Love our parks - get involved!

As Lockdown rules start to enable more people to enjoy their parks and green spaces, we all want to ensure that these wonderful places of natural beauty are protected for all to enjoy.  This community collective will share some of the brilliant initiatives running across the UK and show just how, together, we can make a difference for the benefit of all.  Connect with us.

Over the next month and for the remainder of 2020, we will be growing our reach and pull together information and details on all the great work being carried out across communities as they collectively protect their parks.  

This will grow into a massive 'community-led' resource for people with a shared interest and passion for their local parks and green spaces.  

Here's just a few of the ideas and initiatives we will be telling you more about so we can share and get more people actively involved.

Litter picking groups - they do a fantastic job.  We'll connect you with your local group.

Art & Culture Trail.  We'll help you set up your trail and showcase your parks.

Walking clubs. We'll connect you and bring in more friends.

Park angels.  Volunteering with a difference.  We'll tell you more.

Creativity and green spaces collide.  Let's look at how art, music, photography and creativity in all its forms can help promote and protect our parks. 

Parks and mental health.  A walk, ride or jog in the park can do so much for your mental health.

There's something for everyone.

Connect with us and help us protect our parks. 

It's your community (Kings Heath & Moseley) - an interview with Fareeda Khan - PCSO with West Midlands Police

Jonathan from Birmingham We Are caught up with Fareeda Khan, a PCSO with West Midlands Police operating in the Moseley and Kings Heath Neighbourhood. Here’s a brief insight to Fareeda’s work with community and how she feels Kings Heath and Moseley can really benefit from Birmingham hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2022. 

Q.  Can you tell me a little about your work as a PCSO Fareeda?

“As a PCSO we are very visible in the community.  Our role is very much community based and we are the eyes and ears of the community. 

I particularly enjoy engaging with young people through schools and youth clubs.  Young people now understand our role a lot more and I like to think they have a lot more trust in us and are more forthcoming in approaching us.”

Q.  Fareeda, you cover Moseley and Kings Heath.  Can you tell me a little about your patch and the community?

“Moseley and Kings Heath are sometimes referred to as bohemian neighborhoods.  There’s a lot of culture and a lot of community get-togethers with street parties and festivals. They are very creative places to live and visit. People are always helping each other out.

It is a very friendly and inviting part of the city and a great place for people to visit.”

Photo: Welcome to Kings Heath courtesy Christine Wright

Photo: Moseley Bog courtesy Elliott Brown

Photo: Highbury Hall in Moseley courtesy Elliott Brown

Q. How can we ensure that these communities are best able to benefit from the City attracting more visitors with events coming up such as the Commonwealth Games?

“I think more awareness and more outreach work in the community. Raise awareness as some communities may feel a little isolated and that it’s not for them.  Perhaps there could be a showcase of the opportunities for younger people and parents and information on how they can get involved.

Perhaps opportunities via schools and colleges nearer the time so that young people can understand how they can get involved.”

Young people on National Citizen Service visit Art Rooms in Kings Heath 

Photo: The Orchard, Highbury Park courtesy Christine Wright

Q. Do you think the police could have a big role to play in helping the local community maximize the opportunities presented by the Commonwealth Games?

“Because we do a lot of work with the community and work with many different agencies to build trust and confidence, people know they can come to us.  Another way they can connect with us is through something like sport and different types of outreach work.  If the police can get more involved, we can help community get more involved.”

Photo: Woodworkers from the Moseley and Kings Heath Shed courtesy Christine Wright

Photo: St Mary's Church, Moseley courtesy Damien Walmsley.

Q. How important are community leaders to the work that you do?

“We have different types of leaders in the community.

We have business leaders, religious leaders, leaders in education and other community leaders such as neighborhood watch co-coordinators etc. We have done a lot work around active citizens and identifying those key people in the community that have a special role as the voice of a local group who can make a real difference. 

The Active Citizens Fund managed by the Police is there to support the work of such groups.”

Photo: Kings Heath Park courtesy Christine Wright

Photo: Moseley Farmers Market courtesy Elliott Brown

Q.  Would you be able to help our work at Birmingham We Are in introducing young people on programs such as the national citizen’s service to the culture within the local community?

“I would be delighted to help in any way I can. Moseley and Kings Heath are certainly places to experience and enjoy the culture of Birmingham.”

Thank you for your time Fareeda. 

This is one of a series of discussions taking place by Birmingham We Are as an introduction to people as influencers who can make a massive difference to the City and the community in which they live or work. 

Our interviews with PCSOs operating across the City has the full support of West Midlands Police. 

For further details on our work contact Jonathan.Bostock@PeopleMattersNetwork.com.

J.R.R. Tolkien in the Library of Birmingham

On Level 4 in the Archives & Collections section of the Library of Birmingham at Centenary Square you can find material related to Tolkien.

So popular is the novelist that J R R Tolkien’s classic fantasy tale The Hobbit was chosen as the first book to grace the showpiece Centenary Square building in a poll carried out prior to the Library opening.

At Birmingham Repertory Theatre next door to the Library, a blue plaque commemorates Dr J. Sampson Gamgee, a local surgeon and founder of the Birmingham Hospital Saturday Fund.

‘Sam Gamgee’ was the name chosen by Tolkien for Frodo’s faithful companion in The Lord of the Rings.

The surgeon’s widow lived opposite Tolkien’s aunt in Stirling Road and therefore he would have been familiar with the name.

Old Joe at the University of Birmingham from 2018 to 2020

While during the lockdown / pandemic you are not allowed to go onto the University of Birmingham campus in Edgbaston you can see Old Joe for miles around the campus. Views here taken between 2018 and 2020. Up until early March 2020 I could still go onto the campus (now it's not possible without an ID). Named after Joseph Chamberlain who was the First Chancellor of the University.

OLD JOE:

JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN MEMORIAL CLOCK TOWER

Find my old post comparing the Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower here to the Torre del Mangia in Siena, Italy.

Old Joe on Twitter.

Some history about the Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower aka Old Joe. Built from 1900 until 1908, it was the tallest building in Birmingham until 1965, when the BT Tower opened. Designed by Aston Webb and Ingress Bell who were responsible for the initial phase of building the University in the Edwardian period. The tower was based on the Torre del Mangia in Siena, Italy (see the link above to my old comparison post).

The tower commemorated Joseph Chamberlain who was the First Chancellor of the University of Birmingham. It is the tallest free standing clock tower in the world. It is over 100 metres tall (possibly as high as 110 metres). The tower is Grade II listed and it can be seen for miles around the campus. As far away as the Lickey Hills and Waseley Hills (for instance). Even from nearby parks and suburbs. It is thought that Old Joe was the inspiration for the Eye of Sauron in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

2018

January 2018 from Beacon Hill at the Lickey Hills Country Park. Old Joe on the City Skyline

March 2018: From Vincent Drive overlooking the Cross City Line. The new University of Birmingham Library with Old Joe.

May 2018: Seen from the Bristol Road in Edgbaston, when they got the clock working again!

June 2018: View from Winnie Road in Selly Oak around the time that Old Joe won the World Cup of Birmingham's Best Buildings! on Twitter (held by I Choose Birmingham).

July 2018: Visible from the Bourn Brook Way not far from Harborne Lane in Selly Oak.

November 2018: A close up view from the Chancellors Court at the University of Birmingham.

2019

January 2019: From the Green Heart at the University of Birmingham (before it was completed later that year).

February 2019: In this view from the Bristol Road, Selly Oak, before the Selly Oak Railway Bridge of 1931.

April 2019: Heading down Cartland Road in Stirchley, could see Old Joe between the roofs of houses.

August 2019: Not far from the Bramall Music Building. The clock was once again stuck at 12 on all sides.

October 2019: The view from Bournbrook Road in Selly Park, heading towards Selly Oak.

December 2019: Old Joe was visible on the skyline from Sir Herbert Austin Way in Northfield.

2020

January 2020: Heading towards the Poynting Building from the Guild of Students over a footbridge with this view.

March 2020: One of my last shots of Old Joe before the lockdown began earlier in the month. Clocks stuck at 12 again.

May 2020: The first time I'd seen Old Joe in two months due to the lockdown. This view from Cannon Hill Park.

May 2020: Also saw Old Joe from Highbury Park, not far from Joseph Chamberlain's former home Highbury Hall.

May 2020: Walking back from Weoley Castle past Selly Oak Park down Gibbins Road saw this view of Old Joe.

June 2020: Saw this view of Old Joe from the Waseley Hills Country Park, before I zoomed in on the skyline.

Photos taken by Elliott Brown.

Follow me on Twitter here ellrbrown. Thanks for all the followers.

Cross with Pride in the Southside Business District

In the middle of August 2020, two rainbow crossings were painted in the Southside BID. The first in Hippodrome Square, where Hurst Street meets Ladywell Walk. The second on Hurst Walk in The Arcadian. Part of Cross with Pride. Sharing the Chinese Quarter with the Gay Village.

CROSS WITH PRIDE

Click here for the renamed Twitter account of the Southside BID. Now Southside District Birmingham (formerly Enjoy Southside, so links to their old Twitter handle no longer works).

Delayed due to the pandemic / lockdown, two sets of rainbow crossings have been painted in Southside. One on Hurst Street near Ladywell Walk (Hippodrome Square), and the other one in The Arcadian, located on Hurst Walk.

According to our friends over at Brum Hour they were painted the artists James Gavina Cowper and Matthew Stephens. The 2020 Birmingham Pride Festival should have taken place in May, but was cancelled for obvious reasons. Hurst Street will be closed for 6 weekends from the 15th August 2020, so that local businesses can put out tables and chairs, so people can eat and drink outside.

Hippodrome Square

The Rainbow Crossing seen on the 11th August 2020 in Hippodrome Square. At the time still behind barriers, but they were removed later that day. Located at the end of Ladywell Walk at the junction with Hurst Street. Traffic no longer goes around here since it was closed off years ago and bollards installed.

Popped back to Southside on the 13th August 2020, now that I was aware that the Rainbow Crossing wasn't behind barriers any more. They also put picnic tables on Ladywell Walk in Hippodrome Square.

The hashtag #CrosswithPride was painted on the crossing towards the Hippodrome and The Arcadian.

#CrosswithPride has much interest and is already a focus on some inspired photography in a similar way to Abbey Road became with the help of The Beatles. 

Photo courtesy Southside BID. 

Photo courtesy Rewired PR

Photo courtesy Birmingham City Council 

The Arcadian

The second rainbow crossing was painted on Hurst Walk at The Arcadian. You can get onto it from Hurst Street. Seen on the 13th August 2020. Remember this is still the Chinese Quarter, so many Chinese businesses around here.

Photos taken by Elliott Brown unless where acknowledged.