UPDATE: #023 O'Neills, Curzon Street, Birmingham : 1998 to 2017 (RIP)

Back in 2011 when I first wrote this entry, I didn't know what was going to happen with this site. Below, you can see the final fate of this junction.

 

When I toured around the Digbeth area of Birmingham, O'Neills was a completely new place to me and, to be honest didn't look too appealing. This is the tenth in my 'Birmingham Eastside' series.

 However, as I've been doing some background research I've discovered that, in a previous life, this was the Old Railway, a popular music venue. More information is to be found here.


Moving on to 2011, and the title gives it away somewhat, this was the scene that presented itself to me.

Gone completely, yet the Give Way and street signs remain in exactly the same places! This was the sort of scene I expected to find when I set out on this project, but it is still quite a shock to find no trace of the pub. The building on the left, in the distance, is Moby Dick's which will feature later on in this series.


What the future holds for this area is still unsure. To the left of where the picture was taken is the Thinktank and behind me is the now defunct Curzon Street Station. If the HS2 High Speed Rail ever gets built, the Birmingham branch will terminate at Curzon Street, so maybe there will be more pubs opened/reopened in the environs. Well, we can hope!

 

So, here we are in 2017 and this is the current view of the corner of Curzon Street and Cardigan Street.

Now the Curzon Building of Birmingham City University stands proudly where once stood The Old Railway pub/O'Neills - I suppose that's progress!

 

Much work is still ongoing and I can report good news regarding Moby Dick's that was visible in 2011 from this position. It has survived and is now the student union bar. I couldn't get a photo as there is still a lot of construction work going on around it.

 

Progress has also been made on the HS2 Project and the new station will be directly behind where I was standing for this photo

#219 Leigh Arms, Little Leigh, Cheshire : 2000 to 2016

The Leigh Arms is probably the only pub that we've visited from different waterways on each occasion.

Our first visit there was on the evening of Sunday 3rd September 2000 on our return from a long trip to Manchester.

By the time we'd moored up it was almost 8pm and, with it being a Sunday, we were expecting it to be a close run thing as to whether we'd be able to get any food. As it turned out, the food had just closed for the night when we arrived, but the chef was willing to prepare us a Chilli Con Carne as there was still some left - so, what could have been a disaster turned into a very pleasant evening!

On that occasion we'd been travelling along the Trent & Mersey Canal heading south, back towards the Midlands.

Our most recent visit was on the evening of Sunday 14th August 2016 and this time we were travelling along the River Weaver having moored at Acton Bridge.

Although we were earlier in the evening this time (about 7pm) the food service had stopped at 6pm, which seems to be quite common these days on a Sunday. So, we had a pint, discovered that the Riverside Inn was a short walk away and, with it being a Marston's pub, was serving food until 9pm. We decamped and spent the rest of the evening in the Riverside Inn.

In the Footsteps of Phyllis...(Part 1)

This entry doesn't exactly fall within the usual remit of this blog, but it's near enough for me. I first discovered the photos by Phyllis Nicklin a few years ago, initially, via the BrumPic website and was immediately fascinated by these pictures of a Birmingham in the 50's and 60's from a time before I came to the city. 

A brief biography of Phyllis Nicklin can be found here on the BrumPic website.

The initial photos had been digitised and stored at Birmingham University, but a couple of years ago Dave Oram of BrumPic discovered another set of photos at the university leading to the exhibition 'Nicklin Unseen'.

I had thought about seeking out some of the locations and taking contemporary photos, but decided that it was far too big an undertaking. I did however use a picture of The Great Stone pub in Northfield for this blog entry - #158.

However, that's as far as it went until I recently became aware that The Grid Project had decided to take on the job and invite participation from Birmingham's photographers. I jumped at the chance and I've now submitted my first six pictures.

Dave Allen (no relation) is curating the project and has limited everyone to six pictures initially so that everyone gets a fair crack of the whip. My six included five canal locations...and The Great Stone!

So, I set off for deepest, darkest Northfield to take a picture of The Great Stone - this is the scene that greeted me.

One of the banes of my photographic life - the big white van! I've lost count of the number of times that a delivery van or lorry has spoiled a potentially great photo. It also wasn't the best time of day for the light and so I decided to return another day (the next day as it turned out!).

© Peter Allen (2017) for The Birmingham Photographic Grid Project 2017

Amazingly, roadworks had appeared overnight, but at least the white vans were much less conspicuous. 

Phyllis Nicklin (1953) © The University of Birmingham

This was Phyllis' photo - not too much has changed in 64 years.

As I returned to my car someone asked me if I knew where The Great Stone was. "The pub is just over the road" I replied, but he was actually looking for The Great Stone. It is to be found in the village pound behind the gate to the right of the pub. His reaction was one of underwhelmment; it isn't a massive boulder and he was concerned that his brother and wife would not be impressed when they visit from Leicestershire. I made sympathetic noises and departed.

My next location was way over the other side of town in the shadow of Spaghetti Junction. This was the one picture that I had really wanted to attempt.

Phyllis Nicklin (1968) © The University of Birmingham

The title of this one is Hockley Brook, Salford, Birmingham and I couldn't immediately place it. The map location given was also incorrect, so I was intrigued to track down the actual location. I realised that it was on the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal just before it meets the Tame Valley Canal and the Grand Union Canal at Salford Junction. We've sailed over this aqueduct many times, but I had never seen it from this perspective.

© Peter Allen (2017) for The Birmingham Photographic Grid Project 2017

This is how it looks now - almost everything around the waterways has changed, but the canal, River Tame (flowing from right to left under the canal) and Hockley Brook (running parallel to the canal) follow the same course.

My next location was only a few yards away on the Tame Valley Canal. I knew exactly where this one was because we'd traversed this section of canal last June.

Phyllis Nicklin (1968) © The University of Birmingham

© Peter Allen (2017) for The Birmingham Photographic Grid Project 2017

All that remains is the canal and the toll island, everything else has been consumed by Spaghetti Junction. I was quite surprised to see a boat approaching, as the Tame Valley Canal isn't one of the busiest waterways (although it is well worth a visit!). The people on the boat had just bought it from Walsall and were taking it to Market Harborough - perfect boating weather!

Onwards! My next destination was Farmer's Bridge. This time I knew exactly where I was going.

Phyllis Nicklin (1953) © The University of Birmingham

© Peter Allen (2017) for The Birmingham Photographic Grid Project 2017

This is the start of the descent of the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal through the thirteen Farmer's Bridge Locks. Back in 1953 the canal arm to the right extended much further than it does today; now it is known as Cambrian Wharf which is overlooked by the Flapper pub (unseen to the right).

As I was strolling by the locks after taking this picture I met a chap who'd known the pub as Noah's Ark back when he was a student in the 80's and he was marvelling at how it had all changed since those days.

This is one of my favourite views of the canals in Birmingham and here's one of my Photo Digital Art pictures that I took last summer.

© Photo Digital Art 2017

 My final destination was Gas Street Basin. At first glance, I thought that I'd been given the same two pictures, but on closer inspection, the photos were taken seven years apart, from the same location.

Phyllis Nicklin (1961) © The University of Birmingham

© Peter Allen (2017) for The Birmingham Photographic Grid Project 2017

Phyllis Nicklin (1968) © The University of Birmingham

© Peter Allen (2017) for The Birmingham Photographic Grid Project 2017

It is interesting to note the subtle differences between 1961 and 1968 and the not-so-subtle changes since. I do remember the days before the footbridge was built and back to a time when just about the only access to the canals in Birmingham was at Gas Street Basin.

I had a long chat with a couple of Canal & River Trust fund raisers who were valiantly (but in vain, whilst I was there) trying to sign up new 'Friends' of the CRT. One is a fellow boater and her boat is moored at Calf Heath on the Staffs & Worcs Canal and the other is an archaeology student at Birmingham University (perhaps she might get involved in the project).

So, there you have it, my experiences on my first Birmingham Grid Project outing. These photos won't be uploaded to the project website for a few days, but once it gets into full swing you'll be able to see just how much Birmingham has changed since Phyllis Nicklin took to the streets with her camera. I can't wait to see the other photos (and get out to do some more myself!).

# 218 The Plaza, Rugeley, Staffordshire : 1999 to 2016

Rugeley has always been something of an enigma, to put it politely. The Trent & Mersey Canal runs through the centre of the town and with good moorings offers access to all the shopping you'd need on a boating trip. There are quite a few pubs in the town, but there aren't many GOOD pubs! Places to eat in the evening are also few and far between.

I do remember the first time we visited The Plaza in Rugeley, though. In the early days I wasn't a fan of Wetherspoons pubs, but I was 'blown away' with the interior of The Plaza when I first walked in. The whole wall, where the screen would have been was now glass, from floor to ceiling.

 This was at lunchtime on Tuesday 31st August 1999.

We didn't return to The Plaza for a few years and when we did this is what we found.

 This was another lunchtime stop on Tuesday 5th September 2006. As we all know, Wetherspoons pubs never change...or do they? The free standing sign has been replaced, together with the signs either side of the entrance and flowers have appeared on the canopy over the entrance as well as in hanging baskets.

It was again quite a few years before we ventured back to The Plaza.

This was on the evening of Monday 6th April 2015. Again, the exterior signage had been replaced and the hanging baskets were still in place, but it was a little too early in the years for them to bloom. Interestingly, the Council have removed the railings which has allowed the pub to build a little outdoor enclave, presumably for the smokers.

Our most recent visit occurred almost exactly a year later on the evening of Monday 28th March 2016.

 Not much had changed in a year, but there are now tables and chairs in the smoking enclaves (it is now possible to see that these outdoor areas are both sides of the entrance.

For the second year running, we ate in The Plaza as it was the best option we could find in the town. I must admit that, over the years, I've warmed up more to Wetherspoons pubs. I think that they've become somewhat more 'pubby' than in the early days and the bar service is now pretty good. I don't think that they'll ever become my 'go to' choice except in places like Ellesmere Port, Bingley and Rugeley!