Tag: demolition

September 30th – Right now, Birmingham is doing what it does best – changing. I was in Birmingham for a sunny, pleasant afternoon that felt like the last of summer, and I continued my fascination with the demolition of the library, 103 Colmore Row and the Birmingham Conservatoire. The Adrian Boult Hall is now gone, the library down to it’s last scraps, and 103 Colmore Row is forlorn and truncated, much like the memory of the architect who designed all of them, the great John Madin.

There’s no time for sentiment, because Brum so doesn’t do that; the engineers are driving forward the change in their machines, cutting, smashing and pulverising the modernism to dust. And it’s fascinating, from the jurassic appearance of a resting concrete cutter to the antics of a pair of experts in a cradle slung above the devastation like some hi-visibility acetylene and helmet circus act.

It’s stunning, shocking and wonderful to watch. But I’m glad Madin himself didn’t live to see the crushing of his big civil dream.

July 13th – I wasn’t on my bike, but I can’t let this pass: a chance to overview the start of the demolition of the Adrian Boult Hall, part of the demolition of Birmingham Central Library and Paradise Circus.

Prehistoric looking machines are ripping, tearing and crushing masonry and concrete, shearing and cutting steel. Skilled engineers, operators and surveyors move over the site, where the modern age is almost universally high-visibility orange.

It’s interesting to see new vistas evolve, which themselves will be lost again. I’m lost the horror of the demolition now, and an grimly fascinated, like I’m watching some post mortem or investigation into some misadventurous occurrence.

March 3rd – Birmingham, late afternoon. I’d finished for the day and needed to get a few errands done, and while I was about it, check out the slow death of Birmingham’s affair with architectural Brutalism.

This grey, colourless day was the perfect day to survey the wounds being inflicted on the skyline by the cranes, breakers and cutters currently removing Madin’s Central Library and 103, Colmore Row. The demolitions are fascinating, dramatic, conflicting. On the side of the library, soon to disappear, the mural proclaims ‘Todos eat posible’ – all is possible. Survival for that mural isn’t, but change is a certainty.

Until dusk, colour only existed in bright demolition machinery and the hi-vis of the wonderfully nonchalant crane driver; but dusk brought the lights and glimpses of the other Birmingham.

I don’t know what I feel. Uneasy probably applies best.

April 30th – I returned from work late, in the evening, just before dark. I stopped at the Co-op in Walsall Wood for some groceries, and then noticed that the land where the derelict terraces was, opposite Walsall Wood School, has now been sold.

Planning permission was obtained for a new development here a couple of years ago, the eyesore abandoned homes here demolished, and then, surprisingly, the site was put up for sale again. 

Hopefully, this might see the end of a long period of dereliction for this site – which would be ideal for housing, it has to be said. I think this could be one to watch in coming weeks.

April 2nd – I spun past the St. John’s School site this morning, and noted it was now almost totally cleared, and it appears the demolition crew have left the site. The one gable remains – in use as a private residence – but otherwise, little trace of 150 years of history is evident, and the scraped ground and piles of crushed hardcore await the next stage. 

Of course, the old building had been derelict for four decades, so in many ways, this is already an improvement of sorts – it means progress.

I hope construction will start here soon…

June 22nd – Up in Walsall Wood, near Streets Corner, there’s a sad sight. It had been positive news when plans were unveiled for the demolition of a row of derelict houses and the building of a new close.

Sadly, all that’s happened is demolition, and now the site is up for sale.

I had a feeling that was going to happen. This site has been derelict a long time – so sad to see. Looks like it’ll be that way for a while yet.

March 13th – There’s a lot of changes in progress at the moment in Walsall Wood, as I noted when I passed through tonight. The new Co-op store is finally ready to open on the 21st March at Streets Corner, and nearby, a new car sales showroom is being built on the site of the old library. Several applications had approval there, from a complex of flats to a convenience store. Nice to see something built after five years of dereliction.

Derelict for well over a decade, the abandoned terraces opposite Walsall Wood School are in the process of demolition, to enable the construction of a new housing development. It’s been a long time coming, and although it’s sad to see old buildings go, they were in a terrible state.

I hope the builders have the sensitivity to preserve the name-plaque and incorporate it into the new development, as was done with the Ivy House, nearby.

August 19th – It’s too late now, it’s gone. The Pear Tree Inn, on the corner of Pear Tree Lane, Albutts Road and Hednesford Road in Brownhills West will be fondly remembered by many, me included. At various times in its life this pub was a fine house; I drank here several Christmas lunchtimes and often took a walk up from town to get a decent pint. Derelict for 4 or 5 years now, the owners sought permission to demolish, citing the building as being beyond repair. An application to build a store here has been refused, but rumours abound of a new express-style store opening. 

It’s sad the pub could not live on. Another part of my past gone under the bulldozer’s tracks.

March 29th – I haven’t a clue what’s going on with the old Muckley Corner Hotel anymore. It’s supposed to be under conversion back into dwellings (at least the rear part), yet the saga of painting, woodwork, then ripping the roof and freshly painted render off has been as bizarre as it has been perplexing. I wondered if the old pub part on the corner had a future as a pub or restaurant once more, but the way things are going, I think the building may fall down first. An odd state of affairs.

January 25th – I’d like to claim credit for noticing this, but I didn’t, so can’t. Great pal [Howmuch?] spotted this and told me a few weeks ago. Today, as I rolled down Hatherton Street in the Butts, near Walsall  Town Centre, I recorded a fascinating little relic of the past. These buildings are due to be demolished to make way for a new factory, being moved in from elsewhere in the borough. Formerly offices and workshops, they’ve lain derelict for some years. As I took these pictures, construction workers were erecting hoardings around the site prior to its clearance commencing. Before they did, I had to photograph the above small sign, situated next to one of the boarded-up doors.

I know nothing about the Umbrella Manufacturing and Repairing Company, or what happened to them. But the thought crosses my mind: how long has it been since such a business could be economically viable in Walsall? A curious, odd little piece of history. Glad I caught it before it was lost forever.