Recent content by Stokkie

Gladys Rd, Bearwood. Infant & Junior School at top of our road, Thimblemill baths at the bottom. Late Victorian and Edwardian terraced houses with entries. In the 1960s there were not too many families with young children. But girls turned skipping ropes across the street, lads played football...

The 'other' Spotted Dog, Meriden Street/ Bordesley Street. Now closed?

Scenes A, B, C Meriden Street too. Compare Google Street View. [Edited - A is nearby Trent St as Mike pointed out.]

Scene D Proper Pizza - Opa Eats is in Meriden Street Scene I and following to K is Digbeth Branch canal.

£50,000 grant to the museum. It seems sensible to widen the scope of the present carpet museum and try to engage more visitors. I once knew a carpet weaver who was still working in his 80s because he had no pension. I do hope this museum is a success. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwyg8qe2znno

Hi Chanty, Possibly. See https://www.bcu.ac.uk/arts/art-and-design-archive/collections/school-of-art-archive You can make an enquiry. Good luck! Stokkie

Thank you Jon, I'm grateful and I think we all benefit from understanding the link to Birmingham School of Art. The other woman from Birmingham School of Art, Pamela Downing joined BP as a Foreign Office civilian in 1941, she appears to have been a painter, then a dress designer.

Thank you Jon. Your personal comments and recollections are informative. I did wonder if Freddie and Fred Winterbotham might have known each other? Fred Winterbotham must have seen or been told that architecture students could have the skills he was looking for. Do you think it is significant...

Bill Berrett studied Architecture at Birmingham School of Art from 1950- 1955. His website is very informative. https://billberrett.info/birmingham-school-of-architecture.html He says it was the School of F R S Yorke and Freddie Gibberd in the pre-war years. Sir Frederick Ernest Gibberd CBE, RA...

Art Class 1930 Photographer unknown. [Source BCU Archive]

Yes, I'm sure that's the spirit in which it is intended. I look forward to taking my own photo.

More avantgarde is 'Red Stack' by Old Joe 'designed by Dubai-based artist Shaikha Al Mazrou, an Emirati sculptor known for her bold works.' https://thetab.com/2025/09/19/the-ugliest-thing-i-have-ever-seen-birmingham-students-react-to-new-sculpture-on-campus :rolleyes:

I understand that the Joseph Sturge statue is currently being conserved: https://www.birminghammuseums.org.uk/stories/conservation-of-joseph-sturge-part-one

[Expand to see Ell's photo of Ancestor 1] Barbara Hepworth's 'Ancestor 1' was a feature of the campus for 50 years. But it was always on loan and is no longer there. There are a couple of versions and a casting of this sculpture can be seen in Yorkshire Sculpture Park as part of a group of 9...

The very best of wishes with your book on your parents' secret work. New books and articles about Bletchley are published all the time, but the continuation of similar work in the Cold War and after, is much less in the public domain.