Description:This children's home was opened in 1967 in two adjoining (semi-detached) houses. The use of the houses as a children’s home was thought to be only temporary because of a planned road-widening scheme which would mean the demolition of the houses. The road widening did not, however, take place and the children's home stayed put for more than twenty years.
It initially had beds for up to 12 children although this increased to 13 by 1979 and then stayed with a capacity of 13 until it closed. Both boys and girls were accommodated.
According to the electoral roll, from 1969 to 1980, Francis and Nellie Cloudsley were the resident house-parents.
From approximately 1983 until the home closed, Christopher Attwood was the officer-in-charge. During this period City Road was home to children of all ages and was also open to emergency admissions - for children who needed a place to stay with very little notice at all. Those admitted as emergencies may only have stayed in the home for one or two nights. Other children in the home stayed for five or six years.
The home was opposite the George Dixon School. Behind the gardens are the buildings and grounds of another large school which is now the Portland Centre – a Social Services building.
The home was closed in 1988.
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Image: A poster promoting fostering in the late 1980s. The Birmingham Children's Homes project has no photograph of City Road children's home at this stage.
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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.