Category: Uncategorized

So said the headline of this article on the BBC this morning.  The Amateur Swimming Association have pulled together research about the number of children able to swim and the amount of swimming provision they have within school time.  It’s not enough and it may result in further deaths.  This is what the supporters of the ‘Friends of Moseley Road Baths’, those who have signed petitions, written to Councillors and even school pupils have been saying for years.

1.1 million pupils cannot swim a length of a standard pool by the end of Primary School – half of all pupils.  47 under 19s died from drowning in 2011.  These are damning statistics and they reflect poorly on both Central Government for its lack of strategic thinking and investment, and on Local Authorities, such as Birmingham, who have closed successive pools without replacing them.

School teachers and pupils in the local area have signed petitions and produced hundreds of posters and letters to Council leaders.  They have not received a response to their efforts.  This speaks volumes about their disregard for the needs of local children.  They are frustrated and extremely worried that their local pool may be closed.

The solution has to be that Local Authorities invest funds in keeping local pools open.  Large, centralised pools will only increase travel costs for schools, increase travel time, and reduce the amount of time that pupils can spend swimming.  The solution is on our doorstep – a local pool, suitable for school children with qualified, dedicated instructors.

Our Annual General Meeting will take place on Wednesday 24th April, 7:30pm at Anderton Park School Children’s Centre, Dennis Road, Balsall Heath.

The meeting (as well as being the chance to elect a Chair, Secretary and Treasurer – please send your nominations in!) will include a report on our excellent ‘Pool of Memories’ project which has seen hundreds of local people share their memories and celebrate the Baths. We will also be discussing our strategy for the coming year in light of the Council announcing that they ‘see no future for swimming’ at Moseley Road Baths.

We hope you can join us!
Rachel Gillies (Secretary)

You are all most warmly welcome to come along to our final ‘Pool of Memories’ event which will mark the end of our three year Heritage Lottery Fund supported oral history project.  We have an exhibition, films, audio recordings, period costumes, free swimming and of course plenty of tea, coffee and cake!  Bring the whole family!

The event will be a celebration of the hard work of volunteers and staff who have contributed their efforts to creating a vast archive of memories of those who have swam, socialised, worked, washed and danced there.  We have seen nine year olds quizzing pensioners about 1p Bovril, project staff have created swimming races in school halls, we learnt about daredevil stunts in the Gala Pool, heard about GIs jiving in Pool 2, about Blitz survivors being bandaged up in the ‘Casualty’ department, the shark in the water tank and we even found out about Norman Wisdom running around the Slipper Baths!

Visitors to the event will get to see our new exhibition which captures just a handful of these stories and there will also be opportunity to view oral history interviews that pupils from around the area have worked hard to produce.  The day will have a 1940s feel to it – you may see a few characters from the archive on the day!

There is a FREE splash swim session, 3-4pm when we will get the floats out for a fun swim.  As much as we want to celebrate the history of the building, no celebration is complete without remembering that the joy of swimming lies at the heart of the building.

We will be taking pre-orders for our book, ‘Pool of Memories – A History of Moseley Road Baths’, a detailed history of the building by Steve Beauchampé.  Teachers can also learn more about our forthcoming teaching resource pack.

We look forward to seeing you!

Pool of Memories

Sunday 24th February, 2:00pm-5:30pm

Moseley Road Baths

We’re quite overwhelmed by the support that we have received over the past few days since we broke the news of the Council’s intention to close the pool for swimming from 2015.  I’m currently sat here working on the final stages of our hugely successful ‘Pool of Memories’ project and listening to all of the memories that people have shared with us.  The building is so integral to the lives of so many people – there’s a lot at stake here.  I’m sure that councillors don’t grasp this.

The committee are meeting tonight at 7:30pm in the Tea Room a the Baths.  Whilst the public will be welcome at this it is likely that we will be organising a bigger campaign meeting at a larger venue in the near future.  We will keep you posted!

The Baths have been closed this week due to a problem with the boiler.  The building is due to reopen for swimming on Monday 15th October, but please do ring the reception on 0121 464 0150 prior to your visit to check.  We will put up new information when we receive it.

Friends of Moseley Road Baths are seeking a volunteer to contribute towards their Heritage Lottery Funded ‘Pool of Memories’ Project by putting excerpts of our digital archive online.

Friends of Moseley Road Baths have a firm commitment to preserving and celebrating the heritage of Moseley Road Baths. In 2009 we submitted a bid for just under £48,000 to the Heritage Lottery Fund for an extensive oral history project encompassing a wide range of activities including the production of a book, teaching resource, DVD, permanent exhibition and drama project. The bid was successful and we launched the three year Pool of Memories project during February 2010.

Since then scores of audio recordings have been collected and catalogued.  We are now seeking a volunteer to select some of this material for use in the wider project.

You will be required to:

• Listen to audio recordings
• Select the best material for use on our website, literature and in exhibitions
• Extract audio clips using audio editing software (we suggest Audacity)
• Upload audio files to an online space
• Embed audio recordings into our website (hosted on WordPress)

You will need:

• An interest in oral history and appreciation of the requirements of our project
• Experience of using audio editing software
• Access to your own computer
• A copy of Audacity (available to download for free)
• To collaborate with the Pool of Memories project co-ordinators and workers

We are not looking for a certain number of hours or edited files.  We are willing to work around your existing commitments – anything that you can contribute to the project is welcomed.  In return we can provide references, give you opportunities to get involved in other aspects of the project and credit you in our ongoing work.

If you are interested, please contact memories@friendsofmrb.co.uk

A lovely poem here from the Birmingham Conservation Trust’s website which shows a photo of Moseley Road Baths’ slipper baths.  Thank you!

 

The good folk over at Birmingham Conservation Trust have been working hard to draw together ideas for activities that can be included in Birmingham City Council’s £5million bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for Phase 1 of the restoration.  The HLF are keen for any work to involve the wider community, so that we can all share in the heritage of this neighbourhood gem.  We met with members of BCT at our last committee meeting and it’s clear that there’s loads of potential if the political will is there to put in a solid bid.  You can read more about the bid and how you can contribute your own ideas by contacting BCT directly and reading more about the bid on their site.

Obviously any successful bid will need to be championed by a supportive and proactive local council.  We’ll be prodding local councillors to make sure that they play their part and make good on the promise of match funding for the bid.

After a huge demand and some successful lobbying by eager swimmers, Moseley Road Baths have added new swim times for Women Only sessions on Tuesdays.  These are in addition to the regular sessions and lessons on Monday evenings.

The Women Only swim times are:

Monday

3:30 – 4:30 – with children including boys under 8

4:45 – 5:45 – with children including boys under 8

6:00 – 7:30 – adults only

7:45 – 8:15 – lessons (please see reception to book lessons)

8:15 – 8:45 – lessons (please see reception to book lessons)

Tuesday

4:30 – 5:30 – with children including boys under 8

5:45 – 6:45 – with children including boys under 8

7:00 – 8:00 – adults only

The Moseley Shoals are of course happy to be back in the pool – and have found a way of lessening their costs:  they are doing their own lifeguarding for their sessions.  At present they only have four people they can call on so they have arranged a week’s course at the Baths, starting Monday 21st May, 9am to 5pm.  This is a course to make you a fully trained, employable lifeguard.  They have spare places on this course.

If you want to train and can subsequently also offer to lifeguard occasionally for the Shoal sessions then the training is free.

If you just want to train and not lifeguard for them, they will ask for a contribution of half the cost, £250.

Contact can be made via Shoals’ website www.moseleyshoals.org.uk or phone 0121 346 1522.
If you know of anyone who may be interested, please pass this on to them.