Birmingham School of Art/Birmingham School of Art & Design

[Radiorails]

Margaret Street. The traffic went in the opposite direction in my time, especially when alighting from the Dudley Road buses. It may be familiar to watchers of WPC 56.

 

[A Sparks]

I love that building and the inside is fabulous, I used to go in to see the Art student's graduation shows, interesting and definitely worth the chance to look around!

 

[oldbrit]

I went there for night classes when I worked for William Bloye in the 1950s down the basement. Caught the bus around the corner

 

[Vivienne14]

A few interior photos of the wonderful architectural features. And a close-up a some external features. The detail is superb. Viv.

 

[Vivienne14]

How it started out. Opened in 1885. Viv.

 

[Vivienne14]

Some past students (1900s). Viv.

 

[A Sparks]

Great photos - and lots of ladies in the class, looks like some interesting work they are doing

 

[Vivienne14]

Must have been very inspiring to be studying at the School when the Arts and Crafts movement was in full swing. A welcome return to craftsmanship and beautiful design. I’d happily sit and embroider the piece the young woman is working on in the second photo. And to be doing it in such a lovely building too. Viv.

 

[Tinpot]

Although a student at Birmingham College of Art for 4years in the late 60's I never saw the inside of this building. At that time it was the domain of the school of fine arts. There were several outposts all over the city until the new building opened at Gosta Green.My Pre-diploma year was spent at a school building in Cotteridge. Then moved to Gosta Green to study textiles.

How is the old building used now?

 

[A Sparks]

It's still an Art School, part of Birmingham City University.

 

[Tinpot]

Thinking back to the ‘Swinging Sixties’ some of the design themes were still looking back to the Arts & Crafts period then. Lots of William Morris wallpapers and furnishing fabrics. A visit to Liberty’s was a must do if in London.

Thanks for the interior photos of the college building Viv.It looks superb.

 

[Tinpot]

A photo of a group of textile design students in 1967 working on different projects.The wall on the left has a display of experimental pieces of macrame. Remember all those beaded and knotted plant pot hangers? One of the things we did was to study old techniques for making textiles. Lacemaking, netting, hairpin lace, rag rugs, quilting, tie and dye, batik etc.

 

[jon wallsgrove]

My mother, Nancy Stowe, attended the school of architecture within the school of art from 1940 to1950, with a 4 year gap from 1944 to 1947 when she worked for MI6 at Bletchley Park and other secret locations. Her creative skills as an architect were used to interpret the broken coded messages into actionable intelligence for Churchill and the generals. Does anyone else have knowledge about these links to Bletchley Park?

 

[Stokkie]

My mother, Nancy Stowe, attended the school of architecture within the school of art from 1940 to1950, with a 4 year gap from 1944 to 1947 when she worked for MI6 at Bletchley Park and other secret locations. Her creative skills as an architect were used to interpret the broken coded messages into actionable intelligence for Churchill and the generals. Does anyone else have knowledge about these links to Bletchley Park?

Hi Jon,
You mother is on the Bletchley Park Roll of Honour:

NANCY EDWINA​

STOWE​

• Service - ATS
• Corps or Regiment - Int Corps
• Rank - L/Cpl

Summary of Service:​

Bletchley Park, Block G, Room 108. Military Section, SIXTA, Liaison party with Hut 6.

There's a photo too. https://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/roll-of-honour/8758/

I hope you have been able to visit B.P. Wikipedia has a page on Hut 6: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hut_6

SIXTA produced traffic analysis of the origin, destination and frequency of enemy signals.

Hut 6 produced cryptanalysis of Army and Air Force Enigma.

B.P. had about 75% female workforce and there's increasing attention to their role. The site developed into a factory for producing intelligence with nearly 10,000 people working there by the end of the war.

I don't know about any connection to Birmingham Art School, but everything to do with B.P. was secret until the 1970s. Some people were suggested by tutors, others had connections or even solved one of the crossword puzzles and invited to apply. Your mother was ATS and in the Intelligence Corps. Was this before B.P. have you looked at her records?

If you know about which outstations your mother worked in I'm sure B.P. researchers would be interested.

Good luck in your search.