Stirchley Baths Wins 2015 Renaissance Award

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The Planning Committee met in March following their visits to three nominated buildings for the 2015 Renaissance Award:

  • Stirchley Baths
  • Fiddle & Bone
  • Eagle & Ball – BCU Student Union Bar

Stirchley Baths – Planning Committee’s comments:-

The work that the team have done on restoring the former baths and bringing it back into positive, community use was very impressive. The way that the community has been involved in the restoration as well as on going involvement is exemplary. Whilst there was discussion about the loss of the baths, there was an historical example of how the baths were temporarily over boarded to provide a dance hall! This interesting story shows how the space could be, and has been imaginatively re-used. The building appears to be well used by the local community and it has helped bring together various groups and organisations that would have otherwise never met. It has clearly had a hugely positive affect on the local community.

Judging Process

As part of the judging process, the Committee complete a judging form where they consider the condition of the original building, the restoration works and the completed project. Each Committee Member completes the judging form independently. The scores are then collated and help give some moderation to their considerations.

Summary & Recommendations

The Planning Committee were unanimous in recommending that the 2015 Renaissance Award be awarded to Stirchley Baths.

http://www.birminghamcivicsociety.org.uk/stirchley-baths-wins-2015-renaissance-award/

This is great recognition for a truly collaborative effort – Thank you to everyone who has supported the project over the last few years

 

 

 

Art SOAK 2016 – Pilot Nights

Thursday 12 May 2016, 7.30pm, £5

PILOT Nights provide a space where theatre makers can develop their work and try out new ideas in front of a lively and supportive crowd. PILOT Nights is landing at Stirchley Baths for the first time, launching Art SOAK 2016, with Play More co-piloting the event. Join us for an evening of eclectic work in progress performances from some of the UK’s most exciting theatre companies, then stick around after for a drink and tell the artist what you thought!

You can book tickets through www.oxboffice.com

Who Do You Think You Are? Live

It’s billed as the world’s largest family history show. Gareth, Ron, Sandra and I visited “Who Do You Think You Are? Live” at the NEC early in April 2016 on behalf of Stirchley History Group. We hoped to link up with other societies, find out more about what records are available online and offline, stock up with maps and books and – as one always does at events like this – look out for the interesting and unexpected that might help us with our research.

The biggest stands were those run by the large commercial organisations that provide online access to census records and other vast archives of historical data. Their services, and especially their powerful searchable indexes, have made it easier than ever for anyone to research their own family tree. There were also numerous smaller stands run by local family history societies who have detailed knowledge of records for an individual county or region or other countries such as India and the United States. It was good to make contact with the Birmingham and Midland Society for Genealogy and Heraldry which has a large archive.

Gareth from Stirchley History Group at the Who Do You Think You Are? Live show
Gareth from Stirchley History Group at the Who Do You Think You Are? Live show

What the adverts promoting genealogical research don’t tell you is that some of the discoveries waiting to be made in the records are likely to be unwelcome. Be prepared to encounter secret illegitimacy, the spectre of the workhouse, legally dubious marriages and those all too common cases where a child’s birth and death were registered on the same day. Nonetheless this kind of research opens a fascinating window into the world of social history and, in turn, local history. Tracking individuals and families who lived in Stirchley helps us to build up a picture of life in the area in former generations.

The Alan Godfrey Maps stand at the Who Do You Think You Are? Live show
The Alan Godfrey Maps stand at the Who Do You Think You Are? Live show

Of all the many eye-catching heritage features in Stirchley Baths none attracts more interest than the 1911 map on the café wall. At the show we were able to buy reprints of historical Ordnance Survey maps and to find out where to access a wide range of maps online.

The show was busy throughout and even the more specialist stands attracted many visitors. There was also a large programme of expert talks, many of which sold out. It was encouraging to see this level of interest in family and local history, and we came away with plenty of information to follow up and pointers to further research.

Phil Banting, Stirchley History Group

Dance Project update – Stirchley Prospectors

I had a wonderful time today at Stirchley Baths, not just the spiralised courgette in my salad at the cafe, but seeing the baths coming together as a functioning building and seeing ideas and proposals from the development phase becoming a part of the building. All this while working on the ‘welcome mat’ project. The welcome mat stems from earlier work in Stirchley by Place Prospectors whose work during Stirchley Prospects found material relating to the use of Stirchley Baths as a ballroom in the post war years; the pool being covered over for ‘super non-stop dancing’ and that dancing happened to Den Jones and his Dance Orchestra.

Dance Ticket

The Stirchley Tea Dance group who used to be based in the old Stirchley community centre have agreed to work with me on the process of making the mat, I’m going to record their steps as they dance the dances that would have happened during this time, which is fondly remembered and a source of local pride.