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Soho House

Here are a couple of plans which might be of interest. The first one is about 1805. The second when it was a hotel.

Soho plan c1805007.jpg

Soho Hall Hotel008.jpg
 
Lastly here is an old Hotel tariff - the prices might make you smile but it was the late 1940's! Judy

Soho Hall Hotel tariff009.jpg
 
wonderful judy..thanks eveso for re posting...im sure i must have missed the ones of your dad first time round....

lyn
 
What a great piece of history Judy as Lyn says thanks for posting the photo's again.
 
I thought you might be interested in seeing a photo of the driveway up to Soho House as it looked when I lived there. This photo was probably taken in the 1950's and shows what a pretty garden it was. To the left of the picture was a large lawn (which you can't see) and to the rear of this was a vegetable garden. To the right is Soho House when it was a hotel. This driveway no longer exists as it was built over, firstly to make accommodation for GEC students, and then the police, and now houses the Information area of the museum.

Judy

Soho Drive001.jpg
 
Oh Judy it was so beautiful how sad it's no longer there. Thanks for posting the photo..
 
what lovely pic judy as wendy has said its such a shame it does not look like that now...you are so lucky to be able to remember it looking like that...

lyn x
 
That's beautiful Judy. It makes you wonder what Boulton and his Lunar Society friends would have made of the car in the drive! Doubtless they'd have taken it to pieces to understand how it works! A photo with great atmosphere.Viv.
 
Judy it is called progress. HUH!!!!!. What lovely memories you have and thank you for sharing them with us. Jean.
 
What a smashing picture, thanks for posting that Judy. Evokes nice thoughts of a fantastic piece of Handsworth. Its always there in our minds. You just can't beat a good picture - isnt it funny how a black and white pic has more atmosphere than a colour one.
 
Hello Judy,

I lived not far from Soho House so I remember you well from mid-fifties Handsworth-notably your school blazer and the spaniel dog you used to take for walks. My pa worked briefly at Soho House when it was being renovated in the late sixties and it is a beautiful house now. Would be good to go over old times again John
 
Hi John - You are right about the spaniel dog I used to take for walks! Did we know each other? Judy
 
Not sure James Watt would have been that interested as it wasn't his house! It belonged to Matthew Boulton!!

Big Gee said:
I visited Soho House on several occasions in the 1990's when my company supplied some specialist floor-coverings during renovation. We did a good job and I think James Watt would have been proud of our efforts.

Regards,

Big Gee
Click to expand...
 
You don't have to fill in a form to take photos now!

ellbrown said:
Thanks Linda. It was a nice place to visit. Don't think they get too much visitors. If you want to take your own photos, you have to fill in a form to get permission to do so. They have staff around if you want to ask any questions about the house / Matthew Boulton.
Click to expand...
 
Things have changed then Amanda?

That's good. Do you know when they changed their policy?

I've had no problems with Thinktank or Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery (no forms there either).
 
I don't know when the policy changed but I started working there last year (2012) in July when the Museum opened for the season and you didn't need forms then, and you still don't! It's well worth coming back for a visit as there are a few new acquisitions - Anne Boulton's writing table is back in its rightful place in the Sitting Room and there is a mechanical painting by Francis Eginton in Mr Boulton's bedroom!

ellbrown said:
Things have changed then Amanda?

That's good. Do you know when they changed their policy?

I've had no problems with Thinktank or Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery (no forms there either).
Click to expand...
 
I know that the two Sphinxes returned.

Here they are at BM & AG before they went back to Soho House



The staircase now seems weird without them!

This is what I took in the Sitting Room back in 2010



And this was the portrait I saw in Matthew Boulton's bedroom

 
Ell, yes, the sitting room was Anne Boulton's - Matthew Boulton's daughter. I slept in that room many times when I grew up at Soho.

Judy
 
Lots of changes! In Anne's Sitting Room the cabinet you can see is now on the right hand side with the newly acquired writing table in the left alcove, the mirror has also been changed! And the painting of Mr Boulton is now in the Visitor Centre Exhibition Gallery! The Sphinxes are in the refurbished Tea Room and look happy to be home!!

ellbrown said:
I know that the two Sphinxes returned.

Here they are at BM & AG before they went back to Soho House



The staircase now seems weird without them!

This is what I took in the Sitting Room back in 2010



And this was the portrait I saw in Matthew Boulton's bedroom

Click to expand...
 
I am quite jealous Judy, the Sitting Room is by far my favourite room, although of course it would have been very different when you lived there! I have loved reading the stories of your time at Soho and looking at the photos you have posted too! Thank you x

Jayell said:
Ell, yes, the sitting room was Anne Boulton's - Matthew Boulton's daughter. I slept in that room many times when I grew up at Soho.

Judy
Click to expand...
 
Do you know why there is two Matthew Boulton portraits that look exactly the same?

Here's the other one in BM & AG



Next to a portrait of James Watt

 
Not sure yet if I'm going to go back to Soho House!

Not even been inside Aston Hall since they reopened a few years ago.
 
I might be mistaken about it being in the Visitor Centre then - I know there is a portrait up there, that is very similar, but us Visitor Services Assistants don't go up there very often, too busy working! Will pop up if I get chance soon and take a quick snap with my phone camera! I knew it had been taken to BM&AG for the £50 note launch, and mistakenly thought it had come back!

ellbrown said:
Do you know why there is two Matthew Boulton portraits that look exactly the same?

Here's the other one in BM & AG



Next to a portrait of James Watt

Click to expand...
 
Maybe it's the same portrait then.

Sure it was still in the main gallery at BM & AG last time I was there.

A few more portraits I saw at Soho House in 2010






Here is a scan I took from the Birmingham Mail in November 2011 -re the new £50 note

 
I see the two portraits nearly every day, and the younger one (he is 42 in it) is by far my favourite although he was still a very distinguished gent at 73! Haven't had chance to check the exhibition gallery today but will see what I can do tomorrow! Thanks for the £50 article, Mervyn King officially opened the refurbished Vistor Centre in September last year, I even got to shake his hand but sadly he didn't bring any £50 note samples with him!! Did you know that Matthew is going to have a memorial in Westminster Abbey? About time too ;0)

ellbrown said:
Maybe it's the same portrait then.

Sure it was still in the main gallery at BM & AG last time I was there.

A few more portraits I saw at Soho House in 2010






Here is a scan I took from the Birmingham Mail in November 2011 -re the new £50 note

Click to expand...
 
Yeah I heard!

Are you aware of all the colleges named after Boulton and Watt?

For instance the Matthew Boulton Campus is part of Birmingham Metropolitan College (Jennens Road, Eastside, City Centre).
Used to be called Matthew Boulton College. They used to be on a site at the corner of Sherlock Street / Belgrave Interchange and Lee Bank Middleway.


Probably the most famous statue of Boulton and Watt is on Broad Street. With William Murdoch.

 
Haven't been able to look at the portrait in the Visitor Centre yet but my colleague tells me that it's the one that James Watt commissioned after Matthew Boulton's death in 1809, and the one you saw alongside James Watt in BM&AG is still there! It looks very similar to the one in BM&AG but the manufactory isn't in the background. Will try to get a picture if I can!

ellbrown said:
Yeah I heard!

Are you aware of all the colleges named after Boulton and Watt?

For instance the Matthew Boulton Campus is part of Birmingham Metropolitan College (Jennens Road, Eastside, City Centre).
Used to be called Matthew Boulton College. They used to be on a site at the corner of Sherlock Street / Belgrave Interchange and Lee Bank Middleway.


Probably the most famous statue of Boulton and Watt is on Broad Street. With William Murdoch.

Click to expand...
 
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