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Swanswell Rd/Gospel lane

Alberta

Super Moderator
Staff member
There is a medical centre on the corner of Swansell road/Gospel lane can you remember the name of the pub that ot replaced.Thanks ,Alberta
 
Can't have been many years ago John,my daughter in law is 37 and she remembers it but can't recall the name. Thanks.
 
Gospel Oak public in Gospel Lane, but no Swanswell Road. Could not find Swanswell Road in any Directory
 
You are obviously thinking of The Moonraker as suggested by Stitcher on the corner of Brook Lane / Gospel Lane. Not a pub I would have used especially just before it closed down. I never saw so great a collection of ladders on the roofs of vans parked outside.

Is that a medical centre that replaced it?. It looks more like apartments to me when driving past. I was surprised when it sprang up there has been no attempt to match it in with its surroundings. I think the medical centre is on the other corner.

Phil
 
Hello John, as you go down Gospel Lane towards olton there was a pub on the right about half a mile below the Gospel Oak. Since I lived in the area houses have been built at the rear and I think Swanswell Rd is just before Brook Lane.
 
Stitcher

Is that Swanswell Rd at the other end of those awful apartment buildings that replaced the Moonraker?. As you say there are a lot of new houses back there now, I never knew the name until now.

Phil
 
I used to have the occasional drink in the Moonraker about 50 years ago, it was a new and decent pub in those days. One of the 'Applejacks' lived there and his parents were the licensees.
 
As I had to pick the wife up from Hall Green today, and as I had already promised Astoness that I would make a detour past the Avenue to take a couple of pics the next time I was in the vicinity I also took a couple of this location as its only up the road.

Its quite right, The Swanswell medical centre is on the junction of Swanswell Rd and Gospel Lane and opposite is the site of the old Moonraker. What you might call hot off the press.

Phil
 

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There was a pub called the moonraker, adjacent to the medical centre, but the moonraker was pulled down and there are flats there now
Regards Mike M
 
Hello... is this Forum still active? As far as I can tell, the last message was over 4 years ago. I was going to share my thoughts, but there's no point if there's no-one out there :blush:
 
Hello... is this Forum still active? As far as I can tell, the last message was over 4 years ago. I was going to share my thoughts, but there's no point if there's no-one out there :blush:
If you post then the thread will come to the top of the list and your message will be read. We always like to add to old threads with new memories.
 
Hello... is this Forum still active? As far as I can tell, the last message was over 4 years ago. I was going to share my thoughts, but there's no point if there's no-one out there :blush:
Hi and welcome to Birmingham History Forum

The forum is indeed very active however, not all threads remain active all of the time unless there is a developing discussion relating to the main topic. Please do share your thoughts as is most likely to respond.
 
Hi and welcome to Birmingham History Forum

The forum is indeed very active however, not all threads remain active all of the time unless there is a developing discussion relating to the main topic. Please do share your thoughts as is most likely to respond.
Swanswell Road was part of a large estate built by David Charles Limited and ran between Gospel Lane and Kineton Green Road in Olton. We bought a detatched house there around 1965. The estate finished near to to The Gospel pub.
 
Hello everyone! I'd like to begin by saying that I'm very excited to be joining this Forum. I actually joined way back in January 2013, but, for some reason, have not posted until now. The older I get, the greater my propensity for nostalgia so I'm really keen to contribute, however, I'm mindful of not upsetting all of the far more established members on here as there are one or two minor factual inaccuracies that I shall try and address. By way of background, my parents moved to Swanswell Road in February 1972 - prior to that, we had lived on Langley Hall Road since 1966. Here are a few random comments - I'm happy to receive any feedback regarding my posting style etc
  • Swanswell Road was a kind of U-shape that joined Gospel Lane at one end and Langley Hall Road (between Nos. 136 & 138) at the other end
  • Did David Charles Limited also build Langley Hall Road? LHR definitely came first because I'm pretty sure when were living there we went to look at Swanswell Road which was still under construction
  • The top end of LHR joined Gospel Lane near to the large Gospel Oak pub as you say Pat
  • Going back to the earlier posts on here from 2009 - as Swanswell Road met with Gospel Lane, the pub on the left-hand corner was indeed The Moonraker. In photos of the pub before it was demolished, the pub sign was not visible, but I can remember, as you looked at the pub, there was a pub sign to the left with a picture of man holding a rake. The GP practice was on the right-hand corner - it was already there when we moved to Swanswell Road, but I can't remember what it was called. One of the GPs was called Dr Wine (not sure re: spelling). He was Jewish and, when I was at Langley School, he once visited to give a talk about Judaism (I can remember him talking about Passover)
  • Brook Lane is a confusing one - from Swanswell Road, you'd have to turn right (onto Gospel Lane) and sharp right again to get onto it. Always tricky when I was learning to drive! It had Kineton Green Road at one end and Gospel Lane at the other
  • The 'club' that Robert mentions was there when we lived on LHR (can't remember what it was called at the time) and is still there now! It was a kind of working men's club I think and had a bit a reputation for late nights and rowdiness. As you get to the top end of LHR, there's a turning on the left (between Nos. 42 & 40). If you bear left once you've made that turn, there's a footpath that we used to take to get to school - it goes all the way to Langley Infant & Junior schools
I think that'll do for now - looking forward to connecting with other members and sharing more details/stories etc
 
This is a "new" thread to me, Swanswell Rd was a landmark in our family an uncle and his wife moved there in 1950's, cerainly I used to visit by bike and I passed driving test in 1960. They were the first to "buy" a house, certainly less than £2000! I think it was No.66. other relatives lived in council houses. Looking on Google I remember the down to the ground front room windows which a few families screened off in various ways as it was a little goldfish bowlish as built.
 
Hello everyone! I'd like to begin by saying that I'm very excited to be joining this Forum. I actually joined way back in January 2013, but, for some reason, have not posted until now. The older I get, the greater my propensity for nostalgia so I'm really keen to contribute, however, I'm mindful of not upsetting all of the far more established members on here as there are one or two minor factual inaccuracies that I shall try and address. By way of background, my parents moved to Swanswell Road in February 1972 - prior to that, we had lived on Langley Hall Road since 1966. Here are a few random comments - I'm happy to receive any feedback regarding my posting style etc
  • Swanswell Road was a kind of U-shape that joined Gospel Lane at one end and Langley Hall Road (between Nos. 136 & 138) at the other end
  • Did David Charles Limited also build Langley Hall Road? LHR definitely came first because I'm pretty sure when were living there we went to look at Swanswell Road which was still under construction
  • The top end of LHR joined Gospel Lane near to the large Gospel Oak pub as you say Pat
  • Going back to the earlier posts on here from 2009 - as Swanswell Road met with Gospel Lane, the pub on the left-hand corner was indeed The Moonraker. In photos of the pub before it was demolished, the pub sign was not visible, but I can remember, as you looked at the pub, there was a pub sign to the left with a picture of man holding a rake. The GP practice was on the right-hand corner - it was already there when we moved to Swanswell Road, but I can't remember what it was called. One of the GPs was called Dr Wine (not sure re: spelling). He was Jewish and, when I was at Langley School, he once visited to give a talk about Judaism (I can remember him talking about Passover)
  • Brook Lane is a confusing one - from Swanswell Road, you'd have to turn right (onto Gospel Lane) and sharp right again to get onto it. Always tricky when I was learning to drive! It had Kineton Green Road at one end and Gospel Lane at the other
  • The 'club' that Robert mentions was there when we lived on LHR (can't remember what it was called at the time) and is still there now! It was a kind of working men's club I think and had a bit a reputation for late nights and rowdiness. As you get to the top end of LHR, there's a turning on the left (between Nos. 42 & 40). If you bear left once you've made that turn, there's a footpath that we used to take to get to school - it goes all the way to Langley Infant & Junior schools
I think that'll do for now - looking forward to connecting with other members and sharing more details/stories etc
good to have you onboard...thank you for your memories..very interesting

lyn
 
Hmm... I'm a bit confused now. Reading the comments from 'devonjim' and looking at the map shared by 'pjmburns' it would appear that Swanswell Road has been in existence for longer than I thought. I'm sure I didn't imagine going there when it was still a building site (as mentioned in my initial post), but I have to accept that, the older I get, the less reliable my memory becomes! We lived at No. 48 and were the second family to live there - the first occupants were there for less than 5 years I think. Perhaps Swanswell Road was built in stages - there is a mix of semi-detached and detached houses. When you look at the architecture, especially the detached houses with the floor to ceiling lounge windows (ref: 'devonjim'), they really don't look like 1950s houses. I was always under the impression that they were built in the late '60s. Another feature of our house was the absence of central heating in the conventional sense (i.e. radiators & pipes) - the house was heated with 'vents' that blew warm air into each room - that seems a more modern innovation to me
 
Unlike most maps that one doesn't have a single date. I suspect the first survey was 1950s then it kept being updated until finally published.
I went to school opposite Gunns Way (then Olton Covent) from 1964 to 1971 and Gunns Way existed early on but other parts were still being developed. So I would say the houses are 1960s.
Other maps are less helpful in terms of scale but I will look and see what they show.
 
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The problem is that maps which might show the development from the 1960s are not available online becuse of copyright. The best I could do was 1956 and it was still a nursery and no sign of Swanswell Road at all.
 
That's interesting to know - thanks for sharing. That would support our thinking that Swanswell Road was a (possibly late) 1960s development, although 'devonjim' said his uncle moved there in the 1950s. As regards your slightly earlier message, I know the school you're referring to... for a long time, it has been called Our Lady of Compassion. It took me a while to figure this out, but I believe it connects to Servite House the entrance to which is on St Bernards (no apostrophe) Road. I think there used to be an order of nuns there, but I'm not sure if that's still the case. Obviously, I know Gunns Way very well - for a long time, it was a simple connection between Kineton Green Road and Swanswell Road, but there are now a couple of houses on the left hand side (going towards Swanswell Road). On the other side of the road, there used to be one of those green telephone exchange boxes. It was a popular place for groups of kids to sit on in the '70s - I had to run the gauntlet past them to get to the 'outdoor' on Kineton Green Road
 
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Swanswell Road was part of a large estate built by David Charles Limited and ran between Gospel Lane and Kineton Green Road in Olton. We bought a detatched house there around 1965. The estate finished near to to The Gospel pub.
Can you remember the house number?
 
That's interesting to know - thanks for sharing. That would support our thinking that Swanswell Road was a (possibly late) 1960s development, although 'devonjim' said his uncle moved there in the 1950s. As regards your slightly earlier message, I know the school you're referring to... for a long time, it has been called Our Lady of Compassion. It took me a while to figure this out, but I believe it connects to Servite House the entrance to which is on St Bernards (no apostrophe) Road. I think there used to be an order of nuns there, but I'm not sure if that's still the case. Obviously, I know Gunns Way very well - for a long time, it was a simple connection between Kineton Green Road and Swanswell Road, but there are now a couple of houses on the left hand side (going towards Swanswell Road). On the other side of the road, there used to be one of those green telephone exchange boxes. It was a popular place for groups of kids to sit on in the '70s - I had to run the gauntlet past them to get to the 'outdoor' on Kineton Green Road
A bit off topic but....The school is now a state junior school called Our Lady of Compassion. When I went it was a 4 to 18 fee paying school. From 11 upwards half the places were funded by local authorities for Catholic girls who passed the 11+. I was fortunate to come into that category.
The school did connect to what became a Servite convent - via a wonderful curving corridor. Sadly the nuns left quite a number of years ago and the convent became flats. Other flats were built in the grounds.
 
I see that 'Brummie babby' status has just been conferred upon me (which I assume is a result of a certain number of posts) so far be it from me to advise a 'master brummie' whether or not their last post was off-topic :blush: Personally, I found it very interesting. I am aware that one of the fundamental rules is to keep contributions on-topic - I do have a tendency to go off piste occasionally so do feel free to reel me back in! You said that you spent 7 years at the Olton Convent - do tell me if I'm being too intrusive, but was that from the ages of 11 to 18? If so, that suggests that the school had its own Sixth Form
 
I see that 'Brummie babby' status has just been conferred upon me (which I assume is a result of a certain number of posts) so far be it from me to advise a 'master brummie' whether or not their last post was off-topic :blush: Personally, I found it very interesting. I am aware that one of the fundamental rules is to keep contributions on-topic - I do have a tendency to go off piste occasionally so do feel free to reel me back in! You said that you spent 7 years at the Olton Convent - do tell me if I'm being too intrusive, but was that from the ages of 11 to 18? If so, that suggests that the school had its own Sixth Form
Yes to a Sixth Form. Grammar schools in Solihull had sixth forms until comprehensive eduation started in 1974.
 
I moved to this area in 1962 as a teenager and used to take my dog for a walk over the undeveloped land where the Langley Hall estate was later built. It is definitely a 60‘s development. The Golf Course clubhouse was opposite the Gospel Oak pub before it was relocated to the other side of the golf course off, I think, Kineton Green Road. The fields from the former clubhouse running down towards what is now Gunns Way had the appearance of derelict farmland with surrounding hedges but no sign of recent cultivation. The abandoned remains of Gunns nursery greenhouses were there
near to where Gunns Way is now, and I particularly remember the hydraulic ram which was located in the brook running through the fields. I had never seen one before and it took some time to find out what it was.
Later on in 1967 when I was looking for my own house , the Langley Hall estate was largely complete and I eventually ended up in a smaller development off Kineton Green Road
 
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