Birmingham Back to Backs - the Real Story

Birmingham Back to Backs - the Real Story PDF Author: Ted Rudge
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781781552674
Category : Birmingham (England)
Languages : en
Pages : 128

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Book Description
Numerous back-to-back houses, two or three stories high, were built in Birmingham during the 19th century, the majority of them were still in quite good condition in the early 20th century. Most of these houses were concentrated in inner-city areas such as Ladywood, Handsworth, Aston, Small Heath and Highgate. By the early 1970s, almost all of Birmingham's back-to-back houses had been demolished. The occupants were re-housed in new council houses and flats, some in redeveloped inner-city areas, while the majority moved to new housing estates such as Castle Vale and Chelmsley Wood. In fact, back-to-backs were once the commonest form of housing in England, home to the majority of working people in Victorian cities, but they have now almost entirely vanished from our urban townscape. Author Ted Rudge, who is a National Trust guide at the Birmingham back-to-backs in Hurst Street (built in 1831), has collected many personal stories from people who grew up in these infamous houses. For some it was a harsh life, cramped and overcrowded, but it was also a place where life-long friendships and relationships were made. The approach of telling the story through oral history, before these stories are forgotten, will be a shock to many modern people who are completely oblivious that these living conditions were standard across much of the country. What was it like to live in a house with one bedroom and no running water? How did eleven families share two toilets? The rise and fall of the back-to-back is a sobering tale of how our nation houses its people, and illuminates the story of the development of urban

Birmingham Back to Backs - the Real Story

Birmingham Back to Backs - the Real Story PDF Author: Ted Rudge
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781781552674
Category : Birmingham (England)
Languages : en
Pages : 128

Get Book Here

Book Description
Numerous back-to-back houses, two or three stories high, were built in Birmingham during the 19th century, the majority of them were still in quite good condition in the early 20th century. Most of these houses were concentrated in inner-city areas such as Ladywood, Handsworth, Aston, Small Heath and Highgate. By the early 1970s, almost all of Birmingham's back-to-back houses had been demolished. The occupants were re-housed in new council houses and flats, some in redeveloped inner-city areas, while the majority moved to new housing estates such as Castle Vale and Chelmsley Wood. In fact, back-to-backs were once the commonest form of housing in England, home to the majority of working people in Victorian cities, but they have now almost entirely vanished from our urban townscape. Author Ted Rudge, who is a National Trust guide at the Birmingham back-to-backs in Hurst Street (built in 1831), has collected many personal stories from people who grew up in these infamous houses. For some it was a harsh life, cramped and overcrowded, but it was also a place where life-long friendships and relationships were made. The approach of telling the story through oral history, before these stories are forgotten, will be a shock to many modern people who are completely oblivious that these living conditions were standard across much of the country. What was it like to live in a house with one bedroom and no running water? How did eleven families share two toilets? The rise and fall of the back-to-back is a sobering tale of how our nation houses its people, and illuminates the story of the development of urban

Peaky Blinders - The Real Story of Birmingham's most notorious gangs

Peaky Blinders - The Real Story of Birmingham's most notorious gangs PDF Author: Carl Chinn
Publisher: Kings Road Publishing
ISBN: 1789461731
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Book Description
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER The Peaky Blinders as we know them, thanks to the hit TV series, are infused with drama and dread. Fashionably dressed, the charismatic but deeply flawed Shelby family blind enemies by slashing them with the disposable safety razor blades stitched in to the peaks of their flat caps, as they fight bloody gangland wars involving Irish terrorists and the authorities led by a devious Home Secretary, Winston Churchill. But who were the real Peaky Blinders? Did they really exist? Well-known social historian, broadcaster and author, Carl Chinn, has spent decades searching them out. Now he reveals the true story of the notorious Peaky Blinders, one of whom was his own great grandfather and, like the Shelbys, his grandfather was an illegal bookmaker in back-street Birmingham. In this gripping social history, Chinn shines a light on the rarely reported struggles of the working class in one of the great cities of the British Empire before the First World War. The story continues after 1918 as some Peaky Blinders transformed into the infamous Birmingham Gang. Led by the real Billy Kimber, they fought a bloody war with the London gangsters Darby Sabini and Alfie Solomon over valuable protection rackets extorting money from bookmakers across the booming postwar racecourses of Britain. Drawing together a remarkably wide-range of original sources, including rarely seen images of real Peaky Blinders and interviews with relatives of the 1920s gangsters, Peaky Blinders: The Real Story adds a new dimension to the true history of Birmingham's underworld and fact behind its fiction.

Tales of Guildford Street

Tales of Guildford Street PDF Author: Emilia Williams
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781858587097
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 178

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Book Description


The Real Peaky Blinders

The Real Peaky Blinders PDF Author: Carl Chinn
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781858585307
Category : Birmingham (England)
Languages : en
Pages : 112

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Book Description
Stylish and dark, the BBC series the 'Peaky Blinders' is set in the backstreets of Birmingham after the First World War and tells of the rise to power of Thomas Shelby and his criminal gang. Yet the real stories behind these fictional characters are just as dramatic, bloody and compelling as the TV series. Thomas Shelby's arch enemy Billy Kimber was in real life a Brummie from Summer Lane. He was a feared fighter with an astute mind and magnetic personality which earned him the leadership of the Birmingham Gang that dominated the highly profitable protection rackets of the racecourses of England. The members of this gang had once been 'sloggers' or 'peaky blinders' and their rise to supremacy was attributable to their viciousness and to Kimber's shrewd alliances with other gangs. But they soon incurred the envy of the Sabini Gang of London who fought violently to oust Kimber and his men and take over their rackets. The Birmingham Gang battled back fiercely in the infamous and blood-stained racecourse wars of the 1920s. This Birmingham Gang led by Billy Kimber were the Real Peaky Blinders and this is their story.

Houses of the National Trust

Houses of the National Trust PDF Author: Lydia Greeves
Publisher: National Trust
ISBN: 1911657364
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 1047

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Book Description
This captivating book, fully revised and updated and featuring more NT houses than ever before, is a guide to some of the greatest architectural treasures of Britain, encompassing both interior and exterior design. This new edition is fully revised and updated and includes entries for new properties including: Acorn Bank, Claife Viewing Station, Cushendun, Cwmdu, Fen Cottage, The Firs (birthplace of Edward Elgar), Hawker's Hut, Lizard Wireless Station, Totternhoe Knolls and Trelissick. The houses covered include spectacular mansions such as Petworth House and Waddesdon Manor, and more lowly dwellings such as the Birmingham Back to Backs and estate villages like Blaise Hamlet, near Bristol. In addition to houses, the book also covers fascinating buildings as diverse as churches, windmills, dovecotes, castles, follies, barns and even pubs. The book also acts as an overview of the country's architectural history, with every period covered, from the medieval stronghold of Bodiam Castle to the clean-lined Modernism of The Homewood. Teeming with stories of the people who lived and worked in these buildings: wealthy collectors (Charles Wade at Snowshill), captains of industry (William Armstrong at Cragside), prime ministers (Winston Churchill at Chartwell) and pop stars (John Lennon at Mendips). Written in evocative, imaginative prose and illustrated with glorious images from the National Trust's photographic library, this book is an essential guide to the built heritage of England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Heritage Interpretation

Heritage Interpretation PDF Author: Marion Blockley
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135129177
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 217

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Book Description
An essential guide to present practice and policy concerning issues in heritage management, Heritage Interpretation draws on the accumulated expertise and international reputation for excellence of the UK heritage industry to describe and analyze best practice in heritage interpretation. The contributors, all responsible for developing best practices, come from a range of heritage organizations including English Heritage, The National Trust, Historic Scotland, CADW and National Parks. They draw on examples from throughout the UK, from public art and twentieth-century military remains, to cathedrals and urban heritage, and discuss the range of interpretive options available and how they can be appropriately tailored to specific places and audiences. Providing practical guidance on interpretive techniques, the book provides insights into the philosophies and thinking that underpins their adoption in particular contexts. This clear and easy guide is an valuable addition to the reading list of any student of history or heritage studies.

Underground Birmingham

Underground Birmingham PDF Author: JEFF E. NEWMAN
Publisher: America Through Time
ISBN: 9781634992626
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 96

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Book Description


Living Back-To-Back

Living Back-To-Back PDF Author: Chris Upton
Publisher: Phillimore
ISBN: 9781860776557
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Back-to-backs were once the commonest form of housing in England, home to the majority of working people in Victorian cities, but they have now almost entirely vanished from our urban townscape. The survival of Court 15 in Birmingham is the starting point of this book. A mixture of documentary evidence and oral history tells the story of those who lived there, each unique - a glass eye maker from Birmingham, a Jewish watch-maker from Poland and a little girl who used to sleep in the entry. Each contributes fascinating evidence about 19th- and 20th-century Britain, from the boom years of Victorian expansion to the Hungry Thirties. Dr Upton explores such practical matters as: What was it like to live in a house with one bedroom and no running water? How did eleven families share two toilets? This book also looks at issues of where we live and why. The rise and fall of the back-to-back is a sobering tale of how our nation houses its people, and illuminates the story of the development of urban housing.

Faded and Threadbare Historic Textiles and their Role in Houses Open to the Public

Faded and Threadbare Historic Textiles and their Role in Houses Open to the Public PDF Author: Margaret Ponsonby
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317136896
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 402

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Book Description
Many historic houses that open to the public in England and Wales - particularly those owned by the National Trust - preserve their contents rather than restore them to a particular period. The former owners of these houses often retained objects from various periods and this layering of history produces interiors that look aged and patinated. Although the reason for this preservation and lack of fashionable renewable can be attributed to declining economic fortunes in the twentieth century, there are many examples of families practising this method of homemaking over a much longer period. Taking National Trust properties as its central focus, this book examines three interlocking themes to examine the role of historic textiles. Firstly it looks at houses with preserved contents together with the reasons for individual families choosing this lifestyle; secondly the role of the National Trust as both guardian and interpreter of these houses and their collections; and finally, and most importantly, the influence of textiles to contribute to the appearance of interiors, and their physical attributes that carry historical resonances of the past. The importance of preserved textiles in establishing the visual character of historic houses is a neglected area and therefore the prominence given to textiles in this project constitutes an original contribution to the study of these houses. Drawing upon a range of primary sources, including literature produced by the National Trust for their sites, and documentary sources for the families and their houses (such as diaries, letters and household accounts), the study takes a broad approach that will be of interest to all those with an interest in material culture, heritage, collecting studies and cultural history.

Ancestral Chains (DNA Part III of VIII) Allden Bloodline

Ancestral Chains (DNA Part III of VIII) Allden Bloodline PDF Author: Mark D Bishop
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 0244303797
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
Fanciful stories of rags-to-riches are fascinating. Yet, when such is part & parcel of one's ancestry, it becomes real. Having known physical hardship in the back-to-backs of Birmingham, great-grandfather Allden determined never to be poor again. An inherent ability in mental arithmetic was to play a major role in the family Commission Agent business; but did the gamble pay off? The Industrial Revolution is never far away in Birmingham & the Black Country, where the Alldens played their part in firing up and arming the nation. Jockeying around was also a major pastime and a money earner for the boys. Complex family relationships also set the scene when it was better to keep Mum; but lose her they did. A fun-loving Step-Mum & private education stepped in, but did the Alldens find their middle-class roots again. From whence did they hail & why had they fallen? Ancestry is but a game of Snakes & Ladders, so did the Alldens win in the end? Also, is there more of the Allden in the author than he cares to admit?