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When Everyone Wore A Hat...

Some fine looking hats worn by a large group of ladies waiting on this GWR station with posters showing places south and west of Birmingham. All look very serious and we can only guess what sort of excursion it was but definitely ladies only.
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As Maurice says, "Formidable", looking at this picture it dos make you wonder how in heaven they managed to get about with daily tasks, let a lone get on and off Bus's and the like. Paul
 
sospiri said:
Hmmm - Formidable! :)
Maurice
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Hi Maurice ... Looks like the train was late ... pity the driver !
Looking again at the pic, a large group of formidible women, no children of school age, and no men, maybe it was some official women's society outing. The station looks small and reading the notices it seems to be GWR connected with Birmingham, but after studying many photos of local stations the roof does not look like typical GWR.
paul stacey said:
As Maurice says, "Formidable", looking at this picture it dos make you wonder how in heaven they managed to get about with daily tasks, let a lone get on and off Bus's and the like. Paul
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Hi Paul ... I suppose women of those times were used to the high steps and steep stairs of trams and looking at the ladies of the church choir in post#254 they were prepared to do some climbing ...:)
 
Hi Phil,

These buildings were mostly built to a common pattern, so determining exactly which station could be an impossible task. Ladies in such long dresses would presumably only have to negotiate the two steps to the lower deck, and the upper deck was the preserve of men, who could smoke up there and enjoy there journey in peace!

Maurice
 
Hi Maurice, an elegant looking lady climbed the stairs of this old tram and sat there wearing a magnificent hat ... well pinned on no doubt !
Phil
BhamHorseTram.jpg
 
The respectable lady in the plumed hat would probably be horrified to learn she was sitting immediately behind the Dunvilles Whisky sign ! Viv
 
I take your point, Phil, but it couldn't have been easy with all those yards of fabric. And she couldn't negotiate those stairs with castors, Maria! As for Dunvilles, I had to look that up. Liquidated in 1931, but in 2013 another company revived the brand name. Personally I detest the after taste of whisky and we've had an unopened bottle of 12 year old single malt that we won in a raffle some years ago still sitting in the cupboard. Must be at least 18 year old single malt by now!

Maurice
 
oldMohawk said:
The station looks small and reading the notices it seems to be GWR connected with Birmingham, but after studying many photos of local stations the roof does not look like typical GWR.
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I agree with Old Mowhawk that the roof does not look GWR although the station is definitely GWR from the posters. I am wondering if the station could be somewhere like South Wales having been built by a railway company taken over by the GWR say at the Grouping in 1923
 
Everyone wearing hats in Villa Road makes it worthwhile having another look at this forum pic. A busy scene and no overhead cables means it was before electric trams were introduced.
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berniew said:
Heathfield Road Handsworth and Villa Road
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Had to watch where you were treading, with the pools of water, and horse manure.

A little like the 'horse country' lane that we live in.

Eddie
 
It is interesting comparing this forum pic with the one in post#312. The large building on the corner was not originally half timbered ... it must have been a profitable shop to have received such a 'makeover' !
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berniew said:
Villa Road Handsworth
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That's very interesting, I'd be interested to know how and why that was done.
It looks the same building but I see they added a top to the turret.
 
I am logged in but


Apparently I was not logged in inspite of my name appearing on the ribbon at the top of the page. I can now see the photos posted by OldMohawk.
 
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All of the military (Home Guard) in this pic are wearing their hats (helmets) but maybe some of the watching crowd probably not. Some spectators stood on the window ledges of the building opposite for a better view. Probably the largest number of firearms ever seen in Colmore Row.
Parade1.jpg
 
I would have expected to see the Lord Mayor taking the salute supported by a senior army officer. Unless the picture has been foreshortened by the camera, it does not look as if the officer taking the salute is actually at the Council House entrance.
 
Half of my above post got lost as I was told I have to log in to post. I have just had to log in three times to try to edit my post. My name is in the banner at the top so I must be logged in. Same thing happened yesterday. Hope this gets posted.
 
DavidGrain said:
I can't open pictures shown as
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Hi David,
The reason you cannot see my image in post#324 is because you are probably logged in to the https connection to the forum. The image in post#324 is actually a link to the post stated in the quote. For some reason the linked pic got converted to https. Alternatively you were not actually logged in and if so then you will not see linked forum images.

Have a read through the 'Getting Logged Out' thread.
I am going to edit the linked pic to https and maybe you will then see it.
ps. I have now changed it from https to https.
 
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Some impressive hats worn by the ladies in this pic showing the Governors and Friends of the Blue Coat School, Harborne. Two hats in the pic look to be almost 2ft dia ... they look a wealthy group.
BlueCoatHats.jpg
image from the Shoothill collection
 
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