Local History - Shops
Shopping has been at the centre of activity in Solihull since the town was created in the early middle ages.
The town was a thriving commercial centre for about 200 years but eventually competition from neighbouring towns, lack of interest from non-resident lords of the manor and the reduction in population caused by epidemics such as the "Black Death" combined to cause the decline of the town's trade.
Coaching inns such as the Barley Mow and the George enjoyed the custom brought by travellers along the Warwick Road after the Turnpike Trust was created in 1725, but by the beginning of the 19th century Solihull was little more than a village in a fairly remote part of Warwickshire.
The village contained some shops, mainly in the High Street, but many houses were also located there. In the 1840's Caroline Clive, wife of the Rector, recorded in her diary that she and her husband visited Birmingham to go shopping.
In 1852 Solihull Station opened, on the new railway linking Birmingham with Oxford, and this offered Birmingham residents the opportunity to live in the pleasant environment of Solihull.
Growth was slow at first, but gradually more and more houses were built and the population began to grow. This expanding population required more services, and new shops appeared in the town.
Although photographs and memories recall an apparently sleepy village trade directories show a variety of goods and services available. For example, White's Directory of 1874 records a chemist, a draper, a tailor, boot and shoe maker, a barber, a butcher and two ale merchants in the High Street plus further shops in Warwick Road.
By 1896 the High Street also had an ironmonger, a china shop, a fancy goods shop, a stationer, two dressmakers, a fishmonger and a poulterer. Many of the shops, such as Lea's grocers, delivered to their customers - a practice which continued into the 20th century.
Memories on file in Solihull Library recall former shops and their staff. The Blizzard sisters ran a greengrocer's shop in the building now housing the charity shop at the corner of Manor Walk. Miss Deebank's toy shop is remembered with affection by residents from the 1930's, especially for the Christmas period when the shop resembled a fairy grotto.
Mr Hull had a butcher's shop next to the Manor House in the High Street, and the butcher's boy would visit customers in the morning to collect orders and deliver in the afternoon. Hurrell's Stores at the corner of Poplar Road also had a boy to deliver groceries by bicycle and customers could sit at the counter to give their order.