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Old street pics..

Love that set of photos Dennis. Hope you don't mind if I copy them for myself. I've never seen a photo of St Bartholomews before and it was the church that my gt.grandparents (James Martin and Ellen Bellamy) were married in 1871. Gives me an idea of the location a lot better.

Judy
 
Thanks again Dennis. What a lovely old church that was. My gt.grandfather was a boarder at 3 Bartholomew Street at the time of his marriage to Ellen Bellamy. He was born to Irish parents and had lived in London Prentice Street previously. Ellen was living with her family at No.1 Court, Coleshill Street when they got married.

Judy
 
I read an article recently that to try and save it from demolition when the congregation had dwindled, the last vicar tried using the church also as a venue for slide shows.
 
Interesting old news clip from 1934 about New Street....it reminded me of the famous Samuel Lines painting of that area from 1832, and the pics already shared on other theads ...

New Street clip 1934.jpg Sam Lines panorama 1821 copy.jpg

KEY to Painting..
A) Is the Theatre, by the time of the painting, the Theatre Royal.
B) Next to the theatre was Portugal House, a grand Georgian town house owned by Joseph Green, at the time of the painting divided into two properties with a distillery attached.
C) Just over the street is the original Georgian cottage Post Office, which had at its rear in….
D) The Post Office yard where the Royal Mail coaches would arrive from 1812.
E) Is the Panorama, where 360 degree actual size paintings were shown.
F & G are in what is now Victoria Square
F) Is Christ Church
G) Is placed just to the left of the flag that topped Allin's shop, nicknamed The Flag as it always flew the Union Jack. The Town Hall was later built near this spot. In the distance, behind the 'G', is the Canal Offices on Paradise Street.
H) Is Bennett's Hill House and the walled garden. All the green land in that area was the original Bennett's Hill, and had been protected from building work by a clause in the 120 year lease for the house and land. The lease had expired in 1818 and not long after Lines's painting the whole are was built up with two new roads, houses, shops and other businesses.
I) Is Ann Street, later Colmore Row.
J) Is Temple Row
K) Is Temple Street


Lines Letter Old Post Office copy.jpg Old Post Office Prints copy.jpg
 
Thank you Dennis, these are great! I am so used to thinking of Birmingham as a Victorian city, and this post has reminded me that it is a lot older than that. A bit like Warwick, in the last picture.

Paul
 
Harking back to the Old Square and the original Stork Hotel...here's one from Carl's "Brum and Brummies Vol 3" Book....a cracking shot of that old Stork Hotel building in full, from 1882....

Stork Hotel Old Square 1882.jpg
 
What a beautiful, and imposing place it must have been Dennis, then for me most Georgian buildings are, what a strange cart on the left of the photo, I wonder what its use was. Paul
 
I thought at first the cart reminded me of pictures I had seen a sa bread delivery cart, but the only one i could find anything like that was taller. It was probably a small covered carriage. Americans would call it a buggy
 
I thought maybe that as there was an hotel near, then it would have transported luggage from say the railway station, and the driver sat on top??Paul
 
Yes gentlemen.. a cracking shot that asked more questions than it answered for me....the biggest being that the pic was dated (according to Carl) 1882...yet the NEW stork in Corporation Street, after the Old Square was virtually demolished for the cut through, was dated I thought in 1883, only a year later....so was that building on the our left (caption says right) an Hotel at the time or being vacated before the hammers fell? This second pic shows a stagecoach, which I mistook for a horse bus and it was purported to be at a rally or something ...not real for the period....and now we have the mystery of the carriage type in the new pic? Answers on a postcard?


City Old Square Stork Hotel (2) copy.jpg
 
Another image of Old Square from around the same period in time, this one is looking down what was then Lichfield St so it has to be dated pre 1880's. Interestingly it shows a couple of carts, one (on the left) I would say is for carrying goods, the other (on the right) looks more like it purpose was for passengers.
 

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Not sure where on earth the buildings were, assuming the caption is correct. the period , however would seem to be somewhen in WW1. "Sacred concerts" with films, and possibly other performances, were held on a sunday evening at various venues, with receipts to the aid of hospital and war charities. This required a special licence. there are a very large number of mentions in the press. Have not found it possible to find one in Old Square, but the Gaeity, and the Saltley Coliseum are mentioned. These apparently happened all over the country. there were objections on occasion from churchy people, as seen below from the Birm Gazette on 29th Jan. 1916.

Birm_Gazette__292C12C1916.jpg
 
Dennis

I didn't think the various redevelopments of Old Square left time for temporary buildings, and I have never read about any. In fact those buildings look pretty solid and well built and lets say well established to be temporary.
 
There are Old Squares in Walsall & Warwick (and at other places further away). We have seen digbeth, Walsall being confused in a caption before with Birmingham
 
Phil said:
Dennis

I didn't think the various redevelopments of Old Square left time for temporary buildings, and I have never read about any. In fact those buildings look pretty solid and well built and lets say well established to be temporary.
Click to expand...

THAT's why I was uneasy....there wasn't any time for temporary buildings...they just bulldozed and rebuilt new from scratch....surely?
 
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