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Birmingham is a major city in England’s West Midlands region, with multiple Industrial Revolution-era landmarks that speak to its 18th-century history as a manufacturing powerhouse. It’s also home to a network of canals, many of which radiate from Sherborne Wharf and are now lined with trendy cafes and bars. In the city centre, the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery is known for pre-Raphaelite masterpieces.
Birmingham bought ten Leyland Atlanteans and ten Fleetlines for evaluation in 1961/1962 before placing orders for rear-engined double-deckers. The ten Coventry-built Fleetlines (3241-3250) arrived in early 1962, and were very early production examples (3243 had chassis number 60006). 3246 was used for demonstration purposed by Daimler when new. Like the Atlanteans (3231-3240, and ex demo 3230), they were initially shared between Liverpool Street (for the 43 service) and Hockley (for the 96), By the time 3243 was seen in Colmore Circus in around 1968, it was operating with the rest of the batch from Perry Barr garage.
The Metro-Cammell bodywork had several detail differences from that fitted to the earlier Atlanteans, most notably the overall height of the vehicle was lower. Delivered as H39/33F, they were converted to 76 seaters in 1968 (3241-4) and 1969 (3245-50). Unlike other rear-engined vehicles, including the Atlanteans, these ten Fleetlines were never equipped for one-man operation due to a lack of height between the top of the windscreen and the upper saloon floor for access to the destination gear.
Both the Fleetlines and Atlanteans featured an interior design that would become standard for several years, with a yellow formica ceiling and red and grey pvc seating. However, as a result of the trials, Daimler was awarded a contract to supply 300 Fleetline chassis at the rate of 100 per year in 1963, 1964 and 1965, 24 of which materialised as Marshall-bodied single-deckers.
Fire Service Headquarters. 1935. Herbert Humphries and Herbert J. Manzoni. Red Flemish bond with Portland stone and concrete dressings with a pantile roof. Three storeys with attics and basement. The building is triangular with ranges set around a central drill yard and faces onto three streets; Corporation Street, Aston Street and New Street. The Fire Service Headquarters was designed to house an enclosed community for the fire-fighters, their families and the senior officers. It included housing, a school room and roof top playground, and recreation rooms, with garaging for the fire engines, workshops and stores for their repair. The style is Neo-Georgian to the exterior and functional or 'Moderne' to the courtyard fronts and the tall hose tower at the eastern corner of the yard.
HISTORY: The building was designed as the New Central Fire Station for the City of Birmingham. The design was by Herbert Humphries [later Sir Herbert Humphries] and completed by Herbert Manzoni after Humphries' retirement in 1935. It was built on a site which was already built over and a tavern, the City Weights and Measures Department and a row of houses had to be demolished to clear the site of c. 8,000 square yards. By October 1930 the site had been cleared, but the foundation stone for the new building was not laid until March 1934. The building was finished by December 1935 at a cost of £157,000 and officially opened by the Duke of Kent. Contemporary accounts reflect the high degree of civic pride which the building provoked and it is described in glowing articles which spoke of its advanced technology. This new technology included lights to indicate which machines were to respond to a fire, loud speakers to identify the location of the fire and electronically controlled engine starting and door opening. It also featured the latest 'turntable escape' which was reputed to be the first of its kind in the country.
The overall plan gives rich insight into the functioning and aspirations of the fire service at that time, prior to its nationalisation in 1941.
DESCRIPTION: The building occupies a triangular site at Lancaster Circus, central Birmingham. It is surrounded by Corporation Street, New Street and Aston Street. The original intention appears to have been to create an enclosed community or citadel for the fire-fighters, their families and the senior officers. The building included housing, a school room and roof top playground, and recreation rooms, with garaging for the fire engines, workshops and stores for their repair. The style of the building is Neo-Georgian to the exterior and functional or "Moderne" to the courtyard fronts and the tall hose tower at the eastern corner of the yard. The materials are red Flemish bond brick with stone dressings and pantile roof and the building is 3-storeyed with basements and attics. The interiors reflect both the Neo-Georgian and Moderne styles. The building takes advantage of the fact that it is sited on rising ground and the façade to Corporation Street and the corner tower above the entrance arch at the junction of Corporation Street and Aston Street are designed to be read from a distance and seem intended as a statement of civic pride. The tower and archway are in an English Baroque idiom that owes something to Nicholas Hawksmoor's church designs. It is of Portland stone with a large central arch of 2-storey height flanked by square-headed pedestrian gates. The stone here has banded rustication with prominent voussoirs to the arch. Above this is plain ashlar with a clock face and to the top is a belvedere with aedicular surrounds to the principal openings facing South West and North East. The 35-bay front to Corporation Street and the 31 bays to that of Aston Street both have symmetrical centres flanked by projecting Portland stone pavilions. The front to New Street is similarly of 27 bays with a symmetrical centre, although more subdued. The fronts facing the courtyard have 2 tiers of balconies giving onto flats on the upper floors of the New Street and Aston Street ranges. The ground floors house workshops [New Street] and shops [Aston Street]. The Corporation Street range has a machine room at ground floor level with space for 11 engines, above which were the single men's rooms and administrative rooms including the school room, committee rooms and the Second Officer's House. On the second floor were the large barrel-vaulted Recreation Room and the Gymnasium.
A projecting addition was added to the courtyard side of the Corporation Street block in the mid-C20 to house a new Fire Control room at first floor level with plant rooms beneath. The tower at the eastern corner of the triangular courtyard was originally built to dry out the canvas hoses as well as to act as a drill tower. It is "Moderne" in design with paired openings to the west front and ribbed and cogged detailing to the top. Two single-storey generator sheds were built against the south and east sides in the later C20.
EXTERIOR: The clock tower and principal gateway is at the corner of Corporation Street and Aston Street. It is of Portland stone with a large central arch of 2-storey height flanked by square-headed pedestrian gates, each opening having decorative bronze gates. The stone here has banded rustication with prominent voussoirs to the arch. The keystone bears an escutcheon with the letters B F B in a cipher. Above this is plain ashlar with bronze lettering 'WEST MIDLANDS/ FIRE SERVICE/ HEADQUARTERS'. A clock face is set above and to the top is a belvedere with aedicular surrounds to the principal openings facing South West and North East. These have Corinthian columns and open pediments. The tower is topped by a stepped parapet with concave panels. Beneath the archway the tunnel vault is coffered. At either side are single bays with sash windows of 4X5 panes, a type which recurs across the building. The 35-bay front to Corporation Street and the 31 bays to that of Aston Street both have symmetrical centres flanked by projecting Portland stone pavilions. The front to New Street is similarly of 27 bays with a symmetrical centre, although more subdued. The Corporation Street façade has 8 plain bays at left and 10 to the right of the central composition which is marked by 3-bay pavilions of Portland stone which project slightly. These are similar and each has banded rustication to the ground floor and a central doorway with a Diocletian window as fanlight. At first floor level the central window has a deep aedicular surround supported on brackets with free-standing Tuscan columns. To either side of this central window are panels of banded rustication and the lateral windows have Gibbs surrounds. The central second floor window is sunk and there is a pedimented gabled dormer to the roof. Between these pavilions are set the 11 pairs of panelled, half-glazed double doors to the machine room. These have a colonnade surround of Portland stone which projects slightly and has a Bolection moulding to the outer edge. The bays are divided by pilasters and there is a parapet with escutcheon and coat of arms to the centre. Recessed, above this are 13 bays of first and second floor fenestration with keystones to the sashes and cambered heads to the second floor windows. To the ridge is a timber belvedere with copper-clad roof and plinth which has Corinthian demi-columns, a squared dome and a ball-and-spike finial. The Aston Street façade is broadly similar in its treatment but differs in the handling of certain elements. The central portion is also terminated by 3-bay Portland stone pavilions. Here these have banded rustication to either side of the central 1st and 2nd floor windows and Pedimented dormer windows to the attic. The 15 bays in between are divided into modules of 3 bays, the central bay in each module having banded brick piers to either side of a Gibbs surround to the first floor window. At ground floor level are 14 shop fronts, grouped as pairs and divided by banded stone piers, the majority of which appear to retain their original windows, stallrisers, transom lights and fascias. The façade along New Street is similarly divided into 3 parts but more plainly treated with tripartite windows, illuminating the workshops at ground floor level and grilles at attic level for the roof top playground.
The drill yard is set with its original granite sets. The New Street range has the double doors of the workshops at ground floor level and the Aston Street range has the small back yard walls of the shops. Both ranges have walk-up flats to the first and second floors with concrete balconies and brick stair towers. The range facing Corporation Street has projecting 3-bay wings at either side of the central 13 bays. To the ground and first floor and placed in front of the 6 left-hand bays is the added Fire Control Room. The drill tower at the eastern corner of the yard is c.90 feet high. It has the most pronounced use of the 1930s Moderne aesthetic on the site with horizontal bands and cogged detailing to the top stage. It was originally built to dry out the canvas hoses and has paired openings to the west front. Two single-storey generator sheds were built against the south and east sides in the later C20.
INTERIOR: The entrance hall has a patterned Terrazzo floor and the treatment is carried up the walls and is seen on the treads and risers of the staircase. There is a bronze statue of a fireman gifted by the sculptor, Wheatley. The committee room has raised and fielded oak panelling to ¾ height and a Bolection moulded fire surround. The large Recreation Room has had a stage inserted, but otherwise conforms to its original appearance with a segmental tunnel-vaulted ceiling which has oval and round occuli to the centre. The interior of the Machine Room is also largely original, with tiled patterns to the floor, decorative tiles to the walls and panelled ceilings and the original pairs of double, semi-glazed doors facing Corporation Street. The original firemen's housing is now used as office space. Despite this the degree of alteration is minimal and the plans of the one and two-bedroom flats can still be easily 'read'. This building is a carefully designed example of the Neo-Georgian style as it was adapted to inter-war institutional buildings. It also gives a graphic impression of the life of the community who lived and worked on the site. In its organisation it anticipates the report of the Riverdale Committee in 1936 and the Fire Brigades Act of 1938 which foresaw the needs of wartime.
Summary of Importance:
This is a notable municipal complex, completed in 1935 to the designs of (Sir) Herbert Humphries, the City Surveyor, and one of the finest fire station ensembles of the mid-C20. The outward elevations possess considerable architectural dignity, whilst the internal configuration reflects the careful design of the complex, which housed a community and included housing, recreation, workshops and offices. The ancillary quarters are of less interest, but overall the complex is of special architectural and historical interest as an important inter-war municipal ensemble.
www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-509130-west-midlands-...
Purchased at a rally in 1972, This is Brimingham 2183 (JOJ 183) a Leyland PD2 with Park Royal bodywork
I think my father was photographing these services in Conjunction with the closure of Birmingham Snow Hill. In this one aTysley single car DMU is seen in Snow Hill waiting to leave on the 16.58 to Langley Green.
A stroll along the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal in central Birmingham - overlooked by The BT Tower
Construction of the tower commenced in July 1963 and was completed in September 1965. The tower became operational in December 1966 and was officially opened by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Alderman James S. Meadows on 5 October 1967
West Midlands Metro No.38 enters a short grassed section between St Chad's and Bull Street as it passes the One Snowhill complex.
To the left is Snow Hill station which was the original terminus of the Metro trams from opening in 1999 until the line was extended to New Street/Grand Central in 2015. Since July 2022 trams run through to Edgbaston.
Norwood is a neighborhood of Birmingham in the Northside community, in the "North Highlands" north of downtown.
Norwood was developed by the Birmingham Realty Company beginning in 1910 with B. B. Merriweather as lead surveyor. It was named for Stanley Norwood, a friend of Birmingham Realty president Leslie Fullenweider. The neighborhood was planned as a streetcar suburb centered on Norwood Boulevard, along the same lines as the development around Highland Avenue in Southside. The central 1.5-mile boulevard's 200-foot right of way included space for the Norwood Streetcar Line as well as broad landscaped park-like medians.
Billed as "The Placid Place", the developers touted the neighborhood's convenience to downtown as well as its removal from the smoke and noise of the city center. Other amenities promised by the marketers included "gracious neighbors", fully integrated utility services, and modern architecture. Houses sprang up along the boulevard almost before it was completed, including "Tennessee Row", a group of homes built by families hailing from Tennessee.
As large houses were being constructed on the boulevard, other development followed. The Realty Company erected a commercial building with a grocery store, meat market and dairy. The neighborhood was chosen by Charles Carraway in 1916 as the site for what came to be known as Norwood Hospital before it was renamed for him.
Nevertheless, the beginnings of the neighborhood's slow, steady decline began in the 1930s as automobile ownership made it possible for affluent families to move out of Jones Valley altogether. The developers of Mountain Brook and other "Over the Mountain" suburbs advertised larger homesites absolutely free from the smoke and haze of the city. Cheaper cars and social insecurity in the wake of school integration combined to spur white flight from Birmingham after World War II. In 1968 the construction of I-20/59 through downtown severed Norwood from the city center, furthering its decline.
In recent years young homebuyers have mounted a renewal of the neighborhood, newly-appreciated for its architectural quality and convenience to downtown. In 2006 students from the Auburn University Urban Studio met with the Norwood Neighborhood Association to prepare a long-range comprehensive physical plan for the area. For more info on the efforts to revive Norwood, click on the following link: www.historicnorwood.com/