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https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00244xf 'Gardeners' Question Time' from Birmingham Botanical Gardens. Some snippets about the history and present development there. A place full of happy memories for me. The plant collector Ernest Henry Wilson trained as an apprentice there age 16, before...

Thanks for posting Rog's list. Can I point out that the late Octavia Butler is very much in print these days! Indeed I co-supervised a PhD on her more than 20 years ago. I'm pleased to see much more SF and fantasy in the general bookshops at the moment. I think the last SF event in Birmingham I...

The account of the Pageant explains that Gwen Lally used mime to music rather than have a narrator, or provide the actors with words. The first week was subject to rain and the pageant committee wildly underestimated the costs. 'The Pageant made a spectacular loss of £11835, despite a massive...

Pageant of Birmingham in the Historical Pageants database. https://historicalpageants.ac.uk/pageants/994/ Source: Angela Bartie, Linda Fleming, Mark Freeman, Tom Hulme, Alex Hutton, Paul Readman, ‘Pageant of Birmingham’, The Redress of the Past, http://www.historicalpageants.ac.uk/pageants/994/

Pictures of 419 Wake Green Road on the virtual 'Prefab Museum' Website. (Taken July 2024) https://www.prefabmuseum.uk/content/new-contributions/restoration-of-the-wake-green-road-prefabs-july-2024 There's a wealth of information on Britain's prefabs on the site.https://www.prefabmuseum.uk I...

Fabulous photos Mark! My dad used to work for Coronet, but earlier than the stereoscope camera you posted above. These date from 1953 and use 127 film. I didn't realise they ever made stereoscopic cameras. Apart from two special open days, we can only visit Dolman Street store between set times...

Sadly no reply was ever received. I suspect that photographs are the only remains of the Copplestone bull forms, but they are still said to be 'missing' rather than destroyed.

Happy Birthday, Janice!

I guess not, but dogs are welcome apparently.

The Prince of Wales in Cambridge street is open. Beer and cobs, pork pie etc. Run by Black Country Ales these days. https://www.blackcountryales.co.uk/pubs/the-prince-of-wales

Video above dates from 2021. There is now the massive HS2 construction and partly built Curzon Street station here. I wonder if this area will be cleaned up? There’s still plenty of Victorian and Edwardian factories to see, but I think there will be development if/when HS2 is operational.

Richard, the courts or courtyards were sometimes given names or sometimes numbers. Both appear on maps and in addresses, like the census. The courts ceased to be part of the official address sometime in the early 20C. I'm not sure when though. There is a thread on the numbering of houses with...

Keith, the letters on your stone appear to be made of lead. They will have short pegs on the back which fit into drilled holes. I think plain water and a soft brush is the safest. Perhaps press any lifted edges carefully back? I wouldn't attempt to clean the background as the lichen frames the...

Welcome to the forum, Toothypegs! Generally houses were renumbered when the courts ceased to be referred to. But I think that the names and personal stories in 'Back to Backs' have been selected and arranged to form a representative narrative. They cover a wide time period and it would be...

Alice Beale née Kenrick was also presented with a steel key to University House on her 80th birthday in 1926. "Mrs. Beale was President and Chairman of the University House Committee whilst her Husband, Charles Gabriel Beale, was the University’s first Vice-Chancellor and Mayor of Birmingham...

University House was built as a women's hall of residence in 1908. But the gates were constructed in 1926, 'presented to Alice Beale in recognition of her service to University House' (Alice Beale had chaired the executive committee of 1902 in which the idea of having a women's hall was first...

I remember Hardman's stained glass being at Lightwoods House in Bearwood. They made stained glass up to 2008, I think. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardman_%26_Co.

You could try to contact Ben Waddington, he wrote about Birmingham's Hidden Spaces.https://www.business-live.co.uk/enterprise/hidden-spaces-subterranean-birmingham-exploring-9345738. He wrote a guidebook 111 Places in Birmingham that You Shouldn't Miss. I don't know of any tunnels in St Pauls...

The Ogham Stone is exhibited in the Herbert Art Gallery in Coventry. Visitors can see it on display in ‘Collecting Coventry’ until 27 April 2025. I’ll be sure to make the trip.

Broadcast today. Good to hear a Brummie voice on Radio 4. An eclectic choice of music: Dylan, Ella and his favourite Harry Lauder. The hymn Immortal Invisible took me back to school assembly. I'm not a fan of Peaky Blinders to be honest, but this programme is about Stephen Knight. Never knew he...