Stirchley Village up and down the Pershore Road and Hazelwell Street

There is plenty of history in the Stirchley area of Birmingham. A big chunk of it is called Stirchley Village. Here we will be looking at buildings up and down the Pershore Road and Hazelwell Street. There was a big Co-operative Society presence in the village, and the Cadbury's were nearby in Bournville. Buildings include the Stirchley Baths, the British Oak pub and many more!

While there might be a lot of derelict shops on the Pershore Road in Stirchley, there are many historic buildings up and down the road in good condition. Some like the old swimming baths and the Friends Meeting House have been restored. Stirchley goes from Selly Park towards Cotteridge along the Pershore Road, and the road is used during the Great Birmingham Run every October and the Great Birmingham 10K in April or May. The village also has boundaries with Bournville and Kings Heath.

First up a look at the Sea Cadets building. It is not far from Cottteridge but it is in Stirchley. The Sea Cadet Corps Birmingham Sherbourne is located a 1667 Pershore Road. They were established in 1942. They help people learn the skills  to become a Sea Cadet and one day join the Royal Navy!

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Stirchley Community Primary School shares their building with the Selly Oak Constituency Office on the Pershore Road. There may have been a school here since the late 19th century. The building was built in 1879 by William Hale, on what was Stirchley Street. It had room for 215 pupils. Extensions built in 1883 and 1893, both by Hale, and in 1896 by Edward Holmes. (these details taken from a book called Victorian Buildings of Birmingham by Roy Thornton, published in 2006 - very useful for details of Victorian buildings).

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The British Oak is a public house on the Pershore Road in Stirchley. It is now near all that Seven Capital land awaiting development. The pub is a Grade II listed building. It was built from 1923 to 1924 by James and Lister Lea for the Mitchells and Butlers brewery. Red brick in Flemish bond, with diaperwork, brick mullion-transom windows and tile arches. It is a large public house in 17th century Domestic Revival Style. The pub also includes a garden loggia of the same date.

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The Dog Pool Hotel, also known as The New Dog Pool Hotel & Restaurant. On the Pershore Road in Stirchley, close to Selly Park. The pub has been closed down for years. Built in the 1920s, it was formerly the Hibernan. It replaced another Dog Pool Inn that used to be opposite. A wedged building at the corner of St Stephen's Road and the Pershore Road. The nearby road opposite is called Dogpool Lane. That leads to Dads Lane and onto Kings Heath. Some people (as a joke) vandalise the road sign to read "Dogpoo Lane"!

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Stirchley Public Baths was restored in 2015 and reopened in January 2016 as a Community Centre. It's on the corner of Bournville Lane and Hazelwell Street in Stirchley. It is a Grade II listed building. The swimming baths was built in 1910 by John P. Osborne. Red brick in Flemish bond and diaper pattern blue brick, and with stone dressings. Slate roofs. Built in the Edwardian Baroque style. For many years the building was closed before it was restored. Seen here a few days after it reopened to the public in January 2016.

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Stirchley Library is on the Bournville Lane in Stirchley. A short walk away from Bournville Station. It was built in 1905 for the Kings Norton & Northfield Urban District Council (years before the area became part of the City of Birmingham). A Grade II listed building. The Public Library was built in 1905 by John P. Osborne. Red brick in Flemish bond, with stone dressings and a slate roof. Built in the Freestyle. It is next door to the former swimming baths (now community centre).

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The Birmingham Civic Society had unveiled a blue plaque for Mary Cottrell (1868 - 1969) at the Stirchley Community Centre (the former public baths) during February 2019 - Mary Cottrell Blue Plaque unveiled. When I got off the no 47 bus early in the rain near the British Oak, I thought the plaque would be at the baths, but walking along in the torrential rain, saw it at this building, which was the former Central Bakery dated 1891. The building is now home to Em's Pet Food Store at 1395 Pershore Road and Isherwood & Co. at 1393 Pershore Road. DJF Bathrooms and Kitchens is to the right near the archway. It was formerly the site of a Ten Acres and Stirchley Co-operative Society Bakery. Mary Cottrell was the first woman Birmingham City Councillor for the Labour & Co-operative Party in 1917. She was also a board member of the Ten Acres and Stirchley Co-operative Society from 1909, and the Co-operative Wholesales Society in 1922.

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Fun runners on the Birmingham International Marathon which was held on Sunday 15th October 2017. It was the 1st new marathon in Birmingham (26.2 miles) since the 1980s. Held on the same day as the Great Birmingham Run (which started a little bit later). There was no marathon in 2018  (due to roadworks along the route) but the normal Great Birmingham Run and Great Birmingham 10K were still held in the city.

Views below of the fun runners running past the Pershore Road in Stirchley towards Bournville. Between the community centre and the former bakery.

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As usual the roads were closed to allow the run to take place.

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I got the train to Bournville that day to check out the Birmingham International Marathon in the Bournville and Stirchley areas. Bus routes would have been diverted while it was on.

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Photos taken by Elliott Brown.