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Smethwick

S

Smethwick Striver

master brummie
You can take a boy out of Smethwick, but you can't take Smethwick (Smerrick) out of the boy, they say. That's me.

Smethwick was never quite Birmingham, but fixed firmly between Brum and the Black Country. Only one vote among councillors prevented Smethwick being part of the City of Birmingham, I believe.

Am I alone in thinking Smethwick needs a place of its own on this excellent site.

Some consider Smethwick to be the very centre of the start of the Industrial Revolution and was the workshop of the world. Factories like Tangye, Phillips Cycles, GKN, Evered, Hope, Camm, Birmingham Carriage Works, M&B, the Ionic, British Pen, and Avery, are but a few.

Fox Henderson of Smethwick made the ironwork for the Great Exhibition of 1851, at Crystal Palace; and Chance made the glass, which they also did for the Houses of Parliament. Busy lot, eh?



Will fellow Smethwickians join me in posting their memories of life in the town?
 
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Does anyone remember the Radio Rentals control room next to the bus-stop in Waterloo Road, Smethwick? It was the earliest form of cable, I suppose. A bloke sitting on public display, operating the dials, would pump out the programmes for the town.
Other places at the top of Cape Hill - Marsh and Baxters, with sawdust on the floor, Wrensons (posh) and Fosters, or its predecessor, with those wired cash canisters zooming around the ceiling.
 
Until the end of the 18th century Smethwick was an outlying hamlet of Harborne. Harborne became part of the county borough of Birmingham and thus transferred from Staffordshire to Warwickshire in 1891, leaving Smethwick in the County of Staffordshire.

Smethwick shared many things with Harborne of course, including the Workhouse that was purposely built between the two (adjacent to the new Old House At Home pub) https://forum.birminghamhistory.co.uk/showthread.php?p=320785#post320785 The oldest building in Smethwick is The Old Church https://www.kdharrison.co.uk/photo_6009256.html which stands on the corner of Church Road and The Uplands. This was consecrated in 1732 as a Chapel of Ease from the Harborne parish of St Peter.
 
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I lived in Clifton Road, Nan & Grandad lived in Beechfield road, by the Cats Park in Uplands. I was christened in the Old Church and went with my pennies to Mr Panters sweet shop and Mary Price's greengrocers.

I used to spend may happy hours, sat on a bench in (Robbo's) garage in Beechfield Road watching Mr Robinson mend the cars.
 
I have lived in Smethwick for the last 12 years after crossing the border as a refugee from Birmingham and have become fascinated in the amount of local history in such a small area. I picked up an Alton Douglas book last year from Thimblemill Library which was full of pictures and information about Smethwick https://www.brewinbooks.com/alton%20files/smethwick.htm
and it has inspired me to start a project of my own. There are 40 odd listed buildings in Smethwick which includes churches, industry and the canal network and I have set out to photograph these and publish them on my website together with any other sites of interest that have thus far escaped the local conservation folks attention. When completed I intend to publish a book of the images (possibly self published through Blurb or other online publisher) and add to the wealth of local knowledge that exists. I'm around half way there, and with more images to post shortly. If anyone wishes to drop by for a look, please feel free..https://www.kdharrison.co.uk/gallery_330764.html

All the best
 
I have to disagree with some of the things you say Striver. Smethwick was not at the start of the Industrial Revolution, as most of the factories you mention were not the originals, but where they ended up after expansion. I suspect you may be younger than me, too, as Crittall Hope was original Henry Hope and Sons of Halfords Lane. My husband did his apprenticeship with Hopes Heating and Engineering which was next door.

Avery's started in Heath Mill Lane, Deritend, M&B started near there but the original was not at Cape Hill. Astburys of Smethwick did not make the framework for the Crystal Palace, either. It was made by Fox, Henderson & Co in the building which became the headquarters of GKN - in Cranford Street - the building known as London Works. John Henderson is buried at Key Hill Cemetery - and interestingly Smethwick was always classed as Birmingham - addresses often said Smethwick, Birmingham. Chance glazed the Crystal Palace, as you say and the Chance family are also buried at Key Hill.

Nonetheless, Smethwick had an interesting part to play in the Industral Revolution, as did Dudley, West Bromwich, Walsall and many other Black Country places.

Shortie
 
hi shortie
happy new year to you for 2011
i just wanted to comment on your peice of work regarding your reply regarding smethwick i thought it was a very nice piece of work
and to thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge on smethwick i myself have only abit of knowledge on the area which to a certain degree i know about smethwick
and i have taken on board your valued information regarding certain companies which i myself was amazed to learn about
i was totally surprized to learn about averys as i did work there many years ago in my younger days along ide my uncle bill smart whom worked there from youth to old age
and of the brewery which i always beleived and thought it was there orinional sitefrom start to finish
but i do know you are quite rightly saying smethwick was always birmingham that i knewany way from my grand mothers bith certi, from 1800 to the early 1900s
states it was birmingham as well so to me that veryfyeds to me wich i knew a a kid itsbirmingham
i always thought that crittalls was not an orinional company far back as averys or the brewers but never or less you are true
after reading your thread i emediatly thought of piddock police stationand the ajoing courts and asked myself the question
and that was what came first because of its size of holding prisoners was it steel house lane or piddock street as my grand father came from gloucestershire police force
to the birmingham police force in 1900 to steel house lane and i was told he had to be an high rank to be transfered from gloc to birmingham
and as to he went to piddock st first or the lane he lived in high park rd smethwick county of birmingham
but any way i really absorbed your knowledge for future reference and i really enjoyed your thread and well stated for us all
have your self a nice day i myself is travelling to brum from worcestershire today and hope fully take some pics
best wishes astonion
 
Hi Astonion

How nice of you to comment! I have to say thought, that I don't have a huge amount of knowledge on Smethwick, but just that really connected with either my own family or Key Hill. Tangyes also did not start in Smethwick, that was Cornwall originally (where Brunel had first come upon them) and then they moved to Birmingham, but I don't have full details at the moment. The one book I have which may mention it is on loan to my daughter! I think John Henderson's huge, but plain, tombstone actually says on it 'London Works, Birmingham', but although I have a photograph, I cannot find it at present - it might be in my loft. I don't know about Piddock Street - perhaps another forum contributor may know, but I suspect you are right in saying that only high ranking officers would have been transferred to Birmingham.
Enjoy your trip to Birmingham, Astonion, at least you won't be too cold now the snow has gone (thank goodness).
Best wishes

Shortie
 
Shortie said:
I have to disagree with some of the things you say Striver. Smethwick was not at the start of the Industrial Revolution, as most of the factories you mention were not the originals, but where they ended up after expansion. I suspect you may be younger than me, too, as Crittall Hope was original Henry Hope and Sons of Halfords Lane. My husband did his apprenticeship with Hopes Heating and Engineering which was next door.

Avery's started in Heath Mill Lane, Deritend, M&B started near there but the original was not at Cape Hill. Astburys of Smethwick did not make the framework for the Crystal Palace, either. It was made by Fox, Henderson & Co in the building which became the headquarters of GKN - in Cranford Street - the building known as London Works. John Henderson is buried at Key Hill Cemetery - and interestingly Smethwick was always classed as Birmingham - addresses often said Smethwick, Birmingham. Chance glazed the Crystal Palace, as you say and the Chance family are also buried at Key Hill.

Nonetheless, Smethwick had an interesting part to play in the Industral Revolution, as did Dudley, West Bromwich, Walsall and many other Black Country places.

Shortie
Click to expand...
SMETHWICK
Perhaps I may be permitted a humble reply to Shorty's somewhat sharp response to my thread about Smethwick.
What? A Brummie trying to point score over a Smethwickian, perchance?

Juxtaposing my mention of Smethwick being at the centre the Industrial Revolution with my list of factories through the years was naughty of you, Shorty. Of course they were not originals from the I.R. Strewth, I may be old, but not that old! It was what it was - a list of factories that I remembered. No looking up on the internet, no poring over books to find facts - or catch anyone out.

I concede my source about the ironwork was iffy. Perhaps some Brummie filled my head with that nonsense years ago; for which I shall wear a hair shirt for you as a penance - for a couple of minutes; just to make you happy.

As for the Smethwick, Birmingham, postal address, Shorty, it's irrelevant.

My son who lives in Bidford on Avon has a Birmingham postcode. Does that make Bidford Birmingham? No. That's the point. When I was a lad, the County Borough of Smethwick was in Staffordshire. People around where I lived in the early 50s didn't see themselves as part of Birmingham.

I started the thread hoping to set the ball rolling for everyday memories from Smethwickians, but it's turned into a bit of a heavy lecture from an Expert Brummie, no less, on Smethwick.

Who am I , a mere Newbie Brummie from SMETHWICK gainsaying a member of the BIRMINGHAM ILLUMINATI? (Nicely hierarchical names puts me in my place. I'd rather be something else!)

I think I shall soon be stripped of my membership for this, but before World War 3 starts ..........

Come on, Shorty, give peace a chance!

PS. No lessons about Henry Hope's needed either because I worked there - in the drawing office and factory - a long time ago.
 
Hello Striver I,m so sorry you feel that Shortie has come down a bit heavy with facts i,m sure she didn,t mean to upset you she,s a lovely women and maybe as a new comer you may not be used to some peoples style of writing but i know by experience that she is always willing to come to peoples assistance when able. Happy new year to you and your family. Dek
 
Colin,it matters not how long or short a time you have been on the forum and the titles Newbie and Expert do not relate to the
quality of your posts but rather the quantity.
Shorty and yourself are both very interesting members and I think this is a case of the typewritten word not coming over as the spoken word would.
We get this very often on the forum and we usually 'shake hands' and have done with it.
I look forward to your future posts,Alberta.
 
Well, Striver, I certainly did not mean to sound irritable and overbearing - perhaps you should look at Astonion's post following mine, and then you will see. I had to disagree because, frankly, I was right. Let me explain - but first, I have no problem with anyone being from Smethwick - it has nothing to do with that, my knowledge arose because some years ago, (thanks to a long conversation with Carl Chinn) I set up the Friends of Key Hill Cemetery. A lot of the owners of these businesses were dissenters and therefore were buried at Key Hill. I got to know a massive amount of stuff - some due to others' research, some due to my own - and I simply wanted to set you straight. That is what this forum is all about. There have been times in the past that I have got things wrong and others have very kindly put me right. If you feel bruised, then I apologise, but no offence was meant, I can assure you. As for me being a Brummie - some might disagree with that as I moved out of Birmingham close on 40 years ago!
 
Shortie said:
Well, Striver, I certainly did not mean to sound irritable and overbearing - perhaps you should look at Astonion's post following mine, and then you will see. I had to disagree because, frankly, I was right. Let me explain - but first, I have no problem with anyone being from Smethwick - it has nothing to do with that, my knowledge arose because some years ago, (thanks to a long conversation with Carl Chinn) I set up the Friends of Key Hill Cemetery. A lot of the owners of these businesses were dissenters and therefore were buried at Key Hill. I got to know a massive amount of stuff - some due to others' research, some due to my own - and I simply wanted to set you straight. That is what this forum is all about. There have been times in the past that I have got things wrong and others have very kindly put me right. If you feel bruised, then I apologise, but no offence was meant, I can assure you. As for me being a Brummie - some might disagree with that as I moved out of Birmingham close on 40 years ago!
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Good afternoon, Shorty!

I'm puffing on that peace-pipe you sent me. Thank you - very nice.
No bruises on my calloused, wizened old hide either, horny-handed son of toil that I am.

But I'm a little confused. What exactly are you convinced you are right about?

Perhaps we are approaching this from different premises?

Best wishes,

Striver.

P.S. The Smethwick v Birmingham bit was no more than joshing - a tease. Goodness, I haven't lived there for over 44 years, even longer than you've been away from Birmingham!
 
I was brought up on the western end of Hagley Road, and our local shopping area was Bearwood - in Smethwick, as was the local green areas, Lightwoods Park and Warley Woods, so I'm almost as much a 'Smerrick' lad as I am a 'Burningham' one.

Yes I remember the Radio Rentals shop in Waterloo Rd - my Aunt and Uncle who had a draper's shop in Shireland Rd (right on the boundary where it changed to Portland Rd), had an RR radio and later a TV from them too.

I also remember hearing loud explosions in the distance from our house, and my dad telling me it was the blast furnaces at Smethwick being lit - possibly at the Qualcast (pictured above) or the Midland Motor Cylinder works.

I was dismayed when half of Smethwick's main street was swept away in preparation for the new by-pass road, but at least the other side remains, including the Red Cow and Blue Gates pubs and the Princes cinema. There's enough left to imagine how it used to be, and the present (largely historically immigrant) population seem to have developed enough pride in the area to ensure it remains so for some time to come.
 
I have had long connections with Smethwick with Relatives living near by and it was where I worked for twelve years. My childhood memories are blurred but I remember the goods yard at Rolfe St station, I think a coal merchant was there as well. My dad worked at a company in Rolfe St a company called A.E.Griffiths Ltd, they had a main works in Booth St and made large steel fabrications that were often transported by heavy haulage companies like Pickfords and Wynn,s.
I had a friend John Evans, who once lived in Smethwick, I seem to remember we once visited the Prince,s Cinema, this was owned by the Hewitson family who also had the Majestic Cinema at Bearwood.
Interestingly Smethwick now gets regularly mentioned on "Flog it" and some of the other antique programes as it was the Home of the Ruskin Pottery. I must admit I had not heard of it until a year or so back but its wares are highly sought after being of ceramics coated with various compounds then fired at a high tempreture and forming some amazing colours. The pottery is marked "West Smethwick" and I assume this is more towards the Oldbury end of the town.
A vast majority of Smethwick traders and manufacturers came under the Birmingham postal area, I think it was either 40 or 41 and so their postal addresses would have been Birmingham rather than Smethwick. Presimably having "Birmingham" on ones invpices and paperwork had a bit more clout than that of Smethwick!!
Unfortunately the town became infamous in around 1965 with the reporting on TV of racial problems in the area of Marshall St. This was a great shame asthe town deserved better recognition that what was very much a short lived problem. Another claim to fame was having the actor Andrew Faulds as its MP at some point.
 
Mom & Dad got married the 19th December 1942 at Holy Trinity then had the reception at the Red Cow.

How I wish they were alive now to see the 'new red cow' on the video, they would have howled with laughter

Thanks for that
 
oooh eck it looks like one of the Liverpool lambananas..such a shame the old one has gone ...used to love going up to Smethwick market when i was little
 
Great idea for Smethwick to have its own section. It never was part of Birmingham or the Black Country. Trouble is, it was so unique, they didn't know where to slot it in! It must be in the running for the most-moved-about-town record.

Although I lived over the border in Edgbaston (Poplar Avenue), I felt sorry for Smethwick when it was absorbed into the amorphous mass of a made-up authority because some local politician thought it was a good idea.

My real introduction to Smethwick proper came through family history research started some years ago, looking at the Middletons. They married into the Camm, Harley, Parkes and Weaver families (from the last of which I am descended).

I was married at Waterloo Road Methodist church as was my mother, her two siblings and their parents. It became a Sikh temple I believe but at least it's still being used, which is more than can be said for the Camm Studio in High Street, Smethwick. It was compulsorily purchased for a road widening scheme which never came off, and was finally destroyed to make way for featureless modern housing and shops. It was a landmark and would have made great flats or offices.
 
Dragon said:
Great idea for Smethwick to have its own section. It never was part of Birmingham or the Black Country. Trouble is, it was so unique, they didn't know where to slot it in! It must be in the running for the most-moved-about-town record.

Although I lived over the border in Edgbaston (Poplar Avenue), I felt sorry for Smethwick when it was absorbed into the amorphous mass of a made-up authority because some local politician thought it was a good idea.

My real introduction to Smethwick proper came through family history research started some years ago, looking at the Middletons. They married into the Camm, Harley, Parkes and Weaver families (from the last of which I am descended).

I was married at Waterloo Road Methodist church as was my mother, her two siblings and their parents. It became a Sikh temple I believe but at least it's still being used, which is more than can be said for the Camm Studio in High Street, Smethwick. It was compulsorily purchased for a road widening scheme which never came off, and was finally destroyed to make way for featureless modern housing and shops. It was a landmark and would have made great flats or offices.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Dragon, for your support about Smethwick not being part of Birmingham. You are absolutely right - the town was unique.
 
Hiya Striver
Did one of the boundries of Smethwick start on the Dudley road just by the Grove cinema ..
 
Hi People settle down it's not a contest, or a point scoring site about who, or what comes from where.... It's a 'History forum' and with history you have memories and facts... and we can all have our say and have it respected it all adds to the enjoyment of the site.
But whoever you are and wherever you come from, or may be now we do not like, or allow snipping, or bickering at each other on this site (Posts can be and will be edited, or removed if the admin' think fit to do so) ... take it or leave it... it's your choice! This is not aimed at any one poster but just a reminder to 'PLAY NICE' Thanx for your co-operation.
 
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