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The Secret Life of Rubbish BBC4

Vivienne14

Vivienne14

Kentish Brummie Moderator
Staff member
I never ever thought I'd say I've enjoyed watching a programme about rubbish, salvage and re-cycling! Found this programme very interesting. It includes a lot about the Birmingham Department of Salvage, which, for it's time, seems to have been ahead of the game. (It also has a few scenes of the Bull Ring to illustrate the point of how we developed into a throw away society). The first episode is available on iPlayer BBC4 until 13 December. Shall post a few screenshots to give a flavour. Well worth watching. Viv.
 
It was very good. showed preserved electric cart at (I presume) Dollman St , an dalso a bloke with a pecu;liar hobby - he has restored, and plays with, one of those 1980 ones with a big claw that crunched everything up.
 
Hi Mike. The vehicle was a Revopak. Incredible thing. Could chew up anything wholesale; fridges, furniture, any large wood or metal item. The owner claimed it could even handle a whole house, although I take it not in one piece! Viv.

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I watched a recording last night, very interesting, particularly the men standing by conveyors sorting rubbish, no gloves !
We used to call binmen 'dustmen', because most of what went into bins was ash from our coal fires, any food scraps were usually the dog's dinner, no fancy tinned pet food back then, anything the dog didn't want was put in the Pig Bin down the road.
Our dustmen emptied half full bins into a large tin bath some carried them balanced on their heads, flat caps a necessity.
With a full bin they would tilt them and roll them on the bottom edges to the cart, some men could roll two bins at the same time.
I can remember a massive ash tip in an area bounded by the Tame Valley Canal north of Perry Barr park, Aldridge Rd, and Thornbridge Ave. The local kids just knew it as 'The Tip' and we had dire warnings about not going on it because of underground fires burning. Sometimes the fires would break out to the surface and great clouds of smoke would cover the district.
 
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