Sutton Coldfield - In The 21st century

Sutton Coldfield Present Day

Various Images from within modern Sutton Coldfield.

The idea behind this page is I get requests from people who have left Sutton Coldfield for abroad in the main and want to know what x, y, or z now looks like

2001

Trinity Church Sutton Coldfield Jan 2001 - now has its own page

The Lych Gate, Trinity Church, & Rectory Cottages Sutton Coldfield - Jan 2001

And in the opposite direction, the High Street Conservation area, the road to Lichfield - Jan 2001. The building with the red fascia panel on the right was once a Hovis Bakery, The building with the spire and the one beyond were banks not so long back.

The railway passes over Coleshill Road after passing through Sutton Park (Nov 2001) and past the site of the former Sutton Park station.
The building behind the bridge is the Electric Light Station

Looking back towards Sutton Coldfield Town Centre from Reddicap Hill (Nov 2001)

Bishop Vesey's Manor, now an antique shop - Jan 2001. Stands on Maney Corner on Maney Hill.

Coleshill Street from Vesey Memorial Gdns. Image: David Wilcox
Feb 2013 - I did hear something somewhere that we may lose Vesey Gdns as another Council cut

Looking down Birmingham Road towards the centre of Sutton Coldfield and the Gracechurch Centre (Nov 2001)

2003

The Parade Shopping Centre 2003

Trinity Church - March 26th 2003

Fire Station, Courts and Police Station on the right and Sutton Coldfield College comes up
on the left - 26 March 2003

Reddicap Hill - 26 March 2003

Gracechurch Centre
In 1974 the Gracechurch Centre was built on the demolished ruins of The Parade. Now known as The Mall, but everyone ignored the name change and its still the Gracechurch Centre. It was once full of shops selling everything from a carrot to a car, but the Centre was bought out by an American Company, the rents soared, and the smaller friendlier shops were forced out in favour of the mobile phone shop and the glitzy tacky shops. Name changes ignored also include over the road at the Sainsburys Centre, but Sainsbury's left us, and its now supposedly known as the Red Rose Centre (I didn't know that!!) but to everyone its Sainsbury's and we call it Sainsbury's car park. Almost every month or so there is a store with 'Closing Down' on its windows. Behind the centre, on Brassington Avenue (see above image) a thin strip of land was bought for even more new buildings, but this seems to have died a death, with board covering a rapidly overgrown site and former car park. 2103: It has been sold by the American owners for £38m to the same compnay that owns the Manchester Arndale Centre and others.

2004

Reddicap Hill 13th Feb 2004

and below, what formerly stood on this site

The sign denoting Royal Sutton Coldfield almost hidden in the roundabout bushs

Easter Weekend April 2007

Sutton Coldfield has changed more in the past two or three years than in all the time since I arrived here in the early 90s. Development is filling in almost every spare space, between homes, removing homes to build on and people selling small patches of land for apartments. Good Hope Hospital is not immune to the greed of people. They have closed down a busy and well used Social Club to make way for an extra car park. All for 28 cars!

This is what was a busy Child's Day Nursery, now lost forever to the developer (Churchill) who built "Retirement Apartments". A trend reflected everywhere in Sutton Coldfield for people who can afford ridiculous figures for apartments thrown up in a matter of weeks! If these are examples of Labour's promised "affordable housing" then someone, somewhere, is ripping us off big style. Now in 2013, its a block of luxury flats.

Here, in this image below, is another example of how these "Luxury" apartment's are springing up everywhere. In this case a complete row of Victorian houses were torn down in Hollyfield Road to make way for this. It is very obvious to see who is to blame for all this, Birmingham Council, in their quest for more and more revenue, from the good people of Sutton Coldfield. But, nobody can afford them except for the fly boy, whizz kids, both working, BMW driving family of 2! My daughter wants an apartment nearby to where we live but cannot afford their asking prices and she has a VERY good job. My youngest daughter will never be able to afford such accommodation and she is a Head Vet Nurse!

This is Hollyfield Road. A nice road, busy during the rush hour and at school times but nice - on the surface. Between those houses, where once stood large, spacious back gardens now there are, in some cases, little turnings between homes, where developers have squeezed a driveway in between the houses to make access for the town homes built on someone's back garden! Greed! Grass is giving way to brick and breeze block. The Councils allow it because it generates another £1000 or so a year.

Looking over Rectory Park tree's towards Town Centre. I wonder how long it will be before the council decide to do away with the park on the dubious grounds of needed for car parks for hospital, or lack of use by the community? Having a whinge? Yes, of course I am, I am watching what was a lovely area vanishing rapidly under the JCB. The park is alrady under threat due to staff and visitors to the Hopsital parking on park users car parks. This is all since the hospital, in its greed, instituted car park fees on what was a free car park.

Sunday morning in April. Opposite the Police & Fire stations. Is that someone nicking the lead??? Bishop Vesey Grammar School

From the same spot, outside Fire Station. Sutton Coldfield College is down on the left, opposite the Police Station. Most of the students migrate in from Birmingham.

Looking in the opposite direction, from opposite the "Community" Fire Service, looking towards Mere Green. The once large hotel, top of the road, right of the image, is now - yes, you've guessed it - "luxury apartments"!!! Seen here on the right in July 2011

From Left to Right, Police Station and the Magistrates Court, now closed. The Royal Hotel can been seen at the bottom

Tamworth Road, looking east

Anchorage Road
(requested by an expat from this road)

Anchorage Road (taken for an ex pat who lived there)

Coleshill Road

Upper Clifton Road

Clifton Road

2. January 2009

Sign of the times for 2009. A major national department store gone to the wall and closed down in the Recession which threatens to ends all recessions?
Part of this is now a clothes shop. (2013) edit: 2020 and over 20 stores now closed down

Riland Road on a bleak, damp January morning, traffic still in the "rush" stage, when it can get past the parked cars.
The large red building is the Victorian Electric Light Station

Riland Road, no room to pass due to the amount of cars parked where they like. These two, "shall not pass".
The car eventually realised he was going nowhere and reversed to allow the bus to pass. Mind you, the bus driver is not helping

Its amazing what you see when you walk off the beaten track. Here we have a model railway shop which I never even knew existed!! It's in Riland Road
I hardly ever see it open nowadays

Off Ryland Road, is Ryland Grove. Its looks ideal and peaceful considering its surrounded by a freight railway and busy major roads.

Sutton Coldfield was not made with traffic in mind and its shows theses days. Onto Rectory Road and looking towards Trinity Church

On Rectory Road, the local Royal British Legion Branch.

This is a memorial to Nicola Dixon was who murdered here in New Years Eve 1996. This is artwork that she did at school. Thanks to Rob Beattie for this information.
Its now 2103 and I am not sure if the killer was ever caught?

Church Hill (Near the scene of Nicola's murder) and bwlow, look back up

Lots of empty shops here now incl M&S

High St Conservation Area

Formerly Council Offices, now apartments. Town Hall rear right

Skyline showing the top of the Victoria Road Car Park over the Baptist Centre rooftop

Gate Inn. Was once known as the rather stupid name of "The Case is Altered"! A short lived 'wine bar' - what a joke!
The Gate was originally on Park Road and lewd to the gateway to the Sutton Park, but Park Road eventually disappeared at this end of town.

The source of almost all the litter in Sutton Coldfield town centre - litter generator fast food joint. This litter can be seen in the image of the footpath leading back up to the church.
It also litters the roads where it is thrown from car windows.

Gracechurch Shopping Centre. Not as pretty as you would imagine considering the landlords are driving small businesses out of the town by exorbitant rents.
We had some really nice little shops here including a nice green grocer , they now had to leave due to expensive rents. Many others had left before, and since.
2013 - the Yanks have pulled out and sold it to another compnay for £38m

3. January 2011 - A Walk Around Town

Coleshill Street heading up towards the top of Trinity Hill - July 2011 Coleshill Street. further down you cannot walk on the pavement because of the idiots who do not live here parking cars ON the pavement. 2013 as a result of my complaining to the Council, they double yellow lined one side of the road

Next Four - Bishop Vesey Grammar School

Moathouse July 2011

Guildhall next to Grammar School

Anti pigeon wiring looking like an aerial to heaven (formerly a church!).

High Street building

2013

Plantsbrook

Mill Street

Police Station & former Magistrates Courts July 2011. I understand that the police have actually been seen in the Station now and then!
All I ever see is 'fake' police - civvies dressed up in uniform and walking the streets