Author Topic: Bomb Sites  (Read 57670 times)

wam

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 208
Re: Bomb Sites
« Reply #209 on: June 28, 2011, 01:10:48 PM »
There's always going to be a problem defining the boundaries of Balsall Heath. Over the years the boundaries shifted more than once. Some people and organisations would rather not be identified with the area so they would say there address was in another district if there was doubt.
There used to be  signs on the Balsall Heath Road at the River Rea saying Balsall Heath and Edgbaston. I know the part of Edgbaston up to the Bristol Rd was referred to as the Calthorpe Park Estate for a while. A few years ago the Sparkbrook constituency was extended to the Pershore Road and some took that as a sign that Balsall Heath had also been extended. The signs on the Balsall Heath Road disappeared. I don't think Balsall Heath has any kind of official existence at all now. This is probably why the government think so much of it. You can make all the claims you want for an area that isn't on the map any more and no-one can prove you wrong.


Joseph Chamberlain School always claimed the border with Highgate was at the Balsall Heath Road rather than Belgrave Road. I'm sure I've heard of that one before too.

Phil

  • Account Closed
  • *
  • Posts: 32653
Re: Bomb Sites
« Reply #210 on: June 28, 2011, 01:26:09 PM »
Wam
 
Whoever erected this sign was certainly proud of Balsall Heath but sadly in my opinion it was erected at a time when Balsall Heath had not got a lot to be proud of and the heart was being ripped out of it.
 
Phil
Phil died in 2020. RIP.

planetmalc

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6150
Re: Bomb Sites
« Reply #211 on: June 28, 2011, 05:11:25 PM »
Planetmalc,
when I first put up this question, I wanted to divide the actual from the perceptions I have / had about BH boundaries. Thank you for your contribution, you have cleared up one area for me, and its that which includes Balsall Heath Park ('at four and a half acres the smallest in the city'-quoted OS Warks sheet 14.13). Taunton road was problematic for me, I have a friend, one Maurice Evans who was brought up there and went to Dennis Rd (see Tales out of School edited by Val Hart). When challenged on the subject, he says he always knew Taunton as being in Sparkbrook, yet Balsall Heath park is there. My problem I now realise is that I was thinking, that if streets to the north of Brighton Rd is BH, so must houses and streets north of Taunton (but not to the south). Turns that there's a piece of BH that similar to how the Isles of Anglesey is attached to the british mainland ie Taunton, Dennis, Birchwood C, Birchwood, with a bit of Ladypool forms a pininsula of Balsall Heath.
However my peception of the west border goes unresovled because of your suggestion that the River REA forms this border. Geologically that makes perfect sense, but that mean that Ranlan Rd, the bottom of Edward Rd and Balsall Heath Rd are not in BH or indeed part of Calthorpe Park. And therefore neither are Varna, Princess, and Alexandra Roads. If you accept this then Cheddar, Clevedon and Longmore are the West reaches of BH. Any advances, anybody?
Jim
     
   
Jim,
   
Having had a look at the B12 map that Phil posted, I think I got part of the 1945 Ward Boundary wrong.     Proceeding clockwise from the Moseley Road/Highgate Road crossroads, it's more likely to be:-
   
Highgate Road  -  Stoney Lane  -  Anderton Park Road  -  Woodstock Road  -  Ladypool Road  -  Newport Road  -  Kingswood Road  -  Brighton Road  -  Moseley Road  -  Edgbaston Road East  -  Edgbaston Road as far as the River Rea  -  Along the Rea to Belgrave Road  -  Up Belgrave Road to Moseley Road.
   
It makes that southern 'peninsula' a bit bigger, but doesn't sort out your friend's Taunton Road problem.        Neither does it explain Fred's Leamington Road conundrum, unless both scenarios were caused by boundary changes, as wam suggests.       I guess Balsall Heath is where you want it to be.
     
 
There's no B/S on Planet Malc.

wimbush yardley

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 159
Re: Bomb Sites
« Reply #212 on: June 30, 2011, 07:33:35 PM »
We used to find the waste paper bins were a great fund raiser and had good fun soting out the comics and picture posts when we finished reading them we took to school and sold them on!!! there was a good bomb site down stoney lane  near Yardley fields road
                                                                      Regards Ken.
Do not judge a house by its appearance but by the warmth of the welcome.

ascspeaker

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 64
Re: Bomb Sites
« Reply #213 on: July 01, 2011, 12:37:32 PM »
   
   
Jim,   
Having had a look at the B12 map that Phil posted, I think I got part of the 1945 Ward Boundary wrong.     Proceeding clockwise from the Moseley Road/Highgate Road crossroads, it's more likely to be:-
   
Highgate Road  -  Stoney Lane  -  Anderton Park Road  -  Woodstock Road  -  Ladypool Road  -  Newport Road  -  Kingswood Road  -  Brighton Road  -  Moseley Road  -  Edgbaston Road East  -  Edgbaston Road as far as the River Rea  -  Along the Rea to Belgrave Road  -  Up Belgrave Road to Moseley Road.
   
It makes that southern 'peninsula' a bit bigger, but doesn't sort out your friend's Taunton Road problem.        Neither does it explain Fred's Leamington Road conundrum, unless both scenarios were caused by boundary changes, as wam suggests.       I guess Balsall Heath is where you want it to be.
   
Ahaa, now we are seeing where the memory and perceptions plays tricks on one. Postal Code B12 (before proper new world post codes), was the banker for me. If it was B12 it was BH. As I was posting that street sign for Raglan Street I had thought it carried the '12' sign, like this one of Tanworth Grove (it didn't).

About a month ago, I phoned Adrian Goldberg's Saturday morning radio show, to join in a discusion about how many cinemas there were once upon a time in BH. I didn't, but wanted I to say there was a possible 6 (six). Moseley road had 3, Imperial, Moseley Picture House, and Alhambra. There was the Luxor in BH Rd, the Triangle in Gooch St and finally, The Carlton Taunton Rd. I simply didn't know of the Olympia in Ladypool Road, and didn't enter my head even on Gold's show.

As you've said wam's suggestion that BH is where you want it to be (or not to be) may be the way it actually is. And as wam also intones 'people and organisations rather not be identified with the area'. The Joseph Chamberlain School shifting the border along away to do this.
Trapio, had used the term PNG about people on people, but it strikes the cord for the place as well. Looks like my ex-Taunton Road friend has come out of his childhood years with a preference to be in Sparkbrook.
I was also surprised when I saw the borderline take a left turn into Moseley Rd at the top of Brighton road, I was sure the line would go straight on down Cromer Rd. The River Rea is also a problem for me, even though I accept the river as a natural border.
Finally I have an interest in the placement of a company in Vaughan Street South, K&S Plating Co Ltd (now gone, and associated with the lady that lived in Tanworth), I see it is in Phil's B12. I want it to be in Balsall Heath, because it would suit my purposes.
Jim
Wherever you are, no matter how long you've been there, you'll have to go home sometime..

Phil

  • Account Closed
  • *
  • Posts: 32653
Re: Bomb Sites
« Reply #214 on: July 01, 2011, 12:50:51 PM »
This is another map of the Balsall Heath B12 district, this one is probably about 12 months younger in the early to mid 60's I would say. I can't see any notable difference. The boundary line is in red on this one.
 
Phil
Phil died in 2020. RIP.

planetmalc

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6150
Re: Bomb Sites
« Reply #215 on: July 01, 2011, 04:16:29 PM »
Ahaa, now we are seeing where the memory and perceptions plays tricks on one. Postal Code B12 (before proper new world post codes), was the banker for me. If it was B12 it was BH. As I was posting that street sign for Raglan Street I had thought it carried the '12' sign, like this one of Tanworth Grove (it didn't).

I was also surprised when I saw the borderline take a left turn into Moseley Rd at the top of Brighton road, I was sure the line would go straight on down Cromer Rd. The River Rea is also a problem for me, even though I accept the river as a natural border.
Jim
   
Jim,
   
I have a 2009 map that shows modern B12 to be the same as the one Phil has posted (above), but with 2 significant changes:-
   
1)  Phil's small B12 triangle to the north of Highgate Road, bounded by Highgate Road, Stratford Road and Larches Street, is now B11 apparently, as the B12 boundary now heads west from Stratford Road, along Highgate Road, and then heads north along Kyrwicks Lane.
 
2)  Where Phil's B12 boundary ran from the Edgbaston Road/Park Hill junction and then westwards to the Rea, it now runs down to the traffic island, turns south into Russell Road and goes as far as the Russell Road gate to Cannon Hill Park.       From there, it meanders across the park to where the Rea goes under the park's Pershore Road entrance, then follows the Rea northwards towards Belgrave Road.
   
The remaining B12 boundaries are the same as Phil's.
 
There's no B/S on Planet Malc.

Dollydeals

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 4
Re: Bomb Sites
« Reply #216 on: February 18, 2017, 10:25:02 AM »
I have just seen the messages regarding Tamworth Grove the place where I was born, It's brought a tear to my eye. Thanks for sharing the information :)

Kareneb

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 2
Re: Bomb
« Reply #217 on: September 27, 2021, 11:03:11 AM »
Jim
 
Another great photo of the scout troop, what I remember about that end of the road is that Dennis is correct the grocers shop was owned by a Mrs Jenks and next door to there lived a lad that was in my class at Dennis Rd School Micky Dolphin across the road from him was another lad in my class Howard Hayes.
 
The shop you point out at the top of the road started out as far as I am aware as a sweet shop (see photo), it then became a bookies when they became legal (Abe Greens) later in the early 70's my Aunt took it over and converted it to a sandwich shop which I believe it still is.
 
On the other corner of Vincent Street was Alf Faulkner's barber shop where I used to get my short back and sides on a Saturday afternoon while the match was on for a shilling. Later in the 60's a mate of mine Roger Lloyd took it over. He had two lads working for him, Arthur Brittain who lived in Moseley and Kenny Rickards who lived in Vincent Parade we all hung around together for a while.
 
Phil

Spud

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 90257
Re: Bomb Sites
« Reply #218 on: September 27, 2021, 01:16:13 PM »
Kereneb
Think that you may have not have got the gist of the Forum. Just use the Post Key  to air your feelings . Leave the Insert quote alone until you have got used to the working of the Forum
The Only Free Cheese is in The Trap


 

Terms of Use     Privacy Policy