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Island House Eastside

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BernardR

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From The Birmingham Post 6th Jan 2012


Future of Island House in Birmingham Eastside under threat

A distinctive period building in the heart of Birmingham’s Eastside could be demolished and landscaped due to uncertainty over High Speed rail link.
Armac Demolition has applied to demolish Island House on behalf of owner Quintain Estates and Development just three years after it was proposed that it formed the centrepiece of the now shelved City Park Gate scheme.


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thanks bernie..here we go again..cant see the near fox and grapes pub being saved either..

lyn
 
This has the mark of a developer taking advantage of planing uncertainty to get in quick before any real plan for HS2 is fully investigated.
 
I thought the new hotel being built next door was going to incorporate Island house into there plans?
As for the Fox and Grapes Lyn, it's looking weather worn, some tiles missing off the roof and a window open to the elements upstairs. Not looking good.
 
Astoness said:
thanks bernie..here we go again..cant see the near fox and grapes pub being saved either..
lyn
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I have to say Island House is a far more attractive building than the Fox and Grapes. And the Fox and Grapes is probably right under where the HS2 station is going to go, Island House isn't.

I have to say I will very upset if this is knocked down (as I am sure will many others).

Firstly, you would have thought that Birmingham would have learned its lesson from the 1970s about knocking buildings down, I thought we were past all that.

Once they are gone they have gone, and buildings like this, with some character, can make a huge difference to an area.

Secondly, a lot of Eastside is currrently a DUMP (not all of it but a lot of it), and this is one of the few "historic" buildings in the area.

Parts of Eastside (like the car park between Island House and Moor St station) look absolutley terrible, and have done for about a decade, yet here we are knocking down a perfectly reasonsable building.

If this goes there will be almost nothing "old" left in Eastide except the Curzon St station, and about 4 pubs that are currently closed, and many of the new buildings that have been built in Eastside are of a bland grey (the Ormiston Academy for example).
 
totally agree with you guilbert..the fox and grapes is a very old pub i think early 17th century and i beleive the ground near it was excavated some year back and artifacts dating back hundreds of year were found..the last i read was it was hoped to somehow incorporate the pub into the entrance of the station but of course if that is going to be too much like hard work i guess we will lose it...

lyn
 
got slightly mixed up on my last post folks...ive just checked back and the pub was listed because 17th century stuctual remnants were found within it so it was listed because of this find..
 
Fact still remains though Lyn that it looks lie yet again some wonderful history and buildings will go for "modernisation".
Who needs HS2 anyway, there is no problem with the trains which already run - and more to the point who will be ableto afford the fares!
I thought they were going to incorporate The pub into the station entrance too, that would be great.
Sue
 
agreed sue..there was a petition put up to stop the HS2 plans going ahead..what gets me is if there was a bit more forward thought put into this they could have shuffled the plans around allowing the pub the remain..do it up and re open..what trade i bet it would have done so close to the station..simple really...perhaps to simple...i guess we will just have to wait and see what happens to the fox and grapes..
 
Island House Saturday 07/01/12
4th top window from the left smashed out from the inside. Sad sight.

Sdc13244.jpg


I did'nt do the drawing of Lyn lol

Sdc13245.jpg
 
very sad indeed froth...i heard on the radio last night thats its looking like the plans for HS2 will be going ahead...those opposed to it were saying why do we need another station so some folk are not happy about it...
 
The people living in the the Ruislip/Ickenham (Middx) are not very happy either, the intended
route will go thru a local golf course, and there is talk of an old folks home will have
to be demolished, and all this to save 10-15 minutes plus the cost!!!
 
sistersue61 said:
Who needs HS2 anyway, there is no problem with the trains which already run...
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More and more people are travelling by train, and trains are becoming ever more crowded.

You only have to search Google for "crowded trains" to see the problem, so you cant say "there is no problem with the trains".

Anyway, in the last few decades we have had motorways built in and out of Birmingham (M5, M6, M40 etc), motorways round it (M42 and M6 toll road), and huge junctions like Spaghetti Junction.

How many houses and business do you think were knocked down to make way for all those motorways.

Surely it is better to invest in trains, that can carry hundreds of people in one train, than to invest in motorways which usually have one person per vehicle.
 
guilbert53 said:
More and more people are travelling by train, and trains are becoming ever more crowded.

You only have to search Google for "crowded trains" to see the problem, so you cant say "there is no problem with the trains".

Anyway, in the last few decades we have had motorways built in and out of Birmingham (M5, M6, M40 etc), motorways round it (M42 and M6 toll road), and huge junctions like Spaghetti Junction.

How many houses and business do you think were knocked down to make way for all those motorways.

Surely it is better to invest in trains, that can carry hundreds of people in one train, than to invest in motorways which usually have one person per vehicle.
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Yer sounds a good idea, but you just know that most of us will be priced out in using the HS2
 
And while some trains may be crowded, are these the ones that HS2 will alleviate the crowding on?
Ok, trains to London are full but I have never had a problem with them from Tamworth or Birmingham at rush hour times. Only time I have struggled is in half term with the special offer tickets on London Midland.
Virgin prices are often out of my price range and their customer service is atrocious, still waiting for my compensation for the 3 hour delay from Euston, with no refreshments or info given, in November!!
I still think it is an unecessary violation of our countryside - put extra trains on existing routes by all means to save the environment.
Sue
 
Hi bernie ; yet again ; these fat cat money grabbers and planning departments stop at nothink don.t they
its a crime to do away with that quarter why don.t they do and used the harborne lane
coming from the city centre out through the ladywood and across over to the old bona lina as us kids used to call
through the raiw3ay banks passing summer field park embankment old beeching closed that line down many years ago
all along there all the way to harborne and out of the city can we or shjould i say any body can form a petion to try and halt this properganda
i say properganda as i have first handof these deals being done beforewher a deal of land or should i say property sold to a london firm
and alledgeably sold back to a brummie company all within three weeks island house should be left alone
i shall be watching this one all with intensions have a good day and keep us all posted ; alan astonian
 
sistersue61 said:
I still think it is an unecessary violation of our countryside....
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It is....but so were the M6, M1, M5, M42, M40 etc etc etc.

The house I live in in Solihull was built about 60 years ago and was built on farmland.

When the canals were built there was huge opposition as often they went through built up areas where houses had to be knocked down, and they also went through lovely countryside as well, which at the time had opposition.

But now we see the canals as havens of peace and tranquility with people trying to open up canals that were close down.

All cities as they have grown have gobbled up countryside. Aston Hall was surrouned by fields when it was built, now it is surrounded by factories, motorways and Villa football ground.

The National Trust was formed over 100 years ago by people who thought that the countryside would be covered in concrete unless something was done about it.

Man has always built on countryside (I am not saying it is right but we have always done it).
 
just heard on the radio that the HS2 will be given the green light by the government today despite great opposition...

lyn
 
thanks froth..will follow developements. must admit travelling on a train doing over 200 mph is not my idea of fun..thats just me though..
 
That's if you can afford it Lyn. I heard that the fare from London is going to cost £300 return. Not what I would call affordable EXCEPT perhaps for business people. Are there really going to be sufficient business people wanting to use that train several times a day? Personally, I think not. I don't see that it's going to make very much difference to anyone's journey, it only takes 1hr 15 mins now from London. Just put more trains on per hour and that should suffice - in my view that is.
 
Just come past here - Island House is no more :(

I'm not sure exactly how much has gone, but the top section of scaffolding now has no building behind it and they look as if they are dismantling that bit of the scaffolding. The bottom sections are completely shrouded in tapaulin - presumably to retain the debris inside.

Always loved the quirkiness of this building - won't be the same without it.
 
ye gods cant we keep any of our history...but as i predicted some time ago if its in the way then it will go..if carl chinn couldnt help save this building then no one can...once again the council should be hanging their heads in shame but of course they wont be...thank you lesley for bringing this to our attention...i bet the fox and grapes will be next unless a miracle happens..

lyn
 
Astoness said:
ye gods cant we keep any of our history...but as i predicted some time ago if its in the way then it will go..if carl chinn couldnt help save this building then no one can...once again the council should be hanging their heads in shame but of course they wont be...thank you lesley for bringing this to our attention...i bet the fox and grapes will be next unless a miracle happens..

lyn
Click to expand...

Yes they are knocking it down. They were working on it last Sunday, got a small JCB in the roof, we could hear the rubble dropping down.
The Fox and Grapes has got no chance, it's right where the platform of the HS2 is going to be:mad:
 
im not listening..:mad: carl said it so sad to lose island house and it will be evern sadder to lose the fox and grapes...
 
I don't see this building to be of great consequence but seeing that it has become an issue, then why can't it be refurbished and used as part of the scheme...a rest centre or cafeteria or something. It's not very large and appears to be pretty easy to adapt.
 
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