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Then & Now

Yes I remember the Saturday Matinee if I remember correctly it was 4d admittance and we paid at the little kiosk at the side entrance and if we had any money we bought an ice cream from the man on the bicycle that was always outside when the cinema emptied.
 
john knight said:
The manager (Albert or Arthur) at the time used to bang on the bottom of the screen and threaten to turn off the film unless we behaved ourselves on Saturday morning, ha ha the good old days.
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I never went that often to the Saturday morning youngsters films, I found going into the city far more interesting. However, I did get the impression that there were basically four kinds of patrons there.
1. The whose parents wanted them out of the way, for shopping or other reasons.
2. Those that loved cinemas and enjoyed whatever film was shown.
3. Those who today would be classified as PITA's who were naturally disruptive.
4 Those, usually at the rear, who had no real interest in the film - it was a means to an end - their interest, for the most part was, in their companions. ;)
 
Here we have The Norton public house that stood on the junction of Bromford Lane and Farnhurst Road, then we have the building that replaced it.

I made a big error here, the Norton pub was actually at the junction of Tyburn Road and Kingsbury Road, the pub at this junction was the Bromford. I will post two correct images to rectify this.

The Norton Bromford Lane - Farnhurst Road.jpg
 
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MWS said:
I think it was The Bromford that was on the corner of Bromford Lane and Farnhurst Road.

I think there is a Lidl where The Norton was.
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Hi,

Wasn't the Norton on the corner of Kingsbury Road and Tyburn Road, diagonally
opposite the self storage place.

You can tell it's been a long time since I was down that way, - the Norton was still
open then!

Kind regards
Dave
 
Phil said:
Here we have The Norton public house that stood on the junction of Bromford Lane and Farnhurst Road, then we have the building that replaced it.

View attachment 139551
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Its a shame to see a good old pub go away, but I think it has become a sign of the times to many other ways to enjoy your self.
The building that has replaced it does not look too bad has some good detail, the Romeo and Juliet balcony's look good, the double hip roof on the left is a nice detail I wonder why its not on the right.

Phil, I love your photo's let me say this " keep um coming our kid ".
 
After all the changes they have made in Birmingham you can still find places like this that have hardly changed at all since they were first built. The only major change being on the right of the image where they have built a couple of new houses to replace some that were bombed out during the war. This is the junction of Warwick Road and Medley Road on Greet there are 68 years between the two photos.

Greet Warwick Road - Medley Road.jpg
 
Christ Church - then -now copy.jpg
Christ Church, Perry Barr. When I was at Gower St School 1960-61 we used the Holford Drive playing fields for our sports lessons. On the journey there, the school bus used to go round the back of this building to get on the Aldridge Rd. It was virtually a traffic Island (which sold wood). I can't help but think that the 'now' photo looks more desolate and community deprived. We are used to this scene today but, I'm sure those people standing at the church gate would be horrified to see what their part of the world has now become. Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-progress, just a little nostalgic.
 
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A Sparks said:
I remember the wood place being at the junction but when did the church go - I have no memory of it although I did know there was once one there.
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There is a pic of of the church as a woodyard in the post below and other information ...
oldMohawk said:
This is how I remember Christ Church Perry Barr in the 1950s. It had become a timber merchant's yard.
I used to wait for a 188 Midland Red bus on the waste ground opposite those advertisement hoardings.
index.php
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That's how I remember it, Ansells Timber, it was the first time I'd seen a church disused and then used as business premises.
Like the pubs they're all going that way now but I think most people will miss the pubs more than the church.
 
Yes Viv, it was a chapel, found this info..

On Graham Street opposite Vittoria Street is a chapel which reflects some of Birmingham's social and ethnic changes. Built with seats for 1000 people, it is neo-classical in style with a pedimented porch and round-arched windows and was built in 1844 as Highbury Chapel, soon becoming St Andrew's Scotch Presbyterian Church. It became an Independent Chapel, Mount Zion Baptist Chapel, and a Methodist New Connexion chapel by 1879. In 1930 it was Birmingham's first Elim Pentecostal Tabernacle until that church moved to a new building on the corner of Newhall Hill in 1970. From that date it became a Sikh temple, the Ramgharia Gurdwara. The new Elim Tabernacle building now also belongs to the gurdwara.
 
In the 1970s Keith Berry stood in Albion Street and photographed a building opposite in Legge Lane. It was originally a fire station but was being used as a garage by the date of the photo. The George and Dragon pub is on the left.
LeggeLaneFS.jpg

Many of the old fire station buildings still exist but are being used for other activities and this building is no exception. It is now a children's nursery. The pub building has also been renovated and is now the 'Pig and Tail' bar and snacks.
XNow LeggeLane.jpg
 
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