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Rea Street

Here, for completeness, we have the front and back of 54,55 Rea St, probably around the time of the 1880s map. The photos even show the pipe that seems to run at one side of the building to an outhouse. I do wonder what it was for. No 55 is not listed, but there is an Allen Mason, Cart Saddletree Maker ay an unnumbered building at about that position

map 1880s showing 54-55 rea St.jpgRea Street Digbeth Birmingham - Front of 54 - 55.jpgRea Street Digbeth Birmingham - Back of 54 - 55.jpg
 
I love 2 things about these very old photos:-
1) As the very old ones are mainly from large format glass plate negatives the level of detail on them is usually stunning, even when you zoom in.
2) As the process for taking a glass plate photo was so long winded they were not "snapshots" - in the main they were carefully framed to include as much as possible in the image. So when you look at them there are so many things going on - people standing on street corners, contents of shop windows, signs posters and adverts on walls, open doors and windows allowing you to see into houses, contents of back yard courts, even local animals etc.
All relics of a long ago bygone age frozen in time. Thank goodness the West Midlands area has so many collections of these photos extant and readily available to view (like the Warwickshire Photographic Survey, the Slum Clearance survey or the John Whybrow collection).
 
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