Photo poser - Factory workers

I agree with you Pixrobin. Another thing which points to something like that is that there is I think only one bicycle, most pictures of that era you see there are lots of bikes and they all look as if they are rushing home. My theory of there being policemen as well would fit with that.

Yes. But you also have to remember that the average 'factory' worker couldn't afford a bike. I saw an ad for a Rudge-Whitworth bicycle in a 1920 newspaper that cost 15 guineas.

Still intrigued by this image Any definitive answer?

Not 100% definitive but : I have seen this photo before and although not definite I think it is the view from a vantage point in Paynes Lane looking along Sparkbrook Street & Colchester Street and therefore probably shows workers leaving the Singer factory at Canterbury Street. What supports it for me is the slight dogleg to the left which Sparkbrook & Colchester Streets had at the Brook Street crossroads.

Yes Derrick, I can see where you are coming from. First building on the left appears to be a corner house, Yardley St corner? The factory on the right certainly looks like the Singer works. During the mid 50s I lived in Canterbury St almost opposite St Peters Church, so if Derrick is correct the photograph could have been taken from the bedroom of that house. What does seem a little odd is that all those people could stroll down the middle of the road untroubled by traffic. Suppose that would date the picture between wars. As an aside, the house that we occupied was owned by a Mrs Sass, a Polish Jew that had survived Germany's horror camps and had managed to conceal several items of value that she sold when she arrived in the UK. Our rent was 17/6d a week for a spacious house with quite a nice garden and a large bathroom. Bathrooms were rare in Hillfields in those days.

It could easily be Read Street, from Hood Street. There is a perfect vantage point in Hood Street to look down the middle of Read Street and the dogleg is a better fit. The Singer works is still in the background.

For perusal, not definite.

Excellent guess Heathite but I don't think the buildings in Read Street were quite that tall? This is an aerial view of the street from 1934, Hood Street is on the right:

Yes, I have to agree, the buildings do not conform to the original photo. There are some nice clues in the photo though. I think someone suggested a policeman and I think that is a definite. So maybe they are being escorted away from a football match after the game. That would give us a location clue, and since there are many people in the photo that would suggest they were close to the ground and not yet dispersed. I think that's one reason I tried with Read Street. The dog-leg is an important feature, the chimney too. The height of the buildings and the first building on the left, it looks like it could be a chapel. Then there is the delta of flared exit that broadens to the right. That sweep of the road should be visible from the maps if we locate the site. I'm sure there are others.

I'm now fairly sure it's a view of workers leaving the Rudge Works in Crow Lane taken from the corner with Spon Street:

Oh Well done! Yes, that fits. The aerial photos of that area are too late to capture all the buildings but the one on the left matches.

I think this is the left hand corner of the factory worker's mystery photo. Watchmakers Arms 36 Spon Street (Crow Lane). On the aerial view, the chimney is there.

I could be wrong, usually am I remember being taken to football matches pre war. Spectators were not as formally dressed as those in the picture. More like cloth cap and muffler.

This later photo (from Rob's pics) was taken from almost exactly the same spot as the mystery photo. The Rudge company design offices survived until comparatively recent:

I've said it before but it's almost spooky to be able to time travel in these pictures. It helps to have the Dutchman to act as time guide.