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Old street pics..

Astonian said:
HI Devon JIM
PART CORRECT ; YES IT WAS ON HILL STREET BUT IF WALKING DOWNFRON THE TOWN HALL ITS ON YOUR RIGHT ; AND YES WALKING UP THE HILL ITS ON YOUR LEFT COMING FROM STATION RD AND WALK UP THE HILL STREET BEST WISHES Astonian;;;
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Walking UP Hill Street, the GOLDEN EAGLE was on the left hand side. I did play there, with a very fine guitar player named Alf Brough, who also worked, at various times, at both Mansells & Woodroffes Music Stores.

The Golden Eagle had a black stone facia, if I remember correctly.

Eddie.
 
HI KATRINA;
THE PUB YOU SAID YOUR DAD RAN NEAR THE BULL RING ;
AND YES IT WAS THE CROSS KEYS 91 JAMICA ROW; AND THE CORNER OF SHERLOCK STREET
AND YES IT WAS an ANSELLS BREWERY PUB [ AN ANSELLS HOUSE
WHAT YEAR CAN YOU RECALL THE YEARS ;
I CAN TELL YOU A LISTING I HAVE ARE AS MANAGERS G.J, BUNN 2,J,W. JESSON .
MY GRT GRAND FATHERS AND FAMILY RAN A PLACE IN JAMICA ROW CALLED THE BANNA OVENS ;
BEST WISHES Astonian;;;;; ALAN;;;
 
During my family research we found someone born at Aston Cross I took that to be a district. Was it at one time which would have been circa 1890 or perhaps still is?
 
Katrina said:
Many thanks for your prompt reply Phil. There was certainly a distinctive smell from the factory, does anyone else remember it?? The Cross Keys was a pub that my dad ran but that might have been nearer to the Bull Ring. But he also at one point ran a pub at Cross Keys it might have been The Eagle???
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My father lived in Aston as a boy and he used to say about the mix of smells - vinegar from the Midland Vinegar co and beer from Ansells.
 
A Sparks. Yes the smells from Ansells & HP were fabulous. I worked in Rocky Lane during the 60/70s, and never tired of the lovely aromas every day. No doubt Astonian will agree with me?
 
Katrina said:
Many thanks for your prompt reply Phil. There was certainly a distinctive smell from the factory, does anyone else remember it?? The Cross Keys was a pub that my dad ran but that might have been nearer to the Bull Ring. But he also at one point ran a pub at Cross Keys it might have been The Eagle???
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Hi Katrina

Was Cross Keys a location if so where was it? There were a couple of Cross Key pubs near to the Bull Ring, the one as Alan says was on Jamaica Row and the other was on Hurst Street. I think they both were demolished between the 1960's and 1970's.
 

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  • City Cross Keys Hurst St c1933 .jpg
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Pete York 001.jpg Lyn: Thank you for pointing me in the right direction!
Lovely photographs of the old Golden Eagle in Hill Street. Happy memories. Also noted the additional comments re : The Spencer Davis Group, and a young Pete York.

Pete is now living in Germany, and we still keep in touch. Only last month we had an hour long telephone conversation!

Eddie.

SORRY..... My apologies.....I thought my original post had not registered
 
happy to help eddie....it pays to use the search box at the top right as you never know what you could be missing...

thanks for the photos...smashing...

lyn
 
Just browsing through and interesting to see that one of the post war AEC buses 1633 running off the 1 or 44 routes, pictures such as this are quite rare as the buses were the chosen machine for the 1 or 44.
 
For people living in Perry Barr in the 1960s/1970s a couple of landmarks they would be familiar with in the first photo is the grandstand of the Alexander Sports Ground in Aldridge Road and the very tall chimney of the incinerator at the council refuse plant in Holford Drive. If you were downwind of that chimney you certainly knew it was burning rubbish. The chimney is not there now, so for some reason it was demolished. The unusual item in the first photo is the bus which is from Coventry and was inherited by WMPTE. The small sign in the drivers cab shows that the bus is running the 107 service from Sutton Coldfield.
AldridgeRd1970s.jpg

This second photo shows the grandstand being altered to eventually be used for a Dog Track after Birchfield Harriers moved to a new stadium built in nearby Perry Barr Park.
ExBirHarriers.jpg
 
Hi mohawk was holford drive not on the right hand side next road after wellhead lane, I thought that chimney was in harris cleaners .
 
Hi Mitchell - I did at first wonder about the chimney but a look towards the left of the pic shows the houses on both sides of the Aldridge Rd which curves to left past Wellhead Lane and the chimney seems to me to be behind the houses on the right side of Aldridge Rd. The chimney looks very large and I don't remember a large chimney like that on Harris Cleaners. Perhaps other members who can remember that area back in those days could comment. Some did before the original posts were lost in the recent server crash.
oldmohawk
 
mitchell said:
Hi mohawk was holford drive not on the right hand side next road after wellhead lane, I thought that chimney was in harris cleaners .
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Hi Mitchell - Here is a 1945 aerial view and although the incinerator was not there in 1945 I've marked where I seem to remember it was built. I have also marked the Harris plant which was set back from the road. It's debatable, my memory is not perfect these days, maybe someone with better local knowledge will post some info.
oldmohawk
Holford_Drive_1.JPG
 
The large chimney was without a doubt part of the incinerator at Holford Drive when it was owned by Birmingham Council Refuse Department. It was one of several in Birmingham that were closed because they could not get the smoke emissions below the required levels. They closed them down or sold them off to a French company who only kept the one in Tyseley operating only with a new incinerator that seemed to work within the required regulations. We used the one at Perry Barr all the time when drawing our skips from Birmingham Hospitals.
 
Hi still not convinced about chimney i am sure their was a chimney in the refuse but is that it was their another one their it looks close to stadium probaly not in harris cleaners as you say it did lie right back first picture looks the right angle tops differ, On the left past the stadium their was a building to do with fire brigade and a car showroom which i believe was owned by villa goal keepers over the years i believe their was higher buildings behind those . Does any one know when harris cleaners moved their i worked their in the nineties very old building in side and when you drove through the gates their was a older building to the right not saying this is any thing to do with chimney just the area also houses on the right side was well back of main road past holford drive .
 
These photos and information were lost in the recent server crash so are restored here.
Many of us who lived in the north of Birmingham generally knew the Scott Arms as a major road junction on the Birmingham boundary. It did however take it's name from the Scott Arms pub on the corner of Walsall Rd and Newton Rd. The forum quote with pic below shows the junction in 1936, so different to what it is today.
oldMohawk said:
My favourite old photo of the Scott Arms is the one below. A nice lantern over the pub doorway. The only thing in the background of the old photo I can see today using Google's 'Streetview', is the striped tiled roof of a Methodist church. The man on the cycle looks relaxed crossing the junction. The Beacon Cinema on the right, the Scott Arms on the left.
Scott_Arms_Mid_1930s.jpg
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Another forum quote with pic showing the junction looking west from the Queslett Rd.
oldMohawk said:
Another view of the Scott Arms junction from the Queslet Rd side. Looks almost rural. The tree on the left looks like it is the tree in the other pic. Two old buses facing each other - a Midland Red FEDD and a West Brom single decker - wonder whether the crews had dropped in for a half pint ?
Scott_Arms_Newton_Rd.jpg
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An old pic of the Scott Arms with horses and carts parked outside, no need for a car park in those days.
Pic 1
Pic1Early Scott Arms pub.jpg

The pub stood prominently on the corner and got in the way of modern roads which was probably one of the reasons why it was demolished and the pic below shows demolition underway in 1966.
Pic 2
Pic2DemolitionScottArms_1966.jpg

A view from the Newton Rd and the house looks like it is one in the first pic above. Work on building the Beacon Cinema can just be seen behind the house.
Pic 3
Pic3BuildingBeaconCinema.jpg

A view c1950 looking from the Walsall Rd towards the Queslett Rd and the house on the left of the pic is still there today. The shop on the corner has a speciality - 'Cream Ices'.
Pic4
Pic4Scott Arms 1950.jpg

A c1971 view from the Queslett Rd looking towards the Walsall Rd. The corner shop seen in Pic 4 has now become an Halfords when in those days they were situated in ordinary street shops.
Pic 5
Pic5ScottArms1971.jpg


The Scott Arms replacement pub today is very different ... but so is the whole junction ...
 
Hi lads and lasses...who's up for a challenge??? David Benbow...expat BHF member living in Salerno, Italy, challenged me to remember a photo on here somewhere, of a photo and long discussion, about some children sitting on a wall in ?Paternoster Row. looking down on the GWR line, with a Castle Class loco passing and in shot.... he's been searching for two years now.....allegedly...can any of you genii sort him out for me?...naturally, I will take all the credit..but hey, why change the habit of a lifetime...?

Cheers Phil.....

Den
 
Try #1195, 01/04/2015, Passages, Alleyways, Gulletts and Snicketts of old Brum
Might not be the picture you are looking for but a great picture anyway.

Screenshot (39)A.jpg
 
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On the corner of Aldridge Rd/Queslett Rd opposite the Old Horns Pub in the 1930s/40s/50s was a large Sand and Gravel works. Behind the works large deep quarries were dug for the sand and were rather dangerous playgrounds for all the local kids. A 1930s photo is shown below and the car in view was carrying the Duke of Kent on his way to visit Kingstanding.
SandGravelWorks.JPG

Eventually the sand in the district was used up and the works closed. The next photo shows the works being demolished and the site being cleared. The Queslett Rd was the Birmingham boundary and the (new) Old Horns pub is on the right of the photo. The first modern building on the site was a DIY store which later rented about a third of it's floor space to Asda.
QueslettRdAldridgeRd.jpg

Today the aerial photo below shows that the DIY store had been demolished and the whole site taken over by Asda to build a large supermarket with petrol station and car park. The deep quarries behind the store had been used to dump waste in and these were eventually full and later covered with soil, grass, and landscaped. Part of it is now a nature area. There is a forum thread about the quarries and I posted in it here https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=20879&p=533546#post533546
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i believe it was kath..cant recall who but someone a few years back told me they married there..

lyn
 
In 1932 it was at 100 Edmund Street. I haven't been able to find it listed amongst local government offices before then, but I'm sure one was in existence right back into the 1880s.

Maurice
 
In 1908 the Registrar of BMD for Birmingham was at 23 Lozells Street.
In 1908 the Registrar of BMD for Kings Norton was at 280 High Street, Smethwick

From Kelly's Directory of Birmingham & Suburbs for 1908 - quite a way out of the centre though.

Maurice
 
My late Wife and I were married by special licence in December 1952 at the registrar office, I'm sure it was in Edmund Street. Eric
 
I know Lozells Street quite well, my family coming from Lozells. I would therefore assume it was the Registrar himself who lived at number 23. Co-incidence or what a relative of mine according to the Electoral Rolls was living at 23 Lozells Street, in 1955.
 
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