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Birmingham Town Hall

Hi Vivienne,

It's nice to see some of the old images of the town hall it brings back alot of fond memories, especially where music concerts are concerned.

In the past I've been there on several occasions for both CBSO classical music concerts (school visits) and of coarse rock & blues concerts featuring the likes of BB King, Fleetwood Mac, The Who, ELO (original line ups) to name but a few (good times indeed).

Lozellian.
 
Viv
No 1 Congreve St is listed as being occupied by Samuel William Suffield, chemist, tea merchant etc in the 1829 directory. In the 1823 version it was another chemist. In 1829 there is also listed a William Suffield, bookseller,in Anne St, though no number is given. Possibly it was the same building. In the 1833, 1839, 1841 and 1845 directories Samuel is also at 1 Congreve St, though in 1841 he is listed as Samuel Wilson Suffield, and in 1845 address is given as 1 Congreve St ,Ann St, so in 1845 he definitely occupied both sides of the building. In 1849 no 1 Congreve st is coffee rooms and there is no Suffield nearby. There is uncertainty as to how accurate the dates of these early directories were, the survey possibly being several years earlier than publication date in some instances.
 
Things were going well for the Allies in September 1944 it appears. The 'blackout' became the 'dim out' as it was anticipated air raids were unlikely. However on the 9th. the first V2 landed on Britain. The Allies were making good progress moving southwards deeper into France and northwards into the Low Countries. Pockets of strongly held resistance, such as the Port of Calais succumbed to the Allies and the Allies entered German soil, in the region of Aachen, on the 10th. The only real set back was Operation Market Garden, which centred upon the Dutch city of Arnhem.
 
Saw this glass case display at the Lloyd George Museum in North Wales last week.

David Lloyd George visited for a talk at the Town Hall and there was a riot in 1901!



They also have a policeman's helmet and whistle, plus a bit of wood from the Town Hall.

 
This interior photo shows panels of paintings or murals on the walls above the side balconies and either side of the organ. I certainly don’t remember these when I visited the TH in the 1960s onwards. And they’re not there today. Viv.

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how strange viv...wonder what happened and why they were removed..i was there round about 62 singing in the school choir but my memory is very vague about that

lyn
 
Vivienne14 said:
This interior photo shows panels of paintings or murals on the walls above the side balconies and either side of the organ. I certainly don’t remember these when I visited the TH in the 1960s onwards. And they’re not there today. Viv.

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This is how i remember the TH when i sang there a couple of times, with the pupils from Loxton Street School. Fabulous building.
 
There was little or no decoration on the panels in the 1800s except for a little floral pattern to the side of the organ in 1850. I think the panels must have been painted in the 1900s. Perhaps it was part of a major refurb in the early 1900s. From what I can make out from the photo in post #439 the panels have a classical look to them. By the 1930s there were no decorated panels,

In the 1840s there were sconces (for candles I assume) attached to the the places where the later painted panels appeared. By the 1850s these have gone as there seems to be gas light installed. Viv.

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Anthony Peers book on the town hall gives the story of these paintings, which were suggested in 1891 dedecoration scheme. the canvases were painted by students of the College of Art, and represented periods of Birmingham history. They were also considerably cheaper than the Madox Brown murals originally suggested at £375 each. They were hung over the next 10 years , the last being "in the first three years of the 20th century".They were removed in advance of a scheme or works 1926-7. Iti sis commented that although supposedly abut Birmingham history, events in the mercentile world were omitted (ie Watt, Boulton), as were the reform movements of 1831-2. The paintings titles are listed by Peers. They were rehung in the historical museum in Cannon Hill Park , and last seen 1939. Present position or fate unknown
 
Thanks Mike. I thought there surely must have been a mention of them somewhere ! There were a lot of them too. I thought they must have been movable, if they’d been painted onto plasterwork they’d have probably been in place for longer. I suppose with a refit/upgrade of the Hall they were considered unsuitable or outdated. The fact that they omitted manufacturing and reform history must have been disappointing too.

That’s really helpful. Viv.
 
Looking at Ell’s photo in #444, the ceiling plasterwork is different now. The curved side panels look partly original, but the central piece looks to have been wholly replaced. It’s all much less detailed than the original. Viv.
 
sospiri said:
I can't remember any in the late 50s, Viv, but I haven't been in there since.

Maurice :cool:
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I remember going in the late 50's to concerts jazz, trad and modern and to the CBSO. i saw the MJQ somewhere not sure it was the town hall. For students day we had a/the barb (If i can remember)
 
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