The Friends of Moseley Road Baths are looking for artists to submit work for an exhibition of art inspired by Moseley Road Baths and swimming in Birmingham for this year’s Memories and Memorabilia Day.
This event is part of the Friends’ Heritage Lottery funded “Pool of Memories” oral history project and there is a possibility that work submitted will be included in the book and website being produced.
The exhibition will take place for one day only on Saturday 29th October 2011 at the former Moseley School of Art on Moseley Road, Birmingham.
;Work can be in any medium although space availability and any equipment needed will be taken account during selection.
Update on Moseley Road baths –25th August 2011 – just in from Cllr Mullaney
The date for the re-opening of Moseley Road baths has been put back to the New Year, following the discovery of large amounts of loose asbestos in the basement area.
The following is a brief update on where we are with re-opening Pool 2.
Pool 2 closed in December 2010, after it was found that the steel lintel above the fire exit in this pool was corroded so much, that it was in danger of collapsing and pulling down the wall and roof above it.
This lintel has now been replaced with a stainless steel lintel
While the new lintel was being inserted, the Council’s Health and Safety team inspected the basement and raised serious concerns about the structural integrity of a series of temporary metal props holding up the ground floor plate, which in turn were holding up the roof. The Health and Safety team insisted that these should be replaced with permanent props.
Before work could begin on installing these permanent props, the Health and Safety team designated the basement as a ‘confined working area’ and put in a wholes series of stringent working conditions, including an asbestos survey.
The asbestos survey was completed in mid-August and confirms that there are substantial amounts of loose Amosite and Chrysotile asbestos in the basement. Both types of asbestos are the most hazardous type of asbestos. Bits of gasket containing asbestos and flaks of rust covered in asbestos material have over the years laid on the floor of the basement. During that time, the basement has flooded several times, with the loose asbestos spreading throughout the basement, mixed in with other debris.
I attach a photo of a photo from the asbestos report showing gaskets and flaks of rust lying on the basement floor that contain Chrysotile asbestos.
All this asbestos needs to be removed, before the work on installing the permanent props begins.
The cost of removing the asbestos will be £80,000 and adds 10 weeks to the programme. We hope to have the money signed off next week and with the installation of the permanent prop, we expect pool 2 to be open after Christmas 2011, subject to no further problems being found.
I have enquired as to whether we need to do any more asbestos surveys in the rest of the building. I am assured that over the years all other parts of Moseley Road baths have had asbestos surveys and the basement was the only section not to have been surveyed.
I have also asked for the Asbestos survey for the basement to be checked to see if it can be made public on request. I hope to have an answer on this next week. Please let me know if you wish to be e-mailed a copy.
As the six-week school summer holidays got underway a group of frustrated parents and children descended on Moseley Road Baths in Balsall Heath to complain about the ongoing closure of their favourite pool.
The Baths shut for essential repairs at Christmas for what Birmingham City Council initially claimed would be just six weeks, but more than six months later there’s still no sign of the building reopening, with the Council acknowledging that it will take another nine weeks for additional maintenance work to be carried out, leaving locals without a public pool, a situation exacerbated by the long-term closure of nearby Sparkhill Baths.
Around twenty Moseley Road Baths regulars attended Monday’s demonstration, organised by the Friends of Moseley Road Baths group. Jenny Wale, who came along with her daughters Millie (aged 9) and Sadie (11) said: “My children have nowhere to swim locally and because of the closure we have to drive several miles to our nearest pool. They’re missing out on something they love.”
David Pratt from Moseley Shoals swimming club was another demonstrator: “We are currently using Small Heath Leisure Centre to swim but we’d love to have our local baths back operating again.” The club have also tried using Cocks Moors Woods Leisure Centre at Alcester Lanes End but found it unsuitable for their requirements, being more of a leisure pool.
Friends’ Secretary Rachel Gillies remarked: “The school holidays have just begun, the weather’s been getting warmer and local children are desperate to come and swim at their local pool. It’s crucial that the remaining building and maintenance work starts as soon as possible so that this valuable and well-loved community facility can re-open and be enjoyed by all.”
Although work to replace the lintel above a door in the swimming pool (the initial reason for the pool’s closure) has now been completed, Birmingham City Council’s Urban Design team are insisting on the replacement of temporary scaffolding in the basement, while an asbestos survey of this area must also be carried out. Negotiations between contractors and the Council over the costs and details of this work have been ongoing for several weeks. On Monday, Councillor Martin Mullaney, Chairman of Leisure, Sport and Culture, stated that it would be late September at the earliest before Moseley Road Baths re-opened.
For more information or additional comment, please contact Jen Austin, Friends of Moseley Road Baths: 0121 440 5794/07521 734 022
With Moseley Road Baths set to remain closed for the whole of the school holidays we’re inviting you (and if possible, your children) to join us outside the baths at noon this coming Monday, July 25th – the first day of the school holidays – to express disappointment and unhappiness at the continued closure of Moseley Road Baths. We’ll take some photos and are inviting the local press along so bring your swimming costume (not to wear, but to hold up as it makes a much better picture!) and together we’ll try to increase pressure on Birmingham City Council to get the baths reopened for the first time since December 2010.
If you can get along that would be great, if you could tell a friend, that would be fantastic too. We’ll need you for about 15 minutes. Thanks.
The Friends of Moseley Road Baths
Local pupils have previously made their views known!
We are sorry to have to tell you but we have now been informed that the pool will not be re-opening on July 15th as had been hoped. Following enquiries made by our Secretary, Rachel Gillies on Tuesday (later followed up with a ‘phone call to Councillor Martin Mullaney, BCC Cabinet member for Leisure, Sport and Culture), we understand that it will be a minimum of seven weeks (possibly longer), before the Baths re-opens.
The latest problem relates to the need to strengthen and replace the scaffolding in the basement (we mentioned this issue in an earlier post, last month). BCC safety officers have now asked for a series of measures to be taken in the basement before this work can commence. Cllr Mullaney tells us that he expects these measures to be attended to in around one week, but that the strengthening work itself will take six weeks, hence the minimum seven week timeframe.
One piece of good news however is that work on the new lintel over the door in Pool 2 should be completed this week, but with Tuesday marking exactly 6 months since the pool failed to re-open after the Christmas and New Year holidays, this latest failed deadline (the fifth, we think) is a serious blow and means that local children are likely to be unable to swim at MRB for most, if not all, of the summer holidays.
We’ll keep you updated, but please check back here for further details…and do let your local councillors know how frustrating it is to have Britain’s most historic pool closed for yet another couple of months. We would welcome your thoughts on the closure, either via e-mail or by using the comments box below.
We received this update from Cllr Mullaney last night:
Update on Moseley Road baths -8th June 2011
First of all we have a new date for the re-opening of Pool 2 of Moseley Road baths – 15th July (plus or minus a day or two).
The stainless steel lintel above the fire exit door to Pool 2 is now in place. See attached photos (below).
The work to brick in this lintel in and remove the supporting frame will be complete by 8th July.
I have managed to secure the £50,000 to install permanent structural scaffolding in the basement. Work starts on the installation of this scaffolding on the coming Monday.
Subject, to no further faults being found in the building, the pool will re-open to the public on 15th July thereabouts.
In the meantime, work is still moving forward on submitting a £5million bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2012 to start the first phase of restoring these baths.
Moseley Road Methodist Church closed its doors for the last time yesterday. Here Steve Beauchampé looks back at how the building has been so important to the Friends of Moseley Road Baths.
The closure of Moseley Road Methodist Church leaves yet another vacant building in what was once the bustling heart of Balsall Heath. For the Friends of Moseley Road Baths however the closure is particularly sad. Located directly opposite the Baths, the church has played host to several of our most important events. On November 27th 2006 it was the venue for the public meeting that lead to the group’s formation. Henceforth it hosted our monthly Committee meetings and our inaugural AGM. Those early Committee meetings are etched in the mind; we shared the building with a group of local ukelele players so our discussions were always set to music coming from the room next door!
Perhaps the most memorable event we staged at the church came on the afternoon of Tuesday October 30th 2007, with the Centenary Tea Dance that marked the 100th Birthday of Moseley Road Baths. Our special guests that day were the then Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, who followed a guided tour of the baths conducted by manager Dave Flora and members of the Friends by joining well over 100 of MRB’s supporters to eat cakes and sandwiches, dance and reminisce.
In June 2008 we gathered together around 80 representatives of interested groups for a seminar on the future of the Baths, chaired by architectural historian Simon Inglis (whose initial impetus had led to the formation of our group). Simon returned in 2009 for our annual Memories and Memorabilia Day where his superb illustrated talk on Britain’s historic indoor swimming pools enraptured an audience of around 100. The event was the second of our Memories and Memorabilia Days but doubts over the future of the venue contributed to the decision to switch last year’s event to the Balsall Heath Church Centre in Edward Road.
So goodbye to Moseley Road Methodist Church and a particular note of thanks to Nan for all the help she has given us. Let’s hope there’ll be a new Methodist church opening in Balsall Heath soon.
Pupils in Balsall Heath have been learning about the history of Moseley Road Baths and creating short films based on their interviews with people who have memories of the building. As part of the Friends of Moseley Road Baths’ ‘Pool of Memories’ project, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, they have been working with local film-maker Rachel Gillies to create a series of short films.
The pupils have taken a tour of the building, done research about its history and learnt how to conduct filmed interviews, before editing their footage into short films to add to the group’s growing archive.
Pupils from Park Hill Primary School in Moseley screened a Premiere of their films in a special assembly on 16th May at 9:00am. They include an interview with someone who almost gave birth in the pool, and another interview with a local stonemason who shared his memories of work to the windows back in 2004.
The Friends of Moseley Road Baths secured Heritage Lottery Fund money to run the extensive, 3-year oral history project, based on the history of the building. Four out of nine school projects have been completed, with more than 35 young participants from four schools so far creating more than ten short films. The work of the young historians has been added to a dedicated website, www.poolofmemories.co.uk as well as being used in local screenings and in educational projects.
The project is especially welcome at the moment due to the temporary closure of Moseley Road Baths whilst urgent repair work takes place. It is hoped that the pool will reopen for swimming by mid-June.
“The children have really enjoyed learning about the importance of the baths within the local community. In addition, being able to interview local residents and make a film about it has been an invaluable experience!” said class teacher Clare Belshaw.
“I really enjoyed the project as I learned so much, such as how to set up a tripod. I enjoyed visiting Moseley Road Baths and learning about its rich history as well as being able to go into the areas that are closed off from the public. We also interviewed people and edited parts of the interview” said Poppy Emson, one of the pupils who took part.
Jenny Austin, the Pool of Memories Co-ordinator added: ‘This has been a fantastic way of getting young people excited about their local heritage, they really have taken the role of sharing and celebrating our local history seriously.’
Project worker Rachel Gillies added, ‘It has been wonderful to see how enthusiastic the pupils have been. Pupils have had fun learning about this beautiful local building at the same time as gaining research, interviewing and film-making skills’
We’re very sad to hear that Moseley Road Methodist Church, opposite the Baths, will be closing its doors for good this weekend on the 15th May.
The Church was built after the previous Methodist Church on the site was destroyed in bombing raids in 1940. There has been a Methodist Church on the site since 1872. The Friends of Moseley Road Baths have used rooms within the building, as well as the Church Hall, to stage numerous events, including our Centenary Teadance, several Memories and Memorabilia Day events as well as regular committee and planning meetings.
However, for some years closure has been on the cards, and it is clear that the building needs investment. We don’t know why the closure is happening now, or indeed what the plans are for the congregation or the site. Let’s hope that positive things arise from this.
You can read more about the closure on the Balsall Heath Local History Society’s website (always worth a look on their site regardless!). There will also be a number of events taking place this weekend, including a Church Service, a celebration and a display of the Church’s archives. For more details please send an e-mail to rosaliemarsha93@hotmail.com.
We are currently anxiously awaiting the reopening of the pool since it was closed for work in December 2010. Whilst we were initially of the understanding that work would start on the lintel above the Pool 2 Fire Exit immediately, it was some months before surveys were completed, business plans produced, money secured and a contractor appointed.
Yesterday we learnt of a further setback to the reopening, which was scheduled to take place on 23rd May. Cllr Mullaney has contacted us with the following e-mail:
Readers will be aware that Pool 2 of Moseley Road baths has been closed since Christmas so that the lintel above the fire exit door in this pool can be repaired.
See previous posting at http://martinmullaney.blogspot.com/2011/04/update-on-moseley-road-baths-4-th-april.html
We were hoping that the work would be completed on or around 23rd May. Unfortunately, we are now looking at, at best, 13th June. Although this date may be pushed back due to additional problems in the basement of the baths.
At time of writing, the stainless steel lintel for the fire exit door in Pool 2 is being manufactured in Switzerland. We hope to have it at Moseley Road baths in 2 weeks time. Installing and removing the steel frame holding up the load bearing wall above the fire exit, will take a further three weeks – hence the 13th June date.
In addition, the Council’s structural engineers have raised concerns about the state of decade old acrow props underneath the former second class mens slipper baths. These acrow props hold the floor up, which in turn holds up the roof at this section of the building.
The acrow props are heavily rusted and need replacing immediately.
Our Structural engineers will only allow any replacement temporary acrow props to remain in situ for two months and want a permanent structure put in place. Estimated costed is £100,000.
The council’s Urban Design team are in the process of costing a temporary and permanent solution. They hope to have this information to me by the end of this week.
;Work can be in any medium although space availability and any equipment needed will be taken account during selection.
