• 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

They Were Caught In Our Old Street Pics...

Status
Not open for further replies.
oldMohawk said:
Browsing this thread looking at people, I decided to add some colour to the 1930s newspaper pic from post#3. I now see that the man walking with the lady was wearing dark glasses. The 'marching man' still looks odd. I've never seen anyone walking like that in other old street pics. The 1920s 'two-way' system had become 'one-way' and the Bluecoats School roof tiles have been removed.
View attachment 124669
Click to expand...

OM he was running late he'd had an extra one in The Windsor so had to march back quick as opposed to running and drawing attention to himself
 
DavidGrain said:
Colmore Row runs South West so the sun is South East which means that it is before noon. There are still shadows at noon in this country as are we are north of the Tropic of Cancer which is the most northerly the sun comes to the earth. I think the Blue Coat school moved out of the city centre in 1930 and the one way system was introduced in 1933. The Corporation bus looks post-war to me but I am not sure of that.
Click to expand...
The caption 1930's could mean later in the decade and a COG5, 1934 onwards, might well be the bus. But the roof colour for pre-war buses is incorrect which might be the reason you thought post-war David. I did have to look twice myself when I first saw the colour picture.
 
The colours in the pic were chosen by me and my laptop and the title was also put on my me .... that is why I’ve placed it in this ‘fun’ thread rather than the Colmore Row thread. The original (slightly tilted) was scanned from an old Evening Mail and is in that thread.

Maybe the photo was taken to show the new one-way system or the conversion of the school. Perhaps the old newspaper archives could searched for the report with the pic.

Sorry about the bus roof colour .... :D
 
It is a great colouring OM. I wonder if there were flowering cherry type trees there. Which reminds me of nearby Cherry Street. :)
 
I've often looked at the first pic and wondered about the jogging man. In 2012 it was posted in the City Centre thread and in 2013 I reposted in #41 of this thread ... see quotes below. It is Corporation Street dated 1964 and looks like it was scanned from a newspaper. I decided to add some colour in a second pic and added blue sky and clouds to hide scan artifacts. The bus stopped at the zebra crossing but maybe that E type Jaguar did not ... the 'A 3' sign is still a puzzle and there are other puzzles ...
The original
corp.jpeg
With added colour
Corp4.JPG
Stitcher said:
I know I have posted this before so I am hoping it was before the forum problem. Corporation Street, 1964.View attachment 75341
Click to expand...
oldMohawk said:
It's Corporation St in 1964 and a man is running wearing sunglasses, did he try them on in a shop and then did a 'runner', probably not, because no one is chasing him and he's running towards the law courts ! Maybe he is just 'jogging' but it's a strange place to jog.
Click to expand...
 
Hello oldMohawk, once again that is brilliant. It makes a change to see something interesting again.
 
Old Mohawk,Congratulations on the colours. The A3 sign could be either A34 to Walsall or A38 to Sutton Coldfield both of which would have run through the city centre in those days
 
Hi David, I'm not sure it is a road sign because that part of Corporation Street was one-way in the other direction, note that the Midland Red bus is on the right-hand side of the road. Also the Law Courts would not have allowed it to be fixed to one of their drain pipes. I have looked closely to check whether the man was carrying the sign but cannot detect a stick he would have to hold. I do not know the actual source of the photo but it has all the signs of a scan from a book or newspaper. One other thing that looks strange to me is the man walking by the bus ... he looks too small! Maybe the 1964 Birmingham newspaper archives could be searched to see whether it was some sort of city centre running event.
oldmohawk
 
I think the A3 is probably as said earlier a route marker sign for the A38 or A34, the reason it's facing the wrong way may be due to vandalism or maybe clipped by a passing vehicle, I recall those signs, they were repeaters for the main signs at the major junctions, looking closely with the pic enlarged you can just see the black and white pole it's mounted on hidden by the runner.
Just one other thing I don't think the pole nearest the bus should have a Belisha beacon on it...........well maybe.
 
Eric Gibson said:
I think the A3 is probably as said earlier a route marker sign for the A38 or A34, the reason it's facing the wrong way may be due to vandalism or maybe clipped by a passing vehicle, I recall those signs, they were repeaters for the main signs at the major junctions, looking closely with the pic enlarged you can just see the black and white pole it's mounted on hidden by the runner.
Just one other thing I don't think the pole nearest the bus should have a Belisha beacon on it...........well maybe.
Click to expand...
I think you could right about the A 3 sign. I did add a globe to the Belisha beacon in the colour pic and the black and white pic did not appear to have anyone riding the scooter so I added one in the colour pic because it looked strange when I added the colour to the scooter and there was no one riding it.
 
A couple more thoughts about the picture. At the time of the photo I believe there was a crossroads at that junction with Newton Street. The Law Court side of Newton street is a cul-de-sac now. In that case I suggest that the A sign, to whichever A road it referred, was facing the traffic coming from the Methodist Hall side of Newton Street. The small person referred to is either short of stature, a youth or just a camera trick. ;)
The Midland Red route 160,from the city to Kingshurst via Castle Bromwich was introduced in 1955.
I believe the jogger is a 'photo shop' effect, the clothing does not look correct for the period.
 
Last edited:
I had wondered about possible addition of the man. In 1964 there were no computers widely available for manipulation of images and to add the figure would require a 'real' cut and paste or superimposed negatives. The man could have been added later when computers etc became available but I cannot think why. Maybe the newspapers were reporting about a city centre road race. I've never seen a copy of the pic anywhere else on the usual websites.
 
Re. Radiorails post 247o, the 160 bus route terminated at Kingshurst and not Kingsbury.
 
Stitcher said:
Re. Radiorails post 247o, the 160 bus route terminated at Kingshurst and not Kingsbury.
Click to expand...
Post amended for accuracy. Thanks for the correction. The place was part of Meriden UDC at one time and was just somewhere one passed through to get elsewhere. I guess it got built up in the late 1950's along with many 'overspill' developments that were built well beyond the city's boundaries.
 
oldMohawk said:
Hi David, I'm not sure it is a road sign because that part of Corporation Street was one-way in the other direction, note that the Midland Red bus is on the right-hand side of the road. Also the Law Courts would not have allowed it to be fixed to one of their drain pipes. I have looked closely to check whether the man was carrying the sign but cannot detect a stick he would have to hold. I do not know the actual source of the photo but it has all the signs of a scan from a book or newspaper. One other thing that looks strange to me is the man walking by the bus ... he looks too small! Maybe the 1964 Birmingham newspaper archives could be searched to see whether it was some sort of city centre running event.
oldmohawk
Click to expand...
This John Ball picture from his Images of Birmingham answers one of the questions
Screenshot (190).png
 
Thanks Jim, it certainly answers the question about the road sign. I notice the street might be two-way in this pic, or one-way in the other direction compared to the previous pic.
 
Yes, the A38 sign answers that question, now the other is,if it is a bi-directional road at that time why is that Midland Red bus apparently on the wrong side of the road? :D
 
The pic dated 1964 in post#2464 is one-way coming towards the camera. All vehicles in the pic are driving towards the camera. I remember when it was one way towards Bull Street as can be seen in many old street pics, but the pic in #2476 (also dated 1964) shows traffic driving in the other direction. I suppose we need some history about when Corporation Street traffic direction was changed.
 
I think we've been confused a bit by the timing, it looks to me that the change to one way street has only just happened in the one photo and that the street furniture hasn't yet been completely changed, hence the A34 sign and the striped pole for the bus stop as seen in in the other photo remain in place but mean nothing.
 
Hill Street in 1949 and they step off a tram into one of our old street pics. The young girls are in a hurry but the boy dawdles. The city around them still shows war damage but it was a time of austerity so no rebuilding yet.
Hill Street 1949.jpg
original pic here https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/electric-trams.28642/page-26#post-611206

An aerial view on a clear day in 1949. The red spot marks where the tram photographer stood and a tram waits at the Hill St stop. The fenced-off bomb site can be seen and a tall building on the corner of Severn St/John Bright St has survived bombing.
HillSt1949.jpg
edited image from 'britainfromabove' EAW026254 (1949)

On the 21 November 1940 after a very heavy raid a subdued crowd stand looking at the bomb damage. The blitz was now heavy and the city was taking a battering night after night. On a lighter note the 'Bovril' hoarding seen in the 1949 tram pic is just visible and can actually be seen in early pics dated 1928.
JohnBright_Bomb.jpg
image from Birmingham Library Archive

Another similar photo shows more people gazing at the bomb damage but this image is owned by Alamy and cannot be uploaded here but a click on the link below will show it on their website.
https://l7.alamy.com/zooms/377d3cd8...nd-world-war-damage-to-john-bright-ewr3ta.jpg
 
Last edited:
Re #2482/3 The building on the right was the real survivor became BSM(Bring Some Money) in 1950's(driving lessons in a column change 3 gear Ford Consul) and still there today 70 years on as Cherry Reds.
 
Lady Penelope said:
oM, do you think the couple with the case might be heading for New Street station?
Click to expand...
I do think they were probably going to the nearby New Street station. The pic has a 'Saturday morning' look to me and reminds me of when, as youngsters, we often went to town on Saturdays to buy the latest hit records. We could have gone home on a bus but often went home on a tram for the fun of sitting on the open balcony ... simple things amused us in those days ... :)
 
oldMohawk said:
Browsing this thread looking at people, I decided to add some colour to the 1930s newspaper pic from post#3. I now see that the man walking with the lady was wearing dark glasses. The 'marching man' still looks odd. I've never seen anyone walking like that in other old street pics. The 1920s 'two-way' system had become 'one-way' and the Bluecoats School roof tiles have been removed.
View attachment 124669
Click to expand...
I have just been given two copies of Birmingham Up Town through time, by Mac Joseph, Ted Ridge and John Houghton and this picture appears as one of the then and now pictures in the book. On page 63, it's origin is not accredited, but it looks like an old postcard as opposed to something from a newspaper. If anyone would like my spare copy ...gratis... happy to let you gave it
Bob
 
That is interesting information. I first saw the pic when Lyn scanned a pile of old Evening Mails and uploaded lots of the scanned pics in 2010 and then they all got lost in the 2011 hack attack. They were recovered later in 2011 and posted in pdf galleries, and the Colmore Row pic is in Gallery 1 in post
https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/for...d-evening-mail-pics.21690/page-16#post-422536
Works with Chrome, Edge, and Safari, but might not display correctly with IE11.
 
Last edited:
oldMohawk said:
That is interesting information. I first saw the pic when Lyn scanned a pile of old Evening Mails and uploaded lots of the scanned pics in 2010 and then they all got lost in the 2011 hack attack. They were recovered later in 2011 and posted in pdf galleries, and the Colmore Row pic is in Gallery 1 in post
https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/for...d-evening-mail-pics.21690/page-16#post-422536
Click to expand...
Thanks OM, just seen it, interestingly, the Erdinton tram picture is an old postcard and an expensive one, sorry to put a spanner in the works, I think that there are one or two other pictures in the book which are on the forum
Bob
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top