40129
The History of Snow Hill, a mural along side Snow Hill Railway Station in Birmingham, West Midlands.
The original mural was set up in St Chad's Queensway by Kenneth Budd and associates to celebrate the history of Snow Hill station, which had closed in 1972. The mural was destroyed in 2007, in 2013, Kenneth Budd's son Oliver Budd remade the mural in miniature, in Colmore Circus, near the top of Colmore Row.
Snow Hill station was revived in the mid-1980s, with a new rebuilt station opening in 1987. The mural contains two plaques which give the history of the Great Western Railway between London Paddington and Snow Hill station, as well as the history of the murals themselves.
The first plaque shows A History of the Great Western Railway. Construction of the Great Western Railway line to Snow Hill began in 1847. Isambard Kingdom Brunel was the engineer in charge and the contractors were called Peto and Betts. By 1852 the 129 mile track from Paddington to Birmingham was complete.
The first Snow Hill station was open in 1852. A special "Eve of Opening" train left London Paddington pulled by Daniel Gooch's "Lord of the Isles" which had been on show at The Great Exhibition. This was derailed at Aynho but successfully completed the journey the following day after a change of engine. Nine years later the tarck was extended to London Paddington providing a 3 hour 20 minute express service. Unheated carriages were lit by oil pot lamps and bar and disc signals were operated from trackside capstans.
In 1871 a new station was built to accommodate the great increase in traffic. A familiar sight at the turn of the century was Dash the station dog, his collection box strapped to his back. Between 1909-1914 the "old" station was replaced by Snow Hill in its final form without interruption to regular services.
Snow Hill continued as part of Western Region until 1967 when it ceased operation as a main line station, although a restricted local service to Wolverhampton lingered on until 1972
The mosaic you see here is a miniature of the original work that once dominated St Chad's Circus by Kenneth Budd and associates. The original was 300 ft long with varying heights to a maximum of 20 ft at the works centre, It took three years to create and was installed in 1969. The work was made in gold leaf and glass mosaic manufactured by Orsoni in Venice set around with a light and dark stone aggregate. The original lettering panels were carved by stonemason Michael Seymour. The new work by Kenneth's son Oliver Budd is a faithful facsimile of the original design.
Information Source:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Snow_Hill
40129
The History of Snow Hill, a mural along side Snow Hill Railway Station in Birmingham, West Midlands.
The original mural was set up in St Chad's Queensway by Kenneth Budd and associates to celebrate the history of Snow Hill station, which had closed in 1972. The mural was destroyed in 2007, in 2013, Kenneth Budd's son Oliver Budd remade the mural in miniature, in Colmore Circus, near the top of Colmore Row.
Snow Hill station was revived in the mid-1980s, with a new rebuilt station opening in 1987. The mural contains two plaques which give the history of the Great Western Railway between London Paddington and Snow Hill station, as well as the history of the murals themselves.
The first plaque shows A History of the Great Western Railway. Construction of the Great Western Railway line to Snow Hill began in 1847. Isambard Kingdom Brunel was the engineer in charge and the contractors were called Peto and Betts. By 1852 the 129 mile track from Paddington to Birmingham was complete.
The first Snow Hill station was open in 1852. A special "Eve of Opening" train left London Paddington pulled by Daniel Gooch's "Lord of the Isles" which had been on show at The Great Exhibition. This was derailed at Aynho but successfully completed the journey the following day after a change of engine. Nine years later the tarck was extended to London Paddington providing a 3 hour 20 minute express service. Unheated carriages were lit by oil pot lamps and bar and disc signals were operated from trackside capstans.
In 1871 a new station was built to accommodate the great increase in traffic. A familiar sight at the turn of the century was Dash the station dog, his collection box strapped to his back. Between 1909-1914 the "old" station was replaced by Snow Hill in its final form without interruption to regular services.
Snow Hill continued as part of Western Region until 1967 when it ceased operation as a main line station, although a restricted local service to Wolverhampton lingered on until 1972
The mosaic you see here is a miniature of the original work that once dominated St Chad's Circus by Kenneth Budd and associates. The original was 300 ft long with varying heights to a maximum of 20 ft at the works centre, It took three years to create and was installed in 1969. The work was made in gold leaf and glass mosaic manufactured by Orsoni in Venice set around with a light and dark stone aggregate. The original lettering panels were carved by stonemason Michael Seymour. The new work by Kenneth's son Oliver Budd is a faithful facsimile of the original design.
Information Source:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Snow_Hill