Pantomime Horse Grand National!

Lord Mayor’s Blog 25

Riders are invited to take up the reins and participate in Birmingham’s seventh Pantomime Horse Grand National, to help raise money for the Lord Mayor’s Charity Appeal. Organised by Birmingham City Council, the event is sponsored by Thomas Vale.
The cavalry will charge along a challenging 12 jump course. All colts and fillies will be provided with a single person costume for their respective races.
This is a serious business. Just look at the determined expressions on those horses’ faces!
An entry fee of £50.00 is payable, with all money donated to the Lord Mayor’s Charity Appeal. The winner of each race will receive a bottle of Champagne.
All entries and cheques should be received by Monday the 9th of November and sent to: Lisa Kennedy, Pantomime Horse Race, Events Section, Birmingham City Council, House of Sport, 300 Broad Street, Birmingham B1 2DE. For further information please call 0121 303 3008.
Good Luck and see you there!

The Alternative Tour

Lord Mayor’s Blog 24

There is a ‘regulation’ tour of Birmingham’s Magnificent Council House on which visitors are taken. This includes the Lord Mayor’s Parlour, the Council Chamber and the Banqueting Suite. Our Victorian forebears certainly new how to build aesthetically pleasing buildings that would last more than the thirty years of modern sheds and carbuncles and do so with remarkable speed and economy - the Council House cost well under £200k at the time.
But as Lord Mayor I was able to undertake an alternative tour of unusual areas and forgotten corners. Guided by the Curator, we started at the bottom with the former City mortuary. Some parts of this now form offices for Scrutiny and the Resilience Team (averting or dealing with civil emergencies). A former use is suggested by the white tiles, but there are also near derelict areas where bodies were laid out.
Next to the intriguingly named upper and lower Muniments Rooms where old records gather dust and where a key on a dusty shelf reminded us of a former time when security guards patrolled and used the key to indicate that they’d reached this point.
Thence to the roof and the base of the flagpole. This is much larger than it appears from Victoria Square. The flag normally flown represents the city’s coat of arms. Incidentally, ‘half mast’ means two thirds of the way to the top of the pole.
Then to the large space above the council chamber beneath the roof. At this point we clarified a legend that there used to be a workman whose job was to keep the roof in good order and clear it of dead birds etc. and that he had a shed on the top of the municipal world. There is indeed such a shed, but it is inside, beneath the rafters in the roof above the council chamber.
Finally to the clock tower. This is accessed by a side door near the entrance to the Museum and Art Gallery. One ascends in a series of stages beginning with a spiral staircase taking you past the old mechanical winding area (the mechanism of which would still work if needed but would take about five hours to wind the clock).
Thence up another flight to the level where the beautiful Victorian engineered mechanism resides. Up again to the bell tower - a very interesting experience as we were there when the chimes operated! Then on to the very top.
From Chamberlain Square you can just see what looks like a small box at the top of the clock tower. The view from the lookout point gave an impressive and rarely seen impression of our magnificent city centre.
This was one of the former lookout points used during the bombing raids that Birmingham suffered during the War. These were the most intense outside London save for Merseyside and over 2,200 people lost their lives and who are commemorated by the Birmingham Air Raids Remembrance Association whose sterling work includes the memorial just opposite the Bull Ring open markets.

Mercian Gold

Lord Mayor’s Blog 23

The Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery recently held an exhibition of the horde of Anglo-Saxon gold items recently unearthed. Over eighty pieces probably dating from around the mid to late 7th century or early eighth century were on display and vast and patient crowds of people from near and far queued to see them, entertained by medieval musicians, stilt walkers, readings from the heroic Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf and chats with the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Birmingham!
There are about 1600 pieces in the discovery. Some conservators believe that it is possible that some of the pieces could be part of a larger item that has been broken up, conceivably a helmet. Time will tell as there is an immense amount of work to be done, including the jig-saw bit! This work will be carried out at the British Museum (who declined requests to extend the period of display in Birmingham) over the next year or two.
At some point there will be a display in London however while the work goes on. This work will include valuation, an almost impossible task, as a figure is required in law. In English law the discoverer and the landowner will share the value of the trove equally and funds will need to be raised by public appeal to retain the items here.
It is vital that the gold comes back permanently to the heart of Mercia where it surely belongs, probably as a collaboration between Birmingham and other museums.
Before the unification of England, Mercia was a powerful Anglo-Saxon Kingdom that included most of central England (including, at its maximum extent, London!). Mercia’s most famous King, Offa, constructed the famous Dyke in the west and was a contemporary of Charlemagne, exchanging greetings as equals.
During the exhibit the flag of Mercia was flown outside the Council House (although there was little wind!). The flag is thought by historians to be a gold diagonal cross on a blue background. As the exquisite quality of the craftsmanship of the artefacts reveals the term ‘dark Ages’ merely reflects our own ignorance of this heroic period. Perhaps, given the poor quality and excessive volume of media output these days, our time will come to be known as the Age of White Noise!

Michaelmas Fayre 3

Lord Mayor’s Blog 22

Yesterday saw the last day of the Lord Mayor’s Michaelmas Fayre in Birmingham’s historic markets. I had earlier presented a plaque to the markets' manager Matt Kelly to commemorate the occasion and thank the markets for their service to the people of Birmingham. In the fayre we saw medieval soldiers and households, birds of prey, wandering minstrels, jesters, a wishing well, stocks and walkabouts by the Lord Mayor in full robes and the Lady Mayoress in medieval costume, several groups of Morris Dancers, a 'teacup' ride for kiddies and much else besides. Dozens of traders in the markets were in medieval costume and patriotic flags abounded. Friday had been highlighted by an inspiring talk in St. Martins by Birmingham Historian extraordinary and plenipotentiary, Professor Carl Chinn, on the subject of “A thousand years of the markets.”
One of the most popular items of the Fayre was the re-introduction of the practice of the Lord Mayor giving out Michaelmas coins to old and young people. These we had made by a firm in the Jewellery Quarter (A.J. Gilbert on 0121-236-7774). They are attractive pennies from our historic currency before decimalisation, gilded and with Britannia picked out in silver. The coins were sought after like gold dust!
The Market traders put in a tremendous effort to help make the Michaelmas Fayre a success, as did the staff of the markets. Our sincere thanks too, to the many volunteers from Newman College, both students and staff, who gave generously of their time and helped to collect for the Lord Mayor’s charities.
A great time was had by all, including many visitors to the city. Good causes benefited and the popularity of Birmingham’s Bull Ring Markets as the best source of good value fresh produce anywhere in the country was proven once again.