Peter, you being "in on the ground floor" as it were for the redevelopment of Birmingham in the late l950's would have given you a very different outlook
on various areas of the City than some of Brummie citizens of that era and I can understand somewhat how you would not agree with the direction the architecture of the city was going at that point and rightly so when you
look at how things have turned out. i.e. pull most of it down and start again!
We lost so many key buildings in the city in WW2 through bombing and fire damage and the redevelopment of the city led by Sir Herbert Manzoni, who was endorsed by the Council in a big way, and was, therefore, as City Engineer and Surveyor, free to carry out his somewhat disasterous plans for the city. He certainly has a lot to answer for because, as you say, he swept away a workable situation and replaced it by a mostly unpopular and unworkable plan for the city centre according to many people.
I remember when I worked at Francis Nicholls in Upper Dean Street when the demolition started all around that area and the streets were all closed off as the buildings went down one by one. I can still remember how it looked with buildings, many half demolished in street after street ...dreadful and unreal. It seemed to me to be a very over ambitous scheme which when finished had so many flaws.
In l959 I went to work at Robert M. Douglas in George Road, Erdington and spent the first year working for Mr. Douglas helping him with his farms and animal care correspondence for his estate Dunstall Hall in Barton-under-Needwood. After that work was removed to his home estate offices, I became a "floating" junior secretary which meant I worked for many departments of that company, Estimating, Law, Accounting, Design, Soil Mechanics, etc. It was a real eye opener for me. My Mother worked in the RMD Asphalt & Paving section of the company also at George Road at the same time.
At that time, the Birmingham Post & Mail Building was being developed and I remember writing many letters to John Madin, Architect who designed that building, on behalf of RMD. John Madin didn't get half as much recognition in Birmingham as Sir Herbert Manzoni even though he designed several key buildings in Birmingham, the Post & Mail Building for one, the Chamber of Commerce building, for which he won an award, some residential properties on the Calthorpe Estate, one of which is for sale for 875 thousand pounds and a few churches. Perhaps his recognition was less because another of his buildings was the Central Library which has never been very popular especially after knowing the building it replaced. I am not sure if Douglas's built the Post & Mail Building or not but I remember key personnel from Douglas's meeting with John Madin at that time and recall letters about the placing of the printing presses deep in the basement as the building went up around them. I seem to remember Robert Douglas attending the topping off ceremony at the Post & Mail Building. That building is gone now, of course. John Madin was still alive in 2005 at 81 years of age. It must be very sad for him to have his premier buildings slated for demolition in his lifetime. The John Madin Design Group and Partnership is still in business.
I don't recall Herbert Manzoni coming to George Road, but his son Michael Manzoni, a civil engineer himself worked at Douglas' for many years and oversaw some key building projects in Birmingham. He was a little
full of himself when he was around at George Road. He spent a lot of time at various site offices but he was generally liked by the office people who worked for him both on site and at George Road. I liked him I remember. Sadly, he died a couple of years ago from an asbestos related illness which he is thought to have contracted through his work over the years. He was 76 years old when he died.
