THE VICTORIAN SOCIETY

Transcription

1 THE VICTORIAN SOCIETY BIRMINGHAM & WEST MIDLANDS CHAIRMAN S REPORT 2015 The Victorian Society is the charity championing Victorian and Edwardian buildings in England and Wales. Our Conservation Advisers help local planning authorities and churches to make better decisions about adapting Victorian and Edwardian buildings to the way we live now, while keeping what is special about them. We also seek to engage the public in our campaigns to help increase the likelihood of conserving buildings. The Birmingham and West Midlands Group is now in its 50 th year and on 19 th January 2017 we will have completed those 50 years. We will be hosting the national Society AGM in July Our period is defined as 1837 to 1914 and our casework area covers the West Midlands Metropolitan Area: Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall, Wolverhampton; Warwick District including Leamington; Redditch and Bromsgrove; although our membership base takes in parts of Staffordshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Herefordshire; which is more akin to the Government s West Midlands region. Our casework activities combined with the educational programme provided by our events are the obvious arms for championing and protecting buildings at risk. GROUP EXECUTIVE I would like to thank the executive committee for all their work in They are Barbara Shackley (Vice Chairman); Joe Holyoak (Vice Chairman); James Fletcher (Treasurer & Minutes Secretary); Mary Worsfold (Secretary); Nina Hatch (Programme Secretary); Jasna Jaksic, Eva Ling, David Low and Gill Sockett. David Low s term of office expires this year and he is not seeking re-election. Special thanks must therefore go to David, who has sat on the Executive for around 30 years (the exact date is lost in the mists of time) and has also served as Chairman for some of this time. David will continue as a non-executive Trustee of the Society and will also continue on the Programme Committee. Page 1 of 7

2 CASEWORK Our Conservation Adviser, Tim Bridges, is paid for by the Mary Heath Trust, a bequest made to the Society for the benefit of the Birmingham & West Midlands Group. The Regional Group Executive made a decision a few years ago to recommend to the Trustees of the Trust that we focus funds from the Trust on this important area. Tim receives notifications from Local Authorities (most of the time) on listed buildings and those in Conservation Areas and sometimes discovers these matters himself, in the absence of any notifications from Local Authorities and he is assisted by voluntary caseworkers. Joe Holyoak chairs the Casework Committee and Tim and he are assisted by a number of voluntary caseworkers, who are Rob Allen, Malcolm Baxter, Andy Foster, Jasna Jaksic, Angus Kaye, Eva Ling, Barbara Shackley, Jennie McGregor-Smith, Roy Taylor, Michael Tivey, Emma Neil & Mary Worsfold. I extend my thanks to them for giving their time and knowledge freely for the good of the Society and, of course, our Victorian and Edwardian heritage. Looking at a few cases during 2015, we can see a few of the highlights of the year, as well as the lowlights, and, sadly, losses. Highlights; The Grand Hotel facade was completed Christopher Wray, Bartholomew Row; consent for regeneration and conservation The Hawthorns, Holyhead Road, West Bromwich; restoration of core of 1850 listed building, after threat of total demolition by West Bromwich Albion, but loss of 1903 wings and present signage not great. Sunbeamland, Wolverhampton; Regeneration of unlisted factory and conversion to flats, ongoing at present 107 Waterloo Road, Wolverhampton; refusal of consent for demolition of unlisted villa by G. Bidlake & subsequent dismissal of appeal by Asda for petrol station St Luke, Blakenhall, Wolverhampton; inclusion in Society's top ten threatened buildings So far a positive attitude from all involved parties in trying to preserve and find a new use for this landmark church. Chance's Glassworks, Smethwick; support for proposals by heritage trust to regenerate the site Garth House, Edgbaston; proposed restoration as part of hotel plan Page 2 of 7

3 Successful Listing; Kynoch Works gatehouses, Wellhead Lane. now Grade II. Lowlights; Zara's; objection to shelter, its removal & illegal replacement and the appearance of illuminated signage. Rear 78-9 Broad Street; Consent for tower next to Bateman's 1898 former bank St Philip Dorridge; despite our objection, planning consent granted for demolition and replacement. We hope faculty will include provision for important contents. Claughton School, Blower's Green Road, Dudley. School of 1904 by Barrowcliff and Allcock of Loughborough. Declined for listing by Historic England, likely to be demolished 22 Ladywood Road; not great, but still not a total loss yet... Losses; Manor House, Northfield, Birmingham (arson) Steam Mill, Corn Hill, Wolverhampton Factories in Heath Street South and Birmingham Arms, Dudley Road; we objected to demolition, but consent granted as part of massive redevelopment. Demolition in progress. Drill Hall, Bromsgrove; to be demolished St Luke Reddal Hill, Cradley Heath; to be demolished. We hope contents such as memorials and stained glass can be preserved. Well done to Joe, Tim and the casework team. PROGRAMME Our Programme Committee, led by Programme Secretary, Nina Hatch, has provided a varied, enjoyable and interesting schedule of events this past year, as follows: 5 th 31st January. Saving a Century. The touring Victorian Society Exhibition displayed at Solihull Public Library for January Saturday 17 th January. Birmingham Women before the Great War. A Half Day School looked at prominent Birmingham women. Sunday 25 th January. Annual Lunch at the Plough and Harrow. Wednesday 11 th February Annual General Meeting and Casework Review by members of the Casework committee. Page 3 of 7

4 Wednesday 11 th March This talk looked at the role of women as perceived by the magazine Edgbastonia. Saturday 16 th May - Day School. Victorian and Buildings explained. An exploration of the architectural styles important from Sunday 26 th July Summer Garden Party & Book Sale in Moseley Thanks to David Low & Carole McKeown this event raised over 300 Sunday 13th September Coach Visit to Staffordshire Rugeley & Sandon Hall, Gothic, neo- Jacobean, Arts & Crafts + a Lime Kiln Demonstration. Wednesday November 11 th Yardley A photographic history compiled by Robert Jones LRPS (formerly Chair of Yardley Conservation Society) I extend my thanks to Nina and to other members of the Programme Committee, who are Celia Potts, Eva Ling, Helene Pursey, Barbara Shackley, David Low and Gill Sockett. MEMBERSHIP Our Regional Group is the largest in the Society and is remarkably consistent at just over 250. I cannot stress too highly the importance of our members supporting events and that we keep them informed of the work we are doing. This is now achieved by regular mailings from Helene Pursey, who updates Members with the latest events. This is done, where possible by , as it saves a large amount of money by not having to print, post and pay for postage. Members are encouraged to supply their address to Helene to assist in this process. We also regularly post on Facebook and Twitter. We have 753 followers on Twitter (586 in 2014) and 490 Likes on Facebook (212 in 2014), so that is clearly an increasing media. To add some interest to the demographics of our Regional Membership, I have illustrated this with two pie charts on the following page: Page 4 of 7

5 GROUP MEMBERSHIP DEMOGRAPHICS BIRMINGHAM MEMBERSHIP DEMOGRAPHICS Page 5 of 7

6 TREASURY Our Treasurer, James Fletcher, will discuss the accounts further, and you will see that all of the events organized by the Programme Committee have contributed a sizeable sum to our bank balance, increasingly through the highly successful Day Schools. This is important, as it is the only way we generate income for the Regional Group and has enabled us to buy a new Data projector this year and will also pay for the Conservation Award; so attendance at events it critical to the success of the regional group. CONSERVATION AWARD The Group s Conservation Award was inaugurated at last year s AGM and we had a number of high quality nominations, some of which I hope will be re-submitted for consideration in The Casework Committee reviewed the nominations in January and made a recommendation to the Executive, which was approved in February, and the winner will be announced at the AGM with a presentation to the winner of the bronze disc and illuminated scroll later on in DR CHRIS UPTON A review of the year could not be complete without mention of the death of Chris Upton. We were saddened to hear of his death, on Thursday 1st October, after a long illness. He was a long term friend and supporter of the Victorian Society. A number of Society officers went to his Memorial Service at Birmingham Cathedral in December and the Book of Condolence was also inscribed on behalf of the Society back in October. Chris spoke at a number of our evening meetings over the years, as well as taking part in our Saturday Day Schools and his willingness to step in and to fill in a gap in the programme at the last minute was a great boon to us when organising such activities. He made it very clear that we could always call on him to take part in any events, and that he would talk on something appropriate. An exceedingly knowledgeable, but modest man; he was interesting, engaging and entertaining. We will miss him greatly. Page 6 of 7

7 SUMMARY The year has been another success, thanks to the small number of dedicated members who give their time freely and thanks to the professionalism of our paid Conservation Adviser. The number of cases we have been able to influence positively is a cause for celebration, whilst at the same time noting that losses and failures in other areas serve to underline that we must be ever vigilant in prosecuting our objectives. It is hoped that the Conservation Award will add to our armoury of promoting goodquality conservation of Victorian & Edwardian building and underlining that saving something is always better than reducing it to rubble. Finally, I would like to thank Joe O Donnell, our Media Officer based in Priory Gardens, who has provided tremendous support in getting many of our causes aired in the press. Stephen Hartland Chairman The Victorian Society Birmingham & West Midlands Group 10th February 2016 Page 7 of 7