MADE IN BIRMINGHAM NEWSLETTER

2010-11-25T16:33:00.002Z

Birmingham Testers Run

show details 3:54 PM (35 minutes ago)

BSA MEMORIAL DAY 19th NOVEMBER 1940 - 2010

Thank you so much to everyone who turned up last Friday (19th November) at Armoury Road to make the first BSA memorial event an outstanding success, I was astounded at the number of BSA motorcycles that attended, thank you very, very much.

A special thank you to Tony Rohan the RC (Holy Family, Small Heath) priest who stepped in at the last moment when the vicar of the local Anglican Church refused to come, amazing when you consider that's where the list of the BSA dead are (St Johns, Sparkhill).When Tony arrived I pointed out to him that it might be a good idea if he took my confession before the event-he replied he didnt think the event would be long enough for that!!!

We did a record number of radio and TV interviews that weekend with 4 on Radio WM, one for both Central TV and BBC Midlands Today. Have to say though that without Muslim Respect Party leader, Salma Yaqoob turning up (with her husband.children and friends) it would have been a different story. There is a large amount of interest in Salma, who seems to be a regular on BBC Question Time and according to The Guardian, the UKs most influential Muslim woman and tipped to be the first Muslim MP in Parliament. Salma also encouraged local Asians to attend the event and the present owner of the remaining BSA factory, Ali Merza also turned up to give his support."

BSA Guns directors, Peter Martineau and Simon Moore were also present and they too pledged the companies support for the erection of a monument at Armoury Road.

BSA Guns website

A profile of Salma is here.

Salma Yaqoob

Cannot say I have been too impressed with MPs lately and certainly not councillors, none of the Small Heath councillors even replied to invites nor did local MP John Hemmings who is on record as saying there shouldn't be a memorial at Armoury Road as there are other ones in Birmingham. Salma not only attended our event she embraced it, asking if she could make a speech and pledging support for our memorial campaign.

You can catch the interview with Carl Chinn on his show last Sunday on the BBC I player Radio WM (about 10 mins into show)

Listen again to Carl Chinn you have only 2 days to listen

Carl has also actively supported this campaign and also mentioned on his show the lack of interest shown in remembering the Birmingham civilian war dead in Birmingham until BARRA was formed.

Carl also talks about the Birmingham Pub Bombings which took place in November 1974, some very interesting and harrowing interviews with those who were involved, don't miss it!

Some of you missed the excitement at the end of the Armoury Road event when we were stormed by a police special patrol group-someone had reported to the Police that there were young boys seen with guns and motorcycles at Armoury Road! Young Boys, I ask you, still the light was bad!!!

There is now a new Flikr account has been opened to display the pictures

BSA MEMORIAL PICTURES

If anybody has any pictures of the event, or interesting BSA pictures, please send them to me at madeinbirmingham Atgmail.com

I am very grateful to the Yardley Photographic Society who turned up to take pictures for us. We hope to invite them to all our events in future-the club started in Small Heath.Robert Jones is the man that took the 'great' pics on Flikr ( cant alf tell he knows what he is doing)

The wreath laying will now be an annual event and its full steam ahead for a memorial, hopefully on that corner of Amoury Road and Golden Hillock Road and perhaps another one on the Poets Corner Island to BSA.(Poets Corner??? Anyone know any Birmingham poets?)

Also on the day was the 70the Anniversary Air Raid Event at the Birmingham Council House, run by local history teacher Doug Smith. Our members provided some useful support for Doug with displays. We also provided an M20 motorcycle, courtesy of Don Hallam, who also dressed appropriately and and a BSA Gold Star displayed by Mick Volante of the local Gold Star Owners Club in the Council House foyer. Thank you to all at the council house, it was a splendid event even though we had trouble convincing several council security employees that there was actually an event there when we arrived a 8.30am!. Ken Broomfield provided machine guns and a variety of other military equipment which added to the display but must have worried a few at the German Christmas Market outside!

Warwickshire Home Guard Group & The Birmingham Air Raids Association were there too BARRA's website is

Birmingham Air Raids Association

Very nice to catch up again with Malcom Frier of BARRA after nearly 30 years! Birmingham's ambassador to the Olympic Games 90 year old Tommy Godwi

n also attended.

We feel the campaign has now reached a turning point now an I hope to be able to approach the Lottery Commission for funding next year.

More details of the campaign to get an on-site memorial to both BSA and the 53 BSA night shift workers who were killed in Birmingham's worst air raid on 19th November 1940 can be found at www.madeinbirmingham.org

We thank Carol Nash Insurance for their continuing support of the website and our events.

Carole Nash Insurance

CAROLE NASH MOTORCYCLE LIVE 2010

27TH NOVEMBER – 5TH DECEMBER – NEC BIRMINGHAM

Motor Cycle Live Show

Best wishes JP

The website is still really being updated-honestly!

2010-11-14T21:05:00.000Z

 WREATH LAYING AT ARMOURY ROAD -   BSA

2pm Friday 19th November 2010 --BE THERE!

Corner of Armoury Road-Golden Hillock Road 

70 years to the day-Birmingham's worst air raid

53 killed at BSA factory.

First time a wreath has been laid!

BSA factory update, thanks to the Birmingham City Planners who gave PP for the cladding of the most important example of a Truscon factory building in the UK, the building has in fact been cladded and now looks nothing like it originally did. On the positive side the building is secure and watertight and at least looks presentable.    

We should be concerned that the next door BSA Guns factory building appears empty.

Enclosed is an attachment with a map of the bombed areas of BSA.

The  programme on the 19th

Daytime- 9am -- 4pm, Council House, Victoria Square, Banqueting Suite, Exhibition Birmingham Air Raids-free admission,  tickets not needed.

Evening event-ticket only tickets from    Douglas Smith <Douglas.Smith@swans.bham.sch.uk>

The event begins at 7 pm
There will be a maximum 200 guests. They will be able to look at the displays until 8 pm. There will be tea and coffee
Welcome by Doug Smith, Swanshurst School
Barbara Johnson, Chairman of Barra to say a few words
Song by Rosemary Stacey – ‘My Dearest Dear’
Doug – Power Point – Birmingham’s contribution to the War effort and its sacrifice
Song by Andrea Dowsett – ‘Over the rainbow’
Doug – November 19^th 1940
Jon Price www.madeinbirmingham.org The BSA
Song by Rosemary Stacey ‘A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square’
DVD of reminisces of the war
Song by Andrea Dowsett – ‘Don’t Sit Under the apple tree’
Poem by Jean Frier – ‘Seventy Years on’
Doug closing words

If you are attending the evening event you will have to make your own car parking arrangements.

I find the BRINDLEY DRIVE car park very handy for that area

Made in Birmingham Newsletter July 2010

2010-05-17T08:48:00.159+01:00

THE MADE IN BIRMINGHAM NEWSLETTER IS BACK!

Hercules- By the 30s the largest cycle manufacturers in the world

2010 - CELEBRATING THE 100th ANNIVERSARY OF HERCULES CYCLES

Dont miis the Hercules 100 at Rocky Lane, Aston, Sunday August 1st 2010

THE HERCULES 100 Event - Remembering Birmingham's Largest Cycle Company - click here for full details

TOMMY GODWIN - A True Birmingham Champion

Tommy Godwin with his Olympic Medals

The amazing 90 year old Tommy Godwin started his working life as delivery boy at Wrensons but soon found he was the fastest delivery boy in Birmingham! Working as a an electrician at the BSA cycle racing became his life and he went on to become a double Olympic bronze medalist in the 1948 Games in London and also British national sprint champion.

Tommy also ran his own cycle shop in Birmingham for 36 years and found time to start a cycling club and be national cycle coach. Tommy coached many hopefuls including Graham Webb so why hasn't this man got an MBE? I should add you wont find Tommy on the web telling people how marvellous he is either!

Click for link page for Tommy's shop

Tommy is now an Ambassador for Birmingham to the 2012 Olympic Games and is trying to persuade the Chinese Team to base themselves here.

His book "It Wasn't That Easy" tells of his life as an exceptional competitor in the days of amateur sport, and of his principal competition in the form of that other great cyclist of the era, Reg Harris. The book also encompasses the personal aspects of Tommy's life working as an electrician for BSA to support his wife Eileen and their family, and his relationship with his father Charlie, who was Tommy's manager and coach. The book gives insight into life in the middle of the 20th Century as well as the thrills of bike racing. "It Wasn't That Easy" is published by the John Pinkerton Memorial Fund.

YOU CAN MEET TOMMY AT THE HERCULES 100 EVENT AT ROCKY LANE ON AUGUST 1st 2010 - 9.00 am- Everyone is welcome, in any vehicle classic or modern.

Please support this event.

After meeting at 9.00 am a procession of classic vehicles, including cycles, cars, motorcycles and lorries will proceed to The Trimpley Vintage Rally near Kidderminster where over 450 classic vehicles are entered.

Ron Swinburnes Austin K9 will be at Hercules!

Both Sir Edmund's Cranes grandchildren will be at this event together with ex- Hercules employees. The event is also the starting point for this years BIRMINGHAM TESTERS RUN-dont miss it

Listen to Carl Chinn this Sunday!

The Birmingham Testers Run-Birmingham's largest classic motorcycle run (Pic Simon West)

THE HERCULES 100 Event - Remembering Birmingham's Largest Cycle Company - click here for full details

RIP TREVOR BULL- ANOTHER BIRMINGHAM CYCLE CHAMPION

We are very sorry to hear of the death of the professional racing cyclist Trevor Bull, age 64, who was born in Sutton Coldfield and spent his life in Birmingham, latterly chief cycle mechanic at the Harbourne Cycle Clinic.
Trevor represented GB at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and is remembered by many as the man sprinting legend Reg Harris beat to win the national sprint title at Leicester in 1974 although it was well known that Trevor back pedaled to allow Harris to win! The following year Trevor was not so charitable and beat Harris to become national sprint champion. Trevor also raced professionally on the road, riding for both Dawes and Carlton.

Trevor Bull (right) and Reg Harris

NIGEL ROLLASON, ANOTHER OVERLOOKED BIRMINGHAM CHAMPION

Here is another guy who doesn't need to constantly remind you of his status, Walmley's Nigel Rollason is the only man to have won a TT on two wheels and three!

Take a look at this, those walls come mighty close to your head!
Isle of Man TT 1986 Sidecar B Race

THE MADE IN BIRMINGHAM WEBSITE

As most of you will know the MIB website has not been edited since July last year due to a combination of factors but mainly due to the awful service provided by the web hosts (Streamline).

As I write however the engineers are working on the problem (2 days now). The new pages are ready and we expect them to be uploaded within the next month.

Click here for the Made in Birmingham Website

WRENSONS the grocers

I have received some very interesting information from Ian Leggett who used to work at Wrenson's the grocers. Wrenson's were widely known in Birmingham, starting business in 1909 and surviving the rise of the supermarkets until the 70s.

Click here for Ians post - This is the sort of information we need to publish a webpage.

CAN YOU SUGGEST A COMPANY FOR A WEB PAGE?

If you have a small amount of information about any Birmingham company and if, like Ian, you could take the time and trouble to put some text together about any Birmingham company from a corner shop to a PLC we would be glad to give you a webpage credited to yourself. Can I also ask those of you who have promised to send information to us to do so-don;t leave it so I need to contact a medium!

LINKS OF INTEREST

HISTORY OF HARBOURNE

Excellent website with comprehensive history
Click here

Harbourne Railway-Birmingham's forgotten branch line
Click here for link

RJ Mitchell - The Spitfire designer
Click here for link page

HUNTLY and PALMERS

Of course this company wasn't directly connected with Birmingham but its products were! I have chosen this companies website to illustrate how a town or city should showcase its industrial history .JUST LOOK AT THIS!

Odeon Cinemas were connected with Wrensons-anyone know why?

Has anyone a picture of Wrensons Acocks Green?

Meanwhile see this article about the sad demise of Odeon Cinemas
Click here for article

RIP GIL MERRICK -- Birmingham City & England

Gil Merrick the England and Birmingham City Goalkeeper died earlier this year.

This is the sort of real Birmingham star who should have appeared on the Broad Street walk of stars, not some of the 'pseudo stars' who are honoured.

Merrick was remarkable for the fact that for much of his career as a professional footballer he had a full-time job: from 1951 to 1960 he was also the sports master at Greenmore College, a private secondary school in Birmingham on the corner of Priory Road and Bristol Road, Edgbaston. The arrangement with the club was that he need appear for only one day’s training a week — the one concerned with tactics; his job at the school ensured that his fitness was never in question.

Click here for Gil's obituary

GRAHAM WEBB

Belgium Racing Cyclist Graham Webb Finally Gets Recognition!

Graham Webb, the Birmingham born cyclist, who moved to Belgium in the 60s, has finally got some recognition in England, ironically in Manchester!

Graham seems to have been on every Birmingham forum over the last few years and briefly came back to ours, after a years absence, to promote himself with his picture and award.

Click here for link page

AIRLINER CRASHES NEAR BIRMINGHAM
Yes those were the headlines in the 50s but only one person was injured in this miraculous escape when an Aer Lingus DC3 ran out of fuel while approaching Birmingham!

Details at Airliner Crashes

LINKS OF INTEREST

HISTORY OF HARBOURNE

Excellent website with comprehensive history
Click here

Harbourne Railway-Birmingham's forgotten branch line
Click here for link

RJ Mitchell - The Spitfire designer
Click here for link page

HUNTLY and PALMERS

Stiff Upper Lip Chaps!

Got any comment to make-contact us at
www.madeinbirmingham.org/contact.htm

Next time in the MIB Newsletter

The automotive industrial history of Birmingham by Norman Painting

UPDATE MARCH 2010

2010-03-22T10:57:00.002Z

The Mike Hailwood Memorial Run took place yesterday, March 21st with a record turnout of 350 riders.

Made in Birmingham newsletter coming soon!

Still unable to update MIB website

2010 UPDATE

2010-01-25T13:36:00.003Z

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Still problems with the website hence no updates.Our provider Streamline.net isn't very helpful and we are making arrangements to ditch them if we cannot reach a solution soon.

Working on the MH Memorial run at the moment-dates finalised within the next few days.

MADE IN BIRMINGHAM 2009 NEWSLETTER

2009-10-04T14:49:00.045+01:00

MADE IN BIRMINGHAM WEBSITE

Apologies for the lack of newsletters this year it has been a difficult year! The website- I am currently unable to edit anything on the MIB website, this is why there have been no updates. The website is being in the process of being re-written and should be back to normal in 2010. Below is a draft newsletter which I will correct over the next few weeks--the basic information will remain the same.

The Mike Hailwood Memorial Run 2009

This years run was the first time David Hailwood had attended. (2nd from left)

Next years run will be on Sunday March 21st 2010

www.madeinbirmingham.org/hailwood.htm

Can I remind people that the singer/songwriter Nick Drake (brother of Crossroads star Gabrielle Drake) is also buried at Tanworth in Arden.

THE BIRMINGHAM TESTERS RUN

The 2010 run will start from the former Hercules Cycle factory in Rocky Lane, Aston to mark the 100th anniversary of what was the world's largest cycle factory in the 30s, they also produced motorcycles in 1914 and lightweights again in the 50s. Hercules

In 2011 the run will start from the former Alex's Pie stand by the Albany Hotel a famous meeting place for motorcyclists local band members and late night revelers in the 60s.

Alex's pie van is long gone but the small site is still there and reputed to be Birminghams last undeveloped bomb site! Does anyone know just who Alex was or anything about the business, perhaps you went there?

See a picture at http://www.brumbeat.net/alexsp ie.htm

All future BTR events will be held in the month of September due to the milder weather nad less people on holiday and other event clashes

BIRMINGHAM CITY OF BRASS?

Vin Callcut will be giving a talk at Think Tank on Wednesday 7th October entitled 'Birmingham Copper and Brass' at 7pm. (organised by The Newcomen Society, admission free). Vin runs this excellent website which deserves much more recognition
http://www.oldcopper.org/birmingham_bra ss.htm

I will be attending this talk on Wednesday and hope to see some of you there.

Meanwhile Brass is alive and well in Birmingham! To find a still thriving Birmingham Brassfounder! I thank Mark Mc Grail for reminding of us this very fine Birmingham company Dating back to 1929.

Armac are the last of a breed - and it is all still manufactured here in Birmingham!!

ARMAC BRASSWORKS. 160 Dollman Street, Birmingham B7 4RS. tel:0121 3594821 (ext:221) fax:0121 3594698

www.armac.co.uk

I have replied to most of the enquiries below but if you want to add anything or discuss anything just use the address the madeinbhamnewsletter email address

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The Birmingham Syphon Company.

Contrary to it's name, BSC did not make syphons but were a mineral water company, purchasing their syphons from the British Syphon Co. London and bottles from, amongst others, J. Lumb&Co. Castleford, West Yorkshire and Redfern Bros. Barnsley. Surprisingly they don't appear to have bought from the local Albion Bottle Co. (ABC)
The proprietor in 1891 was Luke Bradley who lived at The Knoll, Mount Road until his death in 1957.

http://www.phancocks.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/familyhistory/bentley/bentley7.htm

At around the same time the company address was 12 Bishops Street South. By 1912 they had become a limited company and before 1914 had purchased the company of Austin's Birmingham. I have no information on Austin's but believe they may have been brewers.

I'm not sure of the dates but, by the 1920's BSC had moved to Bordsley Street and by the 30's had moved to their final known factory in Meriden Street.
The company also used the name 'Ideal' and The Ideal table water Supply Ltd. This may have been another company they purchased or just a trade name. I'm not sure when the company ceased or why but continued into the 1960's and maybe beyond.

My father, born 1923, grew up in Bordsley Street and could remember the loading of syphons at the company in Meriden Street. His parents had a grocery shop and no doubt stocked some of BSC's products. I will pass on more information as and when I find it. I hope you get the accommodation ext sorted soon. If you would like any photos then let me know. Kind regards, Mark

Thank Mark-- I suggest you submit an article to the Brummagem magazine asking for more info -Kellys Directory will tell you what Austins did

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GLENFERN GARAGE ERDINGTON

Hi, I am trying to track down my grandfathers's history. He was W. L Land - William Lorimer Land and was proprietor of Glenfern Garage , Wood End Road, Erdington before WW2. I understand he was a Wolseley dealer and probably his second son, Montague took over the business. My father severed contact so that's all I can add. Any info on the business would be appreciated.

I knew Glenfern Garage well especially as I had a wheel come off both my Ford and Mini van after their careless mechanics had been working on them! I can only remember one name and its that of Reg who had a second hand car dealership(very small) on the forecort (1969). He had an E type and I used to see him in the Rum Runner regularly. The garage was a Rootes/Commer dealership at that time and supplied vehicles to Castle Towels further down the road--JP ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Aluminium Engineers Ltd., Upper Trinity Street.

Dear sirs, I worked at Aluminium Engineers Ltd of Upper Trinity St.B'ham, between Jan 1956 and Aug 1965, when the firm closed down. The firm made various tanks and containers for the Chemical and Food industries.One off items that the larger companies would not look at. I.C.I. was one of the large companies we produced work for. Palethorpes Sausages would send small Aluminium containers to be repaired because the handles used to break. First the containers had to be cleaned with acid to remove the fat,then be rinsed in water,before the sheet metal workers and welders could handle them. Another B'ham firm Marsh & Baxters also sent large pressure cookers to be repaired.When they arrived at the factory they were covered in burnt on grease. The outer pan had to be removed by the welder with an oxy-acetylene torch.The smell of the burning fat would put you off pork pies for good.I used to work in the drawing office preparing working drawings for the works.I still have some of them that I "rescued" before I left. Do you think they would be of interest to B'ham Central Library Archives Dept? Regards M.Howl

YES! JP ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ James Lloyd & Company, Lower Hurst Street,

Dear Sirs, I wondered if you have any information on James Lloyd & Company who made perambulators, invalid Chairs, and mail carts for the home and foreign markets? Their address was Lower Hurst Street, Birmingham. Alternatively perhaps you could point me in the right direction for further information? Regards,

No, sorry-if you look on the forum you will see how to go about researching a small comany like this JP

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Lewis's Department store
I lived in Birmingham from 1947-1968 Lewis's was a really important part of our young lives. My sister and I went there every christmas and queued up all six floors, peering down the lift shafts on the way, just to see father christmas. We would pay 2/6 to have a present which would often be a post office set or bus conductors set. The santa's grotto was always wonderful, a really magic place to go, and in my opinion I have never seen a better grotto to this day. It was a summer treat to visit the roof top Zoo my mother often used tell the tale of the elephant eating my sisters handbag which had an apple in it. The manager of Lewis's in Manchester Mr Dale, was a close friend of my parents, and he would come and stay at our house whilst visiting the Birmingham store on business. As teenagers we would always go to Lewis's to buy material to make dresses. They had a fantastic choice of haberdashery rarely seen now in modern department stores. The food hall, which If my memory serves me well, was on the ground floor was fantastic, it sold everything you could think of, and on a saturday I remember it being packed to the gunnels, you would have to queue up for ages at every counter. I could go on and on about the store, as I said before it was a really significant part of our childhood and teenage years. love Yvonne My Great Grandmother used to work in the Birmingham branch of Lewis's. I am currently trying to piece together my families' past, and was wondering if you knew if employees details are held in record somewhere. Her name was Lilian Hardcastle (formely Swift) she died in 1958 age 71 so probably worked around the 40's to early 50's. Any help is greatly welcomed. Yours, Duncan Watson -------------------------------------------------------------

Marshall and Snelgrove

I've just found the page about the Marshall and Snelgrove store on your pages. I have no memories to offer, but I am descended from both John Snelgrove and James Marshall (Snelgrove married his partner's daughter - their daughter was my great-grandmother). I am interested in sources on the history of the company and particularly the biographies of the founders, and would be most grateful for any leads you can give me. With best wishes Georgina Ferry

Hi JP I've just bought from an eBay seller a book called A Family of Shops (1951), which is a history of Marshall and Snelgrove written by Alison Settle, a fashion journalist and former editor of Vogue. It hasn't arrived yet, so I don't know how much personal history will be in it, but you might find it interesting. There are a few copies advertised on Abe Books, though they seem rather expensive. Using onlinel sources I've put together the family tree that connects me to the Marshalls and Snelgroves. In 1881 John Snelgrove and his wife Georgina Elizabeth (nee Marshall) were living in a household with six children (the eldest of whom was my great-grandmother Mary Georgina) and seven servants. Today we appear to be better educated but not nearly so wealthy! They lived in London but also had a house in Torquay, where there is a rather lavish memorial to John Snelgrove erected by his daughters. Snelgrove was the son of a papermaker from Dulcote in Somerset and is reputed to have 'walked to London with half a crown in his pocket to seek his fortune'. He worked for Marshall (who came from Yorkshire) before going into business with him as partner in 1847. By that time Marshall had been running an upmarket ladies' fashion shop in Vine St (off Oxford St) for ten years, with other partners. The expansion to other cities began with seaside towns, so that the London customers could shop while on holiday, and then took in other cities such as Birmingham and Newcastle. Best wishes Georgina

Thank you--REMEMBER all books can be ordered for borrowing (via you local library) from the British Library-they are supposed to have acopy of every book ever publsihed--JP -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sun motorcycles

Hi, just seen your website about Sun Wasp scooters. I had one of these monsters in the late sixties. Good & bad points. Ciba Dynastart, amazing, well before it's time. Villiers engine that would run forever but wouldn't go faster than 50 mph. Not what you would call a lightweight machine, I can recall having to bring it home on the train from Warrington, where it broke down, due to the centre bar punctureing one of the batteries, for some reason the bar was left with a point that went through the plastic side of the cell? this caused the voltage regulater to go up in smoke.Anyway I digress, a porter and myself pushed it upstairs at Eccles railway station because the lift wasn't working after the station had been vandalised. This is when I fully realised how well this machine built. Next day it started first time, well after the carb. was primed. Punctures were a nightmare, if I remember rightly there were 19 bolts around the outside of the wheel & 11 around the inner, about 2 hours work.Having said that the storage space was excellent, the gear change was easy & it was a joy to ride because it felt a heavyweight & stable machine. WISH I HADN'T SOLD IT. Kind Regards Terry Aird

Especially for you here is a pic-JP

http://madeinbirmingham.org/sun.htm --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Davenport and Sons’ Brewery Limited - my first job by Di Wilson.

In the summer of 1965 I left Bournville College with a clutch of O levels, 100 wpm shorthand and RSA typing qualifications, a decent understanding of how business and commerce worked and the ability to prepare a balance sheet and profit and loss account. Now I needed a job. In the 1960’s parents needed paying for board and lodging, decent work clothes needed buying, in my case office suits and shoes and a big coat for standing at bus stops, and I also needed money for fares for the buses.

I was lucky enough to land a job with Davenports Brewery in Bath Row, Birmingham ,as a shorthand-typist. When I arrived my ‘work station’ consisted of a square simulated-leather topped table, a dining chair and a very old Royal manual typewriter. My status did not entitle me to a telephone but I was proud to be the fourth member of the Davenports Brewery Secretariat, as described by a plaque on our office door. I do, however, remember that I was appalled by the smell, the sweet, cloying, warm smell of beer being produced in commercial quantities. I thought I would never get used to it. But I did and came to love it.

After about five weeks of practising my new skills for anyone who needed a letter or report prepared, the very sophisticated 25 year old secretary to the Director and Head Brewer left - very suddenly as I remember. Without any discussion or fuss I was moved into her office. An office of my own, with proper desk, typing chair, modern Remington manual typewriter and a large black Bakelite phone with a dial, which connected me to the outside world but only via an operator. Pleased as I was with this unexpected promotion I remember that it did not stop me from making my way to the Company Secretary’s office and asking for an extra ten shillings a week in recognition of my new responsibilities. I got it and I then earned £8 0s. 0d. a week.

My new office also had a window, a rather mucky sash affair which looked over the rear of Birmingham Accident Hospital and, as I soon discovered, its incinerator, which explained the dirty window. That incinerator operated each day and every day and my older colleagues gave me lurid descriptions of what was being consumed.

John Davenport and Sons’ Brewery Ltd. and Davenports CB were landmarks in Bath Row. The oldest buildings dated back to 1815 but the newest had only been built in the 1930’s. Davenports came into existence because of the availabiity of pure water and when inspected in 1928 the two artesian wells, the Brewery Well and the CB Well, were said to be “of an exceptionally high order of purity”. CB was housed in a handsome brick building and had huge windows onto Bath Row which enabled everyone to look directly into the bottling plant. The sight of thousands of bottles rollercoasting around the tracks, being washed, dried, filled, sealed and labelled was a source of fascination to passing pedestrians and bus passengers. It was also, I imagine, a good public relations exercise and a distraction for the people visiting patients in the Hospital next door.

John Davenports’ Brewery itself, the wine and spirit warehouse, the loading decks and the yard were reached via a narrow driveway at the side of the CB Building and the buildings were much less attractive. The Brewery was set well back out of sight of the main road, a tall darkened brick square rising to four floors with a central brown stained wooden staircase with thick treacle coloured lino treads.

Davenports had dozens of public houses, the best known local pubs probably being the ‘Cotswold Tudor’ styled Black Horse in Northfield ‘ and the half timbered Three Horseshoes in Stirchley, but there were also Davenport pubs as far afield as Liverpool and Hayes in Kent. However the name of Davenports was maybe more famous for its Beer at Home service and each morning dozens of drays loaded up and delivered beer, wine and spirits to their very regular customers. By 1965, when I arrived, all the drays were engine driven but horses had not long been retired. The large loading deck and yard, at the back of the CB building and to the side of John Davenports Brewery was where the draymen loaded up and exited each morning and returned each evening with their empties and their cash.

A door on the ground floor of the Davenports Brewery building opened directly into a reception office with a long wooden desk which was where the draymen checked in their day’s takings. When I began work the lady cashier, a Mrs Wilson, presided over this area. Within four years of starting work I became her namesake when I married her eldest son. I don’t believe Mrs. Wilson ever used a mechanical adding machine, but late each afternoon with piles of cash to balance, and a queue of draymen waiting to pay in and go home, she would simply run a pen down one handwritten list of figures after another and total as she went. Right that balances, next one!

The ground floor also housed the wine and spirit stores, to which Mr. Meek and Mr. Mapp held the keys and kept immaculate inventories. Whilst at work most people were known by their title and surname. Even at 17 years old I was Miss Russell, I was only Diane to my peers.

One floor up the dark staircase with its shiny brown heavily embossed walls the offices of the Head Brewer, Mr. Grant, Company Secretary, Mr. Royle and the Managing Director, Mr. Seed opened off a square landing. Each of their doors had a run of three lights on the adjacent wall, and following a knock at a door, the lights would show red for ‘go away’, orange for ‘wait there’ and green for ‘come in’.

Up the stairs again and on the next landing was the office of the Senior Brewer, Mr Muntz and alongside that my ‘home’ the Secretariat, and, I think I remember this correctly, the Boardroom. The top floor housed the general offices, the accountants’ offices and the toilets, the ‘Ladies’ of which doubled as the tea making area and which got ever so crowded around 10.30 each morning

From Mr. Grant’s and Mr. Muntz’ offices, doors led directly into the Brewery itself. My first impression was that it looked like the inside of a soaring white and silver cathedral but smelt like fifty thousand public houses. The black and white chequerboard tiled floor, the shiny round mash tuns, silver domed coppers, and fermenting vessels all shone, and there were tall cylindrical tanks in which the beer was stored before going into the barrels and bottles. There were runs of metal ladders, steps and walkways all with open gratings and everything was bubbling, spitting, fermenting, boiling. The brewery workers stood on the metal walkways and bridges, stirring and inspecting the beer in the various stages of production. With hindsight it was a bit like a scene from a sci-fi film. The heat was intense and the workers wore the minimum of clothing, many just white shorts, which I initially found quite embarrassing, but quickly grew to accept!

Davenports’ produced many award winning beers over the years. Mr. Daniels, the Marketing Director, became a rather well known local celebrity as a result of personally fronting the media advertisements. Strangely enough I don’t ever member Davenports having an advertising department.

Mr. A. P. Grant, my boss, was very tall, with a military bearing, white haired, imposing and very, very precise. He was therefore everything one would then expect of the Director of a long established and well respected company. I would be summoned each morning for dictation and instruction. I would knock on his door wait for the green light and sit down opposite him, very carefully ensuring my skirt covered my knees, with my shorthand notebook on my lap and three carefully sharpened pencils. Conversation was strictly limited to the tasks in hand. I would return during the afternoon with all my work completed, the letters, memos and reports, presented for signature in a large leather bound folder with blotting paper pages.

I do remember one very embarrassing and frightening episode very well. I had to get the filing done each morning before Mr. Grant arrived in his office. The filing cabinets were dark green and four drawers high. At 5ft tall I could barely reach the top drawer let alone see into it. One morning in a rush to complete the filing and be out of the way before Mr. Grant’s arrival, I managed to open the two top drawers at the same time bringing the whole cabinet toppling down on me. Not able to extricate myself from such a great weight of metal and paper, nor reach the polished wood base of the internal phone system to press a switch down, I was stuck. I had no choice but to cry out for help, so I screamed! I was obviously heard above all the noise of the Brewery as the interconnecting door flew open and a brewery worker appeared, pushed the cabinet upright and allowed me to escape, bruised and mortified!

Office equipment was minimal. I had a manual typewriter, and all copies were produced by interleaving paper with carbon paper - more than four copies and the text became illegible. We also had a Gestetner machine which was used for producing
larger numbers of copies. Some companies had similar machines called Roneos,
and then there was the ghastly Banda machines which worked by pressing paper onto a very thickly blue or pink-inked original. All systems were extremely messy and very basic. Davenports’ Gestetner involved the operator dressing up in an oversized nylon overall before even attempting to fit the wax sheet onto the drum.

The wax sheets used for Gestetner duplication were produced on a typewriter with the ribbon incapacitated. The steel keys then produced a stencil in the wax. Errors could only be corrected by applying a bright pink nail varnish-like correcting fluid, very obvious when used and an affront to any good typist.

My Remington typewriter had an extended carriage for producing the wide landscape sheets of figures which were used at Board Meetings. This was a terrible job and the senior secretary soon decided that presenting these monthly figures was my responsibility. Figures had to be tabulated manually, counting up and down and across the sheet to get them all in line. Any errors were corrected, and therefore highlighted, in the bright pink correcting fluid and very often corrections were fuzzy or illegible - not pleasing or helpful to the Board Members. I think I also had an adding machine with ten buttons and a handle on the right which was pulled down very firmly after each figure was entered, the figures then printed on a paper tally roll.

The best bit of the working day at Davenports was undoubtedly the lunch. On the ground floor of the CB building we had an elegant panelled dining room with white clothed tables, heavy cutlery and good china. At each setting was placed a bottle of Davenports beer. The men had an allowance of two pints a day, the ladies one pint. I generally had a lemonade as well and made myself a shandy, as did many of he girls. For 8d a day (less than 4p) all office employees had a main course, usually a roast carved to order on the sideboard with vegetables and followed by a pudding, all served by two waitresses in black frocks with frilly white aprons and caps. We also had the opportunity to visit the dining room during the afternoon for tea, toast and jam, although I can’t remember having the time to do this very often.

I also know that the CB Bottling Hall had its own separate dining room, which I believe had bathrooms leading off it so that the girls working in the bottling hall could ‘freshen up’ before taking lunch or tea.

Funnily enough I don’t ever remember having to ‘clock in’. But that did not mean that I was ever late for work. We didn’t need incentives, it was simply a case of not being so unprofessional as to leave yourself open to accusations of laziness. In an age where jobs were pretty easy to come by this, in retrospect, seems charmingly old-fashioned.

In 1989 Davenports was taken over by rival Greenhall Whitley, who promptly closed the company down. One hundred jobs were lost. Birmingham City Council made strenuous efforts to get the CB office block listed but their pleas were rejected by the Department of the Environment. After many years of neglect all the Davenport buildings were demolished and new apartments now fill the site.

For nearly two centuries Davenports Brewery was managed and maintained with great pride and was a showplace of efficiency and cleanliness. When it was demolished I do know that at least two of the hundreds of handpainted tiles, showing the ingredients of beer, such as hops and barley, and which had covered the walls of the Mash Room were salvaged. So, there are a few small pieces of Davenports Brewery that remain for posterity - plus of course lots of happy memories - both for employees and customers!

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LUCAS MAGNETOS

Hello, Bill Hoddinott, serving as Organizer of the Black Lightning/Grey Flash Section of the Vincent H.R.D. Owners Club (VOC).

I would like to respectfully request that you consider establishing a site under your Joseph Lucas heading entitled Lucas Racing Magneto Section to possibly help us locate former staff of the latter, to assist us with our research.

You are probably well aware of the famous Vincent motorcycles made at Stevenage from 1928 to 1955 which were such a world-wide success. The VOC devoted to them was established over sixty years ago and has about 2500 members today spread throughout the world.

Besides thousands of road motorcycles, the Vincent company also produced 30-40 each of 500cc and 1000cc production racing machines, the Grey Flash and Black Lightning models. These were very successful in their day, the Black Lightning in particular establishing national motorcycle speed records in several countries, culminating in the official international FIM World Record at 185 mph in New Zealand in 1955 in the hands of Russell Wright. Russell remains today an Honorary Member of the VOC.

To get to the Joseph Lucas-Birmingham connection, all of these Black Lightnings and some of the Grey Flashes were shipped from the Vincent Works with Lucas racing magnetos which were specially-built precision instruments assembled at the Racing Magneto Section (RMS).

Over the past few years, our Section has done a good deal of research and published some information on these special Lucas magnetos. It has appeared in MPH, the journal of the VOC, and most of it can also be found at the bottom of the main page of the website thevincentcom along with other articles.

The Black Lightning unit was the KVF TT and the Grey Flash item was the K1F TT, but as far as we know the latter was only made in small numbers in two batches, one in 1949 and another in 1951; and available records show that only a few K1F TTs were fitted to Flashes. Most used the BT-H TT magneto.

At the moment we have only confirmed two surviving K1F TT mags, but we have information of dozens of KVF TTs. Lucas sold the latter world-wide through their spare parts distribution system for about ten years after 1948 and people bought them for converting their road Vincent twins for racing. We think perhaps 50-75 KVF TTs were made.

The point of asking for a Lucas Racing Magneto Section on your site devoted to Birmingham industrial history now is that the operations of this Section, which was apparently active at the company from at least the 1940s through the mid-1970s, have always been, and remain, a deep, dark mystery. We are told by old-time electricians that if you went to the company and tried to penetrate the RMS, it was impossible because a charming but strict lady was stationed as gatekeeper there, and no outsider was allowed in!

We understand that the RMS would send a technician over to Douglas, IOM for the T.T. and MGP races every year, with supplies of racing magnetos, to provide an exchange service for the riders out of a small shop.

We know that the RMS made all the very successful magnetos used for so many years on British racing motorcycles, not only the Vincents and others but also of course the immortal Nortons and AJS/Matchless singles in the Isle of Man T.T. We also understand that the World Championship MV Agusta four-cylinder racers of the 1950s used a Lucas magneto.

All the RMS products were precision-built and tested and stamped with an LT (Laboratory Test) number, and same was recorded in a special Log Book which was used for future reference. Today the whereabouts of this precious Log Book, together with what must have been all the voluminous records and drawings of the RMS, is completely unknown. For years we have been trying to locate someone who can tell us the answers to these questions, with no success. Other Joseph Lucas records are known to be at the Motor Heritage Centre, but nothing from the RMS.

I am hopeful that through your website, we can locate personnel who worked at the RMS who will share with us their knowledge about its activities and operations. Joseph Lucas earned a lot of fame and glory out of its racing magnetos on the tracks years ago and this information should be preserved for posterity.

In closing, I must thank the author of the comprehensive history of Joseph Lucas which appears on your website. Very interesting, and we knew Lucas was a large company with world-wide distribution, but I had no idea of the sheer size of this giant enterprise which was so successful in its heyday.

Thank you for your attention and consideration of our request.
Reply

From JP
This article will be added to the Lucas page
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jp i have recently been told by two different sources that when the Small Heath bypass was opened a water feature was erected in memory of those died in the raid on B.S.A.. I was also told that it had been dismantled and moved elsewhere, aparrently it never quite worked properly.
Can you shed any light on this for me.
Regards Jeff Edwards.

From Jp
I believe the memorial you refer to is at the Gosta Green university building

----------------------------------------------------------------

Hi
I hope you do not think this is cheeky.

I am looking for information on a company called Brolt Ltd, who made car electrical equipment in Birmingham from 1911 to 1924
when it was sold to Joseph Lucas.

My grandfather was a Partner Henry Boulbee Brooks with a Mr Holt.

I have been unable to find any information on the web sites and even more difficult because I live in Australia

John Boultbee Brooks of Brooks saddles was a relation of my grandfather.

Both my parents are deceased and I know little of my grandfathers background and hope to learn more

Could you point me in a direction that may help me.

Regards

Peter Brooks
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I have just discovered your wonderful website by accident and read the Kynoch-IMI entry with real fascination and much enthusiasm.

I joined what was then the IMI Data Processing Department in 1978 and was based at Witton until I left in 1990. By that time the company had decentralised its head office functions and we had become IMI Computing Limited. Initiallt we provided computing services across many of the groups companies both at Witton and across the company. Following decentralisation we were able to sell our services to outside companies.

However my enquiry is related to the Hockey Club which was one of many sports sections which operated under the aegis of Kynoch Sports and Social Club which had been set up for the benefit of the workers at the Wittton site. . Indeed one time Managing Director Eric Swainson was an active club member.

I joined the club upon my arrival in Birmingham in 1978 and am still associated with the club now. At that time, there were many Hockey clubs associated with factory sites such as GKN, GEC (Stafford, Coventry and Rugby), Michelin and many others. Not many have survived. I believe that the only other such club in the West Midlands is Jaguar in Coventry.

We are trying to discover some history of the club especially when it was founded and any other early details. We had until his recent death contact with a player who had joined the club in 1946/7 at the age of 17 and was still a regular spectator well into this century. However he could not remember/did not know of any pre-war details.

I realise that this is not exactly what your interest is but wondered if you may know of any contacts/resources I might try.

Many Thanks anyway for bringing back so many memories.

Rob Crosson

Hon. Chairman Kynoch HC

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Hello ! My name is Albert ( 'Bert) Westwood .
I was born in Birmingham in 1932 . but now live in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.
My father once told me that his family was involved in the Westwood Rim and Patents company, and that , as a young boy , around 1910 or so, he helped spoke bicycle wheels in his home .
His father was named Samuel Westwood .
I am trying to learn more about this company ..its founders , partners ,history , factory location , products . etc.
I understand that the founder's invented the first bicycle rim capable of holding a pneumatic tire ( the latter invented by Dunlop) and that later they merged with the Starley brothers ,and were involved in the development of the Rover bicycle . ( Incidentally , Is there any connection between this product and the Rover car company?)
Any help or leads would be much appreciated .
( Incidentally, another branch of the family were associated for many years with the Birmingham Assay Office ...which may account for my interest in metallurgy !
Regarding myself, I attended King Edwards School , and have a PhD in metallurgy from Birmingham University. Years later I served as President of the Metals , Minerals and Materials Society in the US. I did return to the UK for a couple of years ( 1998-2000) to serve as Chair and Chief Executive of the ( then) Council for the Central Laboratories of the Research Councils of the UK ( CCLRC ) , now called the Science and Technology Facilities Council ( STFC)).
Many thanks for any help you can offer. !
Sincerely ,
Bert Westwood

------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello

I run a website dedicated to the Royal Enfield motorcycle company, primarily its
history. There is out there in books and the internet a story that claims that during
the war, Enfield could not get supplied by Albion Gearboxes because their factory
was bombed in Birmingham, and they had to resort to Burman gearboxes instead.

Although it is a fact that Enfield bikes with Burman gearboxes were produced,
the reason seems less clear. With other researchers we have found little evidence that Albion was actually bombed (a gentleman in Belgium went to the extent of analyzing the
bombing maps). Do you know of anyone who could help us uncover what really
happened at Albion?. It is likely that some bomb damage by incendiary bombs
(which fell all over the place) slowed down production....

Thanks
Jorge
http://myroyalenfields.blogspot.com

DECEMBER NEWSLETTER

2008-12-31T08:17:00.066Z

A very happy new year to you all. 2008 will go down as one of the years we would probably all rather forget, especially if you are selling your house.

Can I thank all of you who sent me details of their internet providers. I finally managed to sort out my own provider Streamline so for the meantime I will stay with them to keep it simple. I am glad to be able to announce that I have finally got some help with the website and that Debbie Hughes will take over as webmaster in early 2009. Debbie's partner Mark Howard is all ready well known to our motorcycling fans as the Chief Marshal on The Birmingham Testers Run and the Mike Hailwood Run, what is not generally known that Mark, who holds a Private Pilots Licence, also runs a very fine website on the Javelin aircraft (the world's first twin-engined delta-wing jet fighter) which he looks after at the Midland Air Museum.
Gloster Javelin Website

I thank Louis Dalby for sharing the above image of BSA Tester, Reg Griffiths at Armoury Road, with us--see more pics at his Flikr site
Louis Dalby's Picture Site

Those of you who keep up eye on this newsletter blog will know that there was a November newsletter (click on left menu) reminding you of the need to support The BSA Memorial Appeal and including the very fine picture by Charles Cundall of the fire at BSA after the air raid. Thanks to our efforts this picture is on permanent show at BMAG.

The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget.
- Thomas Szasz

The last steam engines on BR were Black 5s and scenes like this could be seen at most steam depots in the North of England when steam was finishing 40 years ago this year--proud to say I was here at Leeds to see the last class 5 on shed.

Settle - Carlisle walks

The Ross - Monmouth Railway

Kings Heath History

Canals

Is the THREE TUNS at Sutton haunted?

Closed UK Railway Stations

It has been very sad to witness the demise of our favourite high street store, Woolworth but it is not the first time Woolworth have been in trouble as this interesting article reminds us Sex drugs and Woolworths?

As I often mention to you I get messages from all over the world enquiring about Birmingham companies, often these messages ask me to supply parts! Here is an example;

hi, do you still make cartridges(for hunting )for Mannlicher-Schönauer?? Can you tell me which sizes do you have??? thanks!

U TUBE

The U Tube video seems to have really caught on in 2008 and there are some splendid clips, here are some of my favourites I would like to share with you.

People often ask me is flying dangerous, you tell me?

So you think British trains are overcrowded?

Triumph Motorcycles Factory Film

Mike Hailwood

REG VARNEY(Click on the text below for the links)

2008 saw the death of comedy star Reg Varney at 92, best known for ‘On The Buses’.

Reg Varney - -Wogan

This is Your Life

BIRMINGHAM MUSIC

The Rockin Berries

The Applejacks from Solihull, first Birmingham group in the Top Ten

Applejacks Info

ELO -- Mr Blue Sky

Moody Blues

The Move

THE BIRMINGHAM TESTERS RUN

We have been talking to the Llandudno Transport Festival about us taking part in May 2009 and I am still awaiting a response, if not we will most likely be going to the Llanberis Slate Mine.

THE MIKE HAILWOOD MEMORIAL RUN

Please note the date of the 2009 run-IT IS NOT THE DATE YOU MAY THINK! This is because the usual date would clash with Mothers Day!
Check the web page for details;

MH Memorial Run

SIGN UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER!

2008-11-30T19:49:00.002Z

Just send a blank email to

madeinbhamnewsletter AT gmail.com

close up the address and substitute AT with @

NOVEMBER 2008 NEWSLETTER

2008-11-16T19:47:00.009Z

PLEASE DO NOT FORGET THE 19th NOVEMBER AS MOST OF BIRMINGHAM DOES EVER YEAR.

BSA MEMORIAL WEBSITE

OCTOBER NEWSLETTER 2008

2008-11-02T13:23:00.025Z

Sorry this newsletter is a little late but I am very busy at the moment. The website and forum are down at the moment thanks to the incompetence of the hosting company STREAMLINE. I have been trying to change back to MS Front Page to edit the site but apart from taking my money for the change I have had little success and their latest answer seems to have involved them making the site unavailable. If anyone can recommend a decent website host please let me know as I am definitely not staying with Streamline.

Below are some links to pertinent news websites of interest to us.

First MG’s from Longbridge go on sale

The New Longbridge

Nechells Oral History Proiject

Railways are in the news this week and it kicked off with a Pete Waterman documentary telling us that Beeching may not have as been as bad as we thought. BBC Birmingham got in on the act too running a week long feature within the main news on the effect of the Beeching cuts on Birmingham and the surrounding area. I was asked to provide some information which I did in the form of my old station master Les Hollins of Streetley, who was interviewed.

www.madeinbirmingham.org/wamley.htm

Les was in charge of Penns for Walmley until Beeching, with his crooked survey, decreed that the station should close. Les lost his job along with 1000s of other railway workers. There have been plans discussed for the last 20 years to reopen Penns Station but so far there has been no progress.

Rather nice short video of Coalport Station

New Street Station Re-vamp

Moor Street Memories

While searching on the web I found this letter that I had completely forgotten about, I wrote it in 1999!

-----------------

Marples was a director of Marples Ridgway a road building co. that built the Chiswick flyover.
Because of the advent of cheap motor cars (The Mini) a social revolution took place that many people choose to ignore when debating this subject. What ever happened to the British Motorcycle industry, the mini ruined it not the Japanese? They did help of course.
Macmillan and co saw the railway as a Victorian antiquity, a form of transport left over from a time gone by. The attitude towards the railway at that time was remarkably different from today, it is wrong to look at the railway then with the eyes of today. Today the railway is seen as the way forward in reducing gridlock on the roads. Then the railway was a leftover, with quaint steam transport, unprofitable and uneconomical. Even the rail unions didn’t fight the Beeching cuts.
England and Wales had been over ‘railwayised’ from the start and still today it has the densest network in the world. Railway mania saw railways built that never made a penny from conception to closure. Note that of all the railways that were taken over by preservation schemes after closure, not one of them has operated a successful public transport service, they only exist for novelty entertainment and nostalgia.
From the social point of view many many of the Beeching closures were wrong. Again social values were different in those days. Remember we are talking of the days when a union could bring the country to a standstill. People, equality and rights were also different in those days.
I believe the major mistake of the Beeching plan was that it allowed removal of the infrastructure. It is interesting to note that were BR did re-establish services it was only on lines were the infrastructure was intact.
There is nothing to stop railways being built again.
Public transport will never entirely replace the private car and what a god forsaken world it would be if it did.
What is needed is good government management of private transport.
Even if it was free there is never going to be a mass move towards public transport.
Rail privatisation is the best step ever towards making the railways successful and encouraging investment but you are only going to see that on long distance peak lines and dense commuter networks. Money talks and we live in a world dictated by MONEY that’s why railways were built in this country in the first place.
In case you are wondering I am a life long railway enthusiast and REALIST.
Regards JP
15th November 1999

WEBSITES OF INTEREST

South Wales Valleys

Llandrindod Wells Victorian Festival

William Powell Gunmakers

BIRMINGHAM LORD MAYORS

Birmingham has had a Mayor (and elected council) since 1838. One of the most famous was Joseph Chamberlain
(1873-76) who brought water from the Elan Valley and redeveloped the town centre. In 1889, along with city status, Birmingham had its first Lord Mayor.

Each Lord Mayor stands for a year, and is installed into office at the Annual Meeting of the City Council, Lord Mayors are non-political and non-executive during their term of office and act as Chair of the Council. As the First Citizen of Birmingham, the Lord Mayors represents not only the City but also the people of Birmingham.

The Parlour
The Parlour staff support the Lord Mayor by managing the Civic Diary and assisting the First Citizen to reach all sectors of the community. The Parlour also co-ordinates major annual events such as Remembrance Day and Civic Receptions to regional, national and international visitors.Support is also given to organising many charity fund raising events.

Courtesy Birmingham Council website

HALLOWEEN, What is it all about really?

History
Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain (Irish pronunciation: [ˈsˠaunʲ]; from the Old Irish samain).[1] The festival of Samhain is a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture, and is sometimes [2] regarded as the "Celtic New Year".[3] Traditionally, the festival was a time used by the ancient pagans to take stock of supplies and slaughter livestock for winter stores. The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, now known as Halloween, the boundary between the alive and the deceased dissolved, and the dead become dangerous for the living by causing problems such as sickness or damaged crops. The festivals would frequently involve bonfires, into which bones of slaughtered livestock were thrown. Costumes and masks were also worn at the festivals in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or placate them.[4][5]
History of name
The term Halloween is shortened from All Hallows' Even (both "even" and "eve" are abbreviations of "evening", but "Halloween" gets its "n" from "even") as it is the eve of "All Hallows' Day",[6] which is now also known as All Saints' Day. It was a day of religious festivities in various northern European Pagan traditions,[3] until Popes Gregory III and Gregory IV moved the old Christian feast of All Saints' Day from May 13 (which had itself been the date of a pagan holiday, the Feast of the Lemures) to November 1. In the ninth century, the Church measured the day as starting at sunset, in accordance with the Florentine calendar. Although All Saints' Day is now considered to occur one day after Halloween, the two holidays were, at that time, celebrated on the same day. Liturgically, the Church traditionally celebrated that day as the Vigil of All Saints, and, until 1970, a day of fasting as well. Like other vigils, it was celebrated on the previous day if it fell on a Sunday, although secular celebrations of the holiday remained on the 31st. The Vigil was suppressed in 1955, but was later restored in the post-Vatican II calendar.
Symbols
The carved pumpkin, lit by a candle inside, is one of Halloween's most prominent symbols in America, and is commonly called a jack-o'-lantern. Originating in Europe, these lanterns were first carved from a turnip or rutabaga. Believing that the head was the most powerful part of the body containing the spirit and the knowledge, the Celts used the "head" of the vegetable to frighten off any superstitions.[7] The name jack-o'-lantern can be traced back to the Irish legend of Stingy Jack, [8] a greedy, gambling, hard-drinking old farmer. He tricked the devil into climbing a tree and trapped him by carving a cross into the tree trunk. In revenge, the devil placed a curse on Jack, condemning him to forever wander the earth at night with the only light he had: a candle inside of a hollowed turnip. The carving of pumpkins is associated with Halloween in North America,[9] where pumpkins were readily available and much larger, making them easier to carve than turnips. Many families that celebrate Halloween carve a pumpkin into a frightening or comical face and place it on their home's doorstep after dark. In America the tradition of carving pumpkins is known to have preceded the Great Famine period of Irish immigration. The carved pumpkin was originally associated with harvest time in general in America and did not become specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 19th century.
The imagery surrounding Halloween is largely an amalgamation of the Halloween season itself, nearly a century of work from American filmmakers and graphic artists,[10] and a rather commercialized take on the dark and mysterious. Halloween imagery tends to involve death, magic, or mythical monsters. Traditional characters include ghosts, ghouls, witches, owls, crows, vultures, pumpkin-men, black cats, spiders, goblins, zombies, mummies, skeletons, and demons.[11]
Particularly in America, symbolism is inspired by classic horror films, which contain fictional figures like Frankenstein's monster and The Mummy. Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins and scarecrows, are also prevalent. Homes are often decorated with these types of symbols around Halloween.

BEST WISHES TO YOU ALL

JP

SEPTEMBER 2008 NEWSLETTER

2008-09-19T08:59:00.055+01:00

Welcome to the new newsletter in our new format, published as a blog and accessible at anytime, thanks to Google.

Please make a note of this address

http://madeinbirmingham.blogspot.com/

You will also be able to add your own comments, I think! So please feel free to write something repeatable (all comments are moderated), you can also contact me directly at madeinbirmingham at gmail.com

JP's retirement.

Reports of my early retirement, after nearly 20,000 flying hours are true, I am very glad to say!

My last flight on the Airbus 319, note the BR porters hat from Snow Hill Station which I found around 1967 in the main booking office! Bet the Porter who wore that hat never guessed where that would end up!

AT LAST SUCCESS!

After a three year campaign, first to save the factory, then to get it listed ( both failed) and finally to get two roads named after the industialist who bought the factory in 1939 from New Imperial Motorcycles, I can report success. Clifford Road and New Imperial Crescent are now the official road names at the Barrattt Spring Road development in Hall Green. If your wondering what the connection is the full story of the amazing Solomon Cliffoird Joseph is at;

CLIFFORD & NEW IMPERIAL

TWO BIG MIDLANDS RAILWAY EVENTS

FIRST PUBLIC PASSENGER TRAINS FOR BRAND NEW STEAM LOCOMOTIVE TORNADO AT THE GREAT CENTRAL RAILWAY

Book your seat in railway history, Monday 22nd, Tuesday 23rd Sept 2008

The country’s first brand new steam locomotive to be built for the main line, since 1960 is now ready to pull passengers at the Great Central Railway.

“We’re honoured to be involved in running the first passenger trains with Tornado,” said GCR president Bill Ford. “This is our year of Express engines and Tornado is top of the bill! The engine has been attracting international media attention and our phones have been ringing off the hook with people wanting to know when they can ride behind it. The good news is the date has finally arrived!”

The engine has been built by the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, an independent group of railway enthusiasts based in Darlington. The A1 Class of Pacific locomotives was designed by Arthur H Peppercorn for the London and North Eastern Railway and built in 1948/49. They were the last of the East Coast Main Line's series of thoroughbred express passenger steam locomotives. Examples of many other Darlington and Doncaster built locomotives have been saved for preservation, but not the Peppercorn A1s which were scrapped. It has cost £3 million to build and taken 18 years to complete.

The engine will pull its first trains on Sunday 21st of September. These are exclusively for the supporters of the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust who have financed the construction of “Tornado”.

The first public trains are due to run on Monday 22nd of September. They will depart from Loughborough Central station for the roundtrip to Leicester and back at 10.15am, 12.15pm, 2.15pm and 4.35pm. This will be the very first time fare paying passengers will have experienced the thrill of riding behind this new and very powerful loco.

On Tuesday 23rd of September, Tornado is expected to pull trains at the same times.

The engine was tested at the Great Central Railway because the heritage line has permission to run non passenger services at up to 60mph.

More details http://www.gcrailway.co.uk/

SEVERN VALLEY RAILWAY Autumn Steam Gala

September 19, 20, 21, 2008:(Special Timetable)

A very special Steam Gala this year and a must for GWR fans as visiting locomotives include 3440 'City of Truro' and 9017 'Dukedog' . Autocoach 225 will also be in attendance.

Continuous running for three full days, with with an extensive train service between Kidderminster and Bridgnorth.

The Engine House, the Visitor & Education Centre at Highley will be open for extended hours throughout this event as follows:

Friday 10-00 am to 8-00 pm
Saturday 8-00 am to 8-00 pm
Sunday 8-00 am to 5-00 pm

More details at

http://www.svr.co.uk

MIDLANDS HISTORICAL DATA

Midlands HThis is a project to make digital copies of a collection of rare old books, maps, photographs and documents relating to the West Midlands. There are several reasons why this makes sense :-

· to conserve the archives (through reducing wear and tear on originals by enabling digital copies to be viewed)

· to create searchable archives (through using optical character recognition to generate indexes)

· to provide wider access to the archives(through providing copies of CD's, and by giving access to digital images via the internet)

This is a private initiative to help libraries, archives and family history societies in the West Midlands to achieve these aims. Put simply, we do the preparation of the digital images for free for these bodies, and cover the costs through sales of CD's and pay-per-view. The project is non profit-making to keep prices as low as possible. Some money is ploughed back into restoring original documents so they can be conserved for future generations. We also work closely with local Family History Societies, Local History Groups and any other local body with an interest in preserving the printed archives of the Midlands. We are always interested to hear from any archives, libraries, family history & local history societies that need digital copies to be made of their holdings. We launched a newsletter at the end of June 2003 to keep you informed as we release new titles. At present, we are adding about 3 or 4 titles a week. If you would like to receive the newsletter, please subscribe to the newsletter by following the link. Alternatively, to see our recent new releases, please go to the New Releases page

http://www.midlandshistoricaldata.org/index.html

WALKING TOUR DIGBETH

Sorry, still awaiting Ray Shill to contact me!

THE FORUM

http://madeinbirmingham.org/forum/

Salford Park

Does anyone have memories of Salford Park?

http://www.madeinbirmingham.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=529&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

Remember the ALDIS signal light, made in Sarehole Road

http://www.madeinbirmingham.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=370&highlight=aldis

SNOW HILL STATION

http://www.madeinbirmingham.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1882#1882