RE: Topography - 6

From the magazine, a picture of the Era Picture Playhouse.
See the tree on the left is just a sapling in this photo.

I've borrowed this photo from another forum, it shows the remains of the tiled foyer. I am quite surprised that they have remained in situ for so long and that no one has acquired them.

Phil

Posted by phil

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I've borrowed this photo from another forum, it shows the remains of the tiled foyer. I am quite surprised that they have remained in situ for so long and that no one has acquired them.
Phil

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Yes maybe they could have gone into a local religious building.

Think someone has had a go at trying to remove them,almost impossible without breaking some.

John

These old tiles are not so hard to remove, most of them were only fixed into wet Sand & Lime mortar. The ones around fireplaces could sometimes be a bit hard and also the Minton little mosaic tiles that you used to get on hall floors. I've removed and sold them all in my time, some of the good ones can fetch a pretty penny.

Phil

Phil, you've just answered my question in Open all hours.

Mike

Can you find anything out about the big house next to Queens Park on Court Oak Rd Harbourne, I don't mean Baskerville House the disabled children's school but the one right next to the park. I know it was a club of some sort at one time and later when we worked on it I think it belonged to the parks department because at that time the gardens were taken up by the parks greenhouses.

I've always wondered how it started out in life as it had a fantastic ballroom on the ground floor and I have never seen another house with its own ballroom only much bigger ones. It would be interesting if you could find out who it was built for.

Phil

Do you mean this one Phil ?
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source...,170.6,,0,10.24

Phil
The house was originally called Court Oak House, and was apparently purchased by the city and added to the park in 1906. I cannot find it mentioned before 1880, when it appears as the residence of Benjamin Round. It remains in his ownership till he dies between 1900 & 1903, was held by His wife , Jane for a couple of years and then sold to the council. Benjamin is described as an tronmaster, in partnership with his brothers Joseph & Edwin, and they also had some interests in coal. The firm was Round Bros of Tividale. A Benjamin Round was also a shareholder of the Gloucester Banking co and A board member of the Stafford Bank, though i cannot be sure this was the same person. Benjamin lived at Halesowen before moving to Harborne.

Phil, I have a book history of Harborne, and there's not a mention of it.

John

I know mate, I have looked myself and I can find nothing and for so grand a house I find that strange. That is why I have asked Mike ti take a look as he is very good at this sort of thing.

Phil

Mike

Sorry mate I wasn't being ignorant but when I last looked in on this thread, I saw John's reply but I didn't clock yours, probably in too much of a hurry. Yes that is the house, as I say throughout the years I have worked on some big houses, much bigger than this in fact, but this one had so many unusual features. For one it had a second staircase that from the servants garret in the attic down to the kitchens. Luckily I was much thinner as I don't think I would be able to use it now. There were only 2 dormitory type rooms in the attic where the men & women servants must have slept in separate room. There was even a hook on the wall where every bed would have been.

Then there was the Ballroom that I mentioned previously, to be honest I have worked on much bigger houses that didn't have ballrooms. Then it had another feature that I hadn't seen before a cistern in the cellar under the kitchen for collecting rainwater from the roofs. One of our lads nearly fell through when breaking the kitchen floor up for renewal, nobody knew it was there because it couldn't be reached via the cellars.

Looking at the old maps, I see it was once described as a clubhouse, any ideas on that? Oh yes I have to ask, what is a "tronmaster"?

Phil

Sorry Phil. My personal glitch working its way in . It should have read ironmaster. A Tronmaster sounds like something out of Star Wars ! i didn't spot it till you noticed it
Mike

Mike

To be honest I thought that as well, because the only Tron I ever heard of was a Sci Fi film which I think starred Jeff Bridges. Ironmaster I understand, I don't suppose you know anything about the clubhouse do you, and was the park next door anything to do with the house at anytime?

Phil

Phil
All i have , from Edward Chitham's book, is that in 1906 Court Oak House was purchased by the authorities and "added to the park“. The park (Queen’s Park) was opened on 5th Oct 1898 to celebate Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee) on land purchased by the Harborne Charity Fete Committee and presented to the City council (there is a photo of the marble slab from the park if you want it). In WW2 the airraid wardens had their headquarters (for Harborne presumably) in the Park (the house?)
Mike