• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team

Birmingham Town Hall

Saint Martins was once the dominant feature in the Bull Ring (as it should be) but is no longer, I would hate to see the Town Hall go the same way, dwarfed by some glass and concrete monstrosity, knowing the philistines running the Council I would not be at all surprised if this happens. Eric
 
This is the crap that is going up next to the Town Hall. I'd rather have kept the old library.
 

Attachments

  • Planning-Secured-Header.jpg
    Planning-Secured-Header.jpg
    251.8 KB · Views: 32
thing is we can sign petitions..go on protest marches..write in..go to public meetings to try and save our national treasures but no one listens..no one cares..ive done all this but to no avail...it wont be long before birminghams history is literally a thing of the past and buildings that are only 50 years old will be grade listed and viewed with wonderment and amazement that they are still standing. i am a proud to be a brummie but to be quite honest i am ashamed of how our city centre and out lining areas look...the city centre is a right mish mash of buildings that just look totally out of place..nothing seems to look right...a right mess and some of the buildings built in the 60s are filthy..the other week i walked the short distance from corporation to smallbrook queensway..a ten min walk in which i counted no less than 7 people lying on the pavements asleep in sleeping bags... of course this view is just through my eyes others will no doubt see it differently..
 
Last edited:
YES, Lynn
you are quite correct there minds are made on any decsion on any subject or buildng in question
we the public elect them to run our city , but after that you canot tell them about any think
any planning organised by the city council , no matter what party or what as been decide they dismiss public oppenion
you can petion all you like your democrated right to so along with the public
they say we will look at any bodies pettions bug it hog wash and demostrate its a complete waste of time
whom,s idea to recomend any think and it goes through they will go down in history book record
that he brought it to birmingham
I cannot see them knocking down the town hall i am sure there would be more than a demostration on there hands
as regards the building which is the further away i think its better than that old libary we had
in my eyes it was just concrete block , i used to travel there nearly every other day of the week
that old libary doing my research i would be until late
and i used to see these homeless people from the saly army cominng in and squatting on arm years
reading the news papers awaiting for the time they was allowed to get into the hostel
still that another matter i know , i do not want to go off thread
but judging by the last photograph on here i think its fine
and another question all these council cuts pleading poverty where is the finance coming from
dont say the london office white hall its sems all councils are wasting money
they want to look at the inner cities close to the city centre instead of all these swarf office blocks
i do not like these giant green houses with tons of glass it aint right
best wishes Alan,, Astonian,,,,,,
 
Re Frothie's post #385, this proposal is absolute sacrilege and there appears to be nothing the rate payer can do about it. They council never learns, never listens and has no interest in the cities history, all cities will all look the same one day. How sad. Eric
 
It is difficult to assess whether that new building will have much sympathy with the older more elegant structures nearby. The picture suggests it might. One thing seems to be of interest and that is it not a high multi storey structure towering way above the nearby buildings.
Not knowing who represents the people of the city on the council, from some comments here, from time to time, suggests that many are not deeply rooted in the city and its tradition.
Of course it is not just in Birmingham that decisions of a disputable nature occur. The ancient fishing harbour of Brixham (Devon), which most tourists find of interest and pleasure, once had a newcomer to the area suggest it was in filled for a car park!! Other cities and towns have also used canals, railway cuttings and other areas for infilling only to find that that subsequently - and at great financial cost I might add - the infill needed removing to enable the original purpose to be renewed.
 
cookie273uk said:
Re Frothie's post #385, this proposal is absolute sacrilege and there appears to be nothing the rate payer can do about it. They council never learns, never listens and has no interest in the cities history, all cities will all look the same one day. How sad. Eric
Click to expand...

I love old building. As you probably know I also like new buildings which have some character about them but I don't like tall greenhouses.
 
I personally find natural materials like stone, marble, terracotta, slate etc... age naturally, but man made concrete does not, it simply gets grubby and stained over a period of time. I think what ever they decide to build adjacent to the Town Hall should be well below its height and anything but concrete.
 
I don't think any new buildings, even important ones, are usually designed to last very long. Therefore they put no real effort into designing something that is good. apart from that, many architects have peculiar ideas as to what is good . Just watched an old program i had taped which showed the Belfast museum. Started 1920s, but only half built. completed 1970s with whya looks like part of the 1970s birmingham library stuck on the side. Yet someone was saying how well the two parts went together !!!!
 
A familiar view of the Town Hall. But each column has a shield attached to it. No date for the postcard but could be 1940s/50s. Viv.

image.jpeg
 
Was wondering if the shields on each column were something to do with the Birmingham Pageant/King's visit of 1938 ? Viv.
 
Thanks Tim. That's helpful. The shields must have been for a particular event as they're temporary. So we're still looking at 1940s- 1950s. Viv.
 
There was a time when the traffic could travel all around the Town Hall. Looks like chaos to me. Viv.

image.jpeg
 
The traffic used to go round the Town Hall well into the 1960s Viv. My bus stop was outside the Museum & Art Gallery which was by the last car on the right hand side.
 
Several historical events recorded in newspapers which have taken place at the Town Hall.

1906 - Chamberlain after the polls
image.jpeg

1901 - Two images following Lloyd George's meeting when he spoke against the Boer War
image.jpeg
image.jpeg

1858 - Banquet of Dr Livingstone advocates
image.jpeg
 
Probably ! They all seem to be women. In fact I think it's all men eating on the ground floor. Viv.
 
Vivienne, there appears to be a number of women at the tables if you look closely. I wonder who paid for all that ? Eric
 
Ahh the rise of the parking meter and the dreaded parking warden ! Must be 1960s. Viv.
 
I had forgotten about parking meters as we live in rural Victoria here in Oz.
Was recently in Melbourne and was amazed that meters have gone and that I was expected to download an app on my phone to organize a bit of parking. A local lady told me to ignore it, which I did.
Who would have thought of such things when I was growing up in Brum.
Cheers Tim
Ps my spell check keeps telling me I grew up in Bum !
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top