IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Douglas Road, BIRMINGHAM, B21 9HG

An OS cutmark on the rear wall of 88 Albert Road; originally levelled, probably in 1956, at 125.148m above Ordnance Datum Newlyn.

Terraced housing on both sides of Albert Road.

A small modern church on the west side of Grove Lane.

This mural is painted on walls of the Handsworth Wellness Centre in Handsworth Park and celebrates Birmingham reggae musicians. The artist is Bunny Bread of CreateNotDestroy, who also painted the Downlow murals in Lozells (see, for example, Image]). He worked with Birmingham Youth Service and Simmer Down Arts, who organise the Simmer Down reggae festival in the park. This section shows, from left to right, Yaz Alexander, Musical Youth, Pato Banton, Steel Pulse and Annette B. Steel Pulse have their own mural elsewhere on the building, based on the sleeve art of their album Handsworth Revolution (Image]; this one is not by Bunny Bread). For good measure, we have the Empire Windrush, the ship that played a central role in Caribbean migration to Britain, called here the Windrush (as on the Windrush mural on Heathfield Road, Image], evidently no room for empire in Bunny Bread's work), also the raised fists of the struggle against racism, a constant backdrop to Birmingham and British life in the 1970s and 80s when the reggae scene was at its peak. See the Simmer Down site https://simmerdownarts.com/Reggae-Mural-Project/ .

This mural, a local reggae wall of fame, is painted on an outbuilding of the Handworth Wellness Centre in Handsworth Park. Simmer Down is the name of a music festival that takes place in the park. The mural is signed 'produced by Alex Williams, painted by @icreatenotdestroy'.

This mural is painted on walls of the Handsworth Wellness Centre in Handsworth Park and celebrates Birmingham reggae musicians. The artist is Bunny Bread of CreateNotDestroy, who also painted the Downlow murals in Lozells (see, for example, Image]). He worked with Birmingham Youth Service and Simmer Down Arts, who organise the Simmer Down reggae festival in the park. On this section we see, from left to right, Tenna Star, Peter Spence, Fatman of Black Symbol and Yaz Alexander. See the Simmer Down site https://simmerdownarts.com/Reggae-Mural-Project/ .

This mural is painted on walls of the Handsworth Wellness Centre in Handsworth Park and celebrates Birmingham reggae musicians. The artist is Bunny Bread of CreateNotDestroy, who also painted the Downlow murals in Lozells (see, for example, Image]). He worked with Birmingham Youth Service and Simmer Down Arts, who organise the Simmer Down reggae festival in the park. Here we see, from left to right, UB40, Ranking Roger, Macka B, Apache Indian and Rose Capri. See the Simmer Down site https://simmerdownarts.com/Reggae-Mural-Project/ .

This is a detail of a mural on a curved wall of the Handsworth Wellness Centre in Handsworth Park. Artwork and title derive from the 1978 album by the local reggae band Steel Pulse; see Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handsworth_Revolution . The title song is a call for solidarity, co-operation and interracial justice. Steel Pulse feature on the nearby mural of Birmingham Reggae Royalty Image

The white building across the road looks to me like a former public house, but is now the premises of a nail bar and manicurist. Further along, a general grocery store and a takeaway pizza shop operate.

The baths were built on a corner of the Handsworth Park site by the Handsworth Local Board, as the district had not yet become part of Birmingham. They opened in 1907 and offered "First and Second Class Swimming Baths, suites of First and Second Class Private Baths for Men and Women and an excellent Turkish Baths designed in ‘an appropriate Eastern style’." See the Baths and Wash Houses historical archive site https://www.bathsandwashhouses.co.uk/archive/your-local-buildings/birmingham/birmingham-grove-lane-baths/ . Only the front survives, converted into housing, with the site of all those baths replaced by a street of housing, Pike Close. Houses should now have baths or showers, while a swimming pool is provided by the Wellness Center in the park.