Tag: redevelopment

March 13th – This is about a death, or being present at the demise. 

I was in Birmingham for the afternoon, and had an important execution to record.

Fletchers Walk, the dingy, misconceived subway-mall near the Town Hall in Birmingham, leading under Paradise Circus and emerging at the foot of Alpha Tower, will soon be lost to the wrecking ball.

It is ugly. Badly designed. It represents some of the worst – very worst -aspects of modernism, utilitarian urbanism and brutalism. It is unattractive, badly lit, intimidating and dystopian.

I’ve always loved it.

In the 80s and 90s, there was a great record shop down there, one of Brum’s earliest computer shops, too. Some great restaurants. When it was alive, it was a curious, odd netherworld. I’d bet many Brummies never knew it existed. It often stank of sewage, or stale urine. 

Attempts to polish this architectural turd only succeeded in compounding the issue – that being it was impossible to build something like this properly in the space available.

Soon, it will be swept away, along with John Madin’s remarkable library on top, and replaced by a bland, steel and glass corporate space, which we will facelessly and safely drift through, like the insipid figures on developer’s pictures. 

We will be unchallenged as we do so – the architecture will not engage, neither will it be evident. There will be none of the apprehension. It’ll just be another glossy, transitory and irrelevant link between retail spaces.

That will never by my Birmingham. Fletchers Walk – with it’s memories of great nights out, obscure music finds and hurried dashes from grim menace – is my Birmingham. 

When it dies, a bit of my memory will die with it.

February 11th – I noticed back in the summer that the old Pleck Working Mens Club was empty and derelict. I find it sad, as I went here once or twice, years ago, for parties and even a wedding. Like all such clubs, beer was cheep and the comfort basic, but there was real community here and the atmosphere was relaxed.

Sadly, like so many clubs, it’s fallen victim to social change, member numbers dwindled and now there’s a planning application for 11 dwellings on this site.

This will never be a club again, I guess, so any re-use of the land is good; but anything built here will be haunted, I hope, by late night shouts of ‘Pint of the usual Alec!’ and ‘Soon be time for the bingo!’

How times change.

January 12th – I had stuff to do in Burntwood at lunchtime, and returned late afternoon via Chasetown High Street. It was a squally, warm but rather wet day, and not a good one to be out; but once again I was reminded of just how busy Chasetown looks even at quiet times.

Chastown is not bigger, or particularly more economically vibrant than Brownhills; but the High Street here retained most of it’s original buildings, and the ratio of business premises to to dwellings at street level is about 50:50, which always makes the place look more occupied and buzzing than it really is.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – a mix of retail, leisure and dwellings like this could well be the saviour of many dying High Streets – it makes them more welcoming by day, and after dark when the lights and reassuring presence of others makes the place seem warmer and less desolate.

Something to ponder on…

September 6th – I popped into Lichfield on a grey afternoon for a bit of shopping, and noticed that the Panache Restaurant, which had garnered appalling food safety ratings in recent months had closed and seems to have the builders in.

This was one the Three Tuns pub, and one of three pubs in close proximity on Pipe Hill, the other two long since gone.

This is clearly quite an old building that has undergone much change over the years, and I would hate to see it lost.

I hope the next phase of this venerable pub’s life is kind to it.

August 30th – From the top of Shire Oak heading into Rushall, I stopped to admire the view, as I often do. It’s worth clicking on that top image and checking it out closely – beyond Walsall, Dudley Castle is clearly visible to the left. From here one can see just how green and verdant our area is in Summer, and I do think this vista – with the church tower above the treetops – is rather beautiful in summer. I’m still no wiser as to what the tower central on the skyline is.

Further down the Lichfield Road the houses being built on the former St. John’s school site are making progress. Interesting to see the old roof truss still in use on the open gable. In time, the new houses will adjoin the remainder of the old school.

A dull, overcast day, but still plenty to see.

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…

November 12th – Meanwhile, at the other Oak Park, something is happening. The 70s recreation centre and sports ground is up for a rebuild, and I’m hoping that should it happen, the council might be able to renovate the old park adjacent. All around the grounds of the leisure centre there are surveyor’s marks on the tarmac, highlighting measurements, cables and pipes. Meanwhile, on the football pitches, a small drilling machine was boring test holes to measure ground conditions. This plan is clearly serious.

Meanwhile, the row of ornamental cherry trees on the east side of the site rain golden beauty on the Brownhills road. Hope they can be preserved in any new development; they’re lovely.

July 7th – Passing through Polesworth I noticed this fine, but decaying building. Not a handsome edifice by any stretch, but impressive, foursquare and imposing all the same. The chimneys alone are gorgeous, never mind the finials, cupola and that incredible door. I had no idea what it was, other than a school, and made a note to find out when I got home.

It turns out it’s the former Nethersoles School, latterly a community centre, and now derelict, awaiting planning to turn it into apartments. The latin above the door – to my broken understanding – says ‘School for paupers and girls’ or similar.

It’s a remarkable thing, and so sad to see i falling to ruin. I hope something can be done with it soon.

January 20th – Like most folk in Brownhills, I use the local Tesco from time to time. I hate doing it, but there are few easy alternatives. The store has no cycle provision whatsoever. It is housed in one of the grimmest 80’s sheds I’ve ever come across, with no natural light. It’s impression is tatty, untidy and gives the feeling of careless grubbiness which makes products you buy there feel secondhand and mauled. It is, however, usually rammed with people, and this Friday was no exception.

Tesco promise to change all this – we are, we are assured, soon to get a new Tesco, built on the site of Brownhills’ now derelict shopping precinct. However, having prevaricated for years, and clearly getting a good return out of the old store, one can but wonder if the retail behemoth will not bother now their share price and profits have taken a pounding. A new CHP power plant was recently installed on the roof, and the toilets have just been refurbished. A company as sharp as this don’t throw money at buildings they plan to demolish.

Tesco destroyed this town. It could at least look like it cares for us.

October 30th – It’s good to see the site of the long-gone Superalloys factory being redeveloped. Derelict for thirty years or more, it’s stood for decades as a testament to Brownhills’ lost industrial past. Once a chemical works and known to locals as ‘The Chemical’, the land was contaminated and hard to pitch to developers. Finally, one of the last major manufacturers in the area, Castings PLC, have decided to expand onto the wasteland and the new building is positively flying up. Although it towers over Ogley Junction, I welcome the jobs and business this new factory will bring. Good news in a bleak economic landscape.