Last Friday we went down to JP Carpentry and Joinery in Cannock to meet the craftsman who is restoring the ticket Kiosk from the entrance to the baths.
John Sherrard has been working on lots of different pieces for the restoration, but here’s a quick look at the kiosk in particular.
Our own Kate Andrews was there in May when Balfour Beatty added the second cupola to the top of the building – here are her shots. Enjoy.
On Thursday 9th of April members of the community were invited on a tour of Stirchley Baths. I was pleasantly surprised at how far the project has progressed since the last tour in December. And now you can really see the rooms forming.
Here’s a message from the site managers about the plans for next month:
Co-site manager Jack told me that they are almost at the stage where floorboards can be laid in some of the newly created rooms.
Your community centre will open in September 2015 to co-incide with Stirchley Late Summer Bash.
International Women’s Day was born on the eve of World War I. Russian women, hoping for peace observed the first International Women’s Day on the last Sunday in February 1913. It was later transferred to 8th March and this day has remained the global date ever since.
In the late Victorian era, great unrest and critical debate was occurring amongst women. Oppression and inequality spurred women into inciting change. The campaign for Women’s rights in Birmingham began in 1866 with just three names on the very first ‘women’s suffrage’ petition.
Black Friday was a women’s suffrage event on 18 November 1910; the same year Stirchley Baths opened. The protest occurred when Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith indicated that there would be no more Parliamentary time for the reading of the Conciliation Bill. This bill would have extended the right of 1,000,000 wealthy, property-owning women to vote.
Approximately 300 women from Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) protested, with 200 assaulted and manhandled when they attempted to run past the police. This was the first documented use of police force against suffragettes. A total of 119 men and women were arrested.
On the night of 15 March 1914, Birmingham Suffragettes were responsible for a fire at Kings Norton Station. A number of railway coaches were set alight as an act of protest. Difficulty obtaining enough water resulted in fire damage totalling £1,000. A copy of ‘The Suffragist’ was found nearby.
This photograph of Stirchley Library highlights inequality in Edwardian society. Without full electoral rights, libraries offered opportunities for women to gain access to educational and learning resources. However, certain conditions were still applied, as indicated by the notice on the table.
The first woman to stand as a candidate for King’s Norton’s (which Stirchley was then part of) was Elizabeth Cadbury in the 1923 General Election. She was a Liberal, living at Manor House, Northfield, and was a city councillor for Kings Norton from 1919 to 1924. In 1928, 60 years after Birmingham’s Suffrage campaign had been launched at the meeting in the Exchange Rooms, New Street, all women were given the vote on the same terms as men.
It is worth noting that the first female Birmingham MP was Mrs Edith Wills; elected as Labour member for Duddeston in 1945. Later followed by Mrs Edith Pitt (Conservative) elected for Edgbaston in 1953.
The UK Equal Pay Act did not come into force until 1970 and the Sex Discrimination Act 1975.
Last night I spoke at Stirchley Neighbourhood Forum about the Bath’s project. People were keen to know how the restoration is progressing, so I shared old photographs and recent ones to show how much progress has been made.
In June 2014 the roof of the Baths looked like this:
In January 2015 it looks like this:
The roof lanterns will be fully finished by next month.
And the internal scaffolding in the main hall where the pool is, has now been removed:
I also spoke about this blog site. I want more people to blog. I want you to blog!
This blog was created to share Stirchley residents’ passion for the community centre. It is also a place to share memories of Stirchley’s past and present day activities.
In March there will be opportunities to learn how to blog. Social surgeries will be organised (hopefully 3) to help people who’d like to share their stories. More details about when these sessions will happen will appear on Stirchley Baths Facebook page, Twitter @StirchleyBaths and via the Neighbourhood Forum.
It would be great to share old photos and memorabilia. If you have anything but don’t want to blog please get in touch if you’re happy for me to share them. Or bring them with you to the social surgeries in March.
A resident at the forum asked me about the floor plan for the community centre. Mark Sloane, the architect has kindly sent it to me. The first image is the most recent plan of the layout of the whole site. The second image is from early 2014, but shows in detail the intended uses of the rooms.
PM2585-111 Proposed Site Plan[1]
72920_09_Proposed-GF-Plan_23.05.13_IT-information-points
The Baths project is about to get even more exciting. We want as many people as possible to be part of it.
My email address is louisedeakin96@aol.com or you can message me on here or Stirchley Baths on Facebook or Twitter (@stirchleybaths).