New Documentary! Re: Key Hill, Brookfields Cemetery & The Hockley Mill Redevelopment.

[SquattersWrongs]

Hi all,

I'm in-between having no free time at all, but having a lot of time to walk around Birmingham due to work bits and bobs - which has meant I've finally been able to branch out and throw together a little documentary special on the entire land mass that is Key Hill Cemetery, Pitsford Street, Brookfields, Vyse Street, Cemetery Lane & the ever evolving rail/metro line throwing back to Hockley Train Station and Hockley Goods Yard.

This Documentary will go live on Youtube tonight at 21:00 (Feb 20th 2021) where you can watch along (I'll be about!) and comment live as the video premiers its first run - from then on, this link directly below will continue to work for the documentary ready to watch any time in the future!


click me!-->Birmingham Hidden History | Key Hill Cemetery, Brookfields' Catacombs & The Massive Dig In-between <--click me!!




Lots & lots of information in this and its kept a smile on my face for days pulling it all together - theres even a look through the planning permissions past and present. It's a pretty sizable redevelopment!

All in all, this documentary pokes at the idea that the Hockley Good Yard area (with its now re-exposed Subway, Supporting walls & arches) was in fact a slice of the original land that was bought for the Brookfields Cemetery around 1845.

There's a lot of Topography investgation too - the crazy ups and downs and pits and quarries of this area is mind boggling!


Hope you all enjoy - I've loved diving in here and looking at all of the talk of the history of icknield, hockley etc. and hope to finally get the chance to discuss it all with you all very soon when the world is a little more 'normal'!

Thanks all,

Squatter.

 

[Astoness]

just finished watching it and found it very interesting...i have been all around the places shown in the video myself and pleased that you did not miss those urinals at key hill which i find so unusual in the fact that you can look down into them from the graveyard land i cant be certain but think i read somewhere that the cemetery land used to be a sand quarry but i will need to check that..i think the tunnels on pitsford st side used to go through to moor st again needs confirming...you have probably seen it but if not we do have a thread for pitsford st which may interest you..which also shows the planning application for the land on pitsford st and also some photos i took of the tunnels and arches which were taken from inside the metro station...thanks again i enjoyed the tour

lyn

Pitsford Street

smashing photo carolina..i think it could also be on the icknield st thread...times ive walked through there with our mom lyn

birminghamhistory.co.uk

 

[rosie]

Thank you, I have had a quick look and bookmarked it for later.

Lyn , I think on the Forum somewhere, it's mentioned that it was a form of punishment to barrow the sand about, I will have a look.
rosie.

 

[rosie]

Birmingham Parish workhouse 1730-1840 | Birmingham History Forum
Here is a link for the last post.

 

[mikejee]

Rosie - It is also mentioned here - https://birminghamhistoryblog.wordpress.com/2017/04/24/mount-misery/

 

[brianthelion]

Changes were made to the planning application which amongst other things saw the removal of the escalators. Stairs for the peasants!
Usual con job. Like the development opposite me (which I supported lest I be accused of opposing everything!) which saw the initial builders go bust. Luckily it’s restarted under new builders and is well on the way, but to save money a lot of the features which garnered the support of planners and heritage groups (and me) have now been allowed to be omitted and other “cheaper” finishes allowed. As ever not a case of losing money just not making “enough” profit.

A lot of the developments are funded by Russian money anyway so probably.....ahem....going through a cleaning process!