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Old street pics..
- Thread starter Astoness
- Start date
Pete Ex Pat
master brummie
When I see the old #8 comming out of Ickneild St takes me back to my school days at ickneild st and in the photo you can also see cash's army and navy store on the corner of whitmore st ... those were the days thanks Astoness
Regards Pete
Regards Pete
hi pete that one of my favourite pics...just look at all the buidings we lost thanks to the hockley flyover...it looks a right mess down that way now....
lyn
Pete Ex Pat
master brummie
Well I have found a photo on my lap top and have tried for a long time to find out the name of a pub that used to be on the corner of steelhouse lane.. Iwas told they used to call it the dollar bar during the war as lots of americans used the place
Wonderful set of pictures again Lyn. The Hawthorn Road/Warren Farm Road Foster Brothers photo brings back many memories. The interior was all oak wood, full of dull grey clothes and I always associated it with 'back to school' (heavy groan). But it was a reliable shop and, in my memory, seems to have been on that corner for ever! We'd get my brothers school uniform there, then across the road to Littlewoods for school socks. Then if we were lucky, into Woolies for a browse. I always wanted one of those monkeys that Woolies sold. But alas never got one. In those days Woolies also sold jam tea, sugar etc. I once had a Ladybird school skirt (yes of course grey) from Woolies. Lasted forever, well until I grew out of it. School shoes were bought from Shoefayre - maybe next to Woolies or one or two shops down. And then we'd pop into a furniture shop on the end of the parade of shops on the Woolies/Littlewoods side and go and pay the weekly HP payment for our three piece suite!! Life was so simple then. Ahhhhh ...... Viv.
irene floyd
master brummie
Lovely Pic's Lyn I Enjoy Looking At The Old Photo's Keep Up The Good Work.Irene x
Hi Lyn. Hawthorn Road seems to have consistantly been a popular shopping area, which is great. So many high streets nowadays have empty premises for long periods of time. An empty shop in the 1960s must have been fairly rare. Probably the main reason it would be empty was to upgrade it from the austere 1950s to the modern, more colourful 1960s. I vaguely remember that Littlewoods on Hawthorn Road kept their large original gas chandeliers even after they had 'modern' electric ones installed. The displays inside the shop were in those low segmented and tiered displays. They sold lots of stockings, tights, socks, cotton hankies, fully fashioned or raglan cardigans, jumpers and twinsets in Courtaulds man-made fibres. I don't remember any large clothing items, mainly the smaller stuff. It was a very relaxing and re-assuring place to shop - another of those reliable, standard products type of place. The sort of place our Mums liked to shop in. So different to the up to the minute boutiques in town!! (Which I loved). There was also, I think, a Boots on the corner of Hawthorn and Kingstanding Road. This too was on the 'respectable' list of places to shop. Remember they sold those rubber swimming caps - ones that gripped your forehead like it was in a vice?! Somehow they never seemed capable of keeping my long, flowing locks dry. The other place that sticks in my memory is a seed shop that sold gardening seeds in small, brown packets. Think it might have been before the Greenways fishing tackle shop at the top of Warren Farm Road, a bit further round from Foster Bros. Opposite was a cake shop, possibly Baines's - sold lovely Devon buns. OMG ..... don't I go on! But some very good memories of shopping along there especially at Christmas. Great atmosphere and everything you needed in one place. 'Those were the days, my friend' ......... Viv.
jennyann
Gone but not forgotten. R.I.P.
Enjoyed reading your memories of Hawthorn Road shops Viv. My Aunty Nell lived in Kingstanding and my friend Margaret and I would walk
from Witton Lakes all the way to the Swimming Baths in Kingstanding and a visit to Aunties afterwards. We passed the shops on Hawthorn Road and loved
looking in the windows and seeing what was going on. Last time I was there the pet shop
was still there but sold mainly food for pets.
I was brought up around Stockland Green and a few years ago I wrote a piece about growing up and shopping on Stockland Green in the years after WW2 citing many of the shops we visited. The site is run by Rob Blann and he has added to it over the years. The articles are under my name as Jennifer Nicol. Here is a link to the site with my stories of Stockland Green written over ten years ago. https://www.pasttimesproject.co.uk/lsl_browse.php?subsite=ll&town=erdington&county=west midlands
I remember the shops on Stockland Green in the photo Lyn has posted. Scutt's Tailors has a distant connection to my father's family, Moyle & Adams, who had another shop at the Chester Road Bus Terminal, became George Mason's later on. To the left the greengrocers Swinnerton's was a very popular shop.
from Witton Lakes all the way to the Swimming Baths in Kingstanding and a visit to Aunties afterwards. We passed the shops on Hawthorn Road and loved
looking in the windows and seeing what was going on. Last time I was there the pet shop
was still there but sold mainly food for pets.
I was brought up around Stockland Green and a few years ago I wrote a piece about growing up and shopping on Stockland Green in the years after WW2 citing many of the shops we visited. The site is run by Rob Blann and he has added to it over the years. The articles are under my name as Jennifer Nicol. Here is a link to the site with my stories of Stockland Green written over ten years ago. https://www.pasttimesproject.co.uk/lsl_browse.php?subsite=ll&town=erdington&county=west midlands
I remember the shops on Stockland Green in the photo Lyn has posted. Scutt's Tailors has a distant connection to my father's family, Moyle & Adams, who had another shop at the Chester Road Bus Terminal, became George Mason's later on. To the left the greengrocers Swinnerton's was a very popular shop.
Thoroughly enjoyed reading your 'past times' articles too Jenny. Thank you. It's a small world. I went to Marsh Hill Girls, so recognise some of the shops and buildings you mention. My memories are from the mid/late 60s. Used to get a coach from Stockland Garages to go on holiday to Cornwall. Also used to go to the Plaza, great big cinema, and remember the Stockland Inn too. There was a small sweet shop on the opposite side of the Stockland Inn going towards the school, which was very like someones front room. Is this the one mentioned in one of your articles? Just about everyone would go into that shop on their way home from school to buy sherbet flying saucers, mojos, sweet necklaces and the like. We also used to go into a cake shop on Stockland Green to get meat pies at lunchtime - would always ask for a Sweeney Todd please!
I loved your article about the shop model in bed! Wish I'd seen it. There was a long row of shops on Stockland Green in the 60s which had gradually been acquired by one family (was it Bank's or similar name?) They sold clothing, shoes, well lots of things really, it was a lot of small shops joined up.
Well, that was another trip down memory lane. Once I get started I can't stop. Many thanks Jenny, thoroughly enjoyed reading about the old place. I've not been back there for at least 40 years, so no doubt it will have changed beyond my recognition. Nice to recall all the old memories. Viv.
I loved your article about the shop model in bed! Wish I'd seen it. There was a long row of shops on Stockland Green in the 60s which had gradually been acquired by one family (was it Bank's or similar name?) They sold clothing, shoes, well lots of things really, it was a lot of small shops joined up.
Well, that was another trip down memory lane. Once I get started I can't stop. Many thanks Jenny, thoroughly enjoyed reading about the old place. I've not been back there for at least 40 years, so no doubt it will have changed beyond my recognition. Nice to recall all the old memories. Viv.
oldMohawk
gone but not forgotten
The Hawthorn Road photo in #1379 brings back many childhood memories for me, the road had a shops for nearly everything needed.
On streetview I notice Scrivens Opticians is still there. I got taken along Hawthorn Road most weeks to my Grans in Perry Common, and one day took my pedal car on the 2 mile journey. My Dad took a photo of me halfway there, its in the Pedal Car thread here. I must have had a tow up the hills....
On streetview I notice Scrivens Opticians is still there. I got taken along Hawthorn Road most weeks to my Grans in Perry Common, and one day took my pedal car on the 2 mile journey. My Dad took a photo of me halfway there, its in the Pedal Car thread here. I must have had a tow up the hills....
That's a hefty journey Oldmohawk, Hawthorn Road's one long, straight road. Your poor little legs! Hope you didn't take the trailer too. Think Hawthorn Rd went slightly downhill towards Perry Common and the Library, so maybe that helped, but the journey home must have been tough. Viv.
oldMohawk
gone but not forgotten
Hi Viv,
The trailer did go because the photo was taken on the day of the journey, I think Dad towed me most of the way, he made the trailer.
I remember the slight downhill part of Hawthorn Rd which had no shops. The Air Training Corps used a house halfway down the hill and they had an aircraft in the front garden maybe a Spitfire or Hurricane, I always paused to look at it.
Phil
The trailer did go because the photo was taken on the day of the journey, I think Dad towed me most of the way, he made the trailer.
I remember the slight downhill part of Hawthorn Rd which had no shops. The Air Training Corps used a house halfway down the hill and they had an aircraft in the front garden maybe a Spitfire or Hurricane, I always paused to look at it.
Phil
I also recall Bank's, they started of with the one shop, and over a period of years eventfully acquired almost the whole row, Payne’s shoe repair shop being one of the last.
Even more impressed Phil! I was thinking about why you wore your school uniform in your peddle car. Now that's what parents did when visiting grandparents. You were made to look your cleanest and smartest! I didn't mind that too much as I got to wear a special dress (the 'for best' dress), but it was the hats and matching gloves I was never too happy about. All seemed a bit excessive to me at the time. Viv.
Just had a nose around on Streetview Morturn, and Banks's are still there. You can still see how the various shops have been joined up. Also surprised that Stockland Green hasn't really changed all that much, just different businesses. Thanks. Viv.
A Sparks
master brummie
I have similar memories Viv, I went to Marsh Hill Girls school in the 60's!
I didn't go to the Slade Road shops much as I stayed school dinners and got the number 11 home outside the school gates (I lived in Perry Barr then) but I remember the Banks shops. I think they had been there a long time as my father lived in Marsh Hill for a while, as a boy, and knew them then.
Hi A Sparks. Will write up some memories of MHGS and put them on the Old Schools thread. We can compare notes!, Viv.
jennyann
Gone but not forgotten. R.I.P.
Hi Viv: The sweet shop you mention was also in a house and it was on the corner of Marsh Hill and Hockley Road, right opposite the Stockand Garage. I used to go in there a lot for my mother and for myself. They did very well since they catered to everyone. It's a dentists now. The one thing that was missing over the years on Stockland Green was a Bank.
There was a bank where Moyle and Adams was before WW2 but it suffered a direct hit during the war and wasn't rebuilt. The Post Office was a very busy place always.
It was a strange feeling to walk into the old Stockland Inn now the Modern China Restaurant three years ago after it being a pub for so long. I have attached a photo of
Banks' shops on the Green. courtesy of Michael Westley.
There was a bank where Moyle and Adams was before WW2 but it suffered a direct hit during the war and wasn't rebuilt. The Post Office was a very busy place always.
It was a strange feeling to walk into the old Stockland Inn now the Modern China Restaurant three years ago after it being a pub for so long. I have attached a photo of
Banks' shops on the Green. courtesy of Michael Westley.
Thanks Jennyann. Banks's seem to have done very well for themselves. And as for the sweet shop which is now a dentists, well there's irony for you! Viv.
jennyann
Gone but not forgotten. R.I.P.
While I was having a snoop around Viv. I came across a photo of the top end of Slade Road on the opposite side to the main Banks shop and discovered
an optician's called Bank's. Most probably the same owners. I liked your link with the dentists. Too right.
an optician's called Bank's. Most probably the same owners. I liked your link with the dentists. Too right.