New Futures for Birmingham`s Historic Buildings

The Coffin Works ‘Hard Hat’ tour

Posted March 23rd, 2014 by Joe Turner with 3 Comments

Along with a handful of other Birmingham Conservation Trust volunteers, trustees and members – including former BCT Director Elizabeth Perkins, who started the project over a decade ago – yesterday I had the privilege of a ‘hard hat’ tour of the work ...

read more

Arts & Crafts Architecture in Birmingham IV: CE Bateman

Posted March 20th, 2014 by Joe Turner with No Comments

I didn’t have to look far for the inspiration for my next Arts and Crafts post. Firstly, Charles Edward Bateman was from Castle Bromwich – possibly its third most famous export after the Spitfire and the drummer out of Duran Duran – ...

read more

Arts & Crafts Architecture in Birmingham III: An Arts & Crafts (former) library

Posted March 4th, 2014 by Joe Turner with 11 Comments

On my way out of town through Longbridge last week I took a short detour down Leach Green Lane to take a look at the old Rednal Library, which I’d heard was built in an Arts and Crafts style. What I found ...

read more

A wander through Highgate

Posted February 12th, 2014 by Joe Turner with No Comments

For reasons too dull to recount here, a couple of Saturdays ago, I took quite a long walk to St Andrews through Highgate. Although I know surrounding areas pretty well, and I often see the imposing tower of St Alban’s Church popping ...

read more

Arts & Crafts Architecture in Birmingham II: AS Dixon & the Birmingham Guild of Handicraft

Posted February 4th, 2014 by Joe Turner with 15 Comments

The Birmingham Guild of Handicraft was an Arts and Crafts organisation established in 1890 by local admirers of John Ruskin and William Morris. The Guild’s motto was ‘By Hammer and Hand’, and it produced high quality hand made pieces of metalware and ...

read more

Happy Christmas Birmingham! From the Horse Fair to the Frankfurt Market

Posted December 23rd, 2013 by Joe Turner with No Comments

Well, Birmingham’s Frankfurt Christmas Market (as featured in last week’s Friday photo) is over for another year. As it has been running for 12 years* it is almost a heritage asset in its own right now, and – love it or hate ...

read more

Their name liveth for evermore: Brandwood End Cemetery

Posted November 9th, 2013 by Joe Turner with 4 Comments

Brandwood End Cemetery (as featured in Tracey’s Friday Photo a couple of months ago) in Kings Heath is a fascinating and peaceful place to visit, especially at this time of year. It was opened in 1899 – by George Tallis, Chairman of ...

read more

A short walk down John Bright Street

Posted November 4th, 2013 by Joe Turner with No Comments

John Bright was MP for Birmingham for over thirty years, from 1858 to his death in 1889. A relatively obscure figure now, he was a key reformist figure in the nineteenth century. An independent thinker, for the majority of his parliamentary career ...

read more

Northfield Manor House

Posted August 19th, 2012 by Birmingham Conservation Trust with No Comments

For those interested in the wider ‘Brum” you may like to know that the area to the south of Birmingham called Northfield has its very own manor house.  Once the home of the Cadbury family this very odd looking building actually has ...

read more

Not So Elementary…………

Posted March 31st, 2012 by Birmingham Conservation Trust with No Comments

It is not only in Birmingham that the fight to save old and important buildings goes on. See here – UNDERSHAW and spare a minute to think of how important Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is to our literary past.  Would it then make ...

read more
« First ... « 2 3 4 5 6 » ... Last »