Images of Birmingham in the 1950s and 1960s

The pioneering Heavy Metal bands Black Sabbath and Judas Priest were both formed in the late 1960s in the industrial city of Birmingham in central Britain. The pictures below illustrate what the city and areas around it looked like when founding members of both bands were growing up.

Lining up for Fuel, 1951 World War II Rationing Ends, 1954

The “Bull Ring,” c. 1950 New Street Station, 1963

Anderton Street, 1960 Nechells Power Station/River Tame, 1968

Howard Street, 1963 Hampton Street, Newtown, 1963

Great Russell St., 1967 Furnace Lane, 1968 Newtown-Aston, 1968