OLD WEST BROMWICH PHOTOS

The old High Street....always seemed to be cold but you had all the shops, greengrocers, shoe shops and loads of butcher shops with a tub of "suck" (sweets) on top of the counter and sawdust on the floor....and who can remember that little man who sold the newspapers in his wheelchair type thingy which he used to move around by pulling on the handles on his wheelchair....he always had a cap on and a fag out the side of his mouth

And not forgetting 'Mad' Julie, god bless her, she used to shout and bawl at folk in the 2 precients and her language was just great !!....and if you ever got in the way of her umbrella she used to ust it by hitting you with it

Yes, I remember him when he used to sell the papers in Paradise Street !

I left West Brom to go to New Zealand in the very early 70's and just dropped on this site and I am really delighted I found it !!!

I was born & brought up in Dudley Street, Carters Green and I remember the walk right up the High Street all the way to Dartmouth Square and me and my Mom used to do it every Saturday without fail for the shopping.

Me and my NZ wife went back in April this year, for a wedding and a catch up of the old place, it was my first time back in over 30 years and, WELL, I have to say it, I was shocked and appalled at how it looks now, the life and soul of West Brom had gone.

What on earth has happened to all of those shops, the Greengrocers and butchers, the supermarket (Think it was farefinders of something ?) on the Green and what on earth has happened to the Town, no decent shops, no Littlewoods, no Thompson & Roses, no M & S, no Burtons, no Preedys (sp), no Porters fish shop, no Dickens sports shop, no Adelphi  I was really saddened, but occasianly there was a gem that jumped out at us, the K & J frontage, St Michaels (where I was baptised), the Town Hall (with gates ??, Can't remember the gates being there before ?) some of the pubs I used to frequent, the Star & Garter (Walked in and walked out again this time round !), The Sandwell (I think it's now called the Goosey Gander now or something like that ?), And there was a few other pubs that had gone, was it ther Westerner and the Vine ? but WHAT ON EARTH IS THAT MONSTROSITY ??, Some 'Arty fartyy rubbish, I just can't believe that was even allowed by West Bromwich Council when the rest of the town needed it most !

We spent just over 2 Weeks back 'home' and it was really nice to be back but it has all changed beyond all of my wildest dreams, but I did feel like I went back in time when I went to Dartmouth Park, where as kids we seemed to have spent all of the summer there in the pools, but even they have gone, but I just loved the park, even with it's changes, it would have been better if I could have relived my childhood and took a ride on the boating pool but alas progress has took over and ruined that chance.

I don't know if we will ever go back 'home' again but at least I can hold onto my past memories, shut my eyes and see me walking up the High street with me Mom and jumping off and on those wonderful buses the had then

I will keep on coming back to this site in the hope that I can see some more photos to jog my memory and thoughts and it would be nice to see a section of how it looks now so that some of us ex-pats can see the 'work in progress'

Great site !!

That story from NZ Baggies is excellent and a bit sad, but what an excellent letter, it really does show what West Brom is like now and what 'outsiders' will think about the place

Sad, very sad :-(

That post by New Zealand Baggies is spot on.

I left in 1993 to marry a Cornish girl and now live in Redruth and I can't really add much more to it than that

I found this site last night and it kept me up untill the wee hours !

I have many, many memories of West Brom and I will add them later as I have to go to work in a bit but it took me ages to get to sleep last night thinking about my childhood and just wishing I could turn back the hands of time for just a day

really love this site, sadly not old enough to remember anything that has been mentioned here but my dad tells me stories of the boating pools and such, and from these stories it sounds like it was nice time to be living in west bromwich. The photos really astounded me, especially the ones by all saints church, it's really weird because you notice the roads are the same and then you begin to point out 'oh, that's where the old peoples home is now' really good website and i'd love to hear more stories from everyone.

Welcome Heeleys !

You know I was on about this the other day, what the younger generation would look back on in years to come, will they try to go back to the times when they were young, like we do now, believe me as you get older these 'old times' are thought about more often and you wonder what ever happened to the time and how fast it has gone !

There were hard times, don't get me wrong, but they were GOOD times also, most of my memories are around the Park, on the Boating Pool, my dads overcoat on the bed in the Winter, just to keep warm, frost on the inside of the windows. The coal fires with my Dad putting the newspaper across the 'Suff Hole' to try and 'draw' the fire to get it going and him cursing when his newspaper caught fire and there were the times when he used to sweep the chimney using next doors brushes, 9 times out of 10 the brushes would get stuck and no matter what he done he couldn't get them down again so in temper he would 'Down tools' and go down to the Rampa (Hall end Tavern) and leave the end of the brushes poking out of the chimney, he came back and always got the thing free again, Mom reckons it was just an excuse to go down the Pub !!

Every time I see a coal fire all those memories come back

I wonder what the next generation will remember in years to come ??

I can remember the boating pool "Come in number 9", he was a miserable devil that bloke with the loudspeaker, but the place used to be buzzing, especialy the summer holidays and I can remember climbing up that, what seemed to be a big hill,  to the cafe and having a Walls Ice Cream in a cornet, you know those Ice creams, square ones in a wrapper that just fitted into your cornet or between 2 wafers.

We still have those little blocks of Ice cream here in Cornwall but not Walls but THAT Cafe really was something special a big open roundish room with wood everywhere and a nice cool spot in the summer.

Looking at the photos of Dartmouth Park Now on here I just can't believe the aviary has gone and the boat house, but it has been many many years since I was in the park and to be quite honest with you I never realised there was a bowling green behind the boathouse

I know you have to show west brom as it is now but that disgrace of a building, the pUBLIC really strikes a nerve with me, even though I left West Brom in 93, it seems such a waste of money, money that should have been spent elsewhere,.

I wonder if the youth of today will remember it in the future like the 'Old Devils' on here reminisce about the days gone by, I doubt it !!

yh i've heard stories of the man with the loudspeaker being as miserable as they come, it doesn't surprise me one bit the reason he seemed so miserable with people like my dad delibrately not coming in after his number was called. but i suppose it was all in good fun. The thing I would love to see old photos of is the stone cross area, cus i would love to see the difference

Just got back from visiting a good friend in Cyprus and I can't believe how this site is growing.

Some great memories, love the stories and photos and those boating stories ar just so true, we used to wind up the bloke !

My God Michael, the Icecream in the wrappers YESSS ! I remember that, we used to go to the shop opposite the main entrance to the park, near to that pub on the corner, a big frontage shop which was also on the corner and there was another smaller shop just up the road from the Dagger lane entrance.

I also remember having to take the empty bottles of beer and pop back to get a few pennies back, we used to save them all up until we had a load and then take them all back in one go. We thought it was great having all of this money after the returns and it all went on suck !

We used to go upstairs on the bus and think we were big sitting on top with all of that cigarette smoke billowing around your ears and every now and then someone used to smoke a pipe and for some reason that used to smell great, no spitting signs on the buses and that little red button you could press when you wanted the bus to stop and you knew you shouldn't press it but you just couldn't help yourself in pressing it loads of times and when the bus was still going you used to jump off the open end and try not to fall over in doing so !

Those bus conductors telling you to get off your seat so that an old woman could sit in your place

The shops where you could buy the biscuits loose from a square glass jar with a lid on and the sweet shops where you can buy as little or as much sweets as you liked from the jars, the triangle humbugs and sugar mice, Army and Navy, Rhubarb & Custards, Lion liquorice sticks, comfits, and those chocolate toffies was it birds or bairds ?

Oh those days !!

That new photo added showing the Bus in Paradise St is EXACTLY how I remember West Brom and I expect it was taken at around the start of the redevelopment.

Even the barbers I went in is on it, but what the hell was the name of it ?

The Pub (Busbies as it is now) on the corner of St Michaels St and Price St, where he took the photo from, What was the name of it THEN, not now, It was probably the only pub in West Brom I never went in

the barbers was Harris Brothers and Busbies was the Cross Keys.

New Zealand Baggie at 02:57AM on Nov 28, 2008

That new photo added showing the Bus in Paradise St is EXACTLY how I remember West Brom and I expect it was taken at around the start of the redevelopment.

Even the barbers I went in is on it, but what the hell was the name of it ?

The Pub (Busbies as it is now) on the corner of St Michaels St and Price St, where he took the photo from, What was the name of it THEN, not now, It was probably the only pub in West Brom I never went in

You know, I just can't remember it being like that ??

It don't even vaguley look familiar, but saying that, I never went down that end of Paradise St often, all of the action was at the Dartmouth Sq end

Would that be the Cinema on the right about half way down the street ?

I have had donated another excellent photo of a bus in Moor Street showing St Michaels Church in the distance c1950 and I will add it as soon as I have sorted out the copyright

Paul

Moor St ??

Is that by New St ?

Moor Street is just before St Michaels Street and I am sure there was a railway Station or bridge there or I may be wrong ?

Michael at 03:52AM on Dec 15, 2008

Moor Street is just before St Michaels Street and I am sure there was a railway Station or bridge there or I may be wrong ?

The chat about Moor Street brought back many childhood memories of visiting my aunt who lived in Richard Street South. We used to cross that bridge which led to Moor Street (from Paradise St?)and then take a the next road on the right which led into Richard St. South. As I recall there used to be a music shop called Allan`s in Moor Street. (unsure of the spelling for this).or was the shop in Bromford Lane- will check this out when I have time later today.

Also, I`ve read a letter that was headed  "Moor House". do you know anything about this building?  It may have been demolished years ago as the letter was in a Scrapbook in CHAS about the Library  covering the years 1907-1946.

That new photo showing the bus in Moor St is an absolute cracker !!!

It is exactly how I remember it and if my memory serves me right I think that wall is the bridge over the rail lines ?

Keep up the great work on this site, all of these Memories keep my young !

Seasons greetings from a nice and warm Wellington, New Zealand 8am Christmas morning here, and santa has been !

ps, you wouldn't believe how we miss the cold frosty weather at Christmas here !

New Zealand Baggie at 01:09AM on Oct 06, 2008

Yes, I remember him when he used to sell the papers in Paradise Street !

I left West Brom to go to New Zealand in the very early 70's and just dropped on this site and I am really delighted I found it !!!

I was born & brought up in Dudley Street, Carters Green and I remember the walk right up the High Street all the way to Dartmouth Square and me and my Mom used to do it every Saturday without fail for the shopping.

Me and my NZ wife went back in April this year, for a wedding and a catch up of the old place, it was my first time back in over 30 years and, WELL, I have to say it, I was shocked and appalled at how it looks now, the life and soul of West Brom had gone.

What on earth has happened to all of those shops, the Greengrocers and butchers, the supermarket (Think it was farefinders of something ?) on the Green and what on earth has happened to the Town, no decent shops, no Littlewoods, no Thompson & Roses, no M & S, no Burtons, no Preedys (sp), no Porters fish shop, no Dickens sports shop, no Adelphi  I was really saddened, but occasianly there was a gem that jumped out at us, the K & J frontage, St Michaels (where I was baptised), the Town Hall (with gates ??, Can't remember the gates being there before ?) some of the pubs I used to frequent, the Star & Garter (Walked in and walked out again this time round !), The Sandwell (I think it's now called the Goosey Gander now or something like that ?), And there was a few other pubs that had gone, was it ther Westerner and the Vine ? but WHAT ON EARTH IS THAT MONSTROSITY ??, Some 'Arty fartyy rubbish, I just can't believe that was even allowed by West Bromwich Council when the rest of the town needed it most !

We spent just over 2 Weeks back 'home' and it was really nice to be back but it has all changed beyond all of my wildest dreams, but I did feel like I went back in time when I went to Dartmouth Park, where as kids we seemed to have spent all of the summer there in the pools, but even they have gone, but I just loved the park, even with it's changes, it would have been better if I could have relived my childhood and took a ride on the boating pool but alas progress has took over and ruined that chance.

I don't know if we will ever go back 'home' again but at least I can hold onto my past memories, shut my eyes and see me walking up the High street with me Mom and jumping off and on those wonderful buses the had then

I will keep on coming back to this site in the hope that I can see some more photos to jog my memory and thoughts and it would be nice to see a section of how it looks now so that some of us ex-pats can see the 'work in progress'

Great site !!

i'm with you new zealand baggie, i went home 20 years ago and it was bad then,from all accounts it's even worse now.i often think of the old days,it was a good old town really,plenty to do,cinemas,dance halls,wonderful nights at grant hall as a teenager.i'm probably older than most members,83,but my memory is pretty good.that pub was the great western,and the vaults probably the "  Theatre Vaults" next to the old theatre royal,where i used to pay a penny to go in "the gods" before the war.happy days!                     

Hi Bill !!

I dropped on this site a couple of months ago and I can't stop coming back to see the 'old place', even though it isn't up to much now.

 I am, well.... #cough#, a little younger than you Bill....Just a little, and I too moved out in the early 70s, and perhaps like you, we didn't know if we were making the right move, leaving friends and relatives behind, but my god how right we were !

My roots and FULL memories, wonderful memories are of my childhood in West Brom and in a way I just wish we never went back for a visit in April because it has spoiled my memories and saddened me at how it has become,

We always had industry in the area but we also had a heart and soul in the Town, it was bustling, but now industry has gone and the heart and soul has gone with it.

There are still some wonderful people left in West Brom, people who are trying hard to bring the place alive again, but with the West Bromwich Council bumbling along and dragging down the area they really have a hard fight to stop it going downhill.

The Town Hall, Library, Oak House are still sitting pretty and have not changed a bit and the Dartmouth Park is still there in all of it's glory but it's just not the same with that road which cuts through it, and the cafe gone along with the rowing boats

And now, don't start me on the Gala Suite, why oh why was that magnificent building allowed to be smashed down ??

I can still see those buses edging their way up the High Street, upstairs for smoking, open end decks where you could jump on and off and a conductor to keep order.

Here in Wellington it feels like West Brom in the 60/70s, a nice mix of work, leisure and shops, local shops with local produce, no intimidation, no worrying about speaking to someone and most of all discipline where you know right from wrong, these things were missing from West Brom when I went back, I felt there was not one ounce of pride left in the Town and it saddened me and it saddened my wife, especially after I had been telling her for years what it USED to be like

Bill, it was the Great Western but I can't for the life of me remember the Theatre Vaults or the grant Hall ???....I remember the pub which was the Vine, but perhaps it was the Vaults, it was up towards Dartmouth Square, nearly opposite the wonderful Burtons Building....Perhaps it was the Vaults ??

Unfortunatly Bill, my memories are still there but a bit 'sparse' now due to my deccrepit old age !!

I have been very close to you Bill, I went to a friends funeral a few years ago, he was buried at Gerringong cemetery, just down the coast from you, and what a wonderful spot overlooking the sea