Nechells

Another area of Birmingham where I spent part of my life and a lot of my childhood. A dirty smelly disease ridden unsanitary place by anybodies reckoning.

But to a youngster it was a wonderland, that half demolished building was were you and your mates fought the final stages of WW2. That bomb site with the lone tree was Sherwood Forest and the tree was the oak beneath the branches which Robin was buried. Young minds could imagine so many different scenarios but the one we never imagined was that the area was a slum. That realisation came to us later when answering Neachells when asked where we lived it was written all over the faces of those that asked.

But that was later we were still young and collecting wood from those part demolished houses when the workmen had finished for the day. We would load it on to our go carts and transport it back to the communal brewhouse where we would saw and chop it into firewood to sell around the neighbourhood to get our admittance money to the local fleapit The Ashted on Saturday Afternoon. If we had made enough money we could even afford an ice cream from the Italian ice cream who sold his ices from a bike outside the cinema when the matinée finished.

Phil

A little addition to my previous post. An image of the Ashted Cinema on Ashted Row in Nechells. The fleapit mentioned in my previous post. This was taken in 1957 and I can remember seeing the film advertised "The Benny Goodman Story" there. In fact I probably watched it twice as we often sat through the two houses.

Phil

Phil
I didn't know Nechells very well, apart from the smell of the nearby Gasworks. I did on occasion get to Vauxhall and Duddeston Station for a bit of train spotting (can you remember when that closed). I seem to remember that was a coach depot too. Trains were made up there to go around the country from New Streen station I think. SB

SB

As far as I am aware Vauxhall & Duddeston station is still in operation. They used to have the carriage cleaning sheds there but they closed a good while back. When we were teenagers we used to use the carriages for courting. The only trouble was that security checked them out all the time. So many a time we had to leg it. Vauxhall station was the first rail station in Birmingham being built shortly before Curzon St.

Phil

Phil I always understood that the Curzon Street station was first. I thought it was called Birmingham Station is that wrong. SB

SB

Vauxhall opened in 1837 and Curzon St opened in 1838. Albert on BF thinks that Curzon St might mistakenly be credited because it was the first direct line to London.

Phil

Could be, but isn't that why most people want Curzon Street saved because they think it was the first. SB

I don't think it is because it was first or second. I don't think that most people are even aware of that fact. I think its the building itself that they want to save. Lets face it, its beautiful and magnificent. Have you ever been inside?

Phil

No Phil I have never been inside. I imagine it could be quite ornate.

SB

No its not so much that as the scale of it.

Phil

Such as a big entrance hall you mean.

SB

Put is this way I wouldn't like to have to pay the heating bill.

Phil

This is the pub I had my first pint outside at the tender age of 15. Much too young looking to try going inside. The Sportsman Saltley Rd Nechells. It was a different pub then.

http://videos.sapo.pt/46H7EmOPmH01O9PQA3yT

Phil

I got a look inside curzon St in about 1968-9, and it was a bit run down, but would have been impressive when done up. One point on the earlier arguement. Vauxhall station site was the first birmingham station, but its been rebuilt twice, in 1869 and in the 195s after a fire, so the station, as it is, is not very historic, whereas one couldn't say that about Curzon St.
mike

Hi Mike nice to see you back again.
So the Curzon Street station building is really the oldest in Brum. I would think it puts it among some of the oldest Railway buildings in the country. SB