Was a working class area but now it's one of the most expensive places around. Isn't that always the way? The rich won't let us have anything for long. Pretty place though. Thanks for the video!
It’s just sad that inevitably a lovely philanthropic project once again ends up in the hands of those who least need it. But a real hidden gem and I enjoyed seeing it.
Thank you. And agree, history has a habit of repeating like that - the National Trust used to have some flats in the Back to Back houses and charged a FORTUNE per night until someone pointed out it wasn't really very ethical so they closed it!
Lucy VS British Weather is the ongoing battle on your channel! Love this. What a beautiful place, don't know why but my breath was totally taken away by the photo of the skittles hall. Just one of those places that feels so... Britain of the past. Love it!
What can I say? The rain just LOVES ME! nothing will ever beat the storm in Blackpool .. oh and the storm when I tried to get an overnight train. What am I saying! I love the drama really 🤣
I love hearing about these types of towns. I don’t know if we have these worker planned towns here in the US or not. It boggles my mind that corporations STILL want to deny their employees basic human rights and dignity of housing and food security or quality affordable healthcare and expect their workers to perform their jobs at the highest levels. How hard is it to comprehend that if your workers are healthy, have a roof their heads and enough food, they’ll be able to perform better. The greed just really makes me ill sometimes. What a lovely town. I think it’s so neat that the community center had been in use so long and still keeps the wonderful spirit of that place alive. Thanks for taking us along! I thoroughly enjoyed it ❤
There has been “mill housing” that I’m aware of in the paper mill towns of Maine, but not on the scale of a planned community. In Old Hickory, near Nashville, there was a huge chemical works very active in the war effort. They built houses for employees of different rank and status. They are very much sought after. Called Old Hickory Village. That’s my slim knowledge!
Not sure that providing housing for workers was quite as philanthropic as you think. Cadbury provided baths for workers because they wanted them clean. Pease (another quaker) involved in engineering didn't bother. Salt (a congregationalist) provided housing for workers with housing for the charge hand at the end of every street. Sounds to me like control. This estate was developed by the tenants themselves as a company.
That's a really interesting perspective I have been thinking about a good 20 minutes before I typed - I can get on board with that you know. When your workers are close and you are involved in all aspects of their lives (for example the Cadbury's not wanting their employees to drink so not providing anywhere to do so) it's a good point and something I hadn't thought about before - so thanks for giving me something to chew on. I like it.
Another lovely video Lucy - I so enjoy exploring with you. It’s wonderful to think of all those families that first lived there - what a change it must have been for them, from what they were used to.
Spontaneous or planned, out and about or sitting down ... every video you make is a pleasure to watch and very educational. So happy that I've discovered your channel. 😊
Thank you so much, you honestly don't know how much that means. I get all up in my head and nervous EVERY upload so it really helps. I am really glad you enjoy them as much as I do making it.
I must say a lot of Birmingham suburbs where l grew up as a child Acocks green, Hall green were all beautiful,leafy places.the council houses had beautiful gardens with clipped hedges. I had an idyllic childhood with acres of parkland at the bottom of our lovely garden in the 50’s. I could never understand when l said l came from Birmingham and people gave me pitying looks !
Thank you! Absolutely the same - I am from Hall Green and all I remember was how green it was, so many trees, parks, the River Cole - it's still the same today really, so I feel everso sad when people make "that face" they need to come and check it out don't they?
Yes I and my family moved to Weoley Castle ( right next to Harborne) from a back to back in Winston Green in 1973. I thought I’d gone to heaven, there was a massive green hill called the green hill! Brooks and streams. Wide roads with grass verges 3x larger than the pavement. It was council and declined over the years.
The Austin Village is a bit of an undiscovered gem in the local area, Lucy. Like the Cadbury family built Bournville, Herbert Austin built this unique estate in the early 20th century (believe it was with wood and raw materials inported) to house workers at his Longbridge car factory. Council housing has sprung up on all four sides of the village and consequently (unlike Moorpool and Bournville) it has NOT lost its working class identity and succumbed to unaffordable housing costs. I love the Austin Village!!!
I absolutely love it. I live 5 minutes walk away and it's always a pleasure strolling though. A real hidden gem indeed and I dream of living in one of the original bungalows! They are amazing!
As someone who grew up on a council estate in North Leeds, this style of housing is very familiar to me. So many council property estates were built on this style all over the country. I find myself sitting on trains and buses, travelling through strange towns, and being able to pick out the council properties at a glance. Sadly, much modern housing has lost this feeling of openness and green space.
Absolutely, these are strangely familiar to so many others homes I see. There are some really large council properties in very expensive areas and I can spy them a mile off too despite their £££ price tag. I always think if you are buying - or living in a local authority house from this period they are always so well constructed - solid and built to last. Unlike the new ones that put up that leak and mould within a few years.
They had such forward thinking in the early 1900's with the allotments, village hall and the green space then they get to the 60's/70's (I'm guessing) and they build these rabbit Warren's of estates that are now the scourge of the areas they are built in.
Thank you, Lucy - that's a lovely place to live, I think. And, to someone used to Bournville, it looks very familiar! The name John Nettlefold is also familiar to me, because he commissioned and had built Winterbourne in Edgbaston, which is an Arts and Crafts house with a beautiful garden. The house and garden are now owned by the University of Birmingham; and both are open to the public, with the garden being the University's botanical garden. I used to work in the house, which I loved - and I loved the garden even more, because when i arrived early in the morning and walked around it before anybody arrived, it was "my garden"!
Winterbourne really is beautiful isn't it? I've never been inside but like yourself I have enjoyed the gardens. They work so hard to make them so beautiful! I should maybe go and do a video before the autumn x
@@throughlucyslens It is lovely! (Though admittedly, I'm a bit biased towards it!) They've made the ground floor (could have extended upstairs, but I haven't been there for a while) into a sort of heritage place, with rooms decorated and laid out as they would have been when the Nettlefold family were living there. And the gardens are gorgeous at any time of the year (though especially so when the wisteria is out or the bluebells are in flower or...no, really they're lovely at any time of the year!).
I went to ‘City of Birmingham college of education’ back in the day, a very long time ago. My last job in main stream was senco. Loved that till it ended up being all about paperwork. I’ve lived in Somerset since I left the college but your videos have made me want to come back to the midlands for a while to visit the interesting places where you take us. Thanks so much 😊
So where there was a nice mix of community with all ages and classes, there are now mainly wealthy elderly in million pound + homes, and the cycle starts again.
Hi Lucy, another interesting video from you. I look forward every week to seeing what you have to show us. Moorpool really is very pretty. I liked the design of the flats. They look very inviting, unlike some of the buildings being put up today. I look forward to the next one x
Thank you, yes the flats are fascinating aren't they? Like a complex jigsaw puzzle. I agree I really don't like new build homes, I know lots of people are very happy in them but they really aren't for me.
As you suggested at the beginning of the video, most people won't have heard about this estate. Thank you for showing us round this very attractive green space with your usual cheerfulness and enthusiasm😊👏 (And hope the tonsillitis isn't causing any more problems)
It's gone now thankfully! What a blinking horrible infection that is.. thought I saw the back of it, you are so welcome Michael and I'm always happy for you to travel with me ❤️
Hi Lucy what a lovely video here in the east cotswolds we have lost most of our village halls the cotswold District Council has sold many off that are made into houses for the rich weekenders from London they and all the tourists have just swamped large parts of the cotswolds and turned it into a private holiday holiday park for the rich keep safe best wishes roy. 😊😊
That's such a shame! I remember many happy days around Snowshill and Broadway as a kid with the pretty village halls with bunting and cream teas on the lawn. It's still very beautiful but like you say has an air of exclusivity about it now, I'll still go and see the lavender fields next month though with a bimble around Snowshill Manor - annual tradition!
Hi Lucy, Thanks for your brilliant video about the Moorpool Estate. I see you visited the Harborne Handmade Fair two weeks ago. It’s great that you are showing everyone how peaceful and pleasant many parts of Birmingham are. The Moorpool hall with all its fairs, groups, kids holiday clubs and the Harborne Players is a cherished part of the community. I’ve lived here 35 years now, but my wife has lived in Harborne all her life. As you say its only 3.5 miles from the centre of Birmingham and she calls Harborne “the village”. Our kids went to Harborne primary and walking through the lovely Moorpool estate was part of our daily routine for ten years. It’s the Harborne carnival tomorrow, they say it’s biggest street carnival outside of London’s Notting Hill, perhaps you go down to the village and show everyone how we do a street carnival in Brum?
I did! I actually do the catering for the event :) I'm so privileged to know Clare and have the opportunity. Birmingham gets such a bad rap but like everywhere there's good and bad. I think mostly good these "most dangerous areas" people like to go on about I've worked in extensively through my community work and been nothing but welcomed and included. Anyway, I digress! I'm working at the carnival in Kings Heath tomorrow otherwise I would be there with bells on :)
Why do they run two carnivals at the same time in South West Brum? I didn’t know it was you who did the catering. To be honest I only go to the craft fairs to buy presents at Christmas, so I don’t go as often as my wife. Now I know it’s you and will come and say hello and have a cake or two. Keep up the good work: fantastic videos and food!
Such a beautiful place easy to see why it costs so much to live there now but certainly not in the true spirit of the original reason it was built times have definitely changed ! 😊❤
Hi Lucy. What a stunning place thanks for taking us round. So good to hear that there were people who valued their workers and gave them a good standard of living. Very uplifting. I did my teacher training in Birmingham many years ago and was very near Harborne. Never knew of that estate unfortunately. That’s for taking us around it. Wonderful 😊
Very welcome, did you go to Westhill? That's still a teacher training campus to this day. I did mine over in Perry Barr - I used to detest the journey but my SEN specialism was only done over there!
Laughed 😂 at the 'I got lost & nothing happened RUclips video' + delighted to have learnt the origin of 'pin money'. What a gorgeous little place it is indeed...very similar to Herne Hill/Dulwich area in London where a wealthy family created the prettiest little cottages for their workers...I do wonder if it is not too dark inside though!
I have been caught out by SO MANY videos like that .. I am sitting waiting for something to happen .. and of course it never does! Or it's as dramatic as breaking a nail. I really want to look around Herne Hill now :)
I've been to dance classes in Moorpool Hall without even realising the significance of where I was! I couldn't believe it when I watched 😅 In my defence it was during dark winter evenings and I would go with my friend when we studied at a nearby college, so I didn't really take much notice of where we were. The dance teacher was an actress who is in The Archers but I don't know much about that either 🙈 Thanks Lucy, love your videos ❤️
Hahaha - I was exactly the same! I was going there years before I thought .. surely this place can't just have been plonked here in its loveliness without a reason and just wow... gosh! The Archers, in Brum if it's not the Archers it's UB40 isn't it 🤣
So many people just wouldn’t believe this was really Birmingham. Such a beautiful part of our city. As usual, you did a fabulous job of telling it’s story And yep, fully agree, would LOVE to live here too. We can dream 😂 Glad to hear the tonsillitis has shifted! ❤
Thank you, tonsillitis - my old pal .. I thought I had gotten into my 40s and it had gone for life .. sadly not the case! It's beautiful at Moorpool, if I ever win the lottery I'll get us both one ;)
Hi Lucy - yet again, a brilliant video ! I've never heard of the Moorpool Estate. Such a shame these houses are being sold off, it seems to defeat the whole object of the place. I hope there are very strict covenants on the houses. Your videos are so informative and interesting, and your personality is perfect. Thank you so much for taking the time to create these videos for us. Take special care 🙂
You are very welcome, if I am really honest I didn't realise it was a garden village until a few years ago myself - because I work there a couple of times a year it just seemed so tranquil and unusual I had to look it up. Thanks for your kind words, they are really appreciated. Hope you have had a lovely weekend Michael :)
Very very welcome, it's a lovely place to have a stroll about, "back in time" is probably a bit extreme because there's still plenty of cars about, but it definitely has a feeling of times gone by.
Fascinating video, Lucy of a beautiful garden village which I knew nothing about. It looks like a lovely place to live so thank you for showing us round!
Very welcome, I really appreciate your kind words, you wouldn't believe how NERVOUS I get every week before I upload, it's because I care so much - but comments like yours really help me :)
Thank you for another lovely video Lucy. What a beautiful place and I love how it's been preserved. Tinged with a little sadness that homes for the working class are now gentrified beyond means of who they were intended for but unfortunately that's a frequent occurrence nowadays. It would be so nice to see a place that's still surviving in its original working class roots. How fantastic was their founders sensible thinking of towns need green space as much as traffic needs roads. A shame he wasn't still around for the slum clearances of the 60's with his common sense approach xx
yes 100% - might have told those tower block builders to have a little think about peoples mental wellbeing and community instead of separating people and stacking them all on top of one another. Sad times.
This is such a great channel. Showing we English around the hidden gems in our country in a way we'd never be able to do for ourselves. What a beautiful estate. Nettlefold was a hero. Thank you for the tour.
Hi Lucy, thanks for another beautiful video. Love travelling around with you. I really appreciated the planning that went into the initial design of the estate. And how the design fostered a sense of community & health for its tenants. Nothing similar in Canada. Very forward thinking approach for its time.
Absolutely, it amazes me how many of these forward thinking chaps there were back then - where did they all go? Don't know how it is in Canada but we have a real housing crisis over here at the moment, we could really do with some more places built with peoples wellbeing in mind instead of tiny lego houses they charge a fortune for!
Have only just found you on RUclips and have been looking at some of your very interesting videos. Don't know if you have heard of St Fagans. It's just outside Cardiff in South Wales. There are some wonderful buildings that have been preserved from hundreds of years back to a prefab and a building of the future. I haven't been for a couple of years but always enjoy it when we do get a fhance to go
I clicked on your video by chance and just had to “like” and subscribe❤️🔥 Thanks, Lucy🤗 This was a nice informative video of an area I drive through often when going from Kings Heath to Winston Green/Handsworth/Edgbaston.🌻
That's amazing you found me, I'm glad you enjoyed it! I do a job that takes me all over the place too and I love it because I find little gems like this :)
Well Lucy, thank you for showing me a place in Birmingham I didn't know existed. Beautiful houses and what a great community feel. I love your videos and as a Birmingham lass myself would love to know if you can find out more about somewhere not far from where I live please? Erdington Cottage Homes housed orphaned children, and its not far from Six Ways. I have always wanted to know more about that place. Not far from it also is what once was the Highcroft mental hospital. Its not longer such (although there are hospitals close), but it still has its clock tower etc.. and main building (although turned into housing now). Keep up the good work in the meantime, I sense a kindred spirit for the love of these places.
Hiya, if you want to drop me an email? My email address is in my "about" section I think I have a few resources I can share with you about that place. Lucy :)
Now for something completely different! Yes all original; is a working class area with no windows bricked up to pay window tax. Alright for the children many years ago to play along the paths, but these days? Feel sorry for the poor sod that had to put the skittles back on the spots in the alley! A part of the city the council has not ruined ! Hopefully be in your part of the world in a few weeks(chauffering a foreigner into the city)! Nos da !
@@throughlucyslens knew the area, years ago had relatives lived in Sutton Coldfield for a while - went passed the locations where the B'ham pub bombings took place, months after it happened (was 11 at the time) ...
I think it was open to anybody who could afford to live there at the reasonable rates. I wanted to look at the census to get an idea of occupations but there is a paywall for the 1921 census which is annoying where the most information would be held.
@@throughlucyslens Here’s a few for Moor Pool Avenue. Lab Assistant at Birmingham Uni, a Physicist at GKN, a Police Sergeant, a Gunworker at BSA, a Beerhouse Manager at Holts Brewery with 2 school teacher daughters, Artificial Limb Maker, Asst Chief Timetable & Passenger Clerk L&NW Railway New St Station, a Japanner and Tinplate worker, an unemployed Jeweller (Gem setter), a retired couple in their 80s, a Printer, a Salesman for an India Rubber Company. So looking a bit like skilled industrial/technical workers and clerks, probably better paid than those in the dirty heavy industries? They were mostly Birmingham born.
Such a pretty place to live 💗 Its sad to think that most properties have been sold off and have now lost their original purpose. 😢 Hope you fell better too.
Thank you, feel a million times better! I had been run down and tired for a few weeks so I should have known it was coming! Agree it's sad - but I am glad they are still there.
Interesting to hear how Bourneville is supposed to be pronounced. Down south here, we put the emphasis on the Bourne, but generally you only hear it said if someone's just bought a bar of plain chocolate! Ha ha! Another fascinating video, Lucy. I love these sorts of places, especially when there are restrictions on what can be done with them, in order to keep them relatively original. Thank you :-)
It's a strange word really! But you are right unless you were buying a bar of chocolate you wouldn't really hear it. Very pleased to hear you enjoyed the video, I absolutely love making them!
Wow what a lovely place to live 😍 At the end of the day it all comes down to human greed which always ruins things. It would have been amazing for the original families to move in here after what they were living in. Great video once again 👏👏
Thank you, it's sad really because back before it was a private company people could pass their lease and shares on to another member of the family when they passed away - alas, no longer the case.
So exasperating that these types of places are built for the average family but get 'ambushed' by the ones with money as an investment. The rich always living off the less privileged. Loved the tour though, thanks =-)
Very welcome. It's sad to think "that's life" but in the Western world it sure is. Don't resent anyone that lives there now, I couldn't afford their mortgages 🤣 I'm very happy with my simple life ❤️
it very green, nice break away from a city living, but 'normal' people could never afford too live there now 😕 happening around here too, but new build houses that most people from the area could never afford
Thank you for another interesting video, Lucy. Lovely to hear that much of the original character is protected, but sad that its original intent is lost. It seems to be inevitable that the rich get richer under capitalism. It’s true here in Toronto too, where what was once workers row houses are now only affordable to the ultra rich. I wish I had a solution to offer
I do too, we have to accept it's just the way it is - even if we don't agree with it. I don't resent those huge mortgages though, I am happy with my simple life!
Hey Petrice, sadly not, they are all privately owned. Best chance of seeing an inside would be to look on some real estate websites and search "Moorpool estate harborne" ❤️
Wow, that was sooooooo interesting! This area looks so beautifully mossy to me! Built for the average family, swiped away by investors and a new meaning in the dictionary becomes relevant- “Gentrification”. 😡😡😡😡A worldwide problem, sad to say. 😞 Love your videos, have a great weekend. Cheers, 💕🇺🇸
Yes, all the council housing in the countryside and suburban areas have now been sold near me and are eye-wateringly expensive. Bloody Margaret Thatcher.
I'm not sure if he owned it but I believe it was his first role "on the board" so to speak, he then set up his own company Kynoch Ltd. He was the director of several companies in Birmingham during his career.
John Nettleford was the MD of George Kynoch which made shotgun cartridges and other hazardous items. It eventually became IMI which employed tens of thousands of Brummies in the last century including me. My first job after Uni was at IMI Computing in Witton. Our induction training covered the history of the company. Its started near New Street station but after numerous lethal explosions the City fathers forced Kynoch to move out to Witton. Our staff carpark was next to lots of little huts each with its own blast wall to stop the lot going up! It was still exploding regularly in seventies and eighties. I was called out one night because the titanium smelter in IMI titanium had blown up (again) and the shock wave had damaged the mainframes disk systems.
The very first residents must have thought they'd entered Paradise. Lovely video Lucy
Absolutely! Can you even imagine? You are very welcome.
Was a working class area but now it's one of the most expensive places around. Isn't that always the way? The rich won't let us have anything for long.
Pretty place though. Thanks for the video!
Lots of places like that in California, too
Yep - like my Mom always says, "where there's muck there's brass"
Gosh yes, I have heard California is incredibly expensive to live - plus a really competitive rental market.
@@throughlucyslens Lot of the cities have gone to pot, many have moved out to Texas, Idaho etc
I love it Lucy, I could live there no problem.
Beautiful isn't it!
The pool in the Moorpool estate used to be used for laundry.
Oh wow that's fascinating! I would have loved to have seen that! Thanks for letting me know.
@@throughlucyslens You are most welcome. The pool is fed by springs, and is “soft” water. Ideal for washing.
Interesting fact! 😂
It’s just sad that inevitably a lovely philanthropic project once again ends up in the hands of those who least need it. But a real hidden gem and I enjoyed seeing it.
Thank you. And agree, history has a habit of repeating like that - the National Trust used to have some flats in the Back to Back houses and charged a FORTUNE per night until someone pointed out it wasn't really very ethical so they closed it!
Lucy VS British Weather is the ongoing battle on your channel! Love this. What a beautiful place, don't know why but my breath was totally taken away by the photo of the skittles hall. Just one of those places that feels so... Britain of the past. Love it!
What can I say? The rain just LOVES ME! nothing will ever beat the storm in Blackpool .. oh and the storm when I tried to get an overnight train. What am I saying! I love the drama really 🤣
I love hearing about these types of towns. I don’t know if we have these worker planned towns here in the US or not. It boggles my mind that corporations STILL want to deny their employees basic human rights and dignity of housing and food security or quality affordable healthcare and expect their workers to perform their jobs at the highest levels. How hard is it to comprehend that if your workers are healthy, have a roof their heads and enough food, they’ll be able to perform better. The greed just really makes me ill sometimes. What a lovely town. I think it’s so neat that the community center had been in use so long and still keeps the wonderful spirit of that place alive. Thanks for taking us along! I thoroughly enjoyed it ❤
There has been “mill housing” that I’m aware of in the paper mill towns of Maine, but not on the scale of a planned community. In Old Hickory, near Nashville, there was a huge chemical works very active in the war effort. They built houses for employees of different rank and status. They are very much sought after. Called Old Hickory Village. That’s my slim knowledge!
Not sure that providing housing for workers was quite as philanthropic as you think. Cadbury provided baths for workers because they wanted them clean. Pease (another quaker) involved in engineering didn't bother. Salt (a congregationalist) provided housing for workers with housing for the charge hand at the end of every street. Sounds to me like control. This estate was developed by the tenants themselves as a company.
Very welcome! The community centre is my favourite bit. It's like stepping back to a simpler time - it even smells .. nice .. old .. but nice!
Sounds good to me - Old Hickory Village sounds so romantic to me too!
That's a really interesting perspective I have been thinking about a good 20 minutes before I typed - I can get on board with that you know. When your workers are close and you are involved in all aspects of their lives (for example the Cadbury's not wanting their employees to drink so not providing anywhere to do so) it's a good point and something I hadn't thought about before - so thanks for giving me something to chew on. I like it.
Another lovely video Lucy - I so enjoy exploring with you. It’s wonderful to think of all those families that first lived there - what a change it must have been for them, from what they were used to.
Absolutely, I always think it must have been like heaven - even for their lungs, all that fresh air away from the smog of the city.
Really enjoy watching your videos. They’re so interesting and information 🥰
Thank you. I really appreciate it, I just love making them, fave time of my week is sitting down and doing my research :)
Thank you Lucy, another wonderful story.
You are so welcome! I love doing it x
Thanks Lucy 👍🥰
Any time!
Spontaneous or planned, out and about or sitting down ... every video you make is a pleasure to watch and very educational. So happy that I've discovered your channel. 😊
Thank you so much, you honestly don't know how much that means. I get all up in my head and nervous EVERY upload so it really helps. I am really glad you enjoy them as much as I do making it.
I must say a lot of Birmingham suburbs where l grew up as a child Acocks green, Hall green were all beautiful,leafy places.the council houses had beautiful gardens with clipped hedges. I had an idyllic childhood with acres of parkland at the bottom of our lovely garden in the 50’s. I could never understand when l said l came from Birmingham and people gave me pitying looks !
Thank you! Absolutely the same - I am from Hall Green and all I remember was how green it was, so many trees, parks, the River Cole - it's still the same today really, so I feel everso sad when people make "that face" they need to come and check it out don't they?
Agree. I still live in Acocks Green and will remain here until I die. ❤
Yes I and my family moved to Weoley Castle ( right next to Harborne) from a back to back in Winston Green in 1973. I thought I’d gone to heaven, there was a massive green hill called the green hill! Brooks and streams. Wide roads with grass verges 3x larger than the pavement. It was council and declined over the years.
The Austin Village is a bit of an undiscovered gem in the local area, Lucy. Like the Cadbury family built Bournville, Herbert Austin built this unique estate in the early 20th century (believe it was with wood and raw materials inported) to house workers at his Longbridge car factory. Council housing has sprung up on all four sides of the village and consequently (unlike Moorpool and Bournville) it has NOT lost its working class identity and succumbed to unaffordable housing costs. I love the Austin Village!!!
I absolutely love it. I live 5 minutes walk away and it's always a pleasure strolling though. A real hidden gem indeed and I dream of living in one of the original bungalows! They are amazing!
@throughlucyslens oddly enough I'm around 10 mins walk from the bottom end of the village Lucy...and that's how I know it!
@@ICanPlayPiano I have never heard of it ! Are there any pictures of it?
As someone who grew up on a council estate in North Leeds, this style of housing is very familiar to me. So many council property estates were built on this style all over the country. I find myself sitting on trains and buses, travelling through strange towns, and being able to pick out the council properties at a glance. Sadly, much modern housing has lost this feeling of openness and green space.
Absolutely, these are strangely familiar to so many others homes I see. There are some really large council properties in very expensive areas and I can spy them a mile off too despite their £££ price tag. I always think if you are buying - or living in a local authority house from this period they are always so well constructed - solid and built to last. Unlike the new ones that put up that leak and mould within a few years.
They had such forward thinking in the early 1900's with the allotments, village hall and the green space then they get to the 60's/70's (I'm guessing) and they build these rabbit Warren's of estates that are now the scourge of the areas they are built in.
Yep it's sad isn't it. And a lot of those estates are having to be demolished because they weren't built with longevity in mind!
Really enjoyed the video the area looks so pleasant and what I really love is front gardens no drives full of cars just green it’s beautiful 😊
It's really lovely, peaceful - a real hidden gem right near the hustle and bustle of city life :)
Thank you, Lucy - that's a lovely place to live, I think. And, to someone used to Bournville, it looks very familiar! The name John Nettlefold is also familiar to me, because he commissioned and had built Winterbourne in Edgbaston, which is an Arts and Crafts house with a beautiful garden. The house and garden are now owned by the University of Birmingham; and both are open to the public, with the garden being the University's botanical garden. I used to work in the house, which I loved - and I loved the garden even more, because when i arrived early in the morning and walked around it before anybody arrived, it was "my garden"!
Winterbourne really is beautiful isn't it? I've never been inside but like yourself I have enjoyed the gardens. They work so hard to make them so beautiful! I should maybe go and do a video before the autumn x
@@throughlucyslens It is lovely! (Though admittedly, I'm a bit biased towards it!) They've made the ground floor (could have extended upstairs, but I haven't been there for a while) into a sort of heritage place, with rooms decorated and laid out as they would have been when the Nettlefold family were living there. And the gardens are gorgeous at any time of the year (though especially so when the wisteria is out or the bluebells are in flower or...no, really they're lovely at any time of the year!).
I went to ‘City of Birmingham college of education’ back in the day, a very long time ago. My last job in main stream was senco. Loved that till it ended up being all about paperwork. I’ve lived in Somerset since I left the college but your videos have made me want to come back to the midlands for a while to visit the interesting places where you take us. Thanks so much 😊
You are so welcome, I left teaching because of paperwork too. It became more important than the education and that in my books isn't right at all!
I love to see great planning for housing. Similar isThe Bain Apartments Cooperative in Toronto! "Influenced by the English Garden City Movement"
Ohh that's amazing! I love it.
So where there was a nice mix of community with all ages and classes, there are now mainly wealthy elderly in million pound + homes, and the cycle starts again.
Sad isn't it?
Hi Lucy, another interesting video from you. I look forward every week to seeing what you have to show us. Moorpool really is very pretty. I liked the design of the flats. They look very inviting, unlike some of the buildings being put up today. I look forward to the next one x
Thank you, yes the flats are fascinating aren't they? Like a complex jigsaw puzzle. I agree I really don't like new build homes, I know lots of people are very happy in them but they really aren't for me.
Ahhh so that’s where Pin money saying comes from , brilliant. What a beautiful place to live
Beautiful isn't it? Who would have known it was there too! I feel so lucky I get to work there sometimes x
I enjoyed that thank you, a beautiful day too
Thanks so much. It was a lovely early summer day :)
As you suggested at the beginning of the video, most people won't have heard about this estate. Thank you for showing us round this very attractive green space with your usual cheerfulness and enthusiasm😊👏 (And hope the tonsillitis isn't causing any more problems)
It's gone now thankfully! What a blinking horrible infection that is.. thought I saw the back of it, you are so welcome Michael and I'm always happy for you to travel with me ❤️
Hi Lucy what a lovely video here in the east cotswolds we have lost most of our village halls the cotswold District Council has sold many off that are made into houses for the rich weekenders from London they and all the tourists have just swamped large parts of the cotswolds and turned it into a private holiday holiday park for the rich keep safe best wishes roy. 😊😊
That's such a shame! I remember many happy days around Snowshill and Broadway as a kid with the pretty village halls with bunting and cream teas on the lawn. It's still very beautiful but like you say has an air of exclusivity about it now, I'll still go and see the lavender fields next month though with a bimble around Snowshill Manor - annual tradition!
What a lovely place that I never knew existed, thank you Lucy for showing this to us ☺️👍
You are very welcome, and as always, my absolute pleasure!
Hi Lucy, Thanks for your brilliant video about the Moorpool Estate. I see you visited the Harborne Handmade Fair two weeks ago. It’s great that you are showing everyone how peaceful and pleasant many parts of Birmingham are. The Moorpool hall with all its fairs, groups, kids holiday clubs and the Harborne Players is a cherished part of the community. I’ve lived here 35 years now, but my wife has lived in Harborne all her life. As you say its only 3.5 miles from the centre of Birmingham and she calls Harborne “the village”. Our kids went to Harborne primary and walking through the lovely Moorpool estate was part of our daily routine for ten years. It’s the Harborne carnival tomorrow, they say it’s biggest street carnival outside of London’s Notting Hill, perhaps you go down to the village and show everyone how we do a street carnival in Brum?
I did! I actually do the catering for the event :) I'm so privileged to know Clare and have the opportunity. Birmingham gets such a bad rap but like everywhere there's good and bad. I think mostly good these "most dangerous areas" people like to go on about I've worked in extensively through my community work and been nothing but welcomed and included. Anyway, I digress! I'm working at the carnival in Kings Heath tomorrow otherwise I would be there with bells on :)
Why do they run two carnivals at the same time in South West Brum? I didn’t know it was you who did the catering. To be honest I only go to the craft fairs to buy presents at Christmas, so I don’t go as often as my wife. Now I know it’s you and will come and say hello and have a cake or two. Keep up the good work: fantastic videos and food!
Such a beautiful place easy to see why it costs so much to live there now but certainly not in the true spirit of the original reason it was built times have definitely changed ! 😊❤
They certainly have haven't they?
Hi Lucy. What a stunning place thanks for taking us round. So good to hear that there were people who valued their workers and gave them a good standard of living. Very uplifting. I did my teacher training in Birmingham many years ago and was very near Harborne. Never knew of that estate unfortunately. That’s for taking us around it. Wonderful 😊
Very welcome, did you go to Westhill? That's still a teacher training campus to this day. I did mine over in Perry Barr - I used to detest the journey but my SEN specialism was only done over there!
Think I've been near there a long time ago. Thanks for sharing Lucy.
Very welcome, you probably were and didn't even think about it - that's what I was like the first few times I visited.
Laughed 😂 at the 'I got lost & nothing happened RUclips video' + delighted to have learnt the origin of 'pin money'. What a gorgeous little place it is indeed...very similar to Herne Hill/Dulwich area in London where a wealthy family created the prettiest little cottages for their workers...I do wonder if it is not too dark inside though!
I have been caught out by SO MANY videos like that .. I am sitting waiting for something to happen .. and of course it never does! Or it's as dramatic as breaking a nail. I really want to look around Herne Hill now :)
A beautifull travel vloggs always ❤️ 😊
Thank you ❤️❤️❤️
I've been to dance classes in Moorpool Hall without even realising the significance of where I was! I couldn't believe it when I watched 😅 In my defence it was during dark winter evenings and I would go with my friend when we studied at a nearby college, so I didn't really take much notice of where we were. The dance teacher was an actress who is in The Archers but I don't know much about that either 🙈 Thanks Lucy, love your videos ❤️
Hahaha - I was exactly the same! I was going there years before I thought .. surely this place can't just have been plonked here in its loveliness without a reason and just wow... gosh! The Archers, in Brum if it's not the Archers it's UB40 isn't it 🤣
So many people just wouldn’t believe this was really Birmingham. Such a beautiful part of our city. As usual, you did a fabulous job of telling it’s story
And yep, fully agree, would LOVE to live here too. We can dream 😂
Glad to hear the tonsillitis has shifted! ❤
Thank you, tonsillitis - my old pal .. I thought I had gotten into my 40s and it had gone for life .. sadly not the case! It's beautiful at Moorpool, if I ever win the lottery I'll get us both one ;)
Our grandaughter went to a birthday party at the Moorpool building, I had never heard of it !
It's so sweet isn't it and such a hidden gem x
Another great video, Lucy .Channel like yours make the RUclips world a better place. Thenks from Buenos Aires
Always interesting uploads. Really happy that we have young people that see the value to our history. Thank you. 🇬🇧
You have made my day calling me young - THANK YOU :) I don't feel it anymore! I love making them and I appreciate your support :)
@@throughlucyslens you are! You have that inner sparkle - which you’ll always have, it’ll carry you through. 🇬🇧
Hi Lucy - yet again, a brilliant video ! I've never heard of the Moorpool Estate. Such a shame these houses are being sold off, it seems to defeat the whole object of the place. I hope there are very strict covenants on the houses. Your videos are so informative and interesting, and your personality is perfect. Thank you so much for taking the time to create these videos for us. Take special care 🙂
You are very welcome, if I am really honest I didn't realise it was a garden village until a few years ago myself - because I work there a couple of times a year it just seemed so tranquil and unusual I had to look it up. Thanks for your kind words, they are really appreciated. Hope you have had a lovely weekend Michael :)
Yay! Another fab and informative video of hidden gems on our doorstep. 😊
Very very welcome, it's a lovely place to have a stroll about, "back in time" is probably a bit extreme because there's still plenty of cars about, but it definitely has a feeling of times gone by.
Fascinating video, Lucy of a beautiful garden village which I knew nothing about. It looks like a lovely place to live so thank you for showing us round!
You are very welcome. It is a lovely little place, we are so lucky to have so many here.
Thanks Lucy for another belter. Love your style! Best wishes. Neil
Very welcome, I really appreciate your kind words, you wouldn't believe how NERVOUS I get every week before I upload, it's because I care so much - but comments like yours really help me :)
that was a very pretty estate 😀 all the houses looked very nice and all the trees,hedgers and so much greenery 😀🌳🌳
It's lovely. Shame it was a dreary day as it really "pops" in the sunshine like everywhere x
@@throughlucyslens sending you 😎☀🌞🤗
This was fascinating, great social history and so reassuring that this belief in a better world worked. Hope you are completely recovered ❤
Thank you so much. We got to keep believing right? I know I do everyday ❤️
Thank you for another lovely video Lucy. What a beautiful place and I love how it's been preserved. Tinged with a little sadness that homes for the working class are now gentrified beyond means of who they were intended for but unfortunately that's a frequent occurrence nowadays. It would be so nice to see a place that's still surviving in its original working class roots. How fantastic was their founders sensible thinking of towns need green space as much as traffic needs roads. A shame he wasn't still around for the slum clearances of the 60's with his common sense approach xx
yes 100% - might have told those tower block builders to have a little think about peoples mental wellbeing and community instead of separating people and stacking them all on top of one another. Sad times.
Another fab video! Thank you 😊
Very welcome, and thank you ❤️
This is such a great channel. Showing we English around the hidden gems in our country in a way we'd never be able to do for ourselves. What a beautiful estate. Nettlefold was a hero. Thank you for the tour.
You are so welcome and thanks so much for your lovely comment - appreciated. I love finding these places, because they make me just as happy.
Very reminiscent of Letchworth and Welwyn Garden Cities. He must have known Ebenezer Howard I should think.
I know someone who lives in Welwyn, I've always wanted to go - it sounds so pretty!
Enjoyed thank you for sharing 😅
Glad you enjoyed and you are very welcome :)
Great work Lucy
Thank you, really appreciate your comment :)
Hi Lucy, thanks for another beautiful video. Love travelling around with you. I really appreciated the planning that went into the initial design of the estate. And how the design fostered a sense of community & health for its tenants. Nothing similar in Canada. Very forward thinking approach for its time.
Absolutely, it amazes me how many of these forward thinking chaps there were back then - where did they all go? Don't know how it is in Canada but we have a real housing crisis over here at the moment, we could really do with some more places built with peoples wellbeing in mind instead of tiny lego houses they charge a fortune for!
Agreed. Housing and homelessness are a really problem in our major cities too
Have only just found you on RUclips and have been looking at some of your very interesting videos. Don't know if you have heard of St Fagans. It's just outside Cardiff in South Wales. There are some wonderful buildings that have been preserved from hundreds of years back to a prefab and a building of the future. I haven't been for a couple of years but always enjoy it when we do get a fhance to go
Thanks so much! I need to go!! I just googled it and it looks amazing, appreciated ❤️
I clicked on your video by chance and just had to “like” and subscribe❤️🔥 Thanks, Lucy🤗 This was a nice informative video of an area I drive through often when going from Kings Heath to Winston Green/Handsworth/Edgbaston.🌻
That's amazing you found me, I'm glad you enjoyed it! I do a job that takes me all over the place too and I love it because I find little gems like this :)
Yay!! A new Lucy video. Love these glimpses of England.
Thank you! I have loads coming up so I hope you enjoy those too :)
Well Lucy, thank you for showing me a place in Birmingham I didn't know existed. Beautiful houses and what a great community feel. I love your videos and as a Birmingham lass myself would love to know if you can find out more about somewhere not far from where I live please? Erdington Cottage Homes housed orphaned children, and its not far from Six Ways. I have always wanted to know more about that place. Not far from it also is what once was the Highcroft mental hospital. Its not longer such (although there are hospitals close), but it still has its clock tower etc.. and main building (although turned into housing now). Keep up the good work in the meantime, I sense a kindred spirit for the love of these places.
Hiya, if you want to drop me an email? My email address is in my "about" section I think I have a few resources I can share with you about that place. Lucy :)
@@throughlucyslens thank you I will :) xxx
Now for something completely different! Yes all original; is a working class area with no windows bricked up to pay window tax. Alright for the children many years ago to play along the paths, but these days? Feel sorry for the poor sod that had to put the skittles back on the spots in the alley! A part of the city the council has not ruined ! Hopefully be in your part of the world in a few weeks(chauffering a foreigner into the city)! Nos da !
Enjoy! There are some nice bits here, recommend Brindley Place down by the canals if you are in the City Centre - a nice break from the hustle.
@@throughlucyslens knew the area, years ago had relatives lived in Sutton Coldfield for a while - went passed the locations where the B'ham pub bombings took place, months after it happened (was 11 at the time) ...
Lucy try Port Sunlight in the Wirral YOU WOULD LOVE LOVE LOVE IT
I really need to go don't I? I have a friend who lives there and she's promised me a tour x
thanks Lucy. Do hope you are fully recovered now. love from new zealand.
I am - thank goodness for antibiotics .. I sometimes realise if I lived before penicillin I would have had no chance!
@@throughlucyslens Good girl. xxxxxx
Absolutely beautiful, where did the original tenants work, do you know? And sorry to hear you were sick and glad you are better Lucy!
I think it was open to anybody who could afford to live there at the reasonable rates. I wanted to look at the census to get an idea of occupations but there is a paywall for the 1921 census which is annoying where the most information would be held.
@@throughlucyslens Here’s a few for Moor Pool Avenue. Lab Assistant at Birmingham Uni, a Physicist at GKN, a Police Sergeant, a Gunworker at BSA, a Beerhouse Manager at Holts Brewery with 2 school teacher daughters, Artificial Limb Maker, Asst Chief Timetable & Passenger Clerk L&NW Railway New St Station, a Japanner and Tinplate worker, an unemployed Jeweller (Gem setter), a retired couple in their 80s, a Printer, a Salesman for an India Rubber Company. So looking a bit like skilled industrial/technical workers and clerks, probably better paid than those in the dirty heavy industries? They were mostly Birmingham born.
Such a pretty place to live 💗
Its sad to think that most properties have been sold off and have now lost their original purpose. 😢
Hope you fell better too.
Thank you, feel a million times better! I had been run down and tired for a few weeks so I should have known it was coming! Agree it's sad - but I am glad they are still there.
Oh arts and crafts?! 😍
I love that style too! Have you ever been to Virginia Woolf's house in Sussex? It's lovely!
Interesting to hear how Bourneville is supposed to be pronounced. Down south here, we put the emphasis on the Bourne, but generally you only hear it said if someone's just bought a bar of plain chocolate! Ha ha! Another fascinating video, Lucy. I love these sorts of places, especially when there are restrictions on what can be done with them, in order to keep them relatively original. Thank you :-)
It's a strange word really! But you are right unless you were buying a bar of chocolate you wouldn't really hear it. Very pleased to hear you enjoyed the video, I absolutely love making them!
Wow what a lovely place to live 😍 At the end of the day it all comes down to human greed which always ruins things. It would have been amazing for the original families to move in here after what they were living in. Great video once again 👏👏
Thank you, it's sad really because back before it was a private company people could pass their lease and shares on to another member of the family when they passed away - alas, no longer the case.
Hi Lucy, thank you for sharing this really interesting video. What a beautiful place to live ♥
Absolutely gorgeous isn't it ! I have just been watching your Download video ! Very different :)
So exasperating that these types of places are built for the average family but get 'ambushed' by the ones with money as an investment. The rich always living off the less privileged. Loved the tour though, thanks =-)
Very welcome. It's sad to think "that's life" but in the Western world it sure is. Don't resent anyone that lives there now, I couldn't afford their mortgages 🤣 I'm very happy with my simple life ❤️
Doesn't matter where the working class or not well off live it always seems to happen! We always seem to get pushed further and further out
it very green, nice break away from a city living, but 'normal' people could never afford too live there now 😕 happening around here too, but new build houses that most people from the area could never afford
Sad isn't it 😭 I'm in the same boat x
is very sad and it pushes out local families that have been in an area for years :/
👍😘💚
Thank you for another interesting video, Lucy. Lovely to hear that much of the original character is protected, but sad that its original intent is lost. It seems to be inevitable that the rich get richer under capitalism. It’s true here in Toronto too, where what was once workers row houses are now only affordable to the ultra rich. I wish I had a solution to offer
I do too, we have to accept it's just the way it is - even if we don't agree with it. I don't resent those huge mortgages though, I am happy with my simple life!
have you filmed inside any of these homes? Is there a video somewhere?
Hey Petrice, sadly not, they are all privately owned. Best chance of seeing an inside would be to look on some real estate websites and search "Moorpool estate harborne" ❤️
Wow, that was sooooooo interesting! This area looks so beautifully mossy to me! Built for the average family, swiped away by investors and a new meaning in the dictionary becomes relevant- “Gentrification”. 😡😡😡😡A worldwide problem, sad to say. 😞 Love your videos, have a great weekend. Cheers, 💕🇺🇸
Indeed it is. I'm glad I found out there is some housing still in trust, even if it's a tiny amount. I hope they manage to hang on to it!
Yes, all the council housing in the countryside and suburban areas have now been sold near me and are eye-wateringly expensive. Bloody Margaret Thatcher.
Yep ... don't start me on her 😈🤣
It just shows that these style home's could be built for everyone, I'm not a lover of flat's.
Absolutely, I used to live in a flat, I enjoyed it in the winter when it was easy to heat but missed my outdoor space in the summer SO much!
Was Mr Nettlefold the owner of GKN?
I'm not sure if he owned it but I believe it was his first role "on the board" so to speak, he then set up his own company Kynoch Ltd. He was the director of several companies in Birmingham during his career.
John Nettleford was the MD of George Kynoch which made shotgun cartridges and other hazardous items. It eventually became IMI which employed tens of thousands of Brummies in the last century including me. My first job after Uni was at IMI Computing in Witton. Our induction training covered the history of the company. Its started near New Street station but after numerous lethal explosions the City fathers forced Kynoch to move out to Witton. Our staff carpark was next to lots of little huts each with its own blast wall to stop the lot going up! It was still exploding regularly in seventies and eighties. I was called out one night because the titanium smelter in IMI titanium had blown up (again) and the shock wave had damaged the mainframes disk systems.
Same family. I think his Grandfather of the same name started the business. His Grandmother was a Chamberlain.