Birmingham City Centre

Housing, bombing and redevelopment

At the end of Blucher Street, turn left to walk down Holloway Head.

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Holloway Head

Holloway Head and Bath Row used to contain row after row of back to back terraces which a quarter of Birmingham's residents lived in at the turn of the 20th century.

Many of these houses were bombed in World War II and the rest were completely demolished in the 1960s. They were considered slums in 1960s because the houses had outside loos and no bathroom! The city's poorest residents lived in them. However, when they were built in the late 1800s, they were modern and popular houses.

Pagoda on Holloway Circus

Only one courtyard of back to backs remains in Birmingham city centre - court 15 on the corner of Hurst Street and Inge Street, next to the Hippodrome theatre. It's been restored by the Birmingham Conservation Trust and the National Trust and is now open to the public! Find out more here…

At the roundabout, use the subway to emerge on the right hand side of Smallbrook Queensway.

The pagoda on the roundabout was donated to Birmingham by a businessman who owns Chinese supermarkets in the city. A very tall new skyscraper is being built on Holloway Circus (behind the pagoda, see the photograph, left). It will contain two hotels and flats. Beetham Tower will be the city's tallest structure - from the top floor, you'll be able to look down on the BT Tower!

Continue straight on up Smallbrook Queensway.

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