Map of 1906 Trail

1906 Trail items so far -

•  Birmingham City FC first season at St Andrews 
•  Sir John Holder kicked off the first game at St Andrews 
•  Holders Woodland and Pitmaston at Moor Green, home of Sir John Holder in 1906 
•  Sir John Holder was a brewer (Holders Brewery, was near Curzon Street, also known as Midlands Brewery) 
• The Craven Arms Pub (recently refurbished)at Gough street was a Holders Pub, re-designed and refurbished in 1906 
•  The last steam tram ran between Birmingham and Moseley in 1906 
• Were The Peaky Blinders around in 1906?

Summary – this is an 11 mile trail in and around Birmingham connecting the greenways, following river corridors and City Parks, together with Birmingham heritage. 

Digbeth and Deritend, either side of the River Rea, are often quoted as being the earliest settlements of tribal Birmingham and these together with turn of the 19 – 20th Century buildings create the linking features for the 1906 Trail 

Three further connecting elements provide the outline for the walk – 

1. Sir John Holder – (Moor Green Estate) 

2. St Andrews Football Ground 

3. The Craven Arms Public House 

 The 1906 Trail

• Kings Heath Park 
• Highbury Park
• Holders Woodland 
• Cannon Hill Park 
• Calthorpe Park
• Alcester Road/Swimming Baths
• Balsall Heath Park
• Sparkhill Park
• Burbury Brickworks
• The Ackers - BSA
• Muntz Street - Small Heath
• St Andrews
• Digbeth (place of the first settlers
• Craven Arms (Upper Gough Street)

First games at St Andrews during 1906

Wed 26 Dec 1906	MIDDLESBROUGH	H	League	D 0-0	St. Andrews
Sat 29 Dec 1906	PRESTON NORTH END	H	League	W 3-0	St. Andrews

Th

It seems that both horse drawn and steam powered trams ran together in Birmingham for a while, both nearing the end of their reign in parts of the City in 1906 The last horse tram at Nechells 1906< The steam trams in Birmingham had been running since 1884 and were coming to the end of their useful life and were soon to be replaced by electric trams and later, motor buses. The Moseley route originally ran from Bradford Street, but from 1885, ran from the junction of Hill Street and Station Street on a circuit which prevented the need to uncouple the Falcon steam engine from the tramcar. The route was soon extended to Kings Heath. The Tramcar in the image is a double-ended, double decker tram made by the Falcon Engine and Car Company around 1885, it seated up to 60 passengers, 30 downstairs in an enclosed cabin, in relative comfort and 30 upstairs under a canopy with open sides, which with smoke from the engine and cold wind can't have been too popular in the winter. The stairs to the top deck were not covered either. The Steam engine itself could also be driven from either end, as it had identical controls at each end, allowing both pushing and pulling of the tramcar.The Steam trams ended their working lives unceremoniously on 31st December 1906 when the company had to vacate Birmingham Corporation tracks by 4am. It is believed that the engines and cars were driven to the Black Country for dismantling 1906. Heavy overnight snowfall put the ceremony, and the scheduled match against Middlesbrough_F.C." at risk. Dozens of volunteers, including members of the club's board, worked all morning to clear the pitch. The game finally kicked off an hour late, finishing goalless in front of 32,000 spectators Birmingham_F.C._ Birmingham Post "Birmingham Daily Post editorial next day suggested that "the fact that so many spectators attended under such adverse conditions augurs well for the step that the directors have taken", and that the directors were "to be congratulated in having provided their supporters with a ground second to none in the country.