A Landscape Rich in History

With Sarehole Mill near its centre, The Shire Country Park in Birmingham extends for about four miles along the River Cole. Along with its satellite areas, this is one of the most interesting and varied country parks in the English Midlands both in terms of natural environment and historic legacy.

The Shire Country Park contains a wide variety of habitats and wildlife including around eighty species (some of them rare) of birds, some scarce heathland, and a wide range of plants that include meadow flowers and orchids. Ancient agricultural land use leaves intriguing traces at various points.

The outstanding ridge and furrow field in The Dingles probably dates from the 11th century. There is evidence of agricultural use in Anglo-Saxon times in Priory Fields and there are Bronze Age burnt mounds in Moseley Bog, which have been listed as a scheduled ancient monument.
There are four main pools in the park. Starting at Priory Fields, the pool is sometimes described as a Mill Pool but was, and still is, used as a fish pond. The once nearby mill, scandalously demolished in the 1960’s - truly a heroic age of developmental vandalism - was a windmill. This characterful mill was removed in order to increase the size of a development by one bungalow. The old windmill put up a good fight and was so soundly built that in the end, dynamite had to be used.

Trittiford Pool was originally called Titterford, meaning ‘place of small birds’ and the associated Mill was where Mill Pool Gardens now stand. Trittiford Pool is thought by many to be the inspiration for the Long Lake in The Hobbit. The Mill Pool at Sarehole is a lovely if secluded site. While it is a green oasis it is ‘silting’ up (mostly leaves in fact) and will need to be de-silted if milling is to continue. The pool at the end of Moseley Bog nearest to the Dell was originally a garden feature. Moseley bog itself is the probable basis of the Old Forest in JRR Tolkien's works and was once a feeder pool to Sarehole Mill. There were once very many water mills in the Cole and associated river valleys which were key to both industry and agriculture. Our extract from the map produced by the late John Morris Jones gives an idea of just how many there were.

Beyond Sarehole Mill towards the Stratford Road is the Greet Mill Meadows section in which are set the attractive stepping stone crossings. The park then continues on through the Forman’s Road section to the site of the former Burbury Brickworks, now itself very rich in flora and with attractive wetland area and good viewing points along the ridge away from the river. The Shire Country Park currently extends just beyond Burbury to the bridge leading into The Ackers Trust. One of our long term objectives is to incorporate The Ackers - and a little beyond past the intriguing St Cyprian’s Church - to make a connection with the Kingfisher Country Park, which also continues for several miles further along the River Cole.
As well as Moseley Bog, The Dell and Priory Fields we are seeking to incorporate other areas as satellite green oases. One of these is the surprisingly large area enclosed between Green Road and Cubley Road which itself has a pool and is worthy of designation at least as a site of local interest for nature conservation (SLINC). Another is the green area between the Dell and Moseley Bog below the Wake Green Centre. Again this is well worth keeping as green land and which could be part of an attractive green way linking the Dell with the Bog so enhancing the country park. Part of the land has been used from time to time as a Forest School. There are interesting trees including a small-leafed lime that we understand is indicative of old woodland. Certainly the Tolkien brothers would have played there and walked across this when they lived in Sarehole. The land runs right up to the pool in the bog.
Near to Sarehole Mill, on a strip of land sometimes known as the peninsula, work is progressing on an open-air performance area - a grassed mini-amphitheatre in a natural setting of willows and grassy banks. The Withywindle Performance Arena is being prepared by groups of volunteers (withy is an old word for willows, which the Cole winds through). It is hoped the Arena will be ready next year for outdoor performances, concerts, lectures, picnics or whatever might catch the imagination. The name Withywindle is used by Tolkien in his poem about his character Tom Bombadil: 'He lived up under the hill, where the Withywindle ran from a grassy well down into the dingle.' Those who know Sarehole will also know of the nearby Dingles (the word ‘dingle’ means a wooded valley). It is interesting to think of Tolkien and his brother Hilary exploring this area along the River Cole as children when they lived in Sarehole.

We trust that the preservation, extension and improvement of The Shire Country Park under the auspices of The Shire Country Park Friends will enhance our distinctive and historic area and we await these and other welcome developments with much interest.

Pensions at 100!

There is renewed discussion of the adequacy, or rather the inadequacy, of the state pension in times when elderly people, because of the high proportion of their spend represented by fuel and food, face much higher inflation than the average. But at least there is a pension there - this year seeing the centenary of its introduction. The state pension has been the cornerstone of social security for these hundred years and it has contributed greatly to the goal of a reasonable quality of life for those reaching retirement age.
A state pension was introduced in 1908 by David Lloyd George, the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Liberal Government at that time. The new pension, which was paid to those over 70, was worth between one and five shillings a week depending on means. Five shillings, also called a crown, was about 20% of average earnings at the time. Winston Churchill, then a Liberal and a member of the Government, described the pension as the making of "that provision for the aged which compassion demands". Such values stand in sharp contrast with the 1980 Government decision to end the link between pensions and earnings.
Liberal politicians introduced the state pension in the face of substantial opposition including resistance from the House of Lords. In the Liberal Democrat office in the Council House in Birmingham we have copies of some posters of the time that illustrate the battle in an old-fashioned political way and I’ve included some of them here.
Lloyd George and other campaigners for the pension sought to start a process that would lead to the ending of poverty for those in old age and to "lift the shadow of the workhouse from the homes of the poor". The social reform legislation of the Liberal government of 1906 - 1914, especially after 1908, is one of the most important collections of measures to improve the lives and opportunities of ordinary people. It made possible future laws and social provision following the 1942 Beveridge Report (the work of another Liberal).

A short history of pensions
1908: The Old Age Pensions Act introduced the first general old age pension of between one shilling and five shillings a week, from the age of 70, dependent on means, from January 1st 1909 - "Pensions Day". William Beveridge, father of the welfare state, was an adviser to the government.
1921: The Finance Act gave tax relief to pension schemes under certain conditions.
1925: The Contributory Pensions Act set up a contributory state scheme for manual workers and others earning up to £250 a year. The pension was ten shillings a week from age 65.
1942: Sir William Beveridge publishes his "Social Insurance and Allied Services" report with state welfare proposals.
1946: The National Insurance Act introduced a contributory state pension for all. Initially pensions were one pound six shillings a week for a single person and two pounds two shillings for a married couple. Paid from age 65 for men and 60 for women, effective from 1948.
1947: The Finance Act limited the maximum amount of tax relief on pensions, and the proportion that could be taken as a lump sum.
1959: The National Insurance Act introduced a top-up state pensions scheme (graduated pensions) based on earnings of between £9 and £15 a week.
1975: The Social Security Pensions Act set up the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme (SERPS). Introduced in 1978, the scheme replaced graduated pensions. Rules for contracting out were also introduced.
1980: The Social Security Act broke the link between state pension increases and average earnings. Future increases based on prices. If the link with earnings had been kept, a single pensioner would now be about £30 better off.
1995: The Pensions Act was a response to the Maxwell scandal. The act set up regulatory and compensation schemes.
1997 saw the removal of tax credits for pension funds on company dividends.
1999 saw the introduction of Minimum Income Guarantee for the poorest pensioners.

Notes and coins in good measure.
In the pre-decimalization currency there were twenty shillings in the pound and twelve pennies in a shilling. There were four crowns to the pound but crown coins were rare. Much more common were half-crowns (also known colloquially as ‘half a dollar’ from the faraway times when the exchange rate was four US dollars to the pound sterling). Coinage used to have character in those days. The coins I recall well started at a farthing - a mere one quarter of a penny so 960 farthings in a pound. Then there was a half penny or ha’penny, the penny, two different threepenny coins, a sixpence, a shilling, a two shilling piece, a half-crown (two shillings and sixpence) and occasional crown coins. This gloriously illogical medley of denominations was the source of much pleasure, not least in the confusion caused to visitors to the country! The next unit up was the very popular ten-shilling note (so fifty pence in today’s terms), then there were one pound notes, five, ten and beyond the likes of which people like me never saw! The most unusual unit of currency was perhaps the guinea - one pound and one shilling - which could be the occasion of an unpleasant surprise when you discovered that a price was quoted in guineas rather than pounds and you had to pay 5% more!
Personally, I still regret the demise of all this (along with imperial units of measure) especially the one pound note. I take the view that the basic unit of national currency should be available in paper form, but the Government eventually put a minor cost saving over the wishes of most of us. Meanwhile in the United States they continued with dollar bills, not daring to face the wrath of the people. I will say nothing of the Euro! In the United States the authorities are trying to run dollar coins in parallel with the notes, but since machines read paper currency very well there’s not much demand for them, and there’s usually a muffled apology when your change includes these coins. One of the problems for US treasury officials is that the dollar bill carries the image of George Washington, the most revered figure in US history. So it is likely that Americans will keep the benefit of having their basic unit of currency in note form for some time yet.

GM - Get More Modesty

The issue of Genetically Modified food ‘technology’ has rightly been raised again by H.R.H. Prince Charles. It is right that there should be a vigorous national debate, and it is not necessary to agree with everything that the Prince says to recognise that he does the country an important service by promoting this vital discussion. The disdainful responses to the Prince’s views from certain predictable quarters tell us a great deal about the GM proponents and the state of their minds, their morality and their money.

There are major risks with GM, and they do need to be talked about. Financial meltdowns pale into insignificance in comparison with the possible consequences of adverse and ill-considered human impact on the natural world
In learning with dismay, but not surprise, about the spread of GM crop contamination in England (the full extent of which is not known) it seems to me that not only has nothing been learnt from food production disasters such as BSE / CJD, but that the arrogant mindset that gives rise to such dire events has contaminated Whitehall and Westminster as well as the interested parties in commercial science and industry. In broad terms I take the view that our lords and masters (of you and me that is - not our environment) and all too many of their advisers, not to mention those with direct financial interest, are possessed of three dangerous delusions which, if they persist, could well one day lead to even greater disaster. These are:
The illusion of objectivity: the view that the natural world is an object to be manipulated and that we are not an integral part of it.
The illusion of knowledge: that in the making of crucial decisions we know all that needs knowing about natural systems.
The illusion of control: that we will be able to manage and channel the changes to natural systems.
What is so sadly lacking today and what is so desperately needed, is a bit more modesty and humility in the face of our own limitations and the stupendous complexity and interlinkage of the natural world. If, as we are now seeing, we can get into such deep trouble with a failure to grasp the purely human construction of financial markets, how can we possibly imagine that we can give assurances (no government guarantees possible here) about the safety and stability of genetic intrusion into the environment?
There needs to be a return to fundamental respect for nature and life. This simple but crucial value would have spared us from the money-driven and amoral decision to feed ruminants their own remains and the subsequent Treasury penny-pinching in the attempt to first hide and then clear up that mess which has devastated hundreds of lives. We have a similar mess-potential with GM foods and genetic tampering (a better description than the flattering term ‘engineering’). I am sure that most ordinary people would also take the view that less self-seeking attitudes in our behaviour within nature would not go amiss either. But I suspect that the Government is wedded to yet another ‘change’ in the industry of food. It is likely that these basic points will prove too demanding for our leaders, given their track record. So, in more specific terms, here are some observations on the current position and draft legislation.
Firstly we should ensure that the right of both farmers and consumers throughout England as well as Scotland and Wales (who as usual can act more independently) to choose to be GM-free is fully protected. Furthermore, and at the very least, any GM Food that is imported into the UK as a result of the use of GM technology abroad must be clearly labeled in order that British consumers are fully aware of what to avoid and what to purchase.
Secondly, the draft legislation sets far too high a threshold for permitted contamination from genetically modified food production. If the Government does insist on going down the track of genetic modification, the maximum threshold for GM presence allowed in both organic and conventional non-GM produce should not be 0.9% as the Government proposes, but an absolute limit of 0.1% or less. We should also insist that the liability for any contamination above this threshold, including all income lost - such as through the loss of organic certification - should fall on the biotechnology companies.
Thirdly the Government’s proposed ‘separation distances’ between genetically modified and conventional crops in England are inadequate to ensure that significant contamination does not occur. Communities should have the right to create GM-free zones and use organic and traditional farming methods for their contribution to biodiversity. Unfortunately, the Government’s obsession with GM crops risks undermining the organic movement.
Fourthly, a major concern about the way GM is used around the world is that the multinational companies who own the patents on genetically modified seeds can make low-income farmers dependent on them as monopoly suppliers. This is by so-called ‘terminator’ genes being inserted to prevent a crop naturally re-seeding for the following year. This means that for the next year’s crop farmers who may already be facing severe financial difficulty, have to buy another crop from the supplier, further increasing the profits that the multinational companies make at the expense of the farmers.
Fifthly, an argument advanced in favour of genetically modified crops is that they produce higher yields than natural crops. In fact it is by no means clear that using GM seeds always produces larger crops. And, quite apart from the environmental consequences, bearing in mind the ‘terminator’ technology, the argument does not in any case justify the introduction of GM seeds and crops.
Finally, there is the question of timescale. Returning to the thrust of the original argument, until much more is known, with unbiased confirmation, about the potential impact of these crops on the natural world and local economies, any use of genetically modified crops should be avoided.

The Saving of the Nation

There has been a recent revival in National Savings as a direct result of the insecurity that people rightly feel about profit (or loss) making financial institutions and reminding some of us of times, better in most respects except the material, when futures were built on firm foundations.
The lamentable revelations of the financial crisis once more make clear that it is not so much institutions that are at risk but ordinary people. It is not so much government that pays as you and me. Governments have no money but ours and the same is true of the banks. Both make decisions about what to do with our money. Governments at least are elected albeit by a flawed system. If they make a mess they can be thrown out rather than bailed out. As we have discovered, much of our money entrusted to banks has been ill-used and put at dire risk.
Sooner or later the bills from both quarters come back to us as taxpayers, shareholders (directly or indirectly through pension schemes) or customers. The Government appears to think that it has pulled a fine stroke by apparently leaving banks (and the relatively innocent building societies) with part of the bill for the latest bailout. But if so they are misleading themselves and, perhaps with intent, us as well.
From whom do you think the banks will get their money back - as they surely will? From us of course through higher charges for big items such as mortgages or bread and butter transactions, foreign exchange, dubious penalties, obscure charges or further shaved rates for savings and greater disconnection to bank rate. This they can do since they conduct their affairs as a none-too-subtle cartel, competing only to extract greater profits from you and me - and indeed ordinary people abroad. The same personnel with the same corroded culture will, before long, again be looking for more ways to make a quicker quid and sowing the sleazy seeds of the next crisis/bailout.
Which is why I sincerely hope that the recent revival of National Savings grows and becomes permanent. And I hope that the government, when it hears the wailing from the banks, does not set tighter limits or deliberately dismal rates. It would be ideal if NS was complemented by municipal initiatives, but there is not the will to do this at present. I hope also that the Post Office prospers, with its savings side outsourced, to the surprise of many, to the Bank of Ireland and so at least benefiting from the Irish Government’s 100% savings guarantee. It could be well worth waiting in the queues at those post offices still open and reflecting on the times when there were principles as well as profits worth fighting for - principles that underpinned the saving of the nation.

Passing the hat round

Government intervention to prevent the collapse of Bradford and Bingley brings to an end the sorry tale of former building societies that so ill advisedly threw away their trusted mutual status. If only we could be sure that the corrosive impact on the real economy would end too. And if only it would also bring to an end the intemperate attitudes and worthless values that riddle so much of the financial sector today. Alas, short of sustained and creative public involvement - or intervention from much higher, celestial quarters, it will not.
We hear much - far too much - these days about the creation of value - usually for institutional owners and bonus besotted boards of directors. We don’t hear half enough about the destruction of values that is the core reason for the whole financial crisis in my view. This latest particular tale of woe is symptomatic of finance and banking as value free zones.
While many were surprised to learn of the extent of the unprincipled dangling of tantalising and falsely cheap mortgages in the United States to those who could not afford them, not dissimilar things were going on here. For example the practice of so called ‘self certification’ (cutting out precautionary checks cuts short run costs too) where people seeking a home of their own were offered the tempting chance to lie about their incomes was almost equally devilish.
In the United States the resulting financial ‘assets’ were mixed up with others in deliberately overcomplicated and obscure packages which, with rank duplicity, were hawked to lazy and incompetent bankers abroad who had no idea of their true nature and didn’t trouble themselves to find out on their way to collecting their latest bonuses.
How could our national leaders and supposed regulators have let this happen? And how could we as a nation have allowed our various leaders over recent decades to permit - indeed to encourage - the loss of ownership and the evisceration of the real economy that make us so dependent on these kinds of ‘services’? We have to rebuild our prosperity on more than money lending and the economics of the casino.
Here in England it was in 1986 that the government of Mrs Thatcher allowed building societies to cast caution to the winds, throw away their mutual status and cave in to the carpetbaggers looking for a quick killing. This invited and rewarded behaviour that utterly contradicted the principles of thrift on which so many ordinary people had been brought up. But one hopeful fact is, I believe, that a majority of people still hold fast to these good traditional values both here at home and in the United States. What is needed are secure opportunities for people to put their principles into practice.
To help encourage this is one of the reasons why I have been arguing for the re-establishment of the trusted and trustworthy Municipal Banks. I am convinced that there is a major role for the public as well as the voluntary sector in the realm of savings and loans. There is more on this in other articles posted in this blog. Public sector involvement should not in my view be confined to clearing up private sector messes, picking up liabilities and organising fire sales.
While those not currently responsible will assert that it could have been better done, the Government was right to intervene. However I do think that Building Societies should not have to bear part of the burden - the diminishment of this sector’s role through demutualisation has been part of the problem. I wish that there was a prospect of continuing public involvement in good times as well as bad.
One reason for my thinking here, apart from a belief in co-operation as well as competition, is that I also believe that it will take far longer to infuse values rather than value into the financial sector. And please don’t tell me you can’t change ‘human nature’, whatever you might mean by that. If you do take this view, get out more and speak to ordinary decent people who would never dream of acting like feckless financiers. It is their nature that is inspiringly human and whose example should be followed.
We also need to ensure that remaining Building Societies stay mutual and return fully to their traditional approaches. There have been more than a few signs of contagion of practices from the banking sector, particularly taking advantage of, instead of respecting the loyalty of their savers. There would be substantial obstacles to be overcome (many put there by governments) but it could be done - if the will was there.
Founded (separately as the Bradford Equitable Benefit and the Bingley Permanent societies) in 1851, merged in 1964 and steadily and prudently built up over 150 years, they were destroyed by recklessness in a decade. Bradford and Bingley’s advertising for many years created an air of solidity and trustworthiness in the days when the bowler hats associated with city gents were a symbol of respect. The flash Bradford & Bingley directors along with the similar ill-begotten brood at Northern Rock have severely damaged the wealth of many people and have wrecked the reputation of the North of England as a place where traditional values still hold sway. That is why in my view the country needs far fewer flyboys and many more Mannerings!
About five years before throwing away their respected status as a Building Society, the would-be big shots at Bradford & Bingley bought Stan Laurel’s bowler hat. Would that the joke was now on them, but there’s little chance that they will be out of the door with only cap, or rather bowler, in hand. Laughing all the way to some other commercial bank no doubt.

Recognising Tolkien

The great City of Birmingham is fortunate in having many important connections with JRR Tolkien, the world-renowned author of The Lord of The Rings, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, The Children of Hurin and much else besides including both academic work and some captivating children’s stories. At present however, the City does not make nearly enough of these deep and substantial links - especially in those parts of the City that helped to form the landscape of Middle-earth and the characteristic inhabitants of The Shire.
Tolkien’s family roots were in Birmingham and he himself felt very closely connected to the city. In fact he described himself as a Midlander. As he wrote in a letter, this is how he thought of Birmingham:
"My father’s and my mother’s family were Birmingham people. I was born far away but came home in 1895, and have remained a Birmingham man ever since. The West Midlands are the best part of England".
Tolkien lived as a child in what was then the hamlet of Sarehole at what was then number 5, Gracewell between 1896 and 1900 and at several other locations elsewhere in Birmingham until 1911. Looking back on this idyllic time in his later years, he described the four years that he lived at Sarehole as:
‘the longest seeming and most formative part of my life".
The house in which Tolkien lived with his mother and younger brother Hilary is still there (5 Gracewell is now number 264 Wake Green Road) which is now in Springfield Ward, close by Sarehole Mill just across the road in Hall Green Ward. Sarehole Mill, one of our listed buildings, is now a museum in The Shire Country Park.
Tolkien writes in one of his letters:
"As for knowing Sarehole Mill, it dominated my childhood." In another letter he writes, "…I... lived for my early years in ‘The Shire‘ in a pre-mechanical age."
His own description of his surroundings in Sarehole reveals the profound influence that the area had on him and on his concept of Middle-earth. He said that it was:
"…a kind of lost paradise…there was an old mill that really did grind corn with two millers, a great big pond with swans on it, a sandpit, a wonderful dell with flowers, a few old-fashioned village houses and, further away, a stream with another mill…I took the idea of the hobbits from the village people and children".
The Shire is based on the area around Sarehole Mill, The Dell and Moseley Bog (where Tolkien and his brother played as children) and The Dingles. We are very fortunate that a good deal of the original landscape in which Tolkien delighted still exists. This is why The Shire Country Park was established to conserve and interpret this unique and historic area. In addition to the links with Tolkien, there are Bronze Age burnt mounds in Moseley Bog and Sarehole Mill was also once owned by famous industrialist Matthew Boulton.
In 1900 the Tolkien family moved to Moseley, then to Kings Heath, to be near the tram route for him to attend King Edward’s School, at that time in the City Centre. In 1902 they moved again to be near the Oratory Church in Edgbaston, an area which includes the ‘two towers’ of Perrott’s Folly and the Waterworks. The two towers are strikingly aligned to the eye when leaving the old St Philip’s School into Plough and Harrow Road. This is one reason why many people including myself (I went to St Philip’s Grammar School as did Tolkien for a while) are convinced that they contributed in Tolkien’s imagination to the Towers of Middle-earth. As our picture shows, you couldn’t miss them as you walked out of the school into Plough and Harrow Road - just as Tolkien himself would have done.
Hall Green’s annual weekend at Sarehole in May celebrating Tolkien and his works attracts over 10,000 visitors each year - many from far afield. The sustained popularity of the unique Middle-earth weekend is proof of the vitality of Tolkien’s legacy and how deeply it is embedded in the local community. Hall Green based Shire Productions gives unique dramatised extracts from The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings. Our image by Shire Productions official photographer, Stuart Williams, ‘Forth Eorlingas’, is from an excerpt from Lord of The Rings performed in Moseley Bog.
A local author, RW (Bob) Blackham, a prominent member of the Birmingham Tolkien Group, has produced a richly-illustrated and authoritative volume ‘The Roots of Tolkien’s Middle-earth’ which sets out in fascinating and original detail the connections to Tolkien and the sources of Middle-earth inspiration in Birmingham. This work is highly recommended!
In the light of all of this, it is very clear that we should mark Tolkien’s connection with Birmingham much more strongly. The scant recognition of Tolkien in Birmingham consistently surprises overseas enquirers. So the Birmingham Tolkien Group (BTG) is working to establish a Tolkien Centre set in The Shire Country Park to commemorate the unique cultural legacy of our deep connection to Tolkien, The Hobbit, The Lord of The Rings and The Shire in particular. I have developed PowerPoint presentations on the proposed Tolkien Centre and The Shire Country Park and have presented these to key individuals, local conservation, local history and community groups, all of whom gave the concept a very warm reception.
A Tolkien Centre would serve the whole of Birmingham from a primary location within The Shire Country Park - ideally with an associated facility in Edgbaston near to the two towers. The strategic vision is of a Tolkien Centre in the Country Park to make Birmingham the world leader in recognising Tolkien. And, very importantly, it would promote sustainable living and engage communities through a state of the art eco-friendly building.
The Park and the Centre together would secure the future of many locations that influenced Tolkien, and should be essential elements in the heritage and tourism strategies for Birmingham. They will greatly enhance the image of the City at home and abroad. The most appropriate location would be near to Sarehole Mill and Tolkien’s childhood home.
There would be many community aspirations for a Tolkien Centre. For example: developing links with schools, colleges and libraries particularly on ecology and the environment; promoting literacy and wider interest in literature; expanding interest in history, heritage and Tolkien; helping to conserve crafts using skilled workers, artists and sculptors; encouraging creative and recreational activities; promoting sustainability and a deeper respect for the environment; building capacity to sustain the Park through volunteering. Hall Green Library already works closely with local schools, and a Tolkien artwork project had very good results.
Broader reasons for a Tolkien Centre include the enhancement of the City’s image through a distinctive building marking Tolkien’s unique connections with Birmingham. A world class eco-friendly building would also be a base for enjoying and conserving the Cole Valley - a green thread of biodiversity in the City - and encouraging lifestyles to combat climate change. A Tolkien Centre would be a notable addition to the City’s distinctive buildings and would signal Birmingham’s commitment to sustainable regeneration.
But could there be a fly in the Ointment? The Environment Agency would (outside of the South East!) object to building in the ‘100 year flood plane’. The Agencies original estimates showed extensive areas flooded on both sides of Cole Bank Road. But a consultant’s report commissioned by BTG shows that the area north of the Mill (behind it, in the main field for the Middle-earth weekend) is much less flooded - a judgement that is confirmed by local observations. So a Tolkien Centre located to the North of Sarehole Mill is the realistic alternative. But there remain many issues to resolve, not least among them that you cannot please everybody!
An Anglo-Saxon style hall would be a central feature of the design, as would sustainability. The Centre would be carbon neutral. This would be achieved by many means: green roofing would be used to reduce water run-off, improve insulation, produce oxygen and harmonise roofs with the local environment; photovoltaic panels would generate electricity backed up by a combined heat and power boiler; a small wind turbine would supplement power generation; there would be extensive use of timber in construction as a renewable resource for sustainability and to fit the aesthetics of the Centre and the Park.
In addition, geothermal heat would be drawn into the building from the surrounding land; a wind driven ventilation system would draw in fresh air from outside and expel stale air; a Ritter grid system for the car park would stabilise the ground and allows grass to grow through; rainwater collection would be used for recycling to flush toilets and a (possible) reed bed sewage system to keep down the load on the City’s treatment plants will be evaluated.
The Centre would use a timber pellet fuelled boiler, which would be carbon neutral using pollarded timber, most of it grown in The Shire Country Park; insulation levels would be well in excess of the building regulations in order to minimise heating requirements; heavy masonry walls where appropriate would provide a heat sump by absorbing sunlight; rammed earth would also be used in construction as local conditions allow.
The result would be a building that would be a great cultural asset for the whole city which would: be ecologically cutting edge; promote all forms of sustainability; act as a focus for life-long learning; be a lasting attraction in its own right; have an inspiring aesthetic reflecting its ideals; provide an anchor for the City’s Tolkien attractions and form a base for regenerating the River Cole Valley.
So that in giving long overdue recognition to Tolkien in Birmingham, the Centre would also be a building of which the whole of the City could justly be proud.

Confidence in the Market?

Anxiously scanning the press for coverage of the latest financial crisis, I came across some rather revealing quotes. Here are just a few of them:
Market Trader Ivor Bonus said: "Private sector solutions are best except when you’re a bit short. Why shouldn’t we have a few quid from the public purse? Our clients pays their taxes - well some of them..." Senior minister Gordon Stabledore said: "I’m the one the country needs whether it knows it or not. No-one’s got more experience of crises than me..." A junior minister, a Mr A. Dearest, reportedly said: "Listen to me - someone - what I say makes a difference. Remember, I’m the one that put the ‘chance’ into Chancellor..."
Meanwhile, punchy and insightful leader-in-waiting Dave Nochainge said: "The Government’s a load of rubbish but we’ll take all they do in taxes..." Ambitious politician Chip Faright said "No, I meant cutting taxis - it’s a good way to cut government expenditure and it’s fair as well - pensioners on thirty quid can’t afford them anyway..." Highly moral central banker Rex Blankcheck said: "If I can hazard a guess, then no, we won’t be doing that - but call me tomorrow..."
Market analyst Archie Hindsite said: "If you’d called me yesterday I’d have told you this would happen..." Longstanding Municipal Bank advocate Will Mix said: "It’s a good echo in here..." A partner in leading brokerage Plunge and Surge said: "The market always knows best - just a minute - (aside) "SELL! - no, wait - BUY!" - now where were we..."
I ask you, is it any wonder?