Hagley Road - 75.jpg
 
This is not exactly a row of shops rather the remains, 206A Green Lane - 74, a fine GR post box and the nice van pulling out at the end of the row. Rather difficult to find anything else, the houses on the left have a fine balcony thing upstairs, no view but a nice balcony.

206A Green Lane - 74.jpg
 
SteveBhx said:
171 Knightlow Road, Edgbaston from 1977, from the look of it a Sunday, good old Wine Sellers, the place to go for your drink of choice, not sure of the word Druggist but it was the word of choice then, note the leaded top to the window, the band od Kodak signs and Revlon in the panel of the leaded band. Fine selection of leaded windows and an Austin Maxi on the pavement. If you look over the bonnet you will see one of the child collection boxes - if i remember it usually had a title we would find inappropriate today.

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steve i cant see a box but what on earth was a childs collection box ?

lyn
 
272 Green Lane 1974 a bit further along the road, row of shops with hairdressers at each end - a quick glance and you would thing they were using the same pictures! Good old Ted Rogers - probably before 3-2-1, always looked uninviting, and the all in one pet store, like the dog portrait, and at the end a proper barbers pole. Above shop level we have a fine selection of sash windows and fine brickwork under the eaves. On the road there seems to be the same Ford escort from yesterday and a fine motorcycle but I have no idea which one.
272 Green Lane - 74.jpg
 
Re post #2665. Vanity Parlour - really !! What sort of a suggestion is that about women ?!! I suppose you could extend this to the home with a ‘vanity case’ (remember those ?) and ‘vanity unit (dressing table)’. Sometimes these were kidney shaped with a curtain around the edge. All reflecting the beauty parlour experience, as well as Hollywood influences. Viv.

Viv.
 
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