Latest news with #JewelleryQuarter
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
Birmingham Heritage Week puts spotlight on Jewellery Quarter
An annual heritage week in Birmingham will throw the spotlight on an area of the city that has received World Craft City Heritage Week takes place in September with a particular focus on the Jewellery Quarter, which was been a centre for high quality manufacturing for more than 200 the week, which actually lasts 10 days, is city-wide with more than 200 events for people to sign up Week co-ordinator Irene De Boo said: "Every year, we're amazed by the public's enthusiasm for exploring Birmingham's past – and this year's programme is our biggest yet." "I feel very strongly that heritage in Birmingham is overlooked," she added."There are lots of festivals in Birmingham and they are often art and culture related, music, food but Birmingham has a very rich heritage and a lot of people don't think it has."Birmingham as a city has a really interesting history and a lot of physical evidence is still there and what Heritage Week does is it opens places up and neighbourhoods to explore."Ms De Boo added: "I think heritage week helps you to open up your eyes to Birmingham."As part of the week, the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter and JW Evans Silver Factory are opening their doors to visitors. Ms De Boo said Birmingham Heritage Week, now in its 11th year, had "really grown"."It has grown in the number of events, so physically grown, but it has also grown in terms of it's more recognised and people look out for it," she said."Ten years ago, we had to contact people to take part. And now we are contacted by organisations asking if they can take part."So there is a real shift in it's more recognisable as a festival and I think it has a proper place now on the Birmingham festival calendar." Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
3 days ago
- BBC News
Exploring the catacombs which lie under Birmingham
The fact that a labyrinth of catacombs lies beneath one of the UK's biggest cities may surprise or Paris could spring to mind for their underground chambers but Birmingham? But it is true - the UK's second city once housed more than 500 bodies in large, private vaults, dug out underground and used until the middle of the 20th first location to house them opened in 1836 at Key Hill Cemetery in the city's Jewellery Quarter before nearby Warstone Lane Cemetery opened 12 years later. Tour guide Richard Beardall said, at the time, the vaults cost up to £30 - about £3,000 in today's were inspired by concepts across the continent before the British climate put an end to them in the late 1950s. "The idea for the catacombs came from Rome where the bodies would dry out and mummify but, with the British climate, the bodies would instead go mouldy and smelly," Mr Beardall said."The coffins were metal-lined and supposed to be sealed but they weren't, because they tended to explode due to the gasses that built up in them."You can imagine a small room with 10 bodies decaying in them wasn't very pleasant."The idea was to go and see granny's coffin and go to polish the brass."It was a nice idea but, due to the practicalities, people just didn't like the idea of it." The 56-year-old is the principal tour guide for the two catacombs with a voluntary group, the Friends of Key Hill and Warstone Lane Cemeteries, formed in 2004."We primarily keep the place clean and tidy, raise funds to restore headstones, as well as reconnect families with their ancestors," Mr Beardall said."The responsibility [for the cemeteries] is with the council but we work very closely with them." Describing what lies beneath the surface in Key Hill's catacomb, Mr Beardall said: "Key Hill has a long linear arrangement but with a curve at each end so look like an elongated 'S'."They are also two-tiered but the lower level is below ground level and is no longer accessible or visible."There is a small interior section in a T-shaped tunnel. This is accessible and we hold tours on our open days." In contrast, he explained Warstone Lane's catacomb was below a now-demolished church in a semi-circular arrangement, on two levels. "There would be a gate of wrought iron, possibly with glass backing and coffins would have been visible to all visitors to the cemetery," he said."Sadly these have now all been bricked up. "A number [of vaults] were full while the cemetery was in operation so the gate would have been removed and a memorial fixed to seal the opening." Both catacombs stopped being used in the late 1950s when they were no longer profitable and were bought by Birmingham City why it was important to preserve the Key Hill and Warstone Lane, Mr Beardall explained: "Key Hill is a Grade II* listed cemetery because of its age and the people that are in there."We have the major founding fathers of Birmingham in the two cemeteries. "It's important that we honour them and keep their final resting places intact."Key Hill in particular houses some famous names including Marie Bethell, claimed to be the country's first female reporter, along with Alfred Bird, the inventor of baking powder and egg-free custard and former politician Joseph Chamberlain. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
27-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
New flats spark fears for Birmingham Jewellery Quarter's heritage
Plans to build more than 400 flats in the heart of Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter have been recommended for approval, amid a row over the demolition of two industrial are seeking permission to build 422 apartments across four blocks, with residential courtyards and business space.A previously-approved scheme for the site had sought to retain 123 and 128 Northwood Street, but was "undeliverable" and no longer financially viable, a council report Jewellery Quarter Development Trust has objected to the revised plan and describes the proposed demolition of the buildings as "unacceptable and unnecessary", arguing they are key to the conservation area. Keeping buildings 'not viable' If approved next week, the development would take shape on land close to Newhall Street and St Paul's council report noted both buildings, dating to the early 20th Century, were "characteristic of the Jewellery Quarter's industrial history", but said: "It is no longer economically viable to retain them."Demolishing the buildings presented an opportunity to "deliver a viable, largely new-build scheme", the report said while the buildings were considered to be locally significant, they added: "Their complete loss would not in itself make the overall scheme substantially harmful."The proposed scheme, the report continued, provided "a significant amount of commercial floorspace", supporting the economic "vitality" of the area with space for creative and local concluded there were enough benefits, including regeneration of an important site and housing, to outweigh limited one, two and three-bed apartments would contribute towards the city's need for new housing, the report said, adding that the plan presented "an opportunity to unlock this otherwise unviable site for redevelopment".The proposals will be considered by Birmingham's planning committee on Thursday. This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
16-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Hockley Social Club in Birmingham to close at end of year
A street food, music and events venue in Birmingham is to close five years after being launched as a "hybrid food hall" during the Social Club will stop operating on 31 December after "five glorious years" during which it had become "a space for everyone", said Digbeth Dining Club (DDC) which created and ran the venture. The firm said it was the "natural end" to the project, which had brought a wide range of food, culture, music and community events to the warehouse in the city's Jewellery Quarter. It said the majority of Hockley Social Club jobs would be protected, with roles deployed to other parts of the business. DCC added it would hold six months of "farewell" events ahead of the closure. Hockley Social Club had begun as a "click and collect" concept during the Covid lockdowns in 2020. "This phase effectively saved DDC's business when we lost our Digbeth home, and were deemed not suitable for public crisis funding during the pandemic," a spokesperson said. 'We dug deep and pivoted many times, finally landing on a hybrid food hall and event space, a brand-new concept for the city."However, the firm added that after an "incredible journey" it was time to close the warehouse project and focus on other initiatives including DDC touring. "The natural end to our five-year project in this beautiful warehouse in the 'wrong part of town' has arrived," a statement said. 'We close the doors to Hockley Social Club (HSC) on Wednesday 31 December 2025, and take with us memories of events, nights, meals, and performances that will last a lifetime." DCC said over the past five years, the venue had welcomed more than 500,000 people and hosted more than 5,000 events, including performances from artists including Birmingham Royal Ballet and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
08-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
What new World Craft City award means for Birmingham's jewellers
Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter has sat nestled next to the city centre creating some the worlds finest jewellery for 250 years, but has done so quietly it seems."As jewellers we don't shout out about our work", says Birmingham City University academic Rebecca Skeels. "The Jewellery Quarter still makes 40% of the jewellery that comes out of the UK."Now the city's global influence in jewellery making has been recognised with the award of World Craft City what does it mean for Birmingham, known as the city of a thousand trades, and it's 4,000 strong jewellery community? "This title means we really get to celebrate the history and future of the industry in the area."It's been here for over 250, years, through innovation of new things, like electroforming, plating and stone setting - particular skills that were developed and invented here," the jewellery lecturer Skeels said one reason for the established jewellery industry in the heart of the city is due to the Assay Office opening in Birmingham Assay Office is responsible for hallmarking, a system of grading, the quality of jewellery and metal work, and is one of four offices in the UK."The Assay Office encouraged a lot of trade in the area, so as the population of jewellers grew, that's how it got its name. As the industry steadily boomed, it brought with it a transformation of architecture. What are now shop fronts showcasing artisan jewellery were once the homes of jewellers who would craft work in their back Skeels said the reason many shops in the area still look like old houses is testament to the humble beginnings of many world-known jewellers and metalsmiths. "Lot of craftspeople were just setting up in their homes, with small factories developing in their houses."Whistle manufacturer ACME Whistles was founded in the Jewellery Quarter."Joseph Hudson set up in his house on a bench right here, that is something we don't shout about."Norma Banton, who runs MasterPeace Academy, said she hoped the international recognition would give exposure to the hidden histories."I'm excited for the next generation of jewellers and for the black jewellers because we need to raise our profile."She described how, historically, the talent and contribution of black people within the Jewellery Quarter had been overlooked by their time working in the factories during the post-war British Windrush added that it would give an opportunity to people who don't see themselves in the industry the belief they equally belong."We do need to raise our voices to let the world know that we're here, and let the next generation of jewellers know that this trade is really for them."The Jewellery Quarter is quiet affluent, yet surrounded by Handsworth, Hockley, Aston, Lozells and Ladywood, areas considered by some as more marginalised."I hope this will be the beginning of us as jewellers making the trade more accessible to those young people from the local community and let them know there are nurturing spaces for them to have successful careers," she said. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
