Highbury Park dog walker

A man walks his Dalmatian in Highbury Park, Kings Heath.

Highbury Park is the estate of Highbury Hall which was created and developed by the Chamberlain family from 1879 to 1914.

The grounds of Highbury Hall were twenty five acres and were landscaped by Edward Milner. Field boundaries were removed to create thirteen acres of parkland, although trees were retained and additional trees were planted.

The gardens followed the changing fashions. A new rose garden was planted in 1890, a 'Dutch' gardern with beds of bulbs edged with terracotta tiles and paths, with a surrounding holly hedge 1901 and an 'Italian' garden in 1902.

By 1903, the grounds extended to over 100 acres, some leased from Richard Cadbury.

Josheph Chamberlain died in 1914. Most of the grounds became a public park in 1930.

Highbury Park has entrances on Alcester Road, Shutlock Lane and Moor Green Lane.

No respect for the dead

I thought I'd just return to All Saints Church just to show you the bus stop outside. The church has a graveyard around the front and side (I don't know about the back), with a low wall bhind the bus stop. People waiting for the bus sit on this wall and as Kings Heath has its fair share of rather unsavoury characters, the gravestones are often spat on and covered with litter and chewing gum. Many of the gravestones are flat ones embedded horizontally in the ground, but graveyard or not, spitting and littering is disgusting. But that's Kings Heath for you...

Hedges Buildings

I expect that most people walking along Kings Heath High Street don't look up at the buildings they are passing - they probably see a row of shops, but if they look above the shiny windows and illuminated signs, they might just see a hint of what the buildings were before.

Look up...


...a bit higher...


...and a bit closer...


And at the corner...




These are, obviously, known as the Hedges Buildings. They are Victorian Buildings, but other than that I don't know much about them, so I will try to find something out.

Hare & Hounds windows

Close-up of York Street windows of the Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath

Clock dome

Close-up view of the clock dome of the Hare & Hounds pub.

Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath II

Another view of the Hare & Hounds.

According to a review submitted to Google Maps, UB40 played their first gig at this pub in 1979.

Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath

The Hare & Hounds in Kings Heath is a Grade II listed building situated on the corner of the High Street and York Road.

It was built in 1907 to replace the previous pub, the building of which was completed between 1820 and 1824. Originally the corner of the building was separate and used as Kings Heath's first police station by Wocestershire Rural Police in the 1840s and 1850s.

The great bank in the sky

View of upper part of HSBC bank building, Kings Heath

Hole in the Wall

Wall detail of HSBC bank, Kings Heath

HSBC, Kings Heath High Street

Entrance to Kings Heath High Street's HSBC bank.

HSBC was formerly Midland Bank.

Vicarage Road and Kings Heath High Street: a comparison

The corner of Kings Heath High Street and Vicarage Road in 1932.


How it looks today.


The lamppost in detail.

Source for 1932 picture: The History of Kings Heath

All Saints Church, Kings Heath

Hidden behind some of the few trees on the corner of Kings Heath's High Street and Vicarage Road is All Saints Church, for which I have no information.

Crossing Vicarage Road

A woman looks across Kings Heath's high street as she crosses Vicarage Road.

Eastern LGV & PCV Training lorry

Vehicle make, model and registration number unknown.

Pictured outside Kings Heath and Moseley Baptist Church, Alcester Road, Kings Heath. The company is based in Tyseley, Birmingham.

Kings Heath and Moseley Baptist Church

There had been a church on this site before this one, but the building of the present Kings Heath and Moseley Baptist Church began in September 1897. It cost £7000 to build and it was planned that a spire would be added when more money became available, but it appears this was never the case. The church, built to accommodate 500 people, was opened in May 1898.