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...