Compiled by Stephen Birch with photographs from my private collection. High Street continued I have recently obtained some very old records and reports. Written just after the First World War in 1920. Reading them as they are, a very different village picture is revealed and the people of the Village their business and the rural scene disappearing and the Roads developing and being named into those we know ourselves to day. The second part features on the area around the High Street in the 1800s before the Victorian & Edwardian terraces were built. These records were written in 1919 just after the First World War and are a fascinating insight into the lives of our ancestors here in Erdington. NEWMAN LODGE a pleasant house at the bottom of a long drive, with an avenue of trees leading to the High Street, stood on the site occupied by the Primitive Methodist Church and a road named after it, Newman Road . The main entrance was off The Fordrough (now Trafalgar Road), though there was a second entrance from Spring Hill. Lawyer Pallett resided at the house for many years. After he left Mr. Addinsell (of Lilly & Addinsell, Birmingham) became the occupier, and he had the entrance drive made from High Street. The last tennant was Mr. Bradbury, and at the time of Queen Victorias Diamond Jubilee (1897) he decorated the whole length of the drive with Chinese lanterns, which, when lit up in the evening, gave a fairy-like effect. YORK ROAD (then unamed) was merely a cart track, and upon the open space the Erdington Wakes, (Annual Festivities) were held. The whole length of the ground from High Street to Summer Road was filled with shows, roundabouts, coconut shies and stalls of every description. People came from all parts to enjoy the fun. A high hedge divided the main road from the field. COTON LANE led to the Marl Hole , and was merely a pathway to fields in Poplar Avenue----- the name which survives in Poplar Terrace and Avenue Road. (Clay was dug out of the ground until pits were formed which for red clays became known as ‘marl holes’ . In the seventeenth century, potters dug clay out of the roads ( so as not to lose any land area from cultivation): eventually the roads were so dangerous that the offenders were forbidden by law to continue the practice. This was probably the origin of the term ‘pot holes’.) RESERVOIR ROAD (known as Cut-Throat Lane) had but few houses. There was one standing in its own grounds just over the railway bridge on the left-hand side, occupied by Mr. Turner, and Lees old farm on the right. At the top of the hill stood the house belonging to the reservoir. Mere House, near to Stockland Green, and two old cottages at the corner of the road were the only other buildings. SHEEPFOOT LANE (was Sheep Street & now called Station Road) contained no shops; two cottages stood on the site of the Mason Almshouses (at the top opposite the Cross Keys Inn)and a few others stood between the main road and Erdington Station. Below here were pools of water on both sides of the road. At the corner of Summer Lane was a deep clay pit filled with water, into which, it is stated, a horse and cart fell and were lost to view. At the corner of Six Ways on which the Municipal Bank now stands was Woodbine Academy. On the opposite side, adjoining the Queens Head was an old bake house belonging to Mr. Thomas Smith. This stood back from the road and had a wall in front of it, fencing a plot, on which could be seen hundreds of geese. Next to the Queens Head was a little cottage, and then came Kestertons farm house, (Gravelly Hill North) Between here and Fentham Road was the Three Mile Oak, now Cedar Cottage. (the Birmingham Municipal Bank was built in 1919, while these notes were being written) 1. NEWMAN LODGE 1875 2. NEWMAN LODGE DRIVE 1875 3. THE OLD FORGE, NEAR SIX WAYS. An old landmark of Erdington, where now stands Messrs, Jones Bros Garage. This Family and the Garage which later became Abbey Garage are featured in our photo archive. 4. THE GREAT SNOW STORM, SIX WAYS, February 1912 The Baptist Church opposite the High Street on the left, while on the right the corner of Wood End Lane, The building with the advertisements on the side is the old Woodbine Academy which was pulled down to make way for the Birmingham Municipal Bank in 1919. Wood End Lane is just out of view running along side the Baptist Church. 5. THE OLD BAKEHOUSE WALL AT SIX WAYS, 1890 with view of Reservoir Road & Summer Road 6. SIX WAYS, from Gravelly Hill North 1912 before it was altered for the gyratory traffic & Municipal Bank built in 1919 7. SIX WAYS looking from the High Street. The Birmingham Municipal Bank will be built on the left where the Woodbine Academy stands in this image at the top of Gravelly Hill North. 8. SIX WAYS, Corner of Wood End Lane 1912 Continued tomorrow......
Posted on: Wed, 23 Jul 2014 17:30:00 +0000
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