Capturing, preserving and sharing Solihull's history. Also commemorating local casualties from the First World War #SolihullRemembers
The Solihull: Back to the Future event at the Core Theatre, Solihull on 17th September 2021 included the World Premiere of a short video showing Solihull High Street’s shops as you’ve never seen them before. That’s unless you were around in 1948…
Continue reading “Solihull Virtual High Street 1948”
On 25th July 1961, a new Burton’s supermarket opened in High Street, Solihull in the building that is now occupied by the Paramo Lounge and the Works.
Described in the Solihull News, 26th August 1961, as being “the most up-to-date building in Solihull’s old world High Street,” the “colourful” supermarket met with a mixed reaction from shoppers, with letter-writers to the newspaper professing themselves “shocked.” One housewife described the colours of the shop front as “garish and said that the character of the High Street had now been ruined.
Continue reading “High Street supermarkets, Solihull”
On Wednesday 7th April 1971 Her Majesty The Queen and H.R.H. The Duke of Edinburgh paid a Royal Visit to the new shopping centre at Chelmsley Wood, which was described as having space for around 70 shops, six stores and a number of boutiques.
Most of Chelmsley’s 40,000 population turned out for the Royal visit. Large crowds gathered along Bosworth Drive and the precinct itself to watch as the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh toured the centre and unveiled a commemorative plaque on the clock tower in Greenwood Square. Building firm Bryants, co-developers of the shopping centre with Samuel Properties, had provided local schools with six gross (864) of flags.
Continue reading “Chelmsley Wood Shopping Centre 1971”
For many years, Charlie the Chimp could be seen somersaulting in the window of Gordon Scott’s shoe shop in Solihull High Street.
In 2014, after becoming completely exhausted, Charlie came to spend his retirement at The Core Library, Solihull. His place in the shop window was taken by his “younger brother”, Gordon.
Solihull Life 