Moseley Village around St Mary's Row and Alcester Road

A look around Moseley Village. Heading down St Mary's Row on the no 1 bus route. And up / down Alcester Road on the no 50 bus route (the no 35 turns down Salisbury Road). From St Mary's Church to The Fighting Cocks (a pub on the Alcester Road). Here you would find pubs and cafes. There is also a village green and the occasional Farmers Market on the last Saturday of each month.

For me I can get the no 1, 35 or 50 bus routes to or through Moseley Village. The 1 goes up and down St Mary's Row then down Salisbury Road. The 35 goes from Alcester Road down Salisbury Road. The 50 heads up and down the Alcester Road between Kings Heath and Balsall Heath. One day in the future it will be possible once again to get a train to or from Moseley (the land is next to St Mary's Church between St Mary's Row and Woodbridge Road on the site of the original station). The original station closed in the early years of WW2.

In something that doesn't normally happen on the 50, my bus was about to turn down Salisbury Road, while the other 50 (in the photo below) was turning from Salisbury Road onto Alcester Road towards Kings Heath. This was during April 2018 (as Moseley Road in Balsall Heath was closed at the time for a street market).

The row of shops on St Mary's Row is where on the last Saturday of each month is a Farmers Market (they also have stalls on Alcester Road up from Boots). There is a small green with benches a that triangle near the no 1 bus stop.

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Seen just as my bus turned onto Salisbury Road was The Fighting Cocks pub on the corner of Alcester Road (part of it runs onto St Mary's Row). It is on the corner of King Edward Road. Shops running north from William Hill up to the Co-operative Food.

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We start on St Mary's Row. It runs from Wake Green Road down the hill towards Salisbury Road (which itself goes down the hill towards Edgbaston Road in Edgbaston).

The most prominent landmark in Moseley Village is of St Mary's Church, the parish church of Moseley, located on St Mary's Row. Seen here in 2009 from the site of Moseley Station (hopefully the station will be built on the land behind the church in the 2020's). The church is a Grade II listed building and dates to the 15th century. Originally built as a chapel in the parish of Kings Norton. The body of the church was rebuilt in 1780 and altered by Thomas Rickman from 1823 to 1824. J A Chatwin added a north aisle in 1886 and his son P B Chatwin rebuilt the nave and south in 1910. War memorial cross on the left not far from the lychgate.

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The shops running down St Mary's Row in Moseley Village during August 2013, while Moseley in Bloom had potted many flowers around the village centre. Priya is an Indian and Bangladeshi cuisine restaurant on this side of the road. Next up is a barber shop called Fino and a newsagent called Village News. Pottery & Pieces was open at the time, but as of late 2018 it is being refitted as something else. A bit further down is a Wetherspoon Freehouse called The Elizabeth of York.

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Beyond St Mary's Church on this side of St Mary's Row used to be a Barclays Bank and a pub called the Bulls Head. This view was in 2011 when both were still open at the time. The bank eventually closed down at Costa Coffee opened there in 2017. While the Bulls Head is now a Cuban bar called The Cuban Embassy (opened in 2015).

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On the last Saturday of every month there is Farmers Market on St Mary's Row (the strip of road that leaves the main line and heads to Alcester Road). Normally when the road is open to traffic, vehicles can only leave Alcester Road for it and head onto St Mary's Row and not the other way round. If i'm on the no 1 bus on Saturday morning's I occasionally see the market. Seen here next to Sapori di Sole, Italian Food Specialists.

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Another view from the no 1 bus on St Mary's Row of the Farmers Market. They also have a bunch of stalls on the pavement on Alcester Road heading north from Boots.

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In July 2017, I saw this green bus on the village green from the no 1 bus on St Mary's Row. Off the Scale. It looks like they were selling clothes on the bus and also outside of it. Was a Leyland Leopard vintage bus. Being that it was summer, there was a nice display of flowers from Moseley in Bloom around the village centre.

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A general look at the village green from the no 1 bus on St Mary's Row in Moseley Village. Various shops on that side of St Mary's Row leading to the Alcester Road. Atlantis Fish Bar is now Flakes Fish & Chips. That changed over in 2014. In the middle is shop called Lewis's. Further to the left near The Fighting Cocks is Zen.

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We will next move onto Alcester Road. From St Mary's Row heading north towards Woodbridge Road. Or south towards Kings Heath. Mainly the shops, pubs and café's closest to the centre of the village. This is the A435, the main route up from the Maypole and Kings Heath towards Balsall Heath and Highgate.

We start with The Village at 179 Alcester Road in Moseley Village. A pub and restaurant in a house built in 1896. A red brick building, it's to the right of a Telephone Exchange. Parlour & Dining.

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Next up is Moseley's Post Office building. Part of the building is also used by The Moseley Exchange (a community centre). The building probably dates to the early decades of the 20th century.

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Seen just before the traffic lights on the no 50 bus is Damascena Coffee House. They recently had a new door installed on the former coach house entrance. There is many café's around Moseley Village up the Alcester Road, mostly independent. Although there is now a Costa Coffee in the former Barclays Bank on St Mary's Row (that I've been to a few times). There is also now a Damascena in Harborne on the High Street and in the City Centre on Temple Row West. This one is at 133 Alcester Road.

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The most prominent pub landmark in Moseley Village has got to be The Fighting Cocks, on the corner of Alcester Road and King Edward Road, with part of the building going down St Mary's Row. It is a Grade II listed building. Built in 1903 by the architects T W F Newton and Cheatle. Made of ashlar and red brick. It has Arts and Crafts details and looks a bit like a Jacobean building. On the corner is a big compass showing the wind direction and a barometer showing whether it's going to be dry or wet! Is also a clock tower at the top.

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From the no 50 bus on the Alcester Road, looking down St Mary's Row. Was a banner up for the Mostly Jazz Funk Soul Festival during April 2015. This was promoting the event in Moseley Park which took place during July 2015. This part of St Mary's Row is usually where the Farmers Market goes. Festivals and other events in the park usually have entrance on Salisbury Road and Alcester Road (the park is usually private for local residents and only open to the public on open days). The artists entrance I think is on Salisbury Road.

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An Irish themed bar on the Alcester Road called O'Neills. Part of a chain that you would find other O'Neills around the West Midlands. This view was in February 2011. They were there until 2014 or 2015 when they were replaced by the One Trick Pony Club. Halfords autocentre used to be to the right until about 2014. At one point it was thought that Boston Tea Party would move into the former garage, but Prezzo did instead in 2016. They lasted there until 2017, and was replaced by Sorrento Lounge in 2018. To the left was Thistle Estates and Consol until 2015. Pizza Express moved in there in 2016.

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Further up the Alcester Road is the Prince of Wales pub. It dates to the Victorian era. They are located at 118 Alcester Road. The Moseley Emporium is to the left. Was a derelict building site to the right for many years until Moseley Central was built there from 2017 to 2018.

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The Moseley Emporium is an antiques shop to the left of the Prince of Wales pub on the Alcester Road in Moseley. They have three floors of antiques and quality reproduction furniture. It looks like they share the building with the Prince of Wales! They are at 116 Alcester Road. There website describes their building as a beautiful Victorian villa.

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Photos by Elliott Brown.