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Then & Now

oldMohawk said:
Hi Richard, I been looking back through some old documents and can see I attended Aston Tech in 1959 just after completing National Service in the RAF and continued until 1964. I remember that I really wanted to learn and the teaching staff were excellent and dedicated.
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I agree, everyone seemed sincere and helpful.
Every time Dr Thomas handed out a test he would say” remember to read the question, if you don’t understand the question you will probably get the wrong answer” I have used that throughout my education and career!
 
Richard Dye said:
I agree, everyone seemed sincere and helpful.
Every time Dr Thomas handed out a test he would say” remember to read the question, if you don’t understand the question you will probably get the wrong answer” I have used that throughout my education and career!
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Good advice that.
 
oldMohawk said:
Hi Richard, I been looking back through some old documents and can see I attended Aston Tech in 1959 just after completing National Service in the RAF and continued until 1964. I remember that I really wanted to learn and the teaching staff were excellent and dedicated.
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We must have been falling over each other! I was doing ONC at Aston Tech 1958-59. Afterwards moved to Matthew Boulton in Suffolk St. and later Gosta Green for HNC.
 
I have this pic elsewhere on the forum but put it here because I like looking at old tram pics. They rattled along swaying a bit but were reliable. If the conductor was in a good mood kids were allowed the to sit on the front balcony. The tram is on Moseley Rd passing the old Imperial Cinema at the junction with Clifton Rd. There are notices on the tram windows probably announcing that they would soon be replaced by buses ... we didn't worry about exhaust fumes in those days !
42_tramImperialMoseleyRd.jpg

Today ... the cinema is obviously gone and nothing appears to have been built on the site.
ImperialCinemaSite.jpg
 
oldMohawk said:
I have this pic elsewhere on the forum but put it here because I like looking at old tram pics. They rattled along swaying a bit but were reliable. If the conductor was in a good mood kids were allowed the to sit on the front balcony. The tram is on Moseley Rd passing the old Imperial Cinema at the junction with Clifton Rd. There are notices on the tram windows probably announcing that they would soon be replaced by buses ... we didn't worry about exhaust fumes in those days !
View attachment 170823

Today ... the cinema is obviously gone and nothing appears to have been built on the site.
View attachment 170824
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Love those trams! All designed and built without CAD systems or finite element analysis or even slide rules. And they seemed to work rain, snow fog or shine!
 
Oh for the days when driving down Pershore Road you could stop outside number 578 and wait for a man to come out and fill your tank from a choice of pumps. No need to get out of the car he would take payment and give change through the side window.
578 Pershore Road.jpg

Today's view and we can think back to the 1960s when petrol was 4/6d a gallon (22.5p) ... about 5p a litre ... if I've done my sums right ... :)
578_PershoreRd_now.jpg
 
MWS said:
I'm sure it held only a fraction of the petrol a modern petrol station does but being so close to the houses seems unsafe.
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Actually there is a thread about petrol stations and the picture below shows one where a pipe appears to cross the pavement at low level. Health & Safety had not been invented back then!
mw0njm. said:
nechells park rd the first garage i ever went to in 1950s for parafine about 1s. 4¼d i think:grinning:
index.php
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Ans yet I don't recall many instances of accidents or fires back then.
I wonder if the underground tanks at that site were at the back, can't see the tank vent pipes in the photo.
Also wonder if the tanks were properly de-gassed and removed when it closed down.
 
Eric Gibson said:
Ans yet I don't recall many instances of accidents or fires back then.
I wonder if the underground tanks at that site were at the back, can't see the tank vent pipes in the photo.
Also wonder if the tanks were properly de-gassed and removed when it closed down.
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Aren't the vent pipes attached to the front wall of the building?
 
oldMohawk said:
Oh for the days when driving down Pershore Road you could stop outside number 578 and wait for a man to come out and fill your tank from a choice of pumps. No need to get out of the car he would take payment and give change through the side window.
View attachment 171390

Today's view and we can think back to the 1960s when petrol was 4/6d a gallon (22.5p) ... about 5p a litre ... if I've done my sums right ... :)
View attachment 171391
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Such simpler days!
 
MWS said:
I'm sure it held only a fraction of the petrol a modern petrol station does but being so close to the houses seems unsafe.
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But we did not know it then.
I remember getting my biggest career promotion and my new boss who was a finance person (I am an engineer) gave me a picture frame with a fly mounted on it with a saying “according to the laws of physics the fly can fly (body is too large for the wings) however the fly does not know it and flys anyway“ just a little levity!
 
Richard Dye said:
But we did not know it then.
I remember getting my biggest career promotion and my new boss who was a finance person (I am an engineer) gave me a picture frame with a fly mounted on it with a saying “according to the laws of physics the fly can fly (body is too large for the wings) however the fly does not know it and flys anyway“ just a little levity!
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My Bad! Should say: According to the laws of physics, the fly cannot fly, however the fly does not know it and fly's anyway!
 
The corner of Cartland Road and Anderton Road was used as the shop in the present programme Back in Time for Birmingham, (there is a thread for this programme but it has been closed to entries).

Depending on whether you view from Anderton Road or Cartland Road on Street View you can see how it was prepared for the programme. I believe this to be 50 Anderton Road, which in 1940 was occupied by Mrs Edith Hill, beer retailer.

It will be interesting to see what they say about it in the programme.


551CE985-0DE9-4B6E-A761-6249EBCBCA81.jpegD1E402F2-D9BB-489A-9BA8-3154925A0AA8.jpeg
 
A view of the Soho Road/Grove Lane junction in 1980 as a Ford Zephyr is turning into Nineveh Road. A car on the left (make?) with brake lights on could be waiting to turn right into Grove Lane. The shop taking a delivery from BP would sell us all the stuff we needed to fight rust on cars in those days.
Grove_Lane_SohoRoadc1980.jpg

Today the bank building has been moderately upgraded and is now Lloyds Bank. One building has been demolished leaving the site vacant for years. Other shops have changed use and somebody likes the colour orange.
Grove_Lane_Soho_Road_2022.jpg
 
oldMohawk said:
A view of the Soho Road/Grove Lane junction in 1980 as a Ford Zephyr is turning into Nineveh Road. A car on the left (make?) with brake lights on could be waiting to turn right into Grove Lane. The shop taking a delivery from BP would sell us all the stuff we needed to fight rust on cars in those days.
View attachment 171784

Today the bank building has been moderately upgraded and is now Lloyds Bank. One building has been demolished leaving the site vacant for years. Other shops have changed use and somebody likes the colour orange.
View attachment 171783
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What are the two guys outside the bank up to? What does the cabinet standing there hold ? Is it an early coffee machine?
 
oldMohawk said:
I think it is a street-corner newspaper seller. The chap on the right seems to be holding a newspaper.
:)
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You may very well be right, unfortunately my eyes aren't good enough to see the newspaper that the guy on the right is holding. (I feel a trip to specsavers may be on the cards :mad: )
 
jmadone said:
You may very well be right, unfortunately my eyes aren't good enough to see the newspaper that the guy on the right is holding. (I feel a trip to specsavers may be on the cards :mad: )
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Perhaps you shouldn't go to specsavers just yet ... :grinning:
I've had a closer look and altered the light levels and I'm now not so sure about it being a newspaper seller. The newspaper I thought the man on the right was holding appears to have a hole in it. There appears to possibly be a bucket on the floor and the inside of the cabinet looks unusual. Unfortunately the image resolution is not high enough to be sure ..
Untitled.jpg
 
Not sure about the person holding a newspaper, but there are certainly newspapers in the cabinet. The front one looks like the Sun or the Mirror
 
The more I look at it the more I'm puzzled. There seems to be a dial in the cabinet and the man appears to be holding a vertical pipe with his left hand. The left side of his coat looks strange and I now think the other man is holding the right side of his coat and not a newspaper ...:)
 
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I too thought that it was a traffic light control box but then thought it looked like the guy on the left looks like he's moving it with a sack truck. Trouble is, there doesn't seem to be any wheels. Whatever it is, it seems to stand on feet which maybe suggests it is movable. I also think that that Dave is right and they are bill posting on it.
 
A 'then and now' with a 'bit of a story' ... :)
In 1951 there was a used car site on the corner of Rea St and Digbeth opposite the Big Bull's Head pub which was on the corner of Milk Street. The site had a small aeroplane for sale as shown in the photo.
Taylor_Wagtail_Digbeth_1951.jpg
The Wagtail aircraft was built in the 1930s by Fred Taylor in the front bedroom of his Erdington council house. It's size and design were arranged so that Fred could get it down the staircase to take it to Dunton Farm, Curdworth for assembly and flying. It was never registered and Fred never had a pilot's licence. There is a full account (on the bracey_online site below) of the history of this aircraft with photos in a slide show and 40 minute audio file recorded by Leonard Bracey who sometimes flew the aircraft. It even made a flight one day to Elmdon much to the surprise of officials who demanded a 12/6d landing fee.
http://www.bracey-online.com/StoryOfWagtail.php the slide show might not work on some devices ... it works on iPads
Briefly ... Fred decided to emigrate to Australia and sold the aircraft to Mr.W.F.Matty (owner of the car site) and he sold it to Mr.Gilroy-Bevan who got in the aircraft to give the engine a run. The engine suddenly started and with the aircraft not secured it crashed into a brick wall. He climbed out of the wreckage and told them to burn it.
The Big Bull's Head pub is still there in the more regulated times of today ...
BigBullPub_MilkSt.jpg
Fred actually built another aircraft in Australia but authorities there were stricter having none of it, see a newspaper report.
FredOz.png
 
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