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Smethwick

Lemonella said:
Thank you for telling me about Bakers garage. I remember the hairdressers, my Nan took me there for my first perm! I also used to deliver newspapers for the paper shop and I put papers through the wrong doors in the flats in Grange Road, they were so confusing! Do you happen to remember a secondhand shop on Waterloo Road? I would love to find out about the lady who ran it. I remember she looked like a very old Debbie Harry and wore a fur coat.
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Sorry, my geography of Waterloo Rd is hazy as it has been about 56 years since I went there regularly. I can recall the smell of the perm solution though! I don't remember the shop, I'm afraid. Some of the older ladies in Worcestershire still wear fur coats, though their grand daughters roll their eyes.
 
Richard Dye said:
Yes, the crystals work best! The other stuff is mostly water with some kind of filler. If you read the label it confirms that there is very little in it that can do anything!
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My local hardware shop has them. I use them (as well as drain maintenance) for paint stripping old toys & models that I restore for a hobby. Mind out for the fumes though! They will burn off the lining in your nose!!
 
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Lloyd said:
My local hardware shop has them. I use them (as well as drain maintenance) for paint stripping old toys & models that I restore for a hobby. Mind out for the fumes though! They will burn off the lining in your nose!!
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Lloyd, I would buy a couple of extra packages and in your garage or workshop. They will disappear I would expect very soon.
 
The old cinema in Waterloo Road was burned out last week. It had been a bingo hall and was available in the past for weddings etc. It was a lovely building in it's day, it was allowed to decay.
rosie.

Edit. Windmill Lane not Waterloo Road. Aplogies!
 
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rosie said:
The old cinema in Waterloo Road was burned out last week. It had been a bingo hall and was available in the past for weddings etc. It was a lovely building in it's day, it was allowed to decay.
rosie.
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Surprised? No. It happens too frequently to be unusual. The fact that it was grade ll listed, and the site would be more valuable without the building says it all. Owners who do not protect listed buildings against arson & vandalism should be prosecuted
 
Apologies! I should have put Windmill Lane not Waterloo Road!
The Waterloo Pub is also in aterrible state now.
rosie.
 
Richard Dye said:
Were the baths replaced, with something newer/differant?
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Yes, Richard, both newer and different. Sandwell Aquatics Centre is in Londonderry Lane and costs £23 per month membership. It was built for the Commonwealth Games and adapted for public use.https://www.slt-leisure.co.uk/our-centres/sandwell-aquatics-centre/ Free swimming for under 18s and over 60 for Sandwell residents. There's no public parking by design, so time will tell if the public transport links are enough for people further away to travel there. I think that Birmingham residents would have to pay full fees.
 
Stokkie said:
Thimblemill Baths for sale. (Smethwick Baths in later years) A stylish grade 2 building. Happy days swimming there as a child. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cnd021xkknro


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How does a swimming baths get burnt to the ground? Wait a few months and you'll see,

A now departed relative was the first person to dive off the high board there, waited for it to open ready changed (with a dressing gown or house coat over her costume), rushed in climbed the steps & dived. She was quite a daredevil in her younger days!
 
Stokkie said:
Yes, Richard, both newer and different. Sandwell Aquatics Centre is in Londonderry Lane and costs £23 per month membership. It was built for the Commonwealth Games and adapted for public use.https://www.slt-leisure.co.uk/our-centres/sandwell-aquatics-centre/ Free swimming for under 18s and over 60 for Sandwell residents. There's no public parking by design, so time will tell if the public transport links are enough for people further away to travel there. I think that Birmingham residents would have to pay full fees.
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I really hope that all of the public transportation is "handicap or can handle ambulatory" restrictions where swimming is a very real therapy!
 
In recent years there have been many supposedly paranormal events in the baths. There are certainly basements and sub-basements with WW2 posters and notices. The underground corridors were used as an air-raid shelter and it was said there was an entrance to a deep shelter in the flats over the road. There was an American supply base in Beakes Road close by.

There has also been talk of a plague pit in recent years. Google threw up this site, but I wonder if this has any substance before people started selling supernatural experiences? The acoustics of the building are odd, but they would be with the swimming pool.https://havegoggleswilltravel.com/pool/smethwick-baths/
 
talking about swimming baths some years ago i was allowed to go round taking photos of nechells swimming baths and what i saw proves to me that with a little imagination these buildings can be put to good use without destroying the character of the building...for those who have not seen it click on thread below

lyn
 
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rosie said:
Hello Chris, they are demolishing the gym at the moment! The Thimblemill is now housing development too. One pub has been turned into a vet's, the Queen's Head. (Near the new Aquatic Centre).
rosie.
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Well now I went to Uplands sec mod school 1958-1962, was a part time barman at the Thimblemill pub, used the Pheasant Inn, went to Church next door and social club, never went in the Two Brewers, was born in St Chads, used all the pubs and hotels up the Hagley rd, rented a garage at the Grove Hotel to store car components I sold as a rep. There was another hotel opposite there run by a Frenchman Pierre.(1970s)..name escapes me.
 
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There are several references to Moyle and Adams being at Foodville, Oldbury Road, Smethwick around 1955. The description is vague and perhaps it was on the corner with Spon Lane ?
They seem to own several shops in various places including Wednesbury and King's Heath.
 
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