Author: Suzanne Carter
Inside Stirchley Baths April 2013
Last week I was given privileged access into the baths (I did have to plead a bit!) so I could really get a sense of the physical space within the building to help us shape our interpretative proposal for the Heritage Lottery Fund Activity plan. Architect Mark Sloane patiently answered my many questions about what historic features were being kept, restored, reused and accessible for the public – what bits people would actually be able to see.
I came away feeling decidedly grubby, but confident that the essence of the building will be maintained through the restoration – that Stirchley Baths will always be just that – but re-purposed.
I couldn’t resist making another movie – this time with some sound effects! For those of you never to have made it to an open day – here is what it looks like inside – not just in the pool, but also in the slipper baths, Mikvah, sauna, changing room, corridors, front entrance and in the original ticket kiosk. Very sad to see what has become of the building – but so important to show how vital this Heritage Lottery grant is!
I’ll post some photos up at a later date.
Show of hands for Stirchley Baths? Ooooh Yeh!
Great day at Stirchley Library and outside the baths today; collecting hands, community support and ideas about how we present ‘the heritage of the baths’ to people. Amazing turnout! We estimate we engaged with over 200 people – and a huge thanks to everyone who came along today – we doubled the amount of hands we have already collected! The official count is 282 hands!
Such evidence that local people want to see the building restored and brought back into use. I especially love the conversation I had with an 8 year old who told me they walked past the building everyday and felt cheated she didn’t know what was inside – hopefully you will soon!
A huge and massive thank you to the volunteers who helped us make this day a very special one, including from Stirchley Baths Community Stakeholders Group: Sue Jackson, Jess Allan and Brenda Thomas; and from Birmingham Conservation Trust: Julian Cleaver, Louise Deakin, Rachel Hoeshan and Jane Baker. A big thank you also to Mukesh, local Stirchley resident, who was passing by on his way back from The Coop at 9.30 and offered to help us put the washing line up! He stayed and helped out until lunchtime. Talk about community spirit!
After I have typed up all the comments on the hands, we will be putting them into Stirchley Library – so you will get a chance to see what people have said. Matthew, working for Podnosh, has also collected some great interviews for this site, so watch this space!
Final thank you for today is for the wonderful staff at Stirchley Library who were fabulous hosts (and sorry for all the glitter left on the carpet!)
Great day. A strong message for the Heritage Lottery Fund – this is a project worth supporting. The community certainly do!
Aspirations for the Baths from local clubs, diverse communities, families and future generations
Last week I was at Stirchley Community Centre on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and spoke to many of the parents who bring their children to Arabic lessons about the Stirchley Baths Project.
Mohammed spoke to me about swimming during his days at Dame Elizabeth Cadbury’s and his aspirations to enjoy the building again with his family. –
We gathered some great ideas from both parents and their children about the sorts of events that they might enjoy together; having fun and learning about the history of the Baths at the same time. These included quizzes and ‘spot the historic feature’ treasure hunts around the building. For the older generation, talks would be welcome, with Bengali interpretors on hand. Women only activities were also suggested as a way to involve the local Muslim community in the centre’s programming.
I also had a great chat with Margaret and Joe from Birmingham Karate Club who see the future move to the Baths as a great opportunity to recruit new members to the club and widen their audience further. They have been running the club from Stirchley Community Centre for 6-7 years. Here is a brief history of how the club has grown in the area, and the mix of excitement and apprehension they feel towards the transition from the Community Centre to the Baths.
Stirchley Community School lends me their School Council!
Last week I met with the School Council – made up of 8 very bright pupils from years 3-6 attending Stirchley Community School. We talked about the Baths, looked at photographs and they came up with a list of questions they would ask a history expert if they met one (luckily I knew most the answers!)
They would want to ask:
- How many people visited the Baths?
- Why did it close?
- When it was built?
- How many baths were there?
- What happens if the floor boards broke if people were dancing on them?
- Were Germans allowed to visit the Baths during WWII?
They all agreed that seeing the building in its current state is a waste of a building and they thought it was important to restore it. If they went on a school visit they would like to learn some old fashioned dances, be ‘history detectives’ around the building and see an old bath tub! What a great 15 minute session!
Thank you to headteacher Mr Clifford for arranging my meeting with the School Council. He is very keen that the school and the Baths work in partnership in the future – including the new school film club and radio station reporting on the Baths project during its restoration period.