The Exchange | University of Birmingham (formerly the Municipal Bank) - March to December 2021

Delayed photo gallery update to The Exchange, now part of the University of Birmingham (formerly the Birmingham Municipal Bank Headquarters). This update from Daniel and Elliott with photos taken from March to December 2021 (external only, we have yet to visit since it reopened). It opened in Autumn 2021. Enjoy this update, sorry it's months late, Daniel forgot to update it.

The Exchange opened in September 2021, and many people have had a chance to explore it since then, but Birmingham We Are's Daniel Sturley and Elliott Brown have yet to have time to visit it and go inside (other commitments, no time etc). This gallery of photos showing the renovations between March and December 2021. It was completed by the end of August 2021. It sounds like some people have had guided tours of the building. Hopefully Jonathan Bostock will get access for guided tours in 2022?

 

13th March 2021

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14th March 2021

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16th March 2021

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21st March 2021

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25th March 2021

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28th March 2021

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Photos by Daniel Sturley

 

3rd April 2021

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29th April 2021

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16th May 2021

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22nd May 2021

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Photos by Elliott Brown

 

23rd May 2021

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24th July 2021

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Photos by Daniel Sturley

 

13th August 2021

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2nd October 2021

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5th December 2021

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Photos by Elliott Brown

Christmas Markets and Ice Skate Birmingham are back in 2021

Ice Skate Birmingham is back in Centenary Square and is open from 4th November 2021 to 9th January 2022

Birmingham Frankfurt Christmas Market is back in Victoria Square and is open from 4th November to 23 December 2021.

Christmas in Cathedral Square is open in the grounds of Birmingham Cathedral from 17th November to 19th December 2021.

Ice Skate Birmingham

Ice Skate Birmingham opened in Centenary Square, on the 4th November 2021, and will remain open until 9th January 2022. 

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Birmingham Frankfurt Christmas Market

The Birmingham Frankfurt Christmas Market has returned to Victoria Square (and New Street). As well as Bob Wilson's Carousel. It opened on the 4th November 2021, and will close on the 23rd December 2021.

It's a little bit smaller this time around and no Floozie which has been removed for repairs.

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Christmas in Cathedral Square

Taking place in the grounds of Birmingham Cathedral (St Philip's Cathedral) from the 17th November to the 19th December 2021 is Christmas in Cathedral Square featuring Christmas market stalls, a pub called Pigeon in the Park and a helter skeler.

Hours before the Christmas Market opened on 17th November 2021, the view below taken from Temple Row.

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Photos taken by Elliott Brown can also be found on Twitter: ellrbrown

Bournville Quaker Friends Meeting House - enjoy our visit shared with you!

The purpose built Bournville Quaker Meeting House on Lindon Road, Bournville was completed in 1905 to the designs of William Alexander Harvey as part of the Bournville Village Trust, a Trust created by the Cadbury family.

Enjoy this article and photography with us.

In 1879, Cadbury's relocated their factory from central Birmingham to their new site to the south of the city, now known as Bournville Village.

Following the opening of the new factory in 1879, George Cadbury built a number of houses for key workers close to the factory.

The Bournville Village Trust was established in 1900 and the purpose built Quaker Meeting House was built in 1905 to the designs of William Alexander Harvey.

Internal changes to the meeting room carried out in 1935 included the removal of the rostrum; the replacement of a platform; and the removal of panelling within the arch of the south hall.

An extension was built in 1960 for a children's room with a smaller library and cloakrooms. This was designed by Selby Clewer, the chief architect of the Bournville Village Trust. The library was opened in 1988 to make a lobby area, and the main hall was re-roofed, internal front doors were added, and ancillary facilities were reconfigured.

You enter the House through the green doors.

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As you go in to the building there is a pair of black and white portrait photographs of Dame Elizabeth Cadbury (1858 - 1951) and her husband George Cadbury (1839 - 1922).

Outside of the Friends Meeting House is a bronze bust of George and his ashes were buried there following his death.

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There is also a plaque to celebrate the planting of a Cedar Tree outside the buiding on the 24th June 1948 by Elizabeth Mary Cadbury during the year of her 90th birthday. This has now grown into the tree that is wrapped with Christmas lights between November and January each year.

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The house is a magnificent space similar in design to Bournville Village Primary School which was also designed by architect William Alexander Harvey.

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A roll of memory contains some of the Cadbury family and a number of other Quaker's who have passed away.

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A wonderful organ and clock can be found above the door.

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Outside is the Cedar Tree, on this occasion used to announce "Quakers for Climate Justice".

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We hope you enjoyed our post with greaat photography from Elliott Brown.

More posts and features and a map of City Gems can be found at www.BirminghamGems.com. 

Photos taken by Elliott Brown can also be found on Twitter: ellrbrown

St Mary's Church, Handsworth - enjoy our visit shared with you!

St.Mary's Church in Handsworth, Birmingham (also known as Handsworth Old Church) is home to the memorial sculptures of James Watt, Matthew Boulton and William Murdoch. Given its history and the importance it played at the time, it is often referred to as "The Industrial Cathedral of Birmingham". Enjoy this great post from Elliott, a regular Birmingham Gems contributor.

During the Birmingham Heritage Week, Elliott went along to visit St Mary's Church in Handsworth, easy to get to on the no 16 bus that takes you to Hamstead Road.

It was quiet inside the Grade II listed Anglican church which is built on ten-acre of grounds, located adjacent to Handsworth Park.

The church is the resting place of famous progenitors of the industrial age, James Watt, William Murdoch and Matthew Boulton and has been described as “the Cathedral of the Industrial Revolution”.

Elliott's been waiting two years to get inside of this church, mainly for the memorials to James Watt, Matthew Boulton and William Murdoch.

The church has origins back to the 12th and 13th centuries, although what you see today is a complete rebuild from the 19th century. Architects who worked on the building in the 19th century included William Hollins in 1820, Thomas Rickman in 1826 (the South Chapel built in memory of James Watt), and later J A Chatwin from 1876 to 1880. More recently the roof was repaired during 2019 to 2020.

It is a Grade II* listed building.

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Tour of the interior of St Mary's Church, Handsworth

You enter the church from the side door from the churchyard.

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Below stained glass windows is information panels on James Watt and the Industrial Revolution (probably provided by the Birmingham Museums Trust).

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Down here you will find the monuments to Matthew Boulton, William Murdoch (spelt Murdock) and Joseph Grice. The South Chapel on the right leads to the statue of James Watt.

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The organ.

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Here are two examples of stained glass windows at St Mary's Church, Handsworth.

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Here's the pulpit.

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And a piano.

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There's somewhere to light candles under a colourful cross.

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The lecturn resembles golden eagles.

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Monuments

The marble statue of James Watt (1736 - 1819) is located in the South Chapel. It was sculpted by Francis Legatt Chantrey.

This is currently the only place to see a statue of James Watt in Birmingham (the 1866 statue of James Watt formerly at Chamberlain Square by Alexander Munro has been in storage since 2015).

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The Monument to Matthew Boulton (1728 - 1809) is by Flaxman.

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The Monument to William Murdoch (spelt here as Murdock) (1754 - 1839) was also by Flaxman.

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There is also a marble bust of William Murdoch in the cafe area (just behind a TV). A childrens book about James Watt was on the left.

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Other memorials here include this one to Joseph Grice Esquire.

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Also there is a memorial/monument to Sarah Russell, and later her husband John Russell.

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Also to be found here are these tombs.  A medieval armoured soldier and below him another one.

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There was also this tomb of a couple found close to the area with the monuments to Boulton, Watt & Murdoch.

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We hope you enjoyed this informative post and photography.  The full feature on St. Mary's Church can be found HERE.

More posts and features and a map of City Gems can be found at www.BirminghamGems.com. 

Photos taken by Elliott Brown can also be found on Twitter: ellrbrown

Bournville Village Primary School - enjoy our visit shared with you!

The Birmingham Heritage Week open days were held in Bournville on Saturday 11th September 2021 at about 11 venues. Elliott Brown popped to three venues that day, starting with the Bournville Village Primary School (formerly Bournville Junior School). The school opened in 1906, and celebrated their centenary in 2006. The Carillon was not open, but you could hear the bells ringing.

Although the Bournville Carillon was not open to the public on Saturday 11th September, you could hear it ringing when getting off the bus on Linden Road. However Bournville Village Primary School was open with an entrance on Woodbrooke Road.

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You enter through the doors in the entrance hallway.

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The main school hall was designed by William Alexander Harvey and is a truly magnificent space.

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Just look at the stained glass window unveiled in 2006 on the centenary of the school opening in 1906. It was unveiled by HRH the Duke of Gloucester and is stunning!

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Bournville Village Primary has some great values. 

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There is a black and white photo portrait of the schools founder George Cadbury (1839 - 1922).

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There was also a black and white portrait photo of his wife, Dame Elizabeth Cadbury (1858 - 1951). George married his second wife Elizabeth in 1888 and they celebrated their silver wedding anniversary in 1913. A tablet was placed in the main school hall in 1913 by the residents of Bournville to celebrate the occasion. Sadly George died in 1922, and Elizabeth was a widow for 29 years (until her own death in 1951).

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Through some of the locked doors, you can see corridors to classrooms, and also see the classrooms from the main hall.

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We hope you enjoyed our post.

More posts and features and a map of City Gems can be found at www.BirminghamGems.com. 

Photos taken by Elliott Brown can also be found on Twitter: ellrbrown