Birmingham
Birmingham photos (43 available)
Birmingham maps (2 available)
Map of West Midlands
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
See this old map of West Midlands
Personalised maps
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Birmingham books (9 available)
- 14 photos on Birmingham appear in 1 Frith books - View photos of Birmingham
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Birmingham and West Midlands
Birmingham memories
Read and share memories of Birmingham and West Midlands inspired by Frith photos
CHEF'S 1948 to 1960
I was a young trainee chef at the then posh Pattisons Restaurant, Corporation Street, after national service in the far east. Who remembers the Worcester Street restaurant with then Mrs Burgess, today's site the Rotunda. I cooked a lot of meals here then the Mikado Cafe at the top of Martinu Street, then the now closed Union Club in Colmore Row. I cooked for some very important people during my stay in this lovely building, now a building society.
Contributed by derek hyde
Happy days
Living not far from Aston Park we would often walk to the park to play and enjoy the fresh air. Aston Hall held a fascination for me and I was forever asking to go inside for a tour. I would go in when ever I could and I never tired of it. When I grew older and moved away I never forgot it and I have always kept happy memories of it in a special place in my heart. I suppose it is a nostalgic feeling, reminding me of happy times during my childhood. Years later I was to begin working in Birmingham and would pass this wonderful hall every day. One day a colleague ...read more here
Contributed by Lynda Ridgard
West Midlands memories
CHEF'S 1948 to 1960
I was a young trainee chef at the then posh Pattisons Restaurant, Corporation Street, after national service in the far east. Who remembers the Worcester Street restaurant with then Mrs Burgess, today's site the Rotunda. I cooked a lot of meals here then the Mikado Cafe at the top of Martinu Street, then the now closed Union Club in Colmore Row. I cooked for some very important people during my stay in this lovely building, now a building society.
A memory of Birmingham contributed by derek hyde
Happy days
Living not far from Aston Park we would often walk to the park to play and enjoy the fresh air. Aston Hall held a fascination for me and I was forever asking to go inside for a tour. I would go in when ever I could and I never tired of it. When I grew older and moved away I never forgot it and I have always kept happy memories of it in a special place in my heart. I suppose it is a nostalgic feeling, reminding me of happy times during my childhood. Years later I was to begin working in Birmingham and would pass this wonderful hall every day. One day a colleague ...read more here
A memory of Birmingham contributed by Lynda Ridgard
Extracts From Birmingham & West Midlands books
Described in 1890 as a ‘handsome modern thoroughfare’,
Corporation Street was the result of a massive redevelopment
of 93 acres of slums. Councillor Ward said that the ‘rubbish
and dilapidation of whole quarters have reminded me of
Strasbourg which I saw soon after the bombardment’.The area
was notorious, wells were contaminated with raw sewage, and
the death rate was 3.2 per cent above the national average.
An extract from from"West Midlands Pocket Album".
By the end of the 19th century, New Street was both the
principal business street in the town and the best for
shopping and entertainment.This view is from Paradise Street.
On the left just off camera is Christ Church, and over to the
right is the Post Office. Known as New Street since the 15th
century, the oldest building extant in 1896 was probably No
29, a silversmith and jewellers, that had a rainwater head dated
1687. No 29 was demolished in 1902-03.
An extract from from"West Midlands Pocket Album".
Designed by Charles Barry, the
Birmingham and Midland
Institute opened in 1856, the
foundation stone having been
laid by Prince Albert in
November 1855. The institute,
which offered a range of evening
classes for workers, and was
famed for its penny lectures, was
one of the earlier projects linked
with a major redevelopment of
the town centre that began in the
1850s and continued through to
the 1870s.
An extract from from"West Midlands Pocket Album".
The competition to design a new town hall was won by J A Hansom and
E Welsh; their outline plans were preferred to those submitted by leading
architects such as Charles Barry and Thomas Rickman. Work began in
1832, but the project ran into problems owing to a serious underestimate by
the builders, who eventually went bankrupt.As the architects had agreed to
underwrite the builders, they too were declared bankrupt.Work continued
slowly; it was not until 1850 that the building was ready for occupation.
An extract from from"West Midlands Pocket Album".
Opened in 1885, the Art Gallery and Museum was
designed by Yeoville Thomason, who had also designed the
adjoining Council House. Much of the money for the gallery
came from wealthy glass manufacturer Thomas Osler, whose
firm made the famous glass fountain centrepiece for the Great
Exhibition at the Crystal Palace.The clock tower is known
as Big Brum.
An extract from from"West Midlands Pocket Album".