Journeys to Balsall Heath
107 Edward Road (1958)
Balsall Heath has been a home for migrants since at least Victorian times. All sorts of people have come and still do to this day. All different stories, yet all becoming Heathans.
William Francis: A Cooper in Runcorn Road
Amongst the migrants to Balsall Heath were a branch of my own family. My great-grandfather, William Thomas Francis was born in Burton-On-Trent in 1871. He married Kathleen Stenson at nearby Stapenhill in 1896 and they had eight children. He followed his father into the brewery trade working as a Cooper (barrel maker) and it seems he followed this job across the Midlands to his eventual home in Balsall Heath.Conroy Maddox: Surrealist artist in Varna Road
Amongst our most distinctive residents over the years is the surrealist artist Conroy Maddox (1912 – 2005). He was born in Ledbury but by 1933 had moved to Erdington. His interest in modern art had been awakened in 1927 when he read Wilenski’s “The Modern Movement In Art”. Maddox left behind the still lives and landscapes he had formerly produced and instead focused on, what was to him, a stimulating new form of art.Bottles, Bikes and Baguettes: Number Two Taunton Road
Many people coming to Balsall Heath have set themselves up with a local shop. Over the last hundred years or so there have been countless businesses in the area and not surprisingly individual premises have been home to several different ones. One of those is Number Two Taunton Road...A refuge in Tindal Street
The issues surrounding prostitution in Balsall Heath in the post-war era are well documented, with matters reaching a head in 1994 with the start of resident action against kerb crawlers and those offering services. There had in fact been concerns as far back as the nineteenth century, when the Salvation Army tried to tackle the problem by giving the ladies concerned a chance for a fresh start in life. They set up refuges in several cities where prostitutes, or single mothers, could live and train for domestic service while working as laundresses. The women were “rescued” off the streets, often as an alternative to the workhouse or possibly prison – sometimes with agreement and thanks, and sometimes more forcibly. Single mothers were not allowed to bring their babies, which one suspects were given up for adoption.