• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team

Then & Now

Away from the cities, in small towns and villages, poor quality cottages and terraced houses existed. They are, for the most part, still there. They have mostly been renovated and brought up to date with mod cons and often sell for a fair price, being described as fisherman''s cottages, or charming small residences. In tourist areas they are often let or are 'second' homes.
 
As I look at old street pics I've noticed that Slade Road Erdington seems to have been one of the most photographed roads in Birmingham, there are dozens of photos. Many of them have a tram somewhere in the view so maybe the photographer liked trams.
Slade Road long ago at the junction with Hunton Hill.
HuntonHillThen.jpg

The corner building and others are still there although a roof dormer window has been removed and other changes.
HuntonHillnow.jpg
 
Astoness said:
mort i have spoken to many people over the years who were moved out of what they called slum houses...(some were but a lot were not and could have been modernised) oh yes as they said at the time they were grateful to move into the high rises with bathrooms central heating and hot water but it was not long before they were wishing they could still be living in their old houses despite the pitfalls..the reason was because at least they would have friends and neighbours to talk to...living in the flats some people would not see a soul for weeks and even longer before they saw anyone to talk to...made even worse by having no gardens...i should know i lived in one for 7 years with my 4 young children in a two bedroomed flat 7th floor before eventually taking on the council to get a decent move for my family ...totally soul destroying for young and old alike..

lyn
Click to expand...
Lyn
I could add so much more, but this is a now and then picture thread and I really enjoy the then pics
I will just say this it's hard to hear the rattle of the crates on the milk float in the morning on the 7th floor.
 
oldMohawk said:
As I look at old street pics I've noticed that Slade Road Erdington seems to have been one of the most photographed roads in Birmingham, there are dozens of photos. Many of them have a tram somewhere in the view so maybe the photographer liked trams.
Slade Road long ago at the junction with Hunton Hill.
View attachment 137205

The corner building and others are still there although a roof dormer window has been removed and other changes.
View attachment 137206
Click to expand...
I have to stop getting upset over some of these now pictures, but they made a right dogs dinner out of that shop, lost all that detail up in the eve on the end, it has no curb Appeal at all.
Edit.
look how much life is in the then picture the street lives, looking at the now picture life has left the street, that shop must be bloody dark inside, also it lost the dormer and the house next door.
when did Birmingham start using a American style street signs ?
 
Last edited:
Lyn.

I worked on Castle Vale in the 60's and occasionally would bump into people who had just moved there from Nechells, Vauxhall and Duddeston. Of course I always asked them what they thought of their nice new modern house or flat. The answer I always got was they loved it, but they would be glad when the estate was finished. I think after 10 years or so their opinions changed, especially the ones living in the hi-rise flats, though I think they found getting on to the estate was far easier than getting off it. I think my mother had the right idea of just moving half a mile or so into another house in Nechells for another ten years until when she was offered a house in Kings Heath.
 
Last edited:
Astoness said:
mort i have spoken to many people over the years who were moved out of what they called slum houses...(some were but a lot were not and could have been modernised) oh yes as they said at the time they were grateful to move into the high rises with bathrooms central heating and hot water but it was not long before they were wishing they could still be living in their old houses despite the pitfalls..the reason was because at least they would have friends and neighbours to talk to...living in the flats some people would not see a soul for weeks and even longer before they saw anyone to talk to...made even worse by having no gardens...i should know i lived in one for 7 years with my 4 young children in a two bedroomed flat 7th floor before eventually taking on the council to get a decent move for my family ...totally soul destroying for young and old alike..

lyn
Click to expand...
Lyn, I think you are right on target...……….unfortunately with the high rises there is no sense of an community!
 
oldMohawk said:
I thought I would pick a difficult one. I've always liked this pic of lad who had climbed a lamppost ... reminds me of when I used to do it ... :)

I think the view looks straight up Guest Street towards Hockley Hill with Bridge Street West going across. Villa Street is behind the camera.
View attachment 137176

View today looking in the direction of where Guest Street was ... roads have disappeared. The road to the right is now called Old Bridge Street and the road to the left is called Guest Grove. I wonder whether the lamppost lad ever saw it like this.
View attachment 137177
Have a scroll look round with
goo.gl

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.
goo.gl goo.gl
Click to expand...
and me. i loved sitting on the lampost arms.of a night.
 
Absolutely agree with you on both counts there lyn. Lots of perfectly good terraced housing was flattened, done because the council could claim government grants for so called urban regeneration.

The new flat and maisonettes were initially attractive because they were new and modern, but the reality of living in them soon became a nightmare for the people who were lured in but the modernist looks.

We lived in a tower block in 1959, my poor mom hated it. Socially isolated she would mop the hall floor twice a day just to grab the opportunity to chat with someone.
 
Hawthorn Road Kingstanding in the 1940s and 1950s. I knew it well and there were shops for everything and it was also on the way to both my grandparents on Perry Common.
HawthornRd.jpg

The buildings are still there but different shops
HawthornNow.jpg

The old pic from

They Were Caught In Our Old Street Pics...

A light hearted look at some of our old street pics. I enjoy looking at the buildings but often see a pic with people in it and find myself trying to imagine what they were doing, and what they were thinking .... Some photos are links to other member's posts and will not be visible unless you...
birminghamhistory.co.uk birminghamhistory.co.uk
 
I thought that was a seed merchant, garden and pet shop. The give away was the charity 'dog' outside. I since noticed the corn and seed store sign at eaves level. Interesting to note that not only did this shop have as much outside the shop as inside, so does the present day florist.
What was the first shop? The one with the armchair outside.
 
Radiorails said:
I thought that was a seed merchant, garden and pet shop. The give away was the charity 'dog' outside. I since noticed the corn and seed store sign at eaves level. Interesting to note that not only did this shop have as much outside the shop as inside, so does the present day florist.
What was the first shop? The one with the armchair outside.
Click to expand...

alan it was also a pet shop...been there for 50 years until he retired about 4 years back and the florist took it over

lyn
 
Stoney Lane.
Stoney Lane - then & now.jpg
This 1954 photo holds many memories for me. I was 8yrs old then and lived just down from these shops in Leamington Rd.
You can just make out a barber's pole behind the lampost - it's where I went for my hair cut. While in there waiting my turn, I was often puzzled by the barber wafting a lighted taper around some customer's ears after he had cut their hair. At my age now, I think I understand. He always put a plank of wood across the arms of the chair for me to sit on. He had a little gas fire with a rack on it to warm his clippers and, as he cut my hair he always whistled the same tune, a tune I've never forgotten and later found to be "Beautiful Dreamer".
The shop next door on the side of the entry was a fish and chip shop and at that time was run by my Aunt Betty Middleham. Needless to say that I got loads of free chips.
There is another 1930s photo somewhere on the Forum of the same shops taken from the opposite direction.
I see that the butcher/baker boy has left his bike without fear of having it nicked.
Can anyone throw any light on what the nissen hut was used for?
 
oldMohawk said:
Hawthorn Road Kingstanding in the 1940s and 1950s. I knew it well and there were shops for everything and it was also on the way to both my grandparents on Perry Common.
View attachment 137241

The buildings are still there but different shops
View attachment 137242

The old pic from

They Were Caught In Our Old Street Pics...

A light hearted look at some of our old street pics. I enjoy looking at the buildings but often see a pic with people in it and find myself trying to imagine what they were doing, and what they were thinking .... Some photos are links to other member's posts and will not be visible unless you...
birminghamhistory.co.uk birminghamhistory.co.uk
Click to expand...
My Grandpa and Aunt & uncle lived there.....…...I would always go to George Masons with my aunt for broken biscuits which they would most times give me for free! We would also go to an ice cream place that sold midland Counties (i think) ice cream.

Great memories…….
 
Banjo said:
Stoney Lane.
View attachment 137259
This 1954 photo holds many memories for me. I was 8yrs old then and lived just down from these shops in Leamington Rd.
You can just make out a barber's pole behind the lampost - it's where I went for my hair cut. While in there waiting my turn, I was often puzzled by the barber wafting a lighted taper around some customer's ears after he had cut their hair. At my age now, I think I understand. He always put a plank of wood across the arms of the chair for me to sit on. He had a little gas fire with a rack on it to warm his clippers and, as he cut my hair he always whistled the same tune, a tune I've never forgotten and later found to be "Beautiful Dreamer".
The shop next door on the side of the entry was a fish and chip shop and at that time was run by my Aunt Betty Middleham. Needless to say that I got loads of free chips.
There is another 1930s photo somewhere on the Forum of the same shops taken from the opposite direction.
I see that the butcher/baker boy has left his bike without fear of having it nicked.
Can anyone throw any light on what the nissen hut was used for?
Click to expand...
Hiding the Co-Op bike was something we took great pride in.
Short back and sides, steal a glance at those certain publications.
 
Richarddye said:
My Grandpa and Aunt & uncle lived there.....…...I would always go to George Masons with my aunt for broken biscuits which they would most times give me for free! We would also go to an ice cream place that sold midland Counties (i think) ice cream.

Great memories…….
Click to expand...
Getting old I remember Mason's as a butchers shop.
 
Radiorails said:
I thought that was a seed merchant, garden and pet shop. The give away was the charity 'dog' outside. I since noticed the corn and seed store sign at eaves level. Interesting to note that not only did this shop have as much outside the shop as inside, so does the present day florist.
What was the first shop? The one with the armchair outside.
Click to expand...
Small things forgotten over time untill I read the post the RSPCA collection dog, well spotted sir.
 
Banjo said:
Stoney Lane.
View attachment 137259
This 1954 photo holds many memories for me. I was 8yrs old then and lived just down from these shops in Leamington Rd.
You can just make out a barber's pole behind the lampost - it's where I went for my hair cut. While in there waiting my turn, I was often puzzled by the barber wafting a lighted taper around some customer's ears after he had cut their hair. At my age now, I think I understand. He always put a plank of wood across the arms of the chair for me to sit on. He had a little gas fire with a rack on it to warm his clippers and, as he cut my hair he always whistled the same tune, a tune I've never forgotten and later found to be "Beautiful Dreamer".
The shop next door on the side of the entry was a fish and chip shop and at that time was run by my Aunt Betty Middleham. Needless to say that I got loads of free chips.
There is another 1930s photo somewhere on the Forum of the same shops taken from the opposite direction.
I see that the butcher/baker boy has left his bike without fear of having it nicked.
Can anyone throw any light on what the nissen hut was used for?
Click to expand...
The cobbles, I believe are a reminder, maybe, of the former tram route 4 which ran from Station Street to Stoney Lane. It was abandoned in 1937, along with the other Stratford Road routes. It became part of the 13A bus route. The old tram overhead poles are there now serving solely as street lighting. Was that a bomb site where the Nissen hut stood?
 
Carolyn Walker said:
Love this nostalgia,do any of you remember The Pleck Park Road i was born there in1947 and lived there until I married in 1970.
Click to expand...

Carolyn,

Please forgive my ignorance, but what was "The Pleck" and which Park Road are we talking about?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top