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Soho Hill

Love the old photo,I served My apprentership at "T Elvins & Sons"building contractors next door to the Palladium from 1948 when I left Birchfield Rd School in Perry Barr,I have many happy memories of the Hockley area of Birmingham.I have not been back to that part of Birmingham since 1963,I dread to think what it looks like now !!
 
hi Old pumber !
You mentioning T.Elvins & Son brought back memories. I started there in 1957 as a plumbers mate .. stood in the reception area waiting to see Mr Darby (Ithink that was his name) Then being taken to Colmore Garage (Morris Dealership) Hill Street(Albany hotel there now)in the back of a closed van and introduced to my "mate"... cannot remember his name but he had Matchless Motor bike ... and at lunch time coming out into Hill Street and looking around and wondering where the hell I was !
Only stayed for about six months and left to go and work with my dad at J.Copeland in Hall street .. wanted to learn" lead burning" .Like you have a lot of happy memories of Hockley
Keep smiling
Mr Pastry
 
Hi Mr Pastry,In 1957 I had just returned to Elvins as a plumber after doing my two years NS in the Royal Engineers I was 23 years old then & stayed at Elvins untill about 1960 then worked for Grail & Preece on Soho Rd the I moved to Devon about 1963 but was still working as a Plumber/Heating engineer until 2005 I am now close to 80yrs but still keep my hand in doing small plumbing jobs.Yes it was Mr Darby who was the plumbing manager in those days,along time ago !!
 
Hi Old plumber
It's more years than I care to try and remember!!! just looked up Hockley Brook on Google Earth .. the Old Palladium( or war it the Plaza?) building is still standing ...looks in a terrible state .. got me tinking which side of it was Elvins yard ?... I came out of the plubing game in 1960 and later joining Birmingham City Transport at Hockley Depot was there for 8years and then left and joined Birmingham City Police spending the next 30yrs with them (best thing I ever did!)
Keep smiling
Regards
Rich (Mr pastry)
 
Hi: There are two photographs on this thread of the Palladium Cinema, one at #25 and the other at #29. Sad to see it still standing in awful condition.
 
mikejee said:
Lynn
Some of the same buildings are shown at post 9 on https://forum.birminghamhistory.co.uk/showthread.php?t=29990 . On that thread the building here marked "Tramway stores" is called Cable Tramway Inn, just by the tram , and it is 102 Hockley Hill , close to the corner with Farm St, and just along from the Benyon Arms. If you look closely , you can see on Glaciermint's photo the edge of the ironwork on the building to the right of the inn/stores, and that the design of the the inn/stores is very similar, are the buildings to the left of it.
Mike
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hi mike wonder if you could post me a map please showing no 102 the cable tramway inn

thank you mike...

lyn
 
mike ignore my last post as you have posted the map i wanted on the hockley brook thread...thank you mike

lyn
 
A view of the top of Soho Hill in 1910 and a modern day view. Pity the corner building has gone, it was a nice feature, but the remaining terrace is still there. Viv.

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Thanks Viv. I grew up in Soho Avenue, just a couple of minute's from your photo. How cold and clinical it looks now at the junction of Soho Hill/Villa Road/St Michael's Hill. It was so different when I knew it. The shop on the corner was a cafe (now demolished), and next to that (the first one on the left in the photo now) was Dick Pearce's newsagents shop where I used to work on Saturday mornings sometimes, and wait outside on a Saturday night for Dad's Sports Argus. Dick was my Dad's best friend. Next to that was an off-license run by two old ladies (can't remember their names), then a grocery shop run by a Mrs Babbington I think, then a greengrocers. Then there was Dennisons Watch Case Factory and next to that The Beehive Pub. The tram terminus was at the top of Villa Road and was just outside Mrs Payne's sweet shop. Although we had few sweets as the war was on when I was growing up and sweets were rationed.

Judy
 
Judy,
Unfortunately it is called progress,I moved to South Devon 50 years ago & the town I live in isn't the one I moved to all those years ago.I went to visit my brother in Sutton Coldfield last summer I left the motorway at Great Barr where I used to live & was totaly lost thank god I had a sat-nav,there was very few landmarks that I could remember or see from 50 years ago,but what I did notice was how clean & affluent the parts of Birmingham I visited looked,I am proud to be a "Brummie"
Brian
 
Hi Judy. You may have seen these but if not, two Phyllis Nicklin photos taken in 1968 from Soho Avenue. The first looking up to the top of Soho Hill shows the Denbro works and the terrace of shops (by 1968 the corner building seems to have disappeared). The second photo is of the milestone. Do you remember the milestone? Wondering if it was kept anywhere after it was moved/taken. Viv.

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Nice pictures, Viv, I remember it well as I lived in Lansdowne Road just a hop, skip and a jump from here.
I used to go to a dentists on Soho Hill, Judy, his name was Mr Cheffins. He took one of my front teeth out, can't forgive him for that!!!!!! Does anyone remember the PDSA on the left down the hill, I used to take our cat and dog there, didn't cost a penny.
 
Hi Katie . My cousin was the housekeeper for Cheffins .. when the wife was expecting our daughter(48yr ago) she had the problem of some of her teeth crumbling and Cheffin took ALL her teeth out and told her that that would save your husband some money ... I was not aware of this at the time and have since found out that it was a custom for the wife to have her teeth removed prior or just after marriage to save money on having to have dental treatment in later life ... how barbaric !!!! Remember when visiting going into were the dentures were made what a wieard site seeing rows of false teeth all round the room
All the best Rich Keep smiling
 
hi katie i well remember the PDSA we used it all the time being a family of pet lovers..

viv i have searched for that milestone but definately no sign of it now...would love to know where it is but unless its at dolman st stores i would think it was smashed up...

lyn
 
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Some interesting memories Judy, Katie and Rich. Lyn, I've had a nose around to see if I can find anything out about the milestone and one thing I read (not sure how true this is) is it's supposed to be at the nearby St. James's School.

Hi Topsy - nice photo. We can see from your photo how thriving Soho Hill once was. It's interesting that Soho Hill is a conservation area, so I think it's about time some of the buildings had an injection of funds (e.g the Beehive pub - where Lyn risked her neck getting photos for the Beehive Pub thread - her photos show it to be in a dire state The thread is : the beehive pub soho hill).

Going way back to 1761 this is how Erasmus Darwin described the hill :
"Soho is the name of a hill in the county of Stafford, about two miles from Birmingham; which, a very few years ago, was a barren heath, on the bleak summit of which stood a naked hut, the habitation of a warrener". Hard to believe eh? Viv.
 
Lyn

St James CE Primary School
Sandwell Road
Handsworth
Birmingham
B21 8NH


I think the next nearest St James School is a RC school out Rednal Way
 
Phil said:
Lyn

St James CE Primary School
Sandwell Road
Handsworth
Birmingham
B21 8NH


I think the next nearest St James School is a RC school out Rednal Way
Click to expand...

thanks phil ive just googled it and thought it must be the sandwell road one...will try and find out if the milestone is there..its always worth an ask..

lyn
 
Great. New Year, new mission Lyn! But if you find it don't try removing it, don't want you in traction for months! Viv.
 
Vivienne14 said:
Great. New Year, new mission Lyn! But if you find it don't try removing it, don't want you in traction for months! Viv.
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lol viv dont worry if i do find it i shall leave it where it is...dont think it will fit in me bag..be great if this is true though..watch this space..

lyn
 
Vivienne14 said:
Going way back to 1761 this is how Erasmus Darwin described the hill :
"Soho is the name of a hill in the county of Stafford, about two miles from Birmingham; which, a very few years ago, was a barren heath, on the bleak summit of which stood a naked hut, the habitation of a warrener".
Click to expand...

There's a photo of one of Mathew Boulton's gamekeeper cottages on Soho Hill on the Digital Handsworth site. Think it would be too much to imagine that it's still there but maybe this was what would have replaced the warrener's 'naked hut' that Erasmus Darwin referred to. Viv.

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hi viv ive seen that photo before of the gamekeepers cottage and got quite excited as i thought it was still there but on closer inspection i think not..if you take a street walk i was looking at the building just bit down from the beehive pub but its too high to be the cottage..never mind..ps i like the new avatar viv..

lyn
 
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