Birmingham Centenary Pageant
A young Mr Bradbury, of local metalworkers Bradbury's, inspects the armour made by the family firm in Highgate. The pageant was one of many held across the country in 1938. The Birmingham event was at ...
Dan Jones interview 1
Dan Jones was born in Handsworth in 1929, in a maternity home in Heathfield Road. He lived in Holyhead Road with his parents who were both deaf and mute, his father died when he was a child, so his mother ...
Dan Jones interview 2
Dan Jones was born in Handsworth in 1929. He went to St James's School and sang in the choir at St James's Church. He then moved to Wattville Road School, where his life became overshadowed by war. But ...
Dan Lawrence interview
Dan Lawrence was born in Jamaica in 1922 and came to Britain on the Empire Windrush in 1948. At first he lived in rented asccomodation in Harborne and Edgbaston then moved to lodgings in Handsworth, ...
Gurdip Gill interview 1
Gurdip Gill was born in Birmingham in 1969. His father is a Sikh who moved here from the Punjab around 1950, and has often talked to his son about what it was like when he first arrived:
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Gurdip Gill interview 2
Gurdip Gill was born in Birmingham in 1969. Gurdip Gill was 12 when riots broke out in Handsworth:
To listen to an extract of this interview select the link below.
Recorded and edited by Helen ...
Hamstead Colliery
Photograph of Hamstead Colliery Pit bottom after the fire, 1908
Hamstead Colliery Disaster March 1908
In 1875 the Hamstead Colliery Company purchased the Hamstead estate to look for coal; the colliery, by Great Barr station, was launched in July. Coal was essential for industry, and for domestic heating. ...
Hamstead Colliery Disaster March 4th 1908
The deaths of 29 miners in the disaster shocked the local community. Funds were raised in a variety of ways for families of the victims. Several commemorative postcards were issued such as this one which ...
Hamstead Colliery Disaster: The Miners' Last Message
This card was issued following the fire at Hamstead Colliery on March 4th 1908. The miners' names listed are: A.Curtis, J.Guest, H.Watts, T.Cole, T.Johnson and Joe Hodgkiss.The writing on the board was ...
Hamstead Colliery, Hamstead
Hamstead Brickworks, Old Walsall Road, Hamstead. The brickworks formed part of the colliery and were located between Old Walsall Road and the Tame Valley Canal.
Hamstead Colliery, Hamstead
General view of Hamstead Brickworks, Old Walsall Road, Hamstead. The brickworks were a department of Hamstead Colliery (1930) Limited.
Hamstead Colliery, Hamstead
Pamphlet published to invite 'the many business friends of Hamstead Colliery (1930) Limited' and interested members of the public to view the pithead baths at Hamstead Colliery on the weekend of 22nd/23rd ...
Hamstead Colliery, Hamstead
Sketch of Hamstead Colliery, Hamstead, taken from the Birmingham Daily Mail, 1898. Land was acquired for the colliery from the Hon. G.C. Calthorpe of Perry Hall in 1875 and slow progress was made until ...
John Hesman interview
John Hesman was born in 1935 and brought up in Emscote Road in Witton, just inside the old Handsworth boundary.
He lived in a "tunnel-back" house- one of several properties that shared the same entry, ...
Marjorie Sanders interview 1
Marjorie Sanders was born in 1915 in Hamilton Road, Handsworth. She lived in that road throughout her childhood, and her most vivid memories are of the nearby fields and streams:
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Marjorie Sanders interview 2
Marjorie Sanders was born in 1915 in Hamilton Road, Handsworth. She has many detailed memories of what it was like to go shopping in Handsworth in the 1920'2:
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Ossie interview
Ossie was born in 1964 and lived in Handsworth throughout his childhood. He remembers the riots in 1985 and rejects the idea that they were caused by inter-racial tensions:
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