Broad Street Birmingham

Part of the "Britain in Old Photographs" series, this volume brings together a wealth of pictures spanning the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Drawn from family albums and local collections, they offer a glimpse of Broad Street in the past.

Broad Street reinvented itself when it turned to business tourism, with the establishment of the International Convention Centre. This led to the development of Brindleyplace, the regeneration of the canals and the establishment of the entertainment complexes which now dominate what was once the street of a thousand trades. The book takes you on a picturesque stroll along the street, where you can meet such household names as Mitchell & Butler's, Cadbury's, Kunzle's, Beeny and Lee Longland and revisit well-known venues such as Baskerville House, the Rum Runner, Bush House, the Municipal Bank, the BBC and modern venues including the National Sealife Centre and Ikon Gallery. Discover how caged lions, pins, buried bodies, false teeth, lime plantations, swords, phonographs and bedsteads all helped to shape this unique street. It is amazing it has taken so long for the full story to be told, but now at last it has. Nearly 250 photographs and informative captions give due regard to Broad Street.