Some history on Camp Hill at Bordesley in Birmingham in the County of Warwickshire

Camp Hill Pubs

Camp Hill was both the name of the locale where a busy six-ways junction was created and the thoroughfare connecting the main road from High Street Bordesley and Stratford Road. The creation of Camp Hill Circus, a large roundabout on the middleway, was the reason for many of the buildings being demolished. The only building left on the old road is Holy Trinity Church. Typical of inner Birmingham, everything else has vanished from the landscape.

Map of Camp Hill

Birmingham : Map of Camp Hill at Bordesley [1887]
© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with kind permission of the National Library of Scotland under the Creative Commons Attribution licence.

The name is widely thought to be a reference to the camp established here by Prince Rupert's forces during the English Civil War. However, the locale was formerly known as Kempe Hill, or Kempe's Hill, after a family of farmers who owned extensive tracts of land here in medieval times.¹

Birmingham : Advertisement for Dowding and Mills Limited at Camp Hill [1960]

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Photographs of Camp Hill

Birmingham : Holy Trinity Church at Bordesley [c.1900]
© Image from author's photographic archive. DO NOT COPY

Holy Trinity Church is the only tangible evidence of the 19th century along Camp Hill. I would not be surprised to learn that it was pencilled in for demolition during recent times. However, with listed status, the building has survived though it ceased to function as a church in 1964-5. The local residents had been moved out into the suburbs, their homes being demolished. The remaining parishioners were merged with the parish of Sparkbrook.² The Church of England authorities offered the building to other denominations, the Greek Orthodox Church showing interest before negotiations fell through.³ Within a couple of years vandals had wreaked havoc, windows being smashed and headstones being broken. The garden of the vicarage was used as a rubbish tip.² In September 1968 it was announced that the building was to be converted into a centre for civic and artistic events,⁴ but this plan did not get off the ground. The organ was removed for installation elsewhere. The eagle lectern, which had been stolen, was spotted in a London antiques shop by the eagle-eyed [sorry] keeper of the Department of Art, Dr. Peter Cannon-Brookes, who knew the piece from his visits to Holy Trinity. The lectern, made of gilt brass and thought to be Flemish of the late 16th century, was recovered and placed in the City Art Gallery.⁵

Built with brick and Bath stone, Holy Trinity Church was designed by the London-based architect, Francis Goodwin, and was described as a "rich display of the beauties of the early style of pointed architecture. In its general character it has been assimilated to King's College Chapel, Cambridge." ⁶ It was the second Commissioners' church to be built in Birmingham [technically this was in Aston when built] and marked a transition from classical architecture to the Gothic.⁷ Before later development, the building commanded a remarkable view, particularly along Bradford Street. A tower was eschewed in favour of two turrets terminated by dwarf spires, the buttresses being finished with decorated pinnacles. The altar piece, of Christ at the pool of Bethesda, was the work of George Foggo.

In the Victorian period Holy Trinity was embroiled in ecclesiastical politics within the Anglican Church. Succeeding Birmingham's first Ritualist priest, the Reverend Dr. Joseph Oldknow, Richard William Enraght was imprisoned in 1880 for his high church practices. His trial was reported in the National media and became known as the Bordesley Wafer Case.⁸ A public outcry meant that he only served 49 days in Warwick gaol, but his licence was subsequently revoked. When the Bishop of Worcester appointed Rev. Alan H. Watts as the new incumbent, an angry mob of several thousand gathered outside the building. A large police presence was required to maintain order, a large body of reservists being stationed in Ravenhurst Street. Holy Trinity eventually settled down to become a 'low' church.⁹

Birmingham : Holy Trinity Church from Bradford Street at Bordesley [February 26th, 1954]
© Image taken by the late Phyllis Nicklin, a tutor in geography in the former Department of Extramural Studies at the University of Birmingham. Copyright and database rights of her images belongs to the Museums, Libraries and Archives [MLA] West Midlands and the University of Birmingham who kindly grant permission for display on non-commercial sites.

Another great photograph taken by the late Phyllis Nicklin who would have been stood outside a shop on the south side of Bradford Street on February 26th, 1954. Look how tiny that car is - like a Dinky toy. I have an inter-war garage that could have housed such a vehicle but not a modern car! Part of the vicarage can be seen to the right of the church. Seven years after this photograph was taken the vicar left this residence to post a letter. He was never seen again. In October 1961 it was reported that the car belonging to the Reverend Henry Raveley Guest was found near the cliffs at Point Lynas, Anglesey. Despite a search by police, farmers and lighthouse men, his body was not recovered.¹⁰

Born in Worcester towards the end of Queen Victoria's reign, Henry Guest was educated at King Edward's School, and graduated from Oxford in 1933. Following two years at Wycliffe Hall Theological College he was ordained in Birmingham during 1935, after which he was appointed curate of Saint Michael and All Angels at Langley. He became vicar of Holy Trinity Church in 1951. His father, Henry Joseph Guest, spent a career in banking before being ordained at the age of 64. He was a member of the staff at Birmingham Cathedral. A brother of Henry Raveley Guest was Air-Marshall Sir Charles Guest, former Inspector-General of the Royal Air Force, who was appointed Aeronautical Adviser to the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation.¹¹ The body of the 63-year-old vicar of Holy Trinity Church was never found, the family being given permission by the High Court to presume his death.

Taken from the northern side of Bradford Street, the photographer may have waited for some time in order to capture both forms of transport in the same shot, along with Holy Trinity Church. Although there is more of the vicarage compared to the previous photograph, the tram does prevent us from seeing the building in full. A road sign to the left shows that Moseley Road was closed when this photograph was taken. The sign advised motorists to go via Camp Hill and Stratford Place. The sign to the rear of the No.31a bus displays the destination was Gospel Lane via Shaftmoor Lane.

Birmingham : Shop on the corner of Camp Hill and Bradford Street at Bordesley [c.1937]
© Image from author's photographic archive. DO NOT COPY

Here a tramcar, numbered 725, is heading south along Camp Hill towards Stratford Road. The frontage of the Bull's Head can be seen in the distance. Two women can be seen on the opposite side of Bradford Street, the one about to step into the road but cannot be bothered to walk a couple of paces to the safety of the zebra crossing. Behind them on the corner is a building on which two union jack flags were hanging from the first floor. This would point to a date of 1937 when King George Vi was crowned. The shop frontage was angled so that it faced both Camp Hill and Bradford Street. The premises had an entry on the Camp Hill frontage, leading to a yard with a number of outbuildings to the rear.

Birmingham : Housing on eastern side of Camp Hill at Bordesley [1960]
© Image taken by the late Phyllis Nicklin, a tutor in geography in the former Department of Extramural Studies at the University of Birmingham. Copyright and database rights of her images belongs to the Museums, Libraries and Archives [MLA] West Midlands and the University of Birmingham who kindly grant permission for display on non-commercial sites.

Thank goodness for Phyllis Nicklin and her wonderful photographic survey of the city during the 1950's and 1960's. Here she captured the housing on the eastern side of Camp Hill, below the Church of Holy Trinity. Adjacent to the church, the first block of four houses were between Trinity Terrace and Drayton Terrace. The block of three houses further down fronted a row of housing along Drayton Terrace. Behind the next block of three houses was Bedford Buildings, a group of four cottages. The housing on the left of the photograph had a row eight properties behind. These were collectively known as Albert Buildings and were accessed via a passage just out of the shot.

This is further down the hill from the last photograph and shows Wellington Terrace from a position on Warner Street. Only two and a bit of the row can be seen. There were four houses making up this row of properties. There were two entries, one of which can be seen here, that led to rear outbuildings and a yard. The houses also had a small front garden. I guess they could be described as houses for artisan workers, a cut above the housing and conditions found in courts.

Another view of Wellington Terrace. This photograph was taken on Sunday October 16th, 1961, hence the crowd of people watching the installation of the Camp Hill Flyover. Imagine the change of view the residents had from their front windows in the space of just two days, not to mention the noise of traffic travelling over the steel bridge in the days that followed. Just one person helping the crane driver guide the section into place - no high-vis jackets in those days!

In this view the person holding the camera is stood in Warner Street and pointing the camera towards the shops at the 'bottom' of Camp Hill, near the junction of Coventry Road. The properties on the corner of Warner Street and Camp Hill had been cleared by this date. There was once a cluster of houses on the corner, adjacent to both McDowell's Almshouses and the Bordesley Works where bedsteads were manufactured in Victorian times. The roundabout had been created at the junction - I assume that this photograph was taken on a quiet Sunday as there is no traffic. The junction would become clogged with traffic jams, leading to the construction of the Camp Hill Flyover three years later.

Numbered 210 Camp Hill, the shop on the corner of Coventry Road was a greengrocery and general stores operated by Rogers and Son. An electoral roll for 1960 records Raymond Rogers living on the premises. Two doors away at No.208 Frederick and Edna Preece were in residence. Two years earlier, when this photograph was taken, the ground floor was occupied by Lydia, an outfitters shop. During the Second World War the business was trading as Davis & Fountain, milliners. At that time, the corner site was occupied by the dentist Louis William Burke.

Because the sale of beer is involved, I have zoomed in to show the off-licence at No.209 Camp Hill. I assume that is Peter Goodyear stood on the doorstep as he and his wife June were recorded here in the electoral roll. The frontage featured painted advertisements for both Ansell's and M&B so it was probably free-of-tie. The premises had long been used as an off-licence though in the mid-Victorian period it was a confectioner's shop.

The shops near the corner of Coventry Road, along with the whole of Wellington Terrace, can be seen in this photograph taken on July 20th, 1961. By the look of it, the schools have just tipped out as boys and girls in uniform are making their way down the hill. On the right of the photograph is the premises of Dowding and Mills Limited, the electrical engineering firm. The factory had been extended four years earlier. Providing services for high-voltage generators and motors and other rotating electromechanical equipment, the company was taken over by the Swiss firm, Sulzer, in 2010 and the business name changed. Founded by William Dowding and Harry Mills in 1913, the company was based on Camp Hill for around a century. The two men established the business in a former organ manufactory on part of the site the firm occupied for the rest of the 20th century. The site was closed and demolished around 2021, the land being used for the Camp Hill Gardens housing development scheme.

Arthur Edward Hollings was managing director of Dowding and Mills from the end of the Second World War until his death whilst on holiday in Switzerland the year before this photograph was taken. Born in Ashton, Staffordshire, in 1898, he studied electrical engineering at nights and weekends before obtaining work with an electrical firm. During the First World War he served in the Royal Flying Corps, following which he started his industrial training with Dowding and Mills. As a skilled engineer he was head-hunted by another firm so, in order to retain his services, he was made a director. The business was highly successful and, after hostilities in 1945, when one of the two remaining directors retired, Dowding and Mills was converted into a public company with Arthur Hollings as Managing Director.

This bus stop and garage were on the opposite side of the road from Dowding and Mills. The forecourt of the petrol station was on the corner of Warner Street. Behind the bus stop there is an advertisement for Bennett & Rawson, a cooperage based at 191-4 Bradford Street. The firm had branched into making packing cases according to the wording on this advertisement.

This view shows part of the forecourt of the petrol station that was opposite Dowding and Mills. Two men are behind the Vauxhall Velox saloon car, perhaps the driver and the attendant. The forecourt was largely rough dirt and gravel, though there is a concete hard-standing next to the pumps that dispensed Regent petrol, a brand that would be phased out and replaced by Texaco. The houses behind the garage, in the middle of the photograph, are the remnants of Camp Hill Cottages. There were, of course, old buildings on the site of the petrol station. It was a mixed development of housing and shops.

Camp Hill Service Station, as it was listed in trade directories, can be seen in the background of this photograph showing landscape gardneners planting shrubs on the newly-created roundabout at the junction of Camp Hill, Coventry Road and High Street Bordesley. I was very pleased to acquire this unusual photograph but no date was written on the rear. However, a large billboard near the workshop of the service station has the title "The Atom Bomb Traitors" in what seems to be an announcement or advertisement for extracts in the Sunday Times. This points to June 1952 when the newspaper trickled out the story of the spy Klaus Fuchs.

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Camp Hill Flyover

For Brummies of a certain age, the mention of Camp Hill brings back memories of the temporary bridge erected in October 1961. I say temporary - the structure remained for 28 years, finally being taken down in 1989. Installed to relieve traffic queues at the roundabout where Coventry Road branched off from the meeting of High Street Bordesley and Camp Hill, the bridge was dubbed the Camp Hill Flyover. This view is actually looking along the High Street, the pub on the right of the image being The Lamp, a pub operated by Mitchell's and Butler's.

The contractors, John Lysaght's Bristol Works Limited, were confident that this bridge, the first of its kind erected in the UK, some say the world, that they offered to pay £18,872, a third of the construction costs, as it would lead to further contracts.¹²

These days it would take several months to erect a steel bridge. What am I saying? It would take several months to complete the risk assessment and health and safety guidelines. But back in October 1961 they closed the road to traffic at 18:30hrs on the Friday evening of October 14th, 1961. Two days later it was finished and traffic flowed over the flyover on the Monday morning, the date of the above photograph.

There is some rare 8mm footage on YouTube showing work on the bridge, followed by a journey over the flyover from the front of a bus. Several people claimed to be the first to travel over Camp Hill Flyover. However, Alan Playdon, resident of World's End Lane in Quinton, writing in the Sandwell Evening Mail, stated that his father, Alfred Playdon, was the first to drive a vehicle over the bridge. In his letter to the newspaper he wrote that his father "who was at the time Inspector Instructor with Birmingham City Transport, and who eventually became Chief Training Officer, was called out at 4am to take a bus over it, to check it was safe before opening to the public." ¹³

I have not found any articles regarding the steel bridge in the weeks before construction work commenced. However, as can be seen here, parts of the flyover were being put together on October 4th, 1961, almost two weeks prior to the project going ahead at Camp Hill. It would seem that a "dry-run" or test was undertaken on some rough ground a short distance away from the proposed site. Could this be on the site of the former Camp Hill Goods Station? Three men are observing the driver moving a section of the bridge with a crane supplied by Pickford's

Birmingham : Pickford's Crane moving a section of the Camp Hill Flyover at Bordesley [October 4th, 1961]
© Image from author's photographic archive. DO NOT COPY

The driver operating the crane was clearly not too stressed with his precision work - he is even smoking a pipe whilst operating the levers! He may have had a sandwich in the one hand! The idea of a so-called "Carbridge" was first proposed in 1959 by Major Eric Strologo, a former Artillery Staff Officer. Wilfred Andrews, chairman of the Royal Automobile Club, who consulted the City Engineer and Surveyor of Birmingham, Sir Herbert Manzoni, who then submitted the idea to the Public Works Committee, which agreed to the experiment. It was estimated that a conventional flyover would have cost in the region of £500,000.¹⁴

Another view of the "dry-run" assembling the Camp Hill Flyover. Only a few men can be seen during this operation. However, on the weekend of the actual construction, 48 steel erectors worked on the nuts and bolts and whatever other tasks are undertaken during such a project. Thinking about it, the bridge did have to take a considerable amount of weight when buses and lorries passed over it. The bridge was officially opened by the chairman of the Public Works Committee, Dennis Thomas, at 8am on Monday 17th October, the councillor cutting a tape at the High Street end, before driving over it himself.¹⁴

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