• 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

Rotunda

Superb photos Ell. Shows so well what a great piece of design this is. I like the new makeover too. It seems to have given it a more industrial look, almost like some component from a machine! Interesting. Viv.
 
It fits in well with the new Bullring.

I remember the old one when it looked like a can of Coca Cola (even said Coca Cola on it at one point!).
 
I remember going with my Girl Guide troop to the top of the Rotunda (I think someone had a connection with the architect or builder), it must have been just before or after it was completed. We stood on the balcony at the top and were told that it swayed slightly in high winds!
 
The Rotunda always signified home for me when I was away in Northampton training - as soon as I could see it from the train or after I got off the coach, I felt I'd returned, despite having another trip to Tamworth then!!!
Sue
 
The Rotunda is a Birmingham icon but how many people know there is another one in Hungary. This post card of the Hotel Budapest came as a surprise to me.
Hotel_Budapest.jpg
 
smashing pic mike...thank you for posting it...i didnt realise there was another one...



lyn
 
Wonder which came first and whether the B'ham Rotunda architect had any connection? Seems very, very similar to be pure coincidence. Viv.
 
I can't compete with ellbrown's wonderful photos but here are a few from the slides. After all they are 50 years old!
I like the first one as it shows a tiny bit of Worcester Street. The second one's scene doesn't appear to have changed much and the third one is so 1960's.
 

Attachments

  • P2260074 (2).JPG
    P2260074 (2).JPG
    165.6 KB · Views: 57
  • P2260076 (2).JPG
    P2260076 (2).JPG
    118.7 KB · Views: 57
  • P2260126 (2).JPG
    P2260126 (2).JPG
    147.8 KB · Views: 58
pen its not a case of competing.. as time goes by photos like you are posting will be harder to come by.. made even more precious by the fact that they are one offs...they are a snap shot of our history...wonderful thank you..i do like the worcester st shot..

lyn
 
Thanks Lyn, my friend Diane will be really pleased to know that they are being seen instead of hidden away in a cupboard.
 
I do quite like The Rotunda, but I had a girl-friend who worked there not long after it opened, at an employment-agency towards the top of the building, and she didn't like it at all. Her main complaint, as I recall, was that it was always airless and stuffy, and also full of static! There's no pleasing everyone!

G
 
Thanks Lyn, my friend Diane will be really pleased to know that they are being seen instead of hidden away in a cupboard.

yes pen please pass on our thanks to diane for sharing these photos with us...they are causing quite a stir on the forum...:)

lyn
 
I saw the Birmingham rotunda in 1980 when I visited the city. It is certainly an unusual building and is a landmark one fr Birmingham. Whilst it is a 1960' structure the fact that it is circular does give a pleasant appearance which the square or rectangular structures of similar date most certainly do not.
I have never been in the the rotunda but I can understand why some have issues with it. I had to visit a municipal/government building of seven floors in Hanley some years ago. The person I was seeing told me that no one worked above the third floor: staff did not like the movement and other factors concerning the building.
On my 1980 visit my wife and I were invited into a luxury type flat in a tower block In Edgbaston. It was dark and the view over part of the city that we could see was quite impressive. However, we did not feel comfortable in there and were glad to get back on terra firma. ;)
 
For a few years, there was a Bullring banner all the way around at the top, but it appears to have gone (maybe Storm Doris made it come down?)

View today from Albert Street.



The Bullring banner was still there as of January 2017 (seen here from Moor Street Station)



October 2015 from the Library of Birmingham Discovery Terrace

 
Back
Top