NW	NE	MOSELEY	33	26th
SW	SE	176 Alcester Road, Birmingham B13 8HJ 021-449 2329	MY	1927

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Chairman referred to the problems that the Bank incurred in finding suitable branch premises at reasonable prices. "I find it extremely difficult to gauge the mentality of people who from day to day urge the curtailment of expenditure by the Corporation and its departments, and yet are the very first to take advantage of the Corporation whenever a site is being sought for the development of those services. Any indication to the effect that this or any other department of the Corporation is seeking a site for the development of its services seems to be regarded as an invitation to all and sundry to bleed us as much as they possibly can. Having done that, they next set up a great howl because the departments, due to the position I have referred  to, have to incur considerable expense."

 

Prior to the ceremony, tea was served to invited guests in the Moseley Presbyterian Church Room. The Lord Mayor (Alderman A H James) presided, and referred to the development of the Bank, and to the fact that total deposits now amounted to about £8 million. He asked Sir Percival to accept from the Committee a silver salver as a souvenir of the occasion. In reply, Sir Percival said that the Moseley branch was the twenty-sixth permanent office. There had been great difficulty in securing a site in the district, he added, but this new branch would alleviate the considerable disadvantage that Moseley residents had been under, having had to go to either Kings Heath or Balsall Heath to transact their banking business.

 

In  1929, the branch was extended by a renovation that incorporated the next-door unit at 174 Alcester Road. The architect for the extension plan was H Stewart Evans, and the work was carried out by Messrs A Pearce & Son at a cost of £1,145.

 

In 1946, a notice 'To Building Contractors' was published in the local press, inviting tenders for the RECONSTRUCTION OF BRANCH BANK PREMISES including living quarters on first floor at 176, Alcester Road, Moseley, Birmingham. The architect for the building work was named as J B Surman, FRIBA, of 19 Cannon Street, Birmingham, and tenders were required to be submitted not later than December 16th 1946. In April 1947, the contract was awarded to Messrs R G Stainton & Co Ltd for the sum of £2,383. Progress to complete the work, which was required to repair serious war damage that resulted in only half of the branch being available for use, was slow as reported by the Finance and General Purposes Sub-Committee to the Bank's Committee on October 17th 1949:

right:

Moseley branch after the first reconstruction of 176 Alcester Road in 1927

below:

The branch's frontage after the reconstruction to incorporate the adjacent shop (on the left of the photographs). A board at first floor level advertises A Pearce & Son, Builders, Victoria Street, Small Heath  - the firm used to construct the extension
(January 16th 1929)

The Worcestershire village of Moseley (which had a population of approximately 100 at the 1841 census) grew during the second half of the 19th-century as successful Birmingham businessmen established substantial properties in the area, 2½-miles from the city centre. Moseley grew further following the opening of the railway station in 1867. Large country estates in the locality were divided up for housing developments in the years up to the outbreak of the First World War, with good quality Victorian and large Edwardian houses dominating. In the latter part of the 20th-century, many of these large houses came to be used for multi-occupational purposes. Moseley became part of Birmingham when the city expanded its boundaries in 1911.

 

(Above: Moseley Village at the beginning of the 20th-Century,

(left)

Alcester Road in

the 1970s

(Image courtesy of

Alton Douglas:

'Birmingham in the Seventies'

published by

Brewin Books)

 

 

(right)