Description:Home 12 was on the left side of the drive adjoined to Home 14. It was initially a home for girls only.
The other all-girls homes, at the top end of the drive, were mixed by 1948. Home no. 12, however, was all male by 1948 having accommodation for 18 boys. From 1949, it became known as Windyridge.
In 1969, it was agreed to join Beechcroft and Windyridge into one and make the new single unit into a residential nursery as part of the City Council’s efforts to replace the older larger nurseries with smaller units.
The new nursery, called Beechcroft, accommodated 18 children aged under 8. The nursery was staffed by a matron, deputy matron, nine residential childcare officers and two night assistants.
Beechcroft closed in 1981.
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Image: The foundation stone laid in 1898 on what became the Superintendent's House when building of the Aston Union Cottage Homes began. Photographed in 2004 by Paul Dolan.
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Source: This history was compiled by the Birmingham Children's Homes Project, an initiative to explore Birmingham City Council-run children’s homes between 1949 and 1990.