Page:Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham.djvu/343

Rh  in Deritend was removed in August, 1828; the one at Five Ways July 5, 1841; those at Small Heath, at Sparkbrook, in the Moseley Road, and in the Hagley Road were ail "free'd" in 1851, and the sites of the toll houses sold in 1853. In the "good old coaching days" the turnpike tolls paid on a coach running daily from here to London amounted to £1,428 per year. 

 Union Passage, at first but a field path out of the yard of the Crown Tavern to the Cherry Orchard, after- wards a narrow entry as far as Crooked Lane, with a house only at each end, was opened up and widened in 1823 by Mr. Jones, who built the Pantechnetheca. Near the Bull Street end was the Old Bear Yard, the premises of a dealer in dogs, rabbits, pigeons, and other pets, who kept a big brown bear, which was taken out whenever the Black Country boys wanted a bear-baiting. The game was put a stop to in 1835, but the "cage" was there in 1841, about which time the Passage became built up on both sides throughout. 

 Vaughton's Hole.—An unfortunate soldier fell into a deep clay pit here, in July, 1857, and was drowned; and about a month after (August 6) a horse and cart, laden with street sweepings, was backed too near the edge, over-turned, and sank to the bottom of sixty feet deep of water. The place was named after a very old local family who owned considerable property in the neighbourhood of Gooch Street, &c., though the descendants are known as Houghtons.

Vauxhall.—In an old book descriptive of a tour through England, in 1766, it is mentioned that near Birmingham there "is a scat belonging to Sir Liston Holte, Bart., but now let out for a public house (opened June 4, 1758), where are gardens, &c., with an organ and other music, in imitation of Vauxhall, by which name it goes in the neighbourhood." The old place, having been purchased by the Victoria Land Society, was closed by a farewell dinner and ball, September 16, 1850, the first stroke of the axe to the trees being given at the finish of the ball, 6 a.m. next morning. In the days of its prime, before busy bustling Birmingham pushed up to its walls, it ranked as one of the finest places of amusement anywhere out of London. The following verse (one of five) is from an "Impromptu written by Edward Farmer in one of the alcoves at Old Vauxhall, March 6, 1850":—

""There's scarce a heart that will not start, No matter what it's rank and station, And heave a sigh when they destroy. Tills favourite place of recreation. If we look back on memory's track, What joyous scenes we can recall, Of happy hours in its gay bowers, And friends we met at Old Vauxhall!""

Velocipedes.—We call them "cycles" nowadays, but in 1816-20 they were 'dandy-horses," and in the words of a street ballet of the period

"" The hobby-horse was all the go In country and in town.""

Views of Birmingham.—The earliest date "view" of the town appears to be the one given in Dugdale's Warwickshire, of 1656, and entitled "The Prospect of Birmingham, from Ravenhurst (near London Road), in the South-east part of the Towne."

Villa Cross was originally built for and occupied as a school, and known as Aston Villa School.

Visitors of Distinction in the old Soho days, were not at all rare, though they had not the advantages of travel- ling by rail. Every event of the kind, however, was duly chronicled in the Gazette, but they must be men of superior mark indeed, or peculiarly notorious perhaps, for their movements to be noted nowadays. Besides the "royalties" noted elsewhere, we were honoured with the presence of the Chinese Commissioner Pin-ta-Jen.May, 7, 1866, and his Excellency the Chinese Minister Ku-ta Jen, January 23, 1878. Japanese Ambassadors were here May 20, 1862, and again 