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Then & Now

oldMohawk said:
Looking down a tree lined Clements Road towards Hob Moor Rd date unknown.
View attachment 147096

A look down Clements Road in 1950 would have shown houses each side and the prefabs on the far side of Hob Moor Road.
View attachment 147097

A look down Clements Road today shows the houses but no prefabs in Hob Moor Road.
View attachment 147098
Click to expand...
I would have travelled past the 1950 pre-fabs on my daily trips to and from school. Also spent much time playing cricket both on the ground top centre(Marlboro CC) also Henry Rd playing fields and The Oaklands in the area adjacent to the pre-fabs.
 
Banjo said:
I worked at Coventry Rd Garage as a conductor then driver 1969-1973. When I first came out driving, the buses used to exit via that Coventry Rd gateway. It was always a risk that someone would come tearing round the bend and collide with you. That's probably the reason we changed to coming out of the back into Arthur St around 1971.
Click to expand...


Do your remember the scrappy on the corner opposite the Bus Garage or who worked there?
 
Morturn said:
Well that is an interesting little project you have chosen to undertake. It should keep you busy for the next hundred years or so. A couple of things you may wish to think about are:


Birmingham developed a canal network for ease of materials in and goods out.

The combination of a local source of Limestone, iron ore and coal

Birmingham lifted the restrictions that were imposed by trade guilds


Do bear in mind that when researching history there is no subjective or definitive answer, which to me makes it so much more interesting.
Click to expand...
'Birmingham lifted the restrictions that were imposed by trade guilds'.....Mort please expand

Bob
 
A poem to which we can relate



I remember the corned beef of my Childhood,
And the bread that we cut with a knife,
When the Children helped with the housework,
And the men went to work not the wife.



The cheese never needed a fridge,
And the bread was so crusty and hot,
The Children were seldom unhappy,
And the Wife was content with her lot.



I remember the milk from the bottle,
With the yummy cream on the top,
Our dinner came hot from the oven,
And not from a freezer; or shop.



The kids were a lot more contented,
They didn't need money for kicks,
Just a game with their friends in the road,
And sometimes the Saturday flicks.



I remember the shop on the corner,
Where biscuits for pennies were sold
Do you think I'm a bit too nostalgic?
Or is it....I'm just getting Old?





Bathing was done in a wash tub,
With plenty of rich foamy suds
But the ironing seemed never ending
As Mum pressed everyone's 'duds'.



I remember the slap on my backside,
And the taste of soap if I swore
Anorexia and diets weren't heard of
And we hadn't much choice what we wore.



Do you think that bruised our ego?
Or our initiative was destroyed?
We ate what was put on the table
And I think life was better enjoyed.



Author, Unknown ..



If you can remember those days...
Continue to enjoy your Retirement.
 
New Street long ago. A horse trudges across the scene as city gents walk on the right maybe off to lunch. Nice view of the Hyam store.
Old_New_street.jpg

Today ... the building on the opposite corner is still there. Strange bright yellow structures in the view ... I suppose they are there for some reason ...
NowNewSt.jpg
 
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oldMohawk, I guess architectural conformance has gone!

Great phot of old new street!

oldMohawk said:
New Street long ago. A horse trudges across the scene as city gents walk on the right maybe off to lunch. Nice view of the Hyam store.
View attachment 147289

Today ... the building on the opposite corner is still there. Strange bright yellow structures in the view ... I suppose they are there for some reason ...
View attachment 147290
Click to expand...
 
SEND IN THE CLOWNS





MAKE SURE YOU OPEN THIS ONE. IT'S LOVELY.........and turn up the sound. This is a treasure.....the good old days: For those of us who remember the simpler days.... This will make you smile and maybe bring tears to your eyes......For the younger ones, you don't know what you missed by not knowing these "clowns."



A bit of nostalgia for those of us who remember the "clowns."

Frank Sinatra sings, but wait for the clowns.

And please listen to the last bit by Orson Wells. (Click)

Send In The Clowns
 
oldMohawk said:
New Street long ago. A horse trudges across the scene as city gents walk on the right maybe off to lunch. Nice view of the Hyam store.
View attachment 147289

Today ... the building on the opposite corner is still there. Strange bright yellow structures in the view ... I suppose they are there for some reason ...
View attachment 147290
Click to expand...
Have you noticed the number of 'boaters' in all these pictures, and bordering on the theme of when everybody wore a hat, how they classed the population. Flat cap - working man, young boys and some women, boater young men about town, Fedoras, trilbys, homburgs and bowlers the business man (all grades), the bowler very evident with railway management.
Bob
 
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Bob Davis said:
Have you noticed the number of 'boaters' in all these pictures, and bordering on the theme of when everybody wore a hat, how the classed the population. Flat cap - working man, young boys and some women, boater young men about town, Fedoras, trilbys, homburgs and bowlers the business man (all grades), the bowler very evident with railway management.
Bob
Click to expand...
Good observation Bob!
 
Richarddye said:
SEND IN THE CLOWNS





MAKE SURE YOU OPEN THIS ONE. IT'S LOVELY.........and turn up the sound. This is a treasure.....the good old days: For those of us who remember the simpler days.... This will make you smile and maybe bring tears to your eyes......For the younger ones, you don't know what you missed by not knowing these "clowns."



A bit of nostalgia for those of us who remember the "clowns."

Frank Sinatra sings, but wait for the clowns.

And please listen to the last bit by Orson Wells. (Click)

Send In The Clowns
Click to expand...
One of my Desert Island discs although I usually do not like it sung by a Male singer, but this was different and I enjoyed but then it was the governor. Thank you for sharing it.
Bob
 
oldMohawk said:
New Street long ago. A horse trudges across the scene as city gents walk on the right maybe off to lunch. Nice view of the Hyam store.
View attachment 147348

Today ... the building on the opposite corner is still there. Strange bright yellow structures in the view ... I suppose they are there for some reason ...
View attachment 147290
Click to expand...

Those were the anti terror barriers installed a few years ago. To prevent someone driving into the Birmingham Frankfurt Christmas Market. They sometimes plant flowers there to make it look nice.
 
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thanks phil... so many lovely old buildings swept aside...for me the city centre was becoming a ghost town even before the lockdown...its even worse now and i wonder if it will ever recover and become the once busy vibrant area it once was

lyn
 
Lyn,

Once you fill the city centre with 'profitable' office blocks and drive the long term residents out, any city will becone a ghost town after 6:00pm. They did it to Manchester before Brum, and I'm sure there are many other cities in the same boat. Not having visited for six years now, I'm having great difficulty in locating where many of the modern photographs are taken.

My friend, who has lived all his life in Bournemoth (I was only there for 40 years) said yesterday that some parts were looking more like downtown New York! As usual in this life it is all about money.

Maurice :cool:
 
Astoness said:
dave i wonder what he would make of new st now :rolleyes: probably the same as what folk in 200 years time will be thinking about our today photos because as sure as god made little apples what we see now will be gone including any remaining historical buildings:(

lyn
Click to expand...
Looks like he is texting his thoughts, comparing the two views I suppose. Very well done.

Bob
 
oldMohawk said:
5 Bennetts Hill looked like this in 1932 and one company in the building was Parcels & General Assurance Associates Limited. A bust of a man looking sidewards sits on the ledge. Was he someone known or just a decoration ?
View attachment 135860

In 2016 the building housed 'The Barber House' as below.
View attachment 135861

In 2019 'The Barber House' had moved but a van blocked much of the view as seen in link below.
https://goo.gl/maps/BFZKU3Ju69aooYif6
Click to expand...

1 to 5 Bennetts Hill.

5th March 2019. The Barber House had moved out.



16th August 2020. The new 103 Colmore Row seen to the right in the misty weather.

 
In 1979 Keith Berry took this photo of the corner of Hampstead Hill and Villa Road. His mother always called it 'Bendall's Corner' but he never really knew why. Alfred Kraznerdobsky owned the electrical shop on the left.
46VillaRd07.jpg

Today the building is still there - perhaps it is too nice to alter or demolish. The original owner must have liked 'tudor style'. The old flagpole is still on top.
ViilaRdCorner.jpg
 
Long ago a photographer stood in Nechells Park Road by the junction with Needham Road and took a postcard photo.
NechellsParkRdold.jpg

These days the Google camera car took a photo in the same place and someone wanted their house blurred out of the view. The houses on the left are new but on the right some original houses are still there.
NPnow.jpg
 
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