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Birmingham Town Hall

Slade definitely played at Brum Town Hall on the 19th November 1972, supported by Thin Lizzy and Suzie Quatro.... approaching the height of the glamrock era I guess?

I was sent a great photo of the Town Hall taken in the 60's which I've attached. Happy days.

Regards,

Fairport

View attachment 54232
 
did anybody see the mothers of invention/frank zappa. (1968-69). and 1973,pictures and sound recording. would be nice. look forward to your comments.
 
John Welch was the brother of Edward Welch who was a parter of Joseph Aloysius Hansom.

Born 1810,Overton, Flintshire; came to the Island in 1830 as assistant to his brother Edward Welch who was partner of Joseph Aloysius Hansom. It was this later partnership, after many successes in North Wales and Northern England who were invited to design King Williams College; shortly afterwards however this partnership was bankrupted by problems during the building of Birmingham Town Hall. Although John was probably involved, he escaped bankruptcy.
Click to expand...

They probably made a mistake on that stone - did they mean to put Edward Welch not John?
 
I also sang in the school's choir two years in the 50's, the second year was an all Scottish concert, songs and the poem Night Mail by W H Auden .
I saw the Shadows there sometime in the 60's
 
As a youngster I always liked the look of the cities Town Hall, it was, after all, the most impressive building in the city in my view. In my early teens, during the early '50's, I used to attend concerts, when I was able to, given by the CBSO. Bill Haley and pop groups were yet to surface. :D

I often walked through the Anglican Cathedral churchyard but I guess there were more exciting things to be seen than small monuments. Recollections are of trying not to step on pigeons; besides my mind probably was still thinking about the models - aeroplanes and trains - that I had just looked at in Cherry Street.

Outside the scope of the Forum, but well worth a mention, was the other venue I used to visit when opportunity arose namely The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre (as it was then called) at Stratford-upon-Avon.
 
There's quite a few memorials in that churchyard - too many to capture.

Notable ones:

Boer War Memorial obelisk


Boer War Obelisk Memorial - Birmingham by ell brown, on Flickr

Statue of Charles Gore


St Philip's Cathedral - statue of Charles Gore - the first Bishop of Birmingham - Birmingham by ell brown, on Flickr

Obelisk memorial of Thomas Unett


Obelisk at St Philip's in memory of Thomas Unett by ell brown, on Flickr

Outside - Angel Drinking Fountain - originally from Christ Church (moved after it was demolished in 1899)


The Angel Drinking Fountain by ell brown, on Flickr
 
Such an iconic building, which seemed to always have been with me as a child, and youth, I remember in the late 50's waiting across the road for my bus, in the evening, and watching the gas lamps being lit, by a chap with a little A frame ladder, always looked so imposing!!
 
Looks like there were plenty of buses stopped over the road Paul.

Looking closer at the photo in post #45 the sandbags aren't around Queen Vic. Wonder why they were there then ? Viv.
 
I must say as a kid of 13, 14 I loved Buddy Holly, spent a fortune at the Juke box , with "Peggy Sue, and Slippin and a slidin"!!!
 
“In fact, it is likely that Birmingham Town Hall was the first town hall in England to have an organ. Architectural historian Mark Girouard suggests that, through the example set by Birmingham Town Hall, an organ became an essential status symbol for all similar buildings" 36 This instrument was to set a precedent and pave the way for the magnificent instruments of later in the century in such town halls as Leeds and Manchester.”

(Music and Institutions in nineteenth-century Britain. Publication date 2012)
 
Great photos, of an Iconic structure, with so much history to Birmingham, as a lad I walked many times through those arcades, and coulombs, to cross over the road to wait for the number 12 bus , some evenings in winter as I waited, I watched, the gas lamp lighter, with his little "A" frame ladder illuminating the exterior of the town hall, happy days !!
 
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