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Villa Street Tram

Is that top of Villa rd and Soho rd at the top?? I used to live down St Michaels Hill just out of pic
 
bet lyn dont froth...:rolleyes: i was just trying to work it out...

patty..you seem pretty sure of the location..maybe one of our tram experts can confirm where the termius was.....

great pic and it will go in the album....

lyn:):):)
 
Great Photo Froth, but you really meant (Aston) Villa Road:)

Also get Skypein again mate
 
Those houses at the back were where the Monty Carlo Club used to be, years later I would think, I could be totally wrong.
 
Alf said:
Great Photo Froth, but you really meant (Aston) Villa Road:)

Also get Skypein again mate
Click to expand...

I did not Alf. It was hard enough typing Villa, kept on coming out as VILE:)
Got Skype disconnected at the moment. Will be back soon.
 
patty...was the monty on soho road.. it was still open up to a few years back....the then owner lives just by me....

lyn:)
 
patty..do you know the name of the church on the right....well it looks like a church....

lyn:)
 
lol alf...the penny has just dropped....must excuse me just another senior moment...:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

lyn
 
Cant think I used to stand opposite to get the bus down to Moms in Witton. the monty was on Soho rd
 
Like you Patty, I used to live just a few minute's walk from the tram terminus at the top of Villa Road, (Handsworth), and my first thoughts were that the picture was taken there at the Soho Road end. I used to get the tram there to go to Lozells and the stop was just outside Mrs Payne's sweet shop. But when I looked at the picture again I was unsure about the 'Church' on the right hand side. I don't remember there being a church there, but looking at my old A-Z there is a church symbol at the corner of Soho/Villa and Rosehill Roads, so maybe the photo is taken at the Soho Road end.

Judy
 
I think it is, I can remember the church being there, opposite those houses, on the left was St Michael's church
 
Yes, St Michaels Church was across the road from Villa Road. At the top of St Michaels Hill, and would be at the left of the houses on Soho Road.
 
No Jules the church in the photo isn't St Michaels. St Michaels is out of the picture and would be at the top left hand side, across Soho Road and at the top of St Michaels Hill. Thanks for the photos though. I used to go to Sunday School at St Michaels. We were just wondering which church/chapel was on the right hand side of the tram.

Judy
 
Jules, I should have said that I enjoyed seeing your photos very much. The one of the bride and her father shows the shops on Soho Road just around the corner from the top of Villa Road. I remember those well - there was a cafe, then Pearce's Newsagents, then Mrs Smith's Off License, Mrs Babbingtons Grocery Shop, the Greengrocers and then Dennisons factory. If, as we think, the tram terminus is at the Handsworth end of Villa Road, it would be just around the corner from the cafe on the corner.

Judy
 
Just seen this thread, definitely Villa Road just short of Soho Road (because of Rose Hill Road junction).
The No 5 tram route was Villa Rd/Soho Rd - Lichfield Rd/Gravelly Hill (just before the Slade Rd/Gravelly Hill/Tyburn Rd crossroads) and was replaced by bus route 40A on 1st October 1950.

The Villa Rd Methodist Church is still there - now owned by the nearby King Edward Vl girls school, but still jointly used by the congregation. See https://www.asburycircuit.org.uk/villa_road.htm for more detail.
The entrance stairs were later bricked in, evident by the slightly different colour brick halfway up the walls.
It is a post-war scene, the bus passing on Soho Road has the darker khaki roof applied during the war (they were cream before) and tram 527 looks a little shabby, with dented front panel. So between 1945 and 1950, closer to the latter I expect.
 
Thank you Lloyd for confirming the name of the Church at the top of Villa Road/Rosehill Road, and for the photo. I must have passed this church hundreds of times when I was growing up, but didn't remember it being there :( I can't believe I forgot it was there. I took my 11-plus at King Edward VI Girls Grammar School as well!! Failed miserably.......

Judy
 
Frothy, Thanks so much for posting that photo and for bringing back so many happy memories for me. Can I ask you if the photo came from a book, and if so the name of the book, as I would like to get a copy.

Judy
 
Jayell said:
Frothy, Thanks so much for posting that photo and for bringing back so many happy memories for me. Can I ask you if the photo came from a book, and if so the name of the book, as I would like to get a copy.

Judy
Click to expand...

Erm, I kinda borrowed it off ebay:rolleyes: Don't tell anyone:shh:
 
I also have a lot of memories of that part of Villa Road. I was born just over half-way down on the right (building's gone now, it was a fairly big terrace house used as a private nursing home specialising in births.
In 1950 my dad, who had been organist at St Mark's, Washwood Heath moved to St Michael's Handsworth, with the prominent spire that you see from Lodge Road and the Winson Green direction. I was still at school then, but my voice had just broken, and I soon started singing mainly bass in the choir there in May 1950, and spent a lot of time there before I left for London in 1959.
Attached is a a copy of a now-faded news clipping about a model I made of St Michael's church, which I put a lot of work into. That was in 1951.
I sang at several weddings, and also played the organ as a Deputy's Deputy. The fee was 30 shillings in those days.
Going back to the shops opposite, I remember Mrs Pearce's tobacconist and newsagents, but especially Lucy Smith who ran the offie. Please don't ask why.
Peter
 
hi peter...how clever you are....not just in all the knowledge that you have on birmingham history and drawing maps but also in model making....its absolutely wonderful....hope you dont mind if i save your newspaper cutting...thank you for sharing it with us...

take care

lyn:):):)
 
Peter - What a wonderful model of St Michael's Church, how clever you are. It is beautiful. I may also have attended Sunday services at the church when you were in the choir! We left Handsworth in 1956. Small world!

Dick Pearce who had the newsagents shop was my Dad's best friend and they went fishing together. You have also jogged my memory with the name of Lucy Smith. I always remembered her as Mrs Smith but now the name of Lucy comes back to me. She seemed to run it with another elderly lady (well they seemed elderly to me when I was young!) I used to go in for a bottle of pop on a Saturday as a treat, always had a bit of a musty smell in there.

It was great to see that view of the shops from St Michaels.

Judy
 
Patty, the old 3x tram started from witton terminus to martineau st via aston cross,later to be replaced by the 39 bus in 1951. Eric
 
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A thought has occurred to me that there are quite a few of us who belong to this area, and that it would be nice to celebrate our memories together. We could go into Boulton House first, then - if I can get in touch with whoever runs it nowadays, I would like to go into St Michael's church to say a bit about what it was like 50 years ago, and play the organ, if it's still working. It was a very good Victorian instrument built by Norman & Beard before Hill's joined them, and the one I learned to play on. 15 minutes would be quite enough of that. Then we could go down to the Black Eagle for their fantastic lunch.
What say you?
Peter
 
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