Friday, 15 February 2013

Stechford, Birmingham, Albert Road c1911

Stechford, Birmingham, Albert Road circa 1911. Stechford is a suburb of Birmingham, a few miles east of the city centre. In the centre of this old picture we can see the post office, run by Elizabeth Maria Northwood. Elizabeth Maria Northwood was a 55 year old spinster in the 1911 census. In the modern Steet View the building that housed her post office has completely disappeared. Photograph by an uncredited publisher. Click the picture to enlarge.

For more old photos visit the Sepia Saturday blog.



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11 comments:

  1. It is interesting to study the two views and to notice how subtle the differences are. Of course, the missing building is not subtle. What happened to it? I would think a fire would have destroyed more than just the one building, so maybe it wasn't a fire.

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  2. I love this sort of stuff. Comparisons I mean - then and now. Thanks for sharing.

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  3. What a pity that very few of those old street lamps survive. Granted they weren't nearly as good light sources, but they made very good street ornaments. That was a nice street view back in 1911, pretty much ruined now.

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  4. It looks much better then than now, as so often is said.

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  5. E M Northwood's Post Office has gone and surprisingly nothing has been put in it's place.

    The modern signage appears as an affront to the eyes.

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  6. It would have been better if the Post Office had stayed and the other buildings had gone.

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  7. There really should be rules about those horrendous shop signs that are destroying the urban environment.

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  8. I've visited Birmingham twice (I had a niece living there) and really enjoyed it.

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  9. Am I silly, but I usually do enjoy the old, before from the (I know harder past) but there's something so magical and important in those older views!

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  10. That might be the most decrepit street in all your modern views, Howard. You'll have to look for a postcard of Deakins Hardware at 161 just back up the street. The boarded up front looks contemporary with Miss Northwood's post office, and could now be a setting for a Stephen King novel.

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