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Selly Oak pumping station, is this a myth?

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David Percival

Brummie babby
I recall being told, when growing up in Selly Oak, that the heavy water used in the development of the hydrogen bomb (undertaken at the university) was made at the Selly Oak pumping station. Is this corect?
I remember the anti-aircraft gun mounting on the roof and being told that was the reason for it being there, but it was also one of the highest buildings in the area at the time and could equally well have been there to protect the railway and canal (and possibly the Battery). Any confirmation would be welcome.
 
I think it likely you were told a pork pie there!
As this article will tell you, the annual output at Norsk Hydro, the famous wartime heavy water plant in Norway (but under German control) only produced about 12 metric tonnes of the stuff a year, but that was enough to have raiding parties sent in to destroy the place. One anti-aircraft gun wouldn't do much to protect a plant of such major significence at that time, and I can't see any Government having such a plant so near to a civillian population the size of Birmingham's, in view of the importance of heavy water in the then young nuclear science industry.
 
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