RE: OPEN ALL HOURS - 532

morning all, i just want to apologise if i upset anyone in my last couple of threads, it did get a bit heated and heavy. i just get a tad annoyed when english people go on about st george as he is the patron saint of so many countries and not even english, altho i dont know why we or anyone else needs a patron saint - my view is that we should all get on with each other because we are humans - thats not going to happen i know.

as for the royal family i have no problem with harry, wills and kate and i think when wills and kate get to the throne things will be quite different (probably not in my life time tho).

again i think my sense of humour offended you brummies on my 'brummage saying' thread as there have been no replies, not meant to offend but as an outsider i do find it hard to understand some of the sayings, as it was hard for me to be understood when i first came to the midlands.

morning all, Phil sorry to hear you not been feeling well and glad you feeling a bit better, not off to evesham then today, save it for warmer weather.

den, is that lichfield lights you are talking about - as a newcomer it is difficult to know where you all live (retaining the information is hard once i v been told, lol). if so what a shame as it is such a beautiful city, i would have thought with christmas lights it would have looked real olde worlde.

does anyone remember the hot potato man that used to be in new street in the 60s, it was so lovely to have a cone and eat them in the winter.

have a good day all.

steph

Hi steph no you didn't offend me girl. SB

I remember the one on the corner of Navigation Street, tanner a triangular white paper bag and loads of salt.
You didn't offend me either I took no notice.

Hi Steph

This is a forum the definition of forum in the sense that we use it is thus,

fo·rum/ˈfôrəm/
Noun:

1.A meeting or medium where ideas and views on a particular issue can be exchanged.
2.An Internet message board.

If we all had the same idea or opinion, it would be a pretty dull place wouldn't it?

To all those who have mentioned it thanks for asking, and I am feeling a lot better now even though not a 100%. The hot potato and chestnut man I remember most was at the top of Albert St & New Meeting St.

Phil

tx sb, phil and signman, i know i did not offend you three.

just trying to remember where albert street was, think you need to remind me phil. i think the one we used to use most was at the bottom of temple street where it meets new street or even bennets hill.

talking of passages, its such a shame birmingham has not kept its passage ways, in fact it has destroyed a lot of its history. i know tewkesbury still has a lot of little passage ways that wind in and out and so does shrewsbury, where they are called 'shuts'. when i first left college (many moons ago in the 60s) is used to work in an office at the very top of new street, not there now. if i remember rightly there were three buildings with connecting entrances, one in waterloo street (worked there for a time in an estate agents, then a market research office), one certainly in new street. under neath the new street one which was on the corner was a chemist and a cafe which served fleur de lyse pies, in fact i think it was called that, not sure. anyway, the steps are still there which were the other side of the passage, going into waterloo street. one was called waterloo house, not sure of the others, but i know you could go from one building to another. very spooky building.

i worked in birmingham city centre from 1966 until the pub bombings in the 70s, when i moved to redditch. i loved the city, the hussle and bussle, but now it seems to have lost something.

steph

It's lost its soul and personality.

hi signman

yes, i remember the one on navigation street, the 45 and 41 buses from cotteridge and kings norton used to stop there. i had a bed sit in cotteridge when a teenager and we would buy the hotpotatoes to keep our hands warm whilst waiting for the bus home.

steph

Steph

Having carried out a lot of contracts of different types in the town, I used most of the back alleys and shuts as you call them. The one you describe in New Street is Christchurch Passage that was at the back of Galloway's Corner and led to Waterloo St by Waterloo house which I also worked on. We had to remove some facing walls high up on the building because the bricks were crumbling. I know the bricks used to replace then had to be made special they were white with a smooth shiny front surface and they were said to cost £5 each brick. Everything had to be carried up and down the steel fire escapes.

By the way Alberts St was at the end of the High Street and ran down to Moor St, Its where the Beehive department store was.

Phil

evening all...