Today we’re travelling 70 years into Birmingham’s past to check out some old photos and see just how much the city has changed.
Birmingham's economy flourished in the 30 years that followed the end of the Second World War, but there were some difficult times in the 1950s, although unemployment in Birmingham between 1948 and 1966 rarely exceeded 1%, and only exceeded 2% in one year. World War II had seen a huge expansion in the role of central government in British life, and this pattern continued into the post-war years and during the fifties. For Birmingham, this meant major decisions about the city's future tended to be made outside the city, mainly in Westminster.
In Brum, 1954 was a also a year that saw the end of food rationing following the war, but there was also a shortage of coal around the city.
It was also a year in which the Digbeth Institute was put up for sale (it opened in 1908).
Let’s take a look back to see what life was like for Brummies 70 years ago. Here are 12 old pictures looking at life for Brummies in 1964.
5. At the Dunlop factory
Workers making clothes at the Dunlop factory production line, Birmingham, UK, March 8th 1954 | (Photo by Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Image
6. Birmingham students
A tour group of British female students from Birmingham visiting Paris during Easter week-end, poses for a photograph on April 13, 1954, on the banks of the Seine river in Paris. | (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images
7. Birmingham University's running track
Portrait of British athlete Diane Leather (1933 - 2018) at Birmingham University's running track, June 1954. Her top features a picture of a stag and the words 'Fleet and Free'. (Photo by Chris Ware/Keystone Features/Hulton Archive/Getty Image | Getty Images
8. British athlete Diane Leather
British athlete Diane Leather (1933 - 2018) posing in the laboratory of Birmingham University where she works as an analytical chemist, June 1954. (Photo by Chris Ware/Keystone Features/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) | Getty Images