1905

The new St Luke’s Church (the current building) is opened on Bristol Street

1912

The Electric Picture House opens at the junction of Wrentham and Bristol Street. In 1923 it became The Broadway, later changing its name to The Gala and The Cinephone

1914

July 2 - Death of Joseph Chamberlain. He was buried in Key Hill Cemetery on July 6.

1918

Neville Chamberlain elected as MP for Ladywood in December.

1937

May 16 1937: The Bristol Cinema is opened showing “The Luckiest Girl In The World” and “A Land Without Music”. Now demolished it stood on the site of McDonalds drive-in restaurant at Lee Bank Middleway.

1940

December 11 1940: St Thomas’s Church on Bath Row is directly hit during the Blitz. Only the church tower survives.

1957

May 2 1957: The Queen Mother visits the “Bath Row Development”

October 10 1957: Lady Churchill opens the YWCA near The Bristol Cinema

1958

March 29 1958: Bradshaws Stores on Cregoe Street closes their doors for the last time. They had been a central part of the community for decades supplying clothes and furnishings.

1962

June 2 1962: Newsagent Thomas Bates is shot during the course of a robbery in Lee Bank Road. Oswald Grey is convicted for the offence and becomes the last person executed for murder in Birmingham.

1964

Auchinleck House and Square opened at Five Ways

June 1 1964: The old St Catherine of Siena Church on The Horsefair is de-consecrated.

December 20 1964: The new St Catherine Of Siena Church is opened on Bristol Street between the junctions with Great Colmore Street and Irving Street.

1971

Cleveland and Clydesdale Tower blocks, The Sentinels, are finished on Holloway head.

1986

Davenports Brewery on Bath Row is taken over by Greenall Whitley and is subsequently closed down.

The first Superprix is raced around the Lee Bank and Highgate area. This is an annual event in Birmingham until 1990.

1999

Optima Community Association formed.

2001

Unveiling of plans for Park Central – an Optima partnership with Crest Nicholson and Birmingham City Council.