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Bingley Hall

Oooohhh. Fairy fountain playing twice a day. The kids must have loved that. The reproduced buildings sound intriguing. Sounds like a good idea for a Birmingham museum activity today. Sort of along the lines of the Black Country Living Museum. Viv.

PS. An afterthought. And include the Golden Lion in Cannon Hill Park .
 
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When I last went to Bingley Hall for the Ideal Home Exhibition the Dancing Waters were a big attraction. They fountains moved and changed colour with the music being played. Must have been in the early 1960's.
 
Bob Davis said:
I can remember being taken as a child to Bingley Hall for various shows/ ideal home exhibitions etc, but got married in 1959 and my wife and I went to the Ideal Home exhibition and bought a Creda which had solid heater pads as opposed to rings which were common at that time. We bought the stove from the Midland Electricity Board stand which was manned by a guy called Arthur (and I feel his last name was something like Morrell and I believe he had had something to do with Aston Villa and later Boldmere St Michael's football club). We dealt with him because I had met him with my Dad at some football event and it was suggested we go to the show at Bingley Hall to see the new stoves on display.

Bob
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I have finally remembered to ask my Dad (aged 90) who worked for the MEB and he confirms that there was someone called Arthur Morrell although he did not know about the football. The query set him recalling when he had to "man the stand" at the exhibitions - he was an engineer not a salesman but they all had to help out. I remember my Mom taking me there to see Dad at work. I supect it would have been late 50s or early 60s.
 
My memories of the old Bingley Hall. There quite diverse.
Back in the early 1950s my aunt took me to a circus. Probably 1954 or 1955. I remember the Elephants. Probably lions and tigers too, when that was allowed. I'm glad that animals arn't allowed now. Its so cruel forcing wild animals to do tricks.
Would the circus have been Billy Smarts or Chipperfields.
Apparantly according to my Aunt we sat on tiered bench seats and could see the floor below, and I dropped my gloves down to the ground floor.
In 1981 I went to a car show, and sometime later about 1982 or 1983 I went to see The Jam pop group.
As I said quite diverse.
 
I dropped my new gloves too!
It was a New Year treat from Sunday School and I wore my new Christmas gloves, an elephant trod on them I think. I didn't like those tiered seats.
rosie.
 
92AAB0EE-B708-48FA-A043-C45A55BF7B15.jpeg This is from Showell’s Dictionary of 1885...

Like the reference to monster meetings to convert conservatives!
 
Looking along Bingley Hall from the other direction to that in post #164. Must have been taken around the same time. Viv.
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My Dad took me to the hall in about 1947/8 .Someone had vandalized The William Shakespeare exhibition claiming the real author was Francis Bacon. I saw my one and only flea circus, a bearded lady and what was supposed to be the mummified remains of Billy the Kid peppered with a huge number of bullet holes. Even as a kid I could see it was a plaster of Paris fake but I think my Dad thought it was for real, but he was always reading Westerns and maybe wanted to believe.
Cheers Tim
 
Like the photo Carolina. The lady is wearing a white fox fur ..... Eeeeek ! Here's another of the same BCS exhibition. Not a great quality image. Viv.

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Queuing outside the Hall in King Alfred's Place for the 1931 Golden Jubilee. Some have a certain gangster look about them ! Viv.

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Furs were, of course, quite fashionable at one time for those who could afford them and had time to go places wearing them. Men in trilby and other style hats and double breasted raincoats again were the clothes to be seen in. At least they looked smart and dressed for the occasion whereas a large percentage of the population today seem to dress in the same clothes - jeans or tight track suits bottoms (totally irrespective of their shape) :eek: - whatever the occasion.
 
I am interested in the photo posted by Carolina, 6 Oct and am wondering if anyone could put names to some of the folk at the front of the group.
OldBrummie
 
Re. Carolina's photo post #180

The Birmingham Co-op Jubilee was on the 5 August 1931. That doesn't necessarily mean the photo/exhibition was on that date but it narrows it down slightly. Maybe someone knows the exact date of the exhibition ?

At that time, John Bedford Burman was Birmingham Lord Mayor (1931 to 1932 - according to B'ham CC site Lord Mayor terms run from May)

So the man in chains (!) is probably Sir John Bedford Burman. He was knighted. Portrait of him in 1940 is attached below. And doubtless his wife is also there amongst the group.

There would almost certainly be BCS senior committee members in the group, but yet to find anything out about them. Viv.
 

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An outside possibility is that J Millington J P, Birmingham was in the group - he was Congress Chairman in 1933. But like I a say, very much an outside possibility. Viv.
 
Unfortunately the local press for 1931 doesn’t seem to be covered in the Archives. The only mentions I can find are of J Millington, President of BCS, opening an exhibition on Sat 30 August 1931. He stated that the BCS payed their taxes like everyone else!
 
That's a great find Pedro. From that link it seems the Lord Mayor doing the honours was Walter Willis Saunders, the mayor before Sir John Burman. So either Saunders was stepping in for Burman, or mayors officially took up posts before May each year (as quoted on the B'ham CC site info. Maybe it changed).


It also mentions that there are clerical workers performing their role in the film - are these workers involved in the Diviv scheme I wonder ?!


Great piece of Co-op history. Be nice to see the BFI film if it becomes available. Viv.
 
That's great folks. A lot of work unless you know where to look. I'm not sure whose names I was really expecting. One thing that has struck me. I never knew anything about the Co-op. (We had one in Lyndon Road, Sheldon). But it's just struck me it must have been the fore-runner of what we now call "Chain Stores" eg Aldi etc.
OldBrummie.
 
In the Foreword of the BCS 70th Anniversary it says the publication has been brought forward to coincide with the Co-op Festival Exhibition which will be held at Bingley Hall in May 1951.
 
Before the International Conference Centre was built. Unable to give date but would this be late 1970s/early 80s ? Viv.

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Fire rages through Bingley Hall, January 1984

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I was on leave in 1964 and worked for 2 weeks with the circus at Bingley Hall, fascinating time, paid £4.00 for the week, wonder if its still there. Paul
 
The clocks in post 206 are all at differing times. I wonder if that was intentional so that some of the time zones of the most important cities or countries might be known? On the other hand they may be from different places and just happened to have been stopped at the time they show. ;)
 
Radiorails said:
The clocks in post 206 are all at differing times. I wonder if that was intentional so that some of the time zones of the most important cities or countries might be known? On the other hand they may be from different places and just happened to have been stopped at the time they show. ;)
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Clocks that size would run off the mains. There's not enough space for clockwork in the back and batteries wouldn't have managed it. If they were supposed to be different time zones, they'd all have the minute hand in the same place.
 
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