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Park Street Digbeth

Vivienne14 said:
From the Shoothill site, New Vale Court on Park Street. The first image is of #19 New Vale Court and seems to be next to the railway embankment. No specific numbering for the other two. Viv.

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In April 1858 there was a sale of Railway surplus land adjoining the GWR, part of which was Park St and New Vale Court, shown below. The properties may have been aquired in 1846 the same time as a portion of Park St Gardens was obtained. Probably they made a good profit in the 12 years?

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Seem to think that nearby Shaw’s Passage was named after Mr Shaw of the Nail Warehouse. Maybe that was in an article on another thread somewhere. Viv.
 
Just catching up with this thread - thanks for the amazing Court images. Not totally sure if its the same but I wondered what that Taboo Cinema building was originally used for (as opposed to the Brown-mac brigade I see going in there nowadays!) Its marked on an 1889 map as part of the Chard Works which another search has revealed to be be "makers of Horse-Clipping machines"...................
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There's all sorts of interesting buildings in that area on those 19th century maps although not sure if I would've fancied the smell of the 'Hide, Skin and Fat' Market on a warm summers day which is showing on the Albert Street 1889 map?!
 
Nello
"Obnoxious trades" such as that you mention were usually confined to certain areas in large cities for reasons of the smell. Of course this did not mean they were separated from the homes of everyone, merely from those of the better off. The area north of Digbeth seems to be where most in Birmingham were situated. I can certainly speak from personal experience from my youth (though by then the worst vapors were probably reduced), when I had the misfortune to go on a tour of a glue factory in the east end of London. Fortunately animal glue is no longer made, so no one will have to endure that smell again.
 
Thanks Mike. I recall the topic now, in fast I posted in the thread. I wonder how any archaeological work has progressed - if it has yet started? Or is it, as often occurs, being quietly forgotten!
 
In the area of Digbeth and surrounding places there was a plethora of smells, some unpleasant - even nauseating - others more tolerable. Paint manufacture and breweries are two, from memory, that were hard on the olfactory system. :eek:
No specific place in Digbeth and surrounding area comes to mind, but Flowers Brewery (Stratford upon Avon), the cellophane plant at Bridgwater, Somerset, are two places in my memory bank. Anyone travelling on the M5 may recall the aroma.
Treatment of land with effluent is something also quite memorable. ;)
 
Has anyone got any photos of Hiatts in Park Street ? Their blacksmiths shop was in Park St although their head office was at 26 Masshouse Lane. My Dad was a ‘handcuff forger and steel toy maker’ who served his apprenticeship there and was subsequently employed in that capacity.
I still have his apprenticeship papers which make for interesting reading. They show that he was earning 21/- (21 shillings, equivalent to £1.05p nowadays) when he commenced the apprenticeship in 1930. When he qualified in 1933 they had risen to the giddy heights of over 30/-.(£1.50+)
Any information re. Hiatts would be much appreciated.
 
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