Change to Stirchley Library opening hours

Birmingham City Council has announced that Stirchley Library will be closing for a further day each week from 22nd July. They have described libraries as being in a ‘transitional period’, and advised that a reduced number of available community library staff means a temporary timetable needs to be introduced for the majority of libraries during the summer which will see them close for an additional day each week.

From 22nd July Stirchley Library will be closed on Thursdays, leaving only two days a week of BCC-staffed library provision (Tuesdays and Saturdays). Kings Norton and Kings Heath libraries will also be …

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Stirchley Childhood During World War II

Stirchley School during the First World War (supplied by Mrs. Krumberg).

Some more from the “Memories of Stirchley” gathered from local people in the 1980s. These are memories of Stirchley School and childhood during the Second World War, taken from Ron Allcock, Pat Collins, and Ivor Gornall. All three attended Stirchley School from 1940, and left between 1945 and 1948. The photograph shows the school over twenty years previously (we couldn’t find many pictures of Stirchley during WW2).

Early in the War when the children were evacuated, school was held in private houses but the children soon returned to Stirchley. …

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Birmingham Libraries consultation

We just wanted to remind everyone that the deadline for completing the Birmingham libraries consultation survey is Wednesday 17th July. The survey is available on the Be Heard website

The survey is rather long, but we really encourage everyone to complete it. If you need any support we recommend reading the unofficial guide available on the Birmingham Loves Libraries website.

Birmingham City Council has now announced that the final phase of the libraries consultation will run from late August until 27th September. This final phase will include a summary of the analysed feedback and data collected from the consultation survey, and …

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Ten Acres and Stirchley Street Co-operative Society (1875-1971)

The Ten Acres and Stirchley Street Co-operative Society (later TASCO), as it states in the picture above, was established on 1875. It was begun in the front room of a house on Hazelwell Lane, the house in the photograph below, by the group of men also pictured. The humble little shop opened its doors on 5 June that year.

The history of co-op’s goes back to 1844, when the first was set up in Rochdale, Lancashire. The food sold to working people was often either expensive, or of poor quality and mixed with other, less edible, ingredients. Co-op’s charged …

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Stirchley Oral Histories (taken in the 1980s): Life Around Umberslade Road

The Stirchley blacksmiths’ was situated near the old Three Horseshoes pub (now the Bournbrook Inn).

The library is home to several oral histories which were recorded in the 1980s, and are still kept on cassette tape. Thankfully, the histories were transcribed, because tape players are a rare thing to find now!

One local history was given by George Phillips about the Umberslade Road area of Stirchley:

“I’m 76 years old and I’m George Phillips. I’ve lived in Umberslade Road all my life. We live about half way down in a block of ten houses. At first there were just these …

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