Recent content by Martyn

A pic from 1921 showing the cottages' locations next to the once mighty GEC

First pic is looking down from Deykin Avenue to Lock 13, the other is a boat leaving Lock 12 in front of cottage 79.

The three in question are on my latest walk: at 9.05 (Edstone), 11.18 (Wootton Wawen) and 15.50 (Yarningdale)

Could you upload a few of the other inside pages?

The second John Biscoe was built by Fleming and Ferguson Ltd, Paisley, for the Falkland Island Dependencies Survey (FIDS). According to the Witton News, she was an 'all-electric ship and the whole of her equipment was designed and built by the GEC'. Launched in 1956, passengers on her maiden...

My copy of the July/August 1956 edition of Witton News mentions some apprentice activities at Castle Bromwich Hall and this is from Bill Dargue: After the War the General Electric Company at Witton rented the Hall as accommodation for their apprentices. There were usually 75 students...

I'll bow to Heartland's greater knowledge any day of the week but Yarningdale Aqueduct's wiki entry states that, after being destroyed by a flood, the original wooden structure was re-built with an iron replacement built at the Horseley ironworks. This is repeated on the Stratford Canal Society...

It's subjective, I think the new station looks quite smart and welcoming. It's a million times better than the old one which mikejee quite rightly compares to a public toilet.

A very nice picture but you might be doing the area a disservice by referring to it as the 'Typoo' Basin, it's not as bad as all that :)

Conroy Maddox is commemorated by Maddox House on Edmund Street, the plaque reads 'The work of surrealism can never be conclusive, it is more of an exploration, a journey and a struggle.' This is his obituary from the Guardian...

Available on BBC Sounds, and taking the listener back to a largely forgotten aspect of Birmingham in the 1930s, 'The Balsall Heath Bohemians' is worth a listen even if you have little or no interest in art or surrealism. One of the artists mentioned, Emma Bridgewater, has a blue plaque on her...

'Polygon' was the student union newspaper in the mid 70s, here's a few pages from Issue 8 which give an indication of student life at the poly half a century ago.

From a similar viewpoint as Mikejee's photo, this shows work undertaken in 1934. Originally two locks, Blowers Green is the deepest lock on the BCN.

Pathe list the location of this film of 'GEC Factory Buildings' as unknown but I think it is undoubtedly WItton: https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/101082/

A detailed history of the line and where it's currently at: