Yet another group have seen the potential of the Gala Pool as a location for filming.  Whilst the Council think that the only potential for the building is as a home for pigeons, others are desperate to get in and get filming.  This was the e-mail we received from the band.

‘I thought you may be interested to know that a fantastic pop video has just been released. The venue for the shoot was Moseley Road Baths.

You can see the result here:

Jerin Micheal was recently named as NME’s Young Photographer of the Year and was invited to direct his first pop video for Coventry band ‘The Ellipsis’. Jerin was thrilled to discover your magnificent venue for the shoot. He said “It’s in a pretty poor state now but you can still sense the former glory and historical beauty. I took some photographs and told the band about it. As soon as they saw it they fell in love with it and we decided that it would be perfect place to shoot for the video for Wasted Potential Me.”

The Ellipsis are one of Coventry’s most exciting young bands who set themselves apart from other groups by the sheer quality of their songs. One of their songs, ‘White Feather’ was heard by BBC CW and was played by Brody Swain who said, “I heard it once and couldn’t get the tune out of my head”. He later featured The Ellipsis as ‘ones to watch for 2014’, ‘Band of the Month’ and invited them to play at The Wychwood Festival.

The shoot for Wasted Potential Me was done with the full permission and co-operation of Birmingham City Council and the wonderful, dedicated staff at the baths. The band and the crew spent a great day there and are all saddened to think that the building may not saved for future generations to enjoy. It is a very special place with enormous potential.

Wasted Potential Me is released on January 23rd and will be available to download on iTunes, Google Play and Nokia Mix Radio.
Jerin’s video will be available to view on YouTube
The story of the making of the video is being featured on BBC CW on Friday morning (23rd) and in The Hinckley Times w/c 26th Jan.

We’ll be back in the tearoom for our next meeting on Thursday 11 Dec at 7pm.  We have recently learnt that the Baths is now due to close for swimming in January 2016 rather than September 2015, due to delays with rebuilding Sparkhill.  With a year of campaigning ahead of us we’ll be looking to form a plan of action and galvanise supporters to ensure that the doors don’t close for the final time in 12 months time.

As agreed at the last Friends meeting three of us met with Cllr Holbrook the newly appointed Cabinet member for Skills, Learning and Culture.  We hoped that she would be able to update the group on progress made since the previous meeting with the Council.  In particular we hoped for a report back on the work of Council Officers in pulling together a working group from both within the Council and relevant external bodies to look at future possibilities for the building.

Jenny Austin, Joe Holyoak and Mark Gunton raised various points. This included seeing the Baths as part of the overall development plans for Moseley Road, and the negative effect a closed up building would have in the area. We also asked for an update on the proposed rebuild at Sparkhill Baths, but no information was available. We pushed the importance of the Heritage aspects of the building, trying to encourage interest in the national ‘Historic Pools Network’, and asked Councillors to attend some of the many arts events taking place at the Baths over the next few weeks.

Cllr Holbrook repeats what we have heard from all the Councillors: swimming is not viable at Moseley Road Baths, it is not part of the Council Leisure plans. Cllr Holbrook understands the historic importance of the Pool but uses a familiar argument – the money isn’t there. We will meet again but there is no fixed date at present.

This response from the Council after over a year of trying to meet with them to discuss their future plans for the building and address the concerns of swimmers and residents is unacceptable.  Despite meeting after meeting where promises have been made to dedicate Council resources to looking at viable options for the building, there is clearly no movement.  Instead, group members have dedicated their time once again to briefing a Councillor on the basic issues.  With the closure date for the building still earmarked for late next year it is crucial that supporters keep the focus on the building.  You can e-mail Cllr Holbrook directly at Penny.Holbrook@birmingham.gov.uk.

Date of next meeting

Please note change of time and venue!
Thursday 16th October, 7pm – 9pm
Tea Room at the Baths

Forthcoming Moseley Road Baths Talks

All talks are illustrated with digital slides and last approximately 1one hour. There is usually a small admission fee (£2-£3) for non-members of the host organisation.

Copies of our book Pool of Memories – A History of Moseley Road Baths will be on sale at these talks, priced at £12.

Hall Green Local History Society, Hall Green Baptist Church, Stratford Road, Hall Green, Tuesday September 16th 2014 19:30

Family Group, Hodge Hill United Reform Church, Coleshill Road, Hodge Hill, Monday September 29th 2014 19:30

Wythall History Society, Wythall Baptist Church Hall, Chapel Drive, Wythall, Friday, October 31st 2014 19:30

The Harborne Club, 39 Albany Road, Harborne Thursday, November 20th 2014 20:00

Erdington Historical Society, St. Barnabas Church, High Street, Erdington. Monday, January 12th 2015 19:30

Acocks Green Local History Society, Acocks Green Library, Shirley Road, Acocks Green, Tuesday February 10th 2015 14:00

Smethwick Local History Society, Baptist Church, Rawlings Road, Smethwick, Wednesday February 11th 2015 14:00

King’s Norton Local History Society, North Hall, The Saracen’s Head, The Green, King’s Norton, Monday February 23rd 2015 19:30

Heartlands History Group, Nechells Green Community Centre, Melvina Road, Nechells Wednesday, February 25th 2015 11:00

Yardley Conservation Group, The Trust School, St. Edburgh’s Church, Church Road, Yardley, Wednesday March 12th 2015 20:00

North Arden Local History Society, Spencer Lounge, Arden Hall, Water Orton Road, Castle Bromwich, Thursday May 8th 2015 20:00

This Wednesday and Thursday, 11am-7pm head to Moseley School of Art to find out more about the bid for Heritage Lottery Funding for the Grade II* listed ‘Heritage at Risk’ Arts and Crafts style building. The current owners are working with consultants to put together a bid, so they want as many people to come as possible!

You can also head to their Facebook page to contribute your thoughts and ideas: https://www.facebook.com/MoseleySchoolofArt

Last summer we were contacted by the production team for this BBC programme as they wanted to feature our beautiful Baths in the current series. Jenny Austin from the group spent a couple of hours showing Rory McGrath and David Harper around the washing baths and Gala Pool areas, answering questions about the history and explaining why the building is so special. After the usual editing this came out as about 3 minutes in the programme, but we tried to get the message across that this is a heritage building, much neglected and currently under threat of closure. If national prime time TV is interested in our building why can’t the Council see it’s value?

Catch the programme on BBC iPlayer, it’s available until Saturday at 8pm

Celebrity Antiques Road Trip Series 4, went out at 7pm on 25th September.  The Baths tour features about 34 minutes in.

All welcome to Parting Waters: A program of art events at Moseley Road Baths, 5 – 12 October 2014

The Friends of Moseley Road Baths are proud to announce their involvement in the forthcoming Fierce Festival (www.wearefierce.org). The festival runs from the 2^nd to the 12^th of October at various venues across Birmingham.

Australian artists Laura Delaney and Lisa Stewart have been working with Moseley Road Baths, Friends of Moseley Road Baths and members of the local community to present a program of art events at Moseley Road Baths from 5 -12 October, as part of Fierce Festival. Parting Waters will take place in the Moseley Road Baths swimming pool and throughout the building, running alongside the regular swimming program. All events are FREE or the cost of pool entry, no booking required. ALL WELCOME!

Delaney and Stewart first swam at Moseley Road Baths in October 2013 and saw firsthand its significance as a community building and resource. They felt an urgency to respond to the Baths’ tenuous future, which led them to create Parting Waters as a dedication to Moseley Road Baths and its swimmers.

The Programme

The artists and Friends of Moseley Road Baths invite you to attend the Floating Forum on Thursday 9 October, 4:30 – 6.30pm (meet 5pm in the shallow end of the pool). The Floating Forum is a public discussion in the swimming pool. Everyone is welcome to attend and float ideas to the surface as you swim and socialise. The discussion will draw from the site, its swimmers and the collective experience of being in water.

Other works include:

Night Swimmers: A video installation on the façade of the building from dusk til late.
Sunday 5 – Sunday 12 Oct.

Sound Bath: An experiential live sound performance in the swimming pool with local sound therapist/musician Soesen Edan (The Musery). A selection of singing bowls and instruments will be played in the pool creating a sound bath of harmonic vibrations for visitors to float through.
Saturday 11 Oct, 1.00 – 2.00 pm

Deep End Dedications: Music played underwater in the swimming pool, including song requests from the Moseley Road Baths community. Playing underwater during the following public swimming sessions:
Thursday 9th October
1.30 – 4.30pm | public swimming & 6.30 – 8.00pm | lane swimming

Saturday 11th October
1.00 – 3.00pm | public swimming  & 3.00 – 4.30pm | lane swimming

Sunday 12th October
8.00 – 11.30am | public swimming  & 11.30 – 12.30pm | lane swimming

For further details about Parting Waters visit www.partingwaters2014.tumblr.com

Museum of Water

Another artist visiting the Baths will be Amy Sharrocks with her installation “Museum Of Water” (www.museumofwater.co.uk). Amy encourages members of the public to provide a donation of water that holds particular significance. The Friends group will be donating a bottle of water from Pool Two for the collection.  She will be at the pool:

Friday 10 October 10am–9pm
Saturday 11 October 10am–5pm
Sunday 12 October 10am–12pm