From time to time, society members produce articles about
interesting events in the history of King's Heath.
Town Hall Music and Meetings by Margaret R.
Shepherd.
"Occasional Paper 15". Work on the Birmingham Town Hall began
in 1832 but that wasn't the start of concerts in Birmingham. They had been
taking place since 1768 in a local theatre and at St Philip's Church in order
to raise money for the construction of the General Hospital.
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Farms in and around King's Heath by Margaret R.
Shepherd.
"Occasional Paper 13". The area now known as King's Heath was
once, as its name implies, heath land which contained a number of farms. This
intersting paper looks at the history of these farms with the use of many old
maps.
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NEW Memories of the
Coronation in Kings Heath, June 1953. Compiled by Margaret R.
Shepherd.
"Occasional Paper 12". News clips and memories from the area
on the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Read about the street parties and
crowds around the new-fangled television sets, or, watching it in colour when
the newsreels were shown at the Kingsway cinema.
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NEW King's Heath in the
First World War compiled by Margaret R. Shepherd from notes by Jan
Pick.
"Occasional Paper 11". King's Heath was affected just as much
as anywhere during WW1 with refugees to house, buildings requisitioned for use
as hospitals and of course, the number of residents who went away to war, many
never to return..
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Old Farms of King's Heath by Andy Bishop.
Another look at the farms of the King's Heath area taken from
a talk given by Andy Bishop in 2019. Andy found record of 22 farms and
documents some of them in detail.
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Colmore Road Infants School 1930 - 1957 by Margaret
R. Shepherd.
"Occasional Paper 9". Following on from Paper 4 (see below)
Margaret documents the school's history into the 1950s. This paper has some
colour pictures.
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Colmore Road Boys' / Junior School 1909 - 1957 by Margaret
R. Shepherd.
"Occasional Paper 8". The building of the Colmore Road
schools, known originally as Grove Road schools, was ordered by Northfield and
King's Norton district council in 1908 to alleviate overcrowding in King's
Heath school.
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What the journals said about the Chamberlains of Highbury.
Edited by Ivor Davies.
"Occasional Paper 6". From 1993. Ivor Davies has compiled a
large number of extracts from journals featuring the lives of the Chamberlain
family of Highbury. This is Part One "Joseph and Mary Chamberlain".
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Comore Road Girls' School King's Heath 1911 - 1930 by
Margaret R. Shepherd.
"Occasional Paper 5". Written in 1991, this paper follows the
school and its staff from their move into purpose built premises in 1911
through to about 1930.
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Colmore Road Infant School Kings Heath 1909 - 1925 by
Margaret R. Shepherd.
"Occasional Paper 4". A paper written in 1988 detailing the
running of Colmore Road Infant School in the early part of the 20th
century.
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NEW Memories of
Kings Heath. Compiled by Mary and Walter Reynolds.
"Occasional Paper 3". This paper (from 1989) contains a small
collection of personal anecdotes, mostly pre1939-45, written by mambers and
friends of King's Heath Local History Society, who have witnessed the many
changes in the village in the 20th century.
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NEW The Maypole. By
Stan A. Budd.
"Occasional Paper 2". The Hollywood maypole was one of two
erected in the parish of King's Norton in the seventeenth century. This maypole
- situated at the junction of Alcester Road, Alcester Road South, Druid's Lane
and Maypole Lane - was erected amidst some controversy..
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Uffculme - Home of Richard Barrow Cadbury - by Gail
Pittaway and Julia C Griffin
Over the last hundred years or so, Uffculme has seen service
as a home, a hospital and a school in various different specialisms. Following
extensive refurbishment, Uffculme is now also one of the region's best training
and conference centres.
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Buses and Trams in Kings Heath - Celebrating 130
years of history - by Barry Maddocks
From the first steam trams of 1887 to the famous no. 50 route
- reputed to be one of the busiest in Europe - Barry takes a brief look at some
of the most significant public transport services that have served Kings
Heath over the years.
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Memories of King's Heath In The Second World War compiled
by Margaret R. Shepherd
An account of memories of the people of King's Heath during
the run up and the development of world war two, including a List of
Requirements for a Gas Proof Room and extracts from the log books of local
schools.
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Farewell to Colliers. By Diane Hirst.
The name of Phillip Collier became a household word amongst
discerning gentlemen and soon his shops were to be found in all parts of the
West Midlands. This gentleman's outfitter had it's roots on the High Street of
King's Heath.
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Kenneth Hirst gentlemen's outfitter. By Diane
Hirst.
Hirst and Sons - later Kenneth Hirst - occupied a prominent
position on the High Street until 1973. Diane recalls the family business.
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More Memories of King's Heath life. Compiled by Ivor
Davies.
A collection of reminiscences of past and present King's
Heathens including the Robinson family (late 19th century), tales of a
milkround from the early 20th century and memories of a King's Heath childhood
in the 20s and 30s.
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PDF
King's Heath Street Names
A presentation delivered to the Society by Andy Bishop and Bob
Blackham which studies the origins of the names of some of the streets in
King's Heath. It is a very interesting document with many old pictures of the
area.
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PDF
The History of the Cross Guns by Andy Bishop
The Cross Guns stands on the corner of the busy High Street
and Bank Street in Kings Heath. A pub has stood on this same site for over 200
years and played a very important part in the history and the community of
Kings Heath.
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The Hare and Hounds by Andy Bishop
Now a vibrant music venue the Hare and Hounds is the second
oldest pub in the centre of Kings Heath and this is its story.
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The Grange, King's Heath by S. A. Budd
The Grange was a large mansion built towards the end of the
18th century, shortly after the construction of the Digbeth to Spernal Ash
Turnpike Road. The house was situated about two hundred yards west of the
Alcester Road that we know today and about four hundred and fifty yards north
of Bleak Lane.
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The History of Colmore Road Primary School by Margeret R
Shepherd
Colmore Road Infant School began in January 1909 in Kings
Heath House in the park and moved to the new premises in Colmore Road in April
1911. The building was taken over as a military hospital in 1915 and staff and
pupils moved to join Kings Heath School until 1919.
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Isaac Bate by Andy Bishop
Isaac was a very generous benefactor to Kings Heath. He,
along with other wealthy men in Kings Heath, such as Joseph Nettlefold at
Kingsfield House (where Saint Dunstans now stands), gave their money to
build Kings Heath Institute in 1878.
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Highbury
An information leaflet by the Chamberlain Highbury Trust This
new charity was formed in 2015 to restore the house and grounds of the Highbury
estate. Full of information and pictures.
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PDF