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Passages, Alleyways Gulletts and Snickets of Old Brum

Sorry if this has already been posted-does anyone remember the name of the real ale bar at the rear of the Midland Hotel in Stephenson Street? It was tiny, with comfy chairs and books which were probably bought by the row! I used to go there in the early 80's.
 
annie54 said:
Sorry if this has already been posted-does anyone remember the name of the real ale bar at the rear of the Midland Hotel in Stephenson Street? It was tiny, with comfy chairs and books which were probably bought by the row! I used to go there in the early 80's.
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I remember that bar - it was also a useful place if you needed to go to the loo!
 
One of the oldest trodden paths in Brum maybe...it and Bath Passage. To the fresh water spring and a bath perhaps to wash off the woad. Was that not where the old parsonage and moat was with run off to the Manor Moat along where Maph lane is do you think.
 
Meadow Rd Quinton, off Ridgeacre rd, when the original photo was taken curtailed at a rustic stile and gate with a track across the allotments to Woodgate Valley. The later photo shows how it looks today now connecting with the new Chichester Drive.

Phil


Quinton Meadow Rd c1900.JPG Quinton Meadow Rd 1948.JPG Quinton Meadow Rd.jpg
 
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thanks david...judy has posted another shot of union st and posted it under the old street pics thread it was taken a few years before the one i posted so you may want to have a look at that one too..

lyn
 
Hi guys ;
i would think lovers walk must have been the longest passage way walk;
in brum ; but just thinking of one thats come to my mind and i know it was blocked off years ago ;
it was betrween two building ;if any body recalls it or may be mike can check aa old map ;
it ran between tyburn rd and through to holly lane erdington
they said there was a one hundred convience order on it way back in time and it was owned by some council or councilers
as i have it would have taken you through to the old valor factory and dunlop ;
this must have been in the early 20- thirtys i do its listed in the land order as i read it some years back ;
it wouldbe nice if mike was to track it down ; astonian
 
Here's the earlier photo of Union Passage dated 1895 that I posted on the OldStreet Pics thread - Judy

City+Union+Passage+1895.jpg
 
Just found two more photos of Union Passage, showing earlier views. The first is the Passage looking towards Bull Street in 1864 (so the view is not to New Street after all!). The second photo shows the same view of the Passage but taken in 1895 with Bensons Bar when the Cabin later stood. Hope these pics come out large enough.

Union Passage001.jpg
 
Hi Judy. These are fascinating. The 1864 view has what looks like scaffolding around a much smaller building. The name Benson's also rings a bell. Maybe a 20th century bar took its name. There's a name on the gate/door too - Bucklands - perhaps that was the name before Benson's. It's interesting how lots of little businesses were squeezed into these passages too. Some were so badly built, they just simply fell down. The business to the right however seems to have been solidly built, looks like a bank or similar. And I wonder what Bradford ( ?) House was? A lovely snapshot of a business community off the main streets of Birmingham. Viv.
 
Richard Buckland was a woolen draper at 100 Bull st. that must ahve been the back entrance for deliveries. Bensons was a bar, and an advert from the 1895 Kellys is below

Bensonsadvert1895kellys.jpg
 
Jayell said:
Just found two more photos of Union Passage, showing earlier views. The first is the Passage looking towards Bull Street in 1864 (so the view is not to New Street after all!). The second photo shows the same view of the Passage but taken in 1895 with Bensons Bar when the Cabin later stood. Hope these pics come out large enough.

View attachment 74119
Click to expand...

brillient judy and its also good to set the record straight with the exact location

thanks for the lovely pics

lyn
 
I think perhaps the rear of Bucklands shop in the 1865 photo was in the process of being extended. As well as the temporary scaffolding- type posts, you can see there's a big hole in the rear of the shop wall just behind the lamp. There are ladders there too. I think the later Benson's bar would have been deceptively quite large as it had a restaurant and later (in Lyns Cabin photo) a billiards room. Not so sure I'd be tempted by the tongue or the turtle soup from Mike's advert! Found this very interesting, thanks all. Viv.
 
What a lovely picture Lyn. Did the shop in the right become the Irish Linen shop? I remember one of that name in the 1960s.
 
mikejee said:
Richard Buckland was a woolen draper at 100 Bull st. that must ahve been the back entrance for deliveries. Bensons was a bar, and an advert from the 1895 Kellys is below

Bensonsadvert1895kellys.jpg
Click to expand...

What a menu! I've researched "Collared Neat's Tongues".
To collar is to roll up and tie with string.
Neats seem to be an old word for cattle (or possibly pigs)
 
Thanks Mike. Your information on Bensons was great and brings the picture more to life now that we know more about it. So if Richard Buckland, the woollen draper, was at 100 Bull Street and Bensons Bar at 98, then both had rear entrances in Union Passage. The menu at Bensons was fascinating, and thanks to David for explaining what Neats were - I was wondering about this. Mind you I don't think I would order them!

Judy
 
I see that there are both a Heneage Street and an Heneage Passage on a map on Ancestry. My grandfather's younger brother (given over to the Middlemore Home after his mother's death) George Jones related in a letter to the Middlemore officials that he had been brought to the home by a Polline (sic) Wicks who lived at the end of Heneage. He thought that his name was Wicks, and that it had been changed to Jones while traveling to Canada aboard the Mongolian with the Middlemore party. He was, in fact, a Jones. The only Pauline Wicks that I have located so far in the area is the wife of William Wicks, residing at 64 Great Lister in 1901. It is conceivable that she could have lived in either the street or the passage. My grandfather was living at 34 Forster in 1917 when he married. Relatives also lived on Willis St. and other nearby areas. Does anyone know of a Wicks family in that area other than what I found? I wonder if they are related to the Jones family, but perhaps they were parishioners at St. James who took pity on this family's children.

Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome!

Cheryl
 
Probably more to the question for me is whether peoples' houses had entrances off a passage, or was it just a walkway? I'm American, so I am not familiar with how these passages, alleyways, etc. were. Can anyone explain please? On the maps, Heneage Passage is only a broken line. It doesn't appear to go through to the next street, so that might be a place this Pauline Wicks could live at the "end" of. I am enjoying reading all that is posted. Thanks for all of your hard work!
 
I am not sure in it is still there but it was listed as 17 Temple Street.
 
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