Description:When Riversdale was no longer adequate as the only girls’ hostel in Birmingham, it was proposed that a building which had been requisitioned farther down Bristol Road, number 214, could be adapted to become a new hostel for girls. The work took place in 1945.
As a hostel, The Limes would probably have accommodated older girls who had finished their education and who were working but still in the care of the local authority.
Initially the two homes existed alongside each other, both accommodating girls, but Riversdale closed in 1952.
By 1950, The Limes was categorised by the Children’s Committee as a remand home for girls, no longer a hostel.
In 1963, the building could accommodate 20 girls.
An edited extract from an oral history interview with a woman who went to The Limes in 1963:
"I was about thirteen when I went to The Limes. It was just like a great big house with dormitories. I think there were about 20-odd girls in there. Before, I was in Erdington Cottage Homes but I was running away. Then I remember going to court and then to The Limes. My Mom and Dad come to visit me there and they both ended up crying. I must have gone on about it being so strict. Now that was strict, I mean the Homes to me was strict but that was worse. You couldn’t get out of the building. I know we did have dance lessons and stuff like that and it was Christmas time so we were doing a play. I was just in The Limes waiting for my place at approved school – St Euphrasia’s."
In 1963, a scheme was approved by the Council to use Copeley Hill Hostel in Erdington as the replacement for the Limes as the existing building was expensive to maintain. However, the building of Spaghetti Junction scuppered these plans.
Instead it was decided that, in 1967, the Field House would replace The Limes. Mary Lewis, Superintendent at the time of the move, remembers taking 16 girls by coach from the Limes to Field House one summer afternoon in 1967.
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Image: Plan of the location of the Limes in relation to the proposal to acquire the property, Children’s Committee Report to the Council 9th October 1951 in Birmingham City Council Agendas 1951 to 1952.
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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.