Author Topic: Wonderful old pictures of Birmingham  (Read 115663 times)

Berni

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6653
Re: Wonderful old pictures of Birmingham
« Reply #154 on: April 19, 2014, 06:57:46 PM »
Another wonderful old public Building Handsworth Baths in Grove Lane. I believe they were converted to living accommodation some years back. Well I suppose it saved them from the demolition ball.
 
Phil

I swam there in the 60's and it was a wonderful bath.  I still swim three times a week too. O0

Berni

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6653
Re: Wonderful old pictures of Birmingham
« Reply #155 on: April 19, 2014, 07:06:00 PM »
The Queen's Hotel, Stephenson's St. What a beautiful building and one of the gateways to old New St Station. They knocked the beautiful Exchange Building down in Stephenson Place, to build the ramp up to The Pallasades, New St Station and The Pallasades and a multi storey car park.
 
Stephenson's Place and Stephenson's St had a real air of quality remniscent of some that still remain in London.
 
Where there was once life it's now a dead street, it's a nothing place. The beautiful buildings have been replaced with banal rubbish.
 
The next is an aerial view showing a part of argueably Birmingham City at it's best, before The Luftwaffe and Birmingham City Planners, under The City Engineer, Herbert Manzoni finished it off.
 
Note: Corporation St, New St, Stephenson's Place and The Exchange Building they took out to build the ramp, Stephenson's Street with The Queen's Hotel, New St Station, The Market Hall, The Bull Ring and St Martin's in the background. What an handsome layout that lot looks. Todays isn't a patch.
 
They should have restored the old city and built a new one beside it, like they have in many places throughout Europe, with Dresden being one of the last ones to be restored.
The Exchange Building you refer to actually housed the very first telephone exchange (with operators and switchboards) in Birmingham I believe.   The Exchange Restaurant was quite posh too and I had an uncle who was a Head Waiter there for several years.  Again the construction of the ramp to the station did its worst.

townie

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8931
Re: Wonderful old pictures of Birmingham
« Reply #156 on: August 02, 2014, 09:11:12 PM »
Has anyone got a photo they could post of the old steelworks in Steelhouse lane before they build the Hospital on the site.
 
Was it a vision, or a waking dream?

mikejee

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 945
Re: Wonderful old pictures of Birmingham
« Reply #157 on: August 03, 2014, 02:34:19 AM »
I think that might be a bit difficult . The works you are referring to would seem to be "Kettle's Steelhouses", which are shown on Westley's 1731 map on the opposite side of Steelhouse lane to Newton St and it would seem that Whittall St would have run through them . there does not seem to be any mention of them on the
Pigott-Smith  map of 1828, which shows Whittall St, so presumably they had gone by then. so it would be before photographs and your only hope would be if anyone had done an engraving, which I have never heard of. The only representation I have seen is not much use as it is so small - the one on the Westley map , below

townie

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8931
Re: Wonderful old pictures of Birmingham
« Reply #158 on: August 03, 2014, 11:04:52 AM »
Thanks again Mikejee.  O0
Was it a vision, or a waking dream?

Elsie

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 10
Re: Wonderful old pictures of Birmingham
« Reply #159 on: August 03, 2014, 09:53:10 PM »
 O0 Amazing photos€
Makes you wonder how a town so beautiful can be replaced by plastic space age looking buildings


 

Terms of Use     Privacy Policy