Birmingham Dogs’ Home has applied for permission to move from it’s Digbeth home to a new purpose-built centre near Catherine-de-Barnes in Solihull.

General Manager Simon Price said: “The biggest problem is that we have zero exercise facilities. We have been fortunate to be supported by the public, but with additional fund-raising, we need to expand and relocate to new premises.”

Birmingham Dogs’ Home was founded in 1892 on land donated by the late Sir Alfred Gooch Bart on New Canal Street. Almost a century later, the New Bartholomew Street home was officially opened by the Duchess of York in 1987.

After more than 120 years, Birmingham Dogs’ Home is part of the fabric of Digbeth, and it will be a shame to see it go. To keep up to date with developments, follow Birmingham Dogs’ Home on Facebook or Twitter.

Tweet

The Anchor's L-shaped bar. Image: Beer Lens

CAMRA (the Campaign for Real Ale) have recently published their National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors. Only pubs with interiors not significantly altered since the Second World War were considered for inclusion.

Birmingham features quite heavily in the book with eight pubs, but more importantly for our little part of the city, two of Digbeth’s pubs have been listed as of national historic importance; The Anchor and White Swan.

The Anchor, dating from 1902, still has its original counter and bar-back, with heating pipes running along the foot of the counter. Over at the White Swan, the original floor plan and extensive tile decoration have also been retained for almost 100 years.

The tiled corridor at the White Swan in Digbeth. Image: Birmingham Mail

Among the pubs designed by architects James & Lister Lea is another of Digbeth’s establishments, The Woodman, which will hopefully be reopened later this summer. (More information here.) And the Digbeth/CAMRA link doesn’t end there: the Birmingham Beer and Cider Festival will return to the Second City Suite in Digbeth again in October 2013. Click here for more preliminary details about the event and information for volunteers.

Author of Britain’s Best Real Heritage Pubs, Geoff Brandwood, said: “You can’t value heritage until you’ve lost a good proportion of it. We’ve lost some wonderful pubs in Birmingham and you have to wonder: ‘What are we doing to ourselves?’ Pubs won’t be built like these ever again so [we] should celebrate and make the most of it.”

Here here! Three cheers for Digbeth and our historic drinking holes!

Tweet

It’s not long now until the inaugural Birmingham Architecture Festival (BAF). With the theme “take a second look”, it’s no wonder BAF 2013 has events exploring Digbeth, and images of our part of this fair city feature on its website.

The Wild Walls Tour and a photo walk with Matt and Pete’s Photo School entitled Digbeth Hinterlands both pass through Digbeth, although there are many other interesting events taking place throughout the city. Visit the festival website for further information.

BAF 2013 is being organised entirely by volunteers, and as such, they are running a Kickstarter campaign to try to raise some funds to help with the running costs of the festival. To learn more about the campaign, please see the video below. If you’d like to pledge your support, visit the Kickstarter website here.

Tweet

Birmingham Wholesale Markets in Digbeth. Image: Birmingham Mail

Last week, the Birmingham Mail announced that the city’s wholesale market will be shut down. This is a blow for the traders, as well as Digbeth Residents Association, who have supported the two-year campaign against closure.

The Birmingham Wholesale Markets will be moved to either the former LDV factory site at Washwood Heath, or the former IMI site at Witton within three years. Due to the proposed HS2 train depot at Washwood Heath, this location seems unlikely, but the council believes that relocation and rationalisation (the new site would be only half the size of the existing one) is the only way to guarantee a wholesale market for the region for the next 60 years.

The Birmingham Wholesale Fresh Produce Association (BWFPA) wanted to remain in the city centre, and produced what it believed to be a financially viable solution for maintaining the current site. Unfortunately, this option was dismissed as ‘unaffordable’ by the council, who are willing to share financial details with traders, only if a confidentiality agreement is signed.

Birmingham City Council claims that private developers have already been lined up to build the new facilities to the traders’ own specifications, which the council could then manage. This is a small victory for the traders, who were initially told that the Digbeth site would be closed with no plans for relocation.

The BBC reported that the move will cause a loss in wholesale trade and increase in prices for ordinary customers: the results of an independent survey commissioned by the BWFPA discovered that a move would increases prices by £1.50 on a starter, £2.33 on a main course and £1.20 on a dessert across all restaurants in Birmingham city centre.

Many of the retailers at the Bullring Market and city centre restaurateurs rely on simply walking to the Wholesale Market for their stock. These wholesale customers will have to invest in vehicles and bear the brunt of extra time and fuel costs, or pass these onto the public. There is also a fear that wholesale prices may rise due to higher rents for traders at the new site.

Leader of Birmingham City Council, Sir Albert Bore, revealed to members of DRA at the weekend that plans for the land where the current facility sits would be largely residential, along with a mixed-use green space. We will, however, need to wait and see what actually happens come 2016.

Tweet

The University of Birmingham’s Chrysalis project is digitalising the vast quantity of historical photographs in possession by the institution’s various departments.

The photographic records act as reminders of what Birmingham looked like in the past, and help log the developments in the city by spotting the changes in pictures taken from the same vantage point at different points in history.

For example, these pictures taken in 1960 and 1968 respectively, show a major change in the city – the building of the iconic rotunda:

Photograph of Digbeth, Birmingham. The photograph was taken in mid 1960. Image copyright: University of Birmingham

Photograph of Digbeth, Birmingham. The photograph was taken in early 1968. Image copyright: University of Birmingham

As the birthplace of Birmingham, it’s not surprising that the project has accumulated plenty of images of Digbeth. The plaque that used to reside on Moat Row below states: “This tablet was erected in the year 1914 to indicate the site of the Moat House, the ancient seat of the Lords of Birmingham.”

Photograph of the "site of the Moat House" plaque, Manor House, Moat Row, by the entrance to the fish market. The photograph was taken in 1968. Image copyright: University of Birmingham

A selection of other images have been provided below, but to see the full archive for yourself, please click here.

Photograph of the site of manorial moat, with Moat Row to the left and Moat Lane to the right. The Drovers' Arms at the corner of Smithfield Street and Bradford Street can also be seen, as can Smithfield Market (built 1883, extended 1892 and 1903). The photograph was taken in 1968. Image copyright: University of Birmingham

Photograph of the Drovers' Arms in Bradford Street, near the meat market in Smithfield, built in 1895-7. The photograph was taken in early 1954. Image copyright: University of Birmingham

Photograph of Broadbent's corner, in Mill Lane, Digbeth. The photograph was taken in early 1954. Image copyright: University of Birmingham

Photograph of Deritend High Street in Digbeth, at the crossing with Rea Street. The site of St. John's, Deritend is the viewpoint. St. Martin's church can be seen. The photograph was taken in mid 1960. Image copyright: University of Birmingham

Photograph of the corner between Little Anne Street and Milk Street, in Central Birmingham. The photograph was taken in mid 1953. Image copyright: University of Birmingham

Photograph of the interior of B.K.L. Alloys Ltd., in Bradford Street, near the meat market. The photograph was taken in late 1968. Image copyright: University of Birmingham

Photograph of Bradford Street, Deritend. The estate was begun in 1767, while the end house; no.178 was probably built pre-1817. The photograph was taken in early 1954. Image copyright: University of Birmingham

Tweet