Buildings at risk

[Vivienne14]

The Victorian Society wants to hear of any Victorian or Edwardian buildings at risk or endangered in your locality. These can be at risk of demolition, inappropriate development or neglect.

The one that immediately springs to mind for me is Central Hall on Corporation Street (is this still decaying?).

https://www.victoriansociety.org.uk...search-for-most-endangered-buildings-in-engl/

Viv.

 

[GER22VAN]

Is bloomsbury library still in need of repair ?
Have not been to Birmingham for several years now.

 

[ellbrown]

The one that immediately springs to mind for me is Central Hall on Corporation Street (is this still decaying?).

Well it is still under scaffolding!

This was 3 years ago and it is still like this!





Then there is this one on Lower Essex Street - Unity House (believe scaffolding has gone up on it)

 

[Rupert]

I know we long to save it all but what a monumental task all of this is. If you go through the posted web site there would appear to be enough work to employ all of the unemployed for ever maybe. Another consideration is that many of the structures are empty and un-used; so that if they are all refurbished...what will be done with them from then forward. You can't just leave them. Supposing they are surplus now they would still remain so.
When you look at it all on this scale, it becomes a daunting and impractical situation to retrieve in most instances. I wonder if in these cases the structures could be dismantled with care and the same materials used to produce abodes that are required in situ or not. In the UK and abroad. It seems to me that London Bridge was removed to a location in the US. Kind of like a 'Habitat For Humanity Restore' on a large scale. Perhaps all of the brick and arches don't have to become landfill. The iron railings and marble won't.

 

[Astoness]

hi rupert i take your point..always a dreamer me but wouldnt it be great if the city could dismantle instead of demolish all of our lovely buidings suplus to requirements and rebuild them on a site such as the black country museum did over 40 years ago...like i said its only a dream as something like that will never happen in brum..

lyn

 

[Phil]

Surely of all those buildings at risk in Birmingham and there are many. The first one we must sort out is the one that stands in the middle of our Premier Park Cannon Hill. This is the park that is advertised the most, and where most of the outside displays and functions seem to be held and where visitors flock to during the summer months. What do all these visitors who are encouraged to visit our fair city park think when they see the dilapidated wreck that the Golden Lion has become?

 

[Vivienne14]

Good point Rupert, if only! And as Lyn says, sadly it's dreaming. But we should all still bang on about these buildings to keep them in the public eye. Phil, yes I agree The Golden Lion should be a priority if only on the basis of age, features and as, now, a rare example in Brum. We could go on and on couldn't we?

Thanks Ell for the photos, if you see other possible buildings on your Birmingham travels be good to see them on here. We may not be able to get an ideal solution to their plight, but we can do very our best to get them noticed or, at least, their issues flagged up.

Thanks all for comments. Viv

 

[Rupert]

I never thought that I would be reading the words 'a rare example' when addressed to a pub in Brum. There was one on every corner in my day and those associated words highlight the fact that they are little used these days. I suppose TV and cans have taken over this function in spades. Not the same though but maybe preferable for most...sans the cask drawn product or real ale as it is called. In NA there are pubs but not many and cask drawn can be had in many chain restaurants (not what you would consider to be real ale) still humans are adaptable if nothing else.

All of which raises a point. I can`t see the waste of money in repairing the Lion in it's current location.....why do it. It will become derelict in no time. Pubs need to be where the would be users are away from home and maybe associated with a restaurant...so move it to such a location. Do a structurally sustaining rebuild and possibly sympathetic extension in a location of need. Even if moved to a holiday town or place where the lunchtime business crowd can be tapped. A pub once more and restaurant to boot....operational. A project for the instant 1 and 0 sudden billionaires to invest in. For whom the loss of a minor investment, for them, would mean nothing and drawing even would be fine.

Maybe the Golden Lion could be a golden opportunity...who knows. I suppose times have changed but there must be some of us who would still like `a half`and a plate of whelks. Hmm...fish and chips. When travelling around the UK, the pub lunch was perfect. Still have a couple of coasters.

 

[Phil]

Rupert,

The thing is when the Golden Lion was functional it was never used as a pub or café in the park. It was used for a variety of purposes but mainly as a cricket pavilion and tea room. it was also used as a rostrum come stage for presenting various events. There have been whispers that if it is not returned to Deritend that it will be repaired and used as a tea rooms.

It amazes me that £40,000 was found to carry out remedial work to the adjacent bandstand to save much more money being spent later, but no such similar thoughts were considered for this much older and historically important building.

 

[Astoness]

phil when were those pics of the golden lion in the park taken..and could you just remind me of its age please..what a sad sight..

lyn

 

[Vivienne14]

I never thought that I would be reading the words 'a rare example' when addressed to a pub in Brum.........

Yes Rupert, still many corner pubs, albeit no longer pubs in many cases. But by 'rare example' I was referring to the building itself being 16th century. Thankfully it's listed, but that's no full proof guarantee of anything these days. Viv.

 

[ellbrown]

Have you seen those buildings at the top of Moseley Road in Balsall Heath? You can see them from the no 50 bus.
Not sure, but were guns made down here?

 

[ellbrown]

Some past photos:

61-64 Ludgate Hill, Jewellery Quarter (near the footbridge over Great Charles Street Queensway) - the windows have since been boarded up, and painted black



48 Camden Street in the JQ



As mentioned above The Golden Lion - Cannon Hill Park



Belmont Row Works - Eastside Locks (believe everyone knows about this one!)

 

[paul stacey]

Very good thread Viv, sad to see the "Golden Lion", in such a state Phil , Dad would take me nearly every day in summer to Cannon Hill, hope that it is rectified in near future.Paul

 

[Phil]

ellbrown

The buildings the top of Highgate Rd & Moseley Rd used to be G .S . Smart & Co Fancy Goods manufacturers next door was Parkers they were gun manufacturers. Smarts moved out a good while back and as all the buildings on that section of road are Georgian I believe , I think they must have been listed somehow because they are still standing.

Lyn

I'm not sure that anybody knows the exact age of the Golden Lion except that it dates from around c1500, and it was moved to Cannon Hill Park in 1911 when they widened the road.

 

[norfolk brummie]

I have not been to Cannon Hill Park for around 60 years. I loved the park, the Golden Lion, the Bandstand. It always seemed to be Birmingham's best kept park, and it is so sad to see the photos of the Golden Lion is such a neglected state. The large trees in front of the Golden Lion can cause problems with their roots, and looking at the green tinged roof of the pub I suspect that those same trees are causing dampness with their branches, and lack of sunlight on the pub roof. The scaffolding acts insult to injury. What a shame.

 

[Astoness]

thanks phil...

 

[ellbrown]

ellbrown

The buildings the top of Highgate Rd & Moseley Rd used to be G .S . Smart & Co Fancy Goods manufacturers next door was Parkers they were gun manufacturers. Smarts moved out a good while back and as all the buildings on that section of road are Georgian I believe , I think they must have been listed somehow because they are still standing.

I've never been tempted to get off the 50 and take them!

I have not been to Cannon Hill Park for around 60 years.

Cannon Hill is the best park in the city! They regularly change the floral arrangements (every season). And the MAC was done up a few years ago! My photos of it were around 4 to 5 years ago.

The last time I saw it up close was a day before the last Sky Ride last September!

 

[Phil]

ellbrown

On your trips taken on the number 50 bus do you also pass by the Georgian houses opposite Highgate Park on the Moseley Rd, and are they still in the state of disrepair that they were left in four years ago after the property company that owned them went bankrupt. As I haven't been that way in quite a while the only images I can call on are those from Google and they are quite aged now.

 

[ellbrown]

They do look like derelict (I think). Similar to Google Street Maps view. (referring to the buildings near Highgate Fire Station)

I have already taken the houses opposite Highgate Park (a few years ago).

This was 3 years ago



I'm not sure if anything has been done to them.

 

[derekw]

Judging by the amount of scaffolding and awnings,security fences etc and the time they've been there,I would'nt trust this inept lot and its planners with anything.

 

[Rupert]

These were the houses of well to do families in the past. Not a sphere that I would have moved in...maybe; in my bailiwick, some of them would not have looked out of place, in current condition. Still, what a shame and what a fall from the grace that was. I find the fate of these family abodes more distressing than corporate buildings and Golden Lions and such. It's all so sad. There was talk on here about Brum not being the second city anymore and Manchester having taken it's place. I ..er did not believe that then but having looked the situation over now...I am coming around to belief in those stated words. There is no joy in a ghost town and that is what is becoming of too many areas. One wonders if there are enough families that could afford to live in these abodes if refurbished. I suspect that many of the residences are now divided into apartments. But, why the vandalism in such nice surroundings. Sooner than allowing this to happen...wipe it clean, perhaps, and move on in the gaps with new.
In Detroit (another distressed city) perfectly good houses are pulled down because there are no takers to be found. It saves them from gradual creeping dereliction and the gaps are less objectionable to the remaining street dwellers. Gosh, is there no end to it all.

 

[oldbrit]

Took a GOOGLE drive down Moseley Rd. My old school, Moseley School of Art building is still there. even went down the alley and saw the back of the school where I played as a kid and the window to the classroom where Mr Humphrie use to give me the cane (NOW that would be child abuse). Next door to the school there was a church that was bombed to the ground late in WW2 Across the road is the old Moseley Baths, spent many afternoons shivering in the cold water trying to learn to swim. What are they going to do with that building? John Crump OldBrit. Parker, Colorado USA

 

[ellbrown]

This is the latest article on it Save Moseley Road Baths

The Moseley School of Art building is now the Moseley Muslim Community Association.

If you use Google Chrome, you can check on Street View the changes since Google started Street View (not much has changed on the Moseley Road in Balsall Heath though!).

 

[Old Joe]

I recall a cave in CHP near the bandstand when I was a boy Now 87 I see ell nrown is still around with his camera a Flickr r pal and also Astoness . Is that you Lyn with the Dad who went to Skenfrith ? I was on this forum under a few differsnt names over the years but drift off now and then and forget password etc Remember the Mosely rd baths well enough Old Joe

 

[Phil]

Has anybody hear anything about the mortuary chapel at Brandwood End Cemetery. It's been many a moon since I last visited there as I believe the cemetery is now closed to burials with exception of those interred to family plots. The chapels were closed due to safety concerns in the early 80's and vandalised by an arson attack in 1995. The last I heard was that Birmingham City Council made a grant of £76,000 in 2012 to make the chapels and lodge house safe. Since then I have read or seen very little.

 

[ellbrown]

I see ell nrown is still around with his camera a Flickr

Yeah I'm still around, but have ran out of old Birmingham buildings to take (for the areas I've already covered!).

Easier to find old buildings on my occasional train trips in other towns and cities!


I would say that places like The Bond in Digbeth are a success story for restoration and reuse

Seen from the Grand Union Canal (formerly part of the Birmingham & Warwick Junction Canal)

 

[BernardR]

Has anybody hear anything about the mortuary chapel at Brandwood End Cemetery. It's been many a moon since I last visited there as I believe the cemetery is now closed to burials with exception of those interred to family plots. The chapels were closed due to safety concerns in the early 80's and vandalised by an arson attack in 1995. The last I heard was that Birmingham City Council made a grant of £76,000 in 2012 to make the chapels and lodge house safe. Since then I have read or seen very little.

Sad thing about this is there is so much that could be done given the will. A similar building at a Glasgow cemetery has been turned into a private house. Not one I would choose to live in maybe but the neighbours are quiet.

 

[Phil]

Sad thing about this is there is so much that could be done given the will. A similar building at a Glasgow cemetery has been turned into a private house. Not one I would choose to live in maybe but the neighbours are quiet.

Though not of a religious leaning, I would have thought if renovated it would provide the ideal place to spend a few moments in quiet meditation and contemplation of our own mortality and that of any of our predecessors that have been interred there over the years. In other words it would be somewhere to shelter from a sudden downpour whilst visiting mom and dad. The main thing would be that this wonderful pair of buildings would be saved.

 

[Louisa]

Has anybody hear anything about the mortuary chapel at Brandwood End Cemetery. It's been many a moon since I last visited there as I believe the cemetery is now closed to burials with exception of those interred to family plots. The chapels were closed due to safety concerns in the early 80's and vandalised by an arson attack in 1995. The last I heard was that Birmingham City Council made a grant of £76,000 in 2012 to make the chapels and lodge house safe. Since then I have read or seen very little.

Phil
I have been visiting Brandwood Cemetery periodically since 1979 to visit the grave of my husband and daughter and must admit that the way the chapels have been left in a state of disrepair and all boarded up is very upsetting for visitors. The Grade II chapels are prominent buildings on the main cemetery pathway and in my opinion in their present run down state give an air of disrespect to the cemetery.

The Brandwood Cemetery Friends seem to be in negotiations with the Birmingham Council but it seems very slow going according to the 2013 newsletter.

Regular meetings continue to take place with
Birmingham City Council Bereavements Officers.
The change in political party last year resulted in the
inevitable change of the cabinet member responsible
for cemeteries and crematoriums and this often
results in different thinking. The FBEC committee
members and local councillors have relayed
pertinent issues to the current cabinet member and
we have been assured that the political will exists, in
respect of the Chapels, to ensure that whatever can
be done will be done. As far as FBEC and a number
of local councillors are concerned, this matter will be
taken to conclusion, one way or another. In the
meantime FBEC continues to work and lobby for
improvements in the cemetery. We knew at the
beginning that this would be a long term project.

Louisa