Stirchley is a diverse community filled with professionals, young families, long-term residents and students. Once the Baths opens in 2014 there will be lots of facilities catered towards our needs and wants. These include the main multipurpose Gallery, the Main Hall (which has the facility to screen films – handy for Stirchley Happenings no doubt), an internet cafe and several flexible spaces that can be used for meeting hire, the details of which can be viewed here.

 With the Baths having been built for the community that existed in Stirchley in 1911, I started to wonder what those residents were like. A little research of the 1911 census shows an array of different professions. Looking particularly at the residents of Bond Street, which is across Stirchley Park, behind the baths, I discovered lots of people of interest. As expected quite a few worked at the Cadbury factory. Jobs listed included ‘Fitters Labourer’, ‘Moulding chocolate’, ‘Card box maker’s machine attendant’, ‘Overlooker stockroom’ and obviously ‘Confectioner’. Other professions on the street were ‘Postman’ (Edwin Hicken, no. 52), ‘Brewers drayman’ and ‘Boot maker’ (Tandy family, no. 44),‘Bookbinder’ (Lily Mary Elizabeth Law, no. 57), ‘Locomotive Engineer Driver’ (Frederick Lewis Hill, no. 55) as well as ‘Motor mechanic’, ‘Bricklayer’, ‘Blacksmith’ and ‘Electrician’. Doris and Nellie Luckman aged 13 and 10, who lived at no. 19 were even described as ‘scholars’. Obviously their parents had high hopes for them. And Alfred Howell who boarded at no. 39 was described as ‘Hamsters assistant’!

Along with a multitude of Williams, Johns, Alices and Georges there was also a Thirza, who’s name is of Jewish origin. She lived at no. 56 with her parents, Thomas and Beatrice and younger sister Braithet Smitter.

At no. 62 lived the Harris family. Similar in size with the family of three that live in their house in 2014, they were made up of William (father, 49), Mary (mother, 43), Arthur (aged 10) and Gladys (5), both of which were born in the parish of Kings Norton as it was then known. Next door to them, at no. 64 were plenty of children to play with. Joseph Payne is listed as head of that household and living with him are his five nieces and nephews, ages ranging from 16 to 4. There’s no immediate indication of where their parents were, but it’s hard not to wonder if they were orphaned.

The most interesting family I found lived at no. 1 Bond Street. David James owned his own greengrocers, his wife Betsey and two teenage children, Minnie and William assisted him. The James family was made up of 13 children! Can you imagine that many family members in a house that size? The census form only allowed for 15 names, so Albert Edward (8 months) only just made it onto the form!

Having investigated the people of this street, it’s hard not to look out the window and imagine them dressed in the Edwardian clothes of the era. I can see them now, on their way to the factory, sending their children off to school, going to drive a train through Bournville station and maybe even delivering beer to The Three Horse Shoes or British Oak. For all their different professions and individualism, the one thing they all had in common, was the use of the Baths after a long hard day.

Hello! I’m Louise, a new blogger for Stirchley Baths. I’ve only lived in South Birmingham for five years, but think Stirchley is a really welcoming area with a great sense of community. I also volunteer for Birmingham Conservation Trust and helped out with the event ‘Hands up for Stirchley Baths’. This was organised by Suzanne Carter who works for the Trust and was instrumental with the Heritage Fund Lottery Bid.

With the help of Nick Booth at the Social Media Surgery at Loaf last week I’ve been taught how to blog (fingers crossed this works), so will be catching up for a chat about the Baths with local residents, businesses and community hubs of Stirchley. I’ll also be blogging about Stirchley’s interesting history and heritage. I’ll be keeping in touch with John Lucas from Mansell Construction, who will be managing the building and restoration of the Baths. Hopefully with a bit of help there’ll be updates from him and his team about the building’s progress.

Watch this space!

At Loaf learning how to add blog onto web page.It’s my first attempt at this so we’ll see how it goes .

Key points on where the scheme is at:

• Report has gone to Birmignham City Council cabinet – where it was approved.
• Aiming for the first project – pre start meeting – before christmas and a start in January
• If you saw floodlights by the baths on Friday night – the mains supply into the baths was still live and the supply was cut off in the Allley besides the baths.

Mark Sloane – the architect – talked through the planning drawings for planning permission: He said we know that the in and out access is narrow and their are talks going on to try and improve that.  There will also be some changes to Hazellwell Street pavement – to allow ofr a ramp into the building.

The Co-Op is also going through a process for the building next to the baths – the Friends Meeting House – which is locally listed.  Their plans may mean that access for Stirchley baths can be wider.  One member of the group acknowledged they they used to court in the alley between the two buildings!

Mark then started to outline the interior of the building, explaining the thinking behind the plan.

The room that started most detailed conversation was the projection room GF24 – with the roof lantern –  some conversation about furniture, storage and finishes.

GF19 is the main hall and a little bit bigger than a badminton hall  (a benchmark for community use) –  the plans also shows how the space could be used for judo mats and other activities (partly as a way of envisaging size).  This room isn’t for ball sports.

Q. Could there be a linking from from GF19 (main hall) to GF20.
A. It is possible but we’ve talked about this before – concerns about size. It can be accommodated?

GF03 is the smallest room and about 4m or 12 feet square – it can comfortable seat 6 people round a table in the room.

Q. Will there be storage for groups?
A. Yes.  Some audio visual technology will already be there –  but groups will still need places to be things like filing cabinets – where might the historical archives go?

Reception and GF07 are the dedicated offices space (but they’re not that big was an aside).    It will also be possible for people to come to the cafe and work.

Q Will the wi-fi be available throughout the building?
A That’s what we’ve asked for.

GF20 will only be half height walls – which means that the main hall will still have the same impact as currently – part of the conservation of the feel of the building.

Q: There are some original cubicles in the building with wood paneling – can these be used elsewhere in the building?
A The baths will be floored across – will there be access to that area under the floor?   No we wont be able to go into that space –  but there may be an access hatch with a glaze panel – so that people can see the old bath.

GF26 – existing access to the undercroft – the bore hole (which used to provide the water for the baths) will be capped off with a glass top.

GF18 leads to an outside play area for children.  It can also be an outside area for weddings or social events. The planning conditions includes hours of use.

GF11 is baby change

GF12 toilets

GF28 – public meeting room for ten people

GF20 – larger meeting room – which has a sink and also has storage to clear tables and chairs.There will be trolleys to move things from the kitchen. This room may need means for making drinks.

Key heritage features

• The cubicle in reception will be reinstated.
• All the roof light/lanterns  Notably in GF01 and GF27 – plus the two main rooms, GF24 and GF19
• A capped/glazed well in the internet cafe
• The balustrades in the main hall.
• Exterior will be as it is – reinstating the missing cupola/dome over rooms GF08/06  and a clock is being re-instated.
• Gable end wall pattern in the main hall – over the years they’ve added many elctrics – we will strip that off and re-introduce the patterns in the brick work. (Some people had thought this was a Star of David – it is though simply a pattern.?

Q Original mosaic flooring – A there is a floor plan with floor finishes and the green shows where the original is being kept.

Q is there a way of using some of the art budget for Mosaics for the flooring?
A At the moment the plan is to do that on the walls.

• Dance may feature in the designs for the floors
• The Chimney stays as it is and is re-pointed, repaired and lit as a local landmark.

Where IT will be

the plan shows

• green line where there’s a pull down screen linked to a projector
• Point – in GF24 – don’t put the screen off centre if possible. The screen might be better at the other end of the room  (where the curved wall is) because of where the doors are – its’ there because of the curve of the wall.

Roof plans

• Just mentioned that the building is mostly top lit.
• The area FF05 is essentially a mezzanine for plant. The machines that manage airflow are quite large and tricky to hide.  Some units will be on the mezzanine floor within the hall – trying to keep them as squat as possible so they can’t be seen from the floor hall. Some other ins the old plant room FF01.

Other questions

Q Could there be an exterior door into the cafe?
A The problem with that at the moment is that it steps out onto a roadway.

Q Will we be able to put a flag on the flagpole –  can we get to the foot of it? 
A (not sure at the moment)

A conversation evolved about Stirchley park behind the building

Q  Money for the park?  A  there is £48k  available for the park – but details of hwo to use that hasn’t been discussed yet because the budget has only just been approved. Improvements may be possible if the coop’s plans allow a better for for the building.  Q/Opinion The gate at the back to Stirchley Park – it should be inviting to encourage people to use the space.  Q  Does Amey the highways contractor have access to money for work like steps/gradient into the park? A Karen Cheney will sort a meeting about the park.  Opinion – We need some sort of camera in the park A It would cost less to do this now and link it to the cameras in the centre.

All of the plans for the interior and exterior of the building can be downloaded below:

72920_03A_Proposed Site Plan
72920_10L_Proposed Ground Floor Plan
72920_11F_Proposed First Floor Plan
72920_21D_Proposed Section B
72920_22E_Proposed Section C
Proposed GF Plan_23.05.13_IT information points
72920_28D_Proposed Floor Finishes 
72920_27D_Proposed Ceiling Plan
72920_29C_Proposed Wall Finishes
72920_18F_Proposed Elevations