J URNAL
of history & nostalgia
BIRMINGHAM Essential roof repairs are complete at the main Gala Pool in the Grade II* listed Moseley Road Baths, Birmingham. After a year of specialist repair work, the stunning Edwardian architecture takes centre stage again. Thanks to partnership working between community groups, national and international organisations, and Birmingham City Council the Gala Pool is now able to play an important role as an arts and culture venue while its longterm future is decided. Historic England has so far grant aided £707,000 to Grade II* listed Moseley Road Baths in Balsall Heath, one of its largest grants to a project in the Midlands. This funding has ensured the roof is safe and secure, preventing any further weather-related damage to the pool area, which closed in 2003. The baths were first opened in 1907 and have been on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk register since 2005. With the roof repairs complete work can take place on restoring other elements of the Gala Pool’s deteriorated infrastructure, including the balcony area. This will sit alongside on-going repairs and maintenance of the rest of this magnificent building. The baths are so significant because of the architectural quality and remarkably complete interior. Rare fixtures and fittings are still intact, including an almost complete set of 46 private washing rooms known as the ‘slipper baths’ – the only complete set in the country. The oak ticket offices and attendants’ kiosks, and possibly the only surviving steam-heated drying racks in a British swimming pool, also remain in place, making this space a real time capsule. Moseley Road Baths is one of only a handful of Grade II* listed swimming baths operating in Britain and an iconic element of this part of Birmingham. They are the only baths in the country built before 1914 to have continuously hosted swimming since they opened. The smaller pool is operated by the community formed group the Moseley Road Baths CIO, and is open for public swimming. It has taken a coalition of the CIO, Friends of Moseley Road
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DIGITAL MAGAZINE – SUMMER 2020
Images courtesy Historic England
City baths restoration reveals stunning roof architecture YEAR OF SPECIALIST WORK ON GALA POOL COMPLETED Baths, Historic England, National Trust, World Monuments Fund and the building’s owner Birmingham City Council, which has contributed £100,000 to a programme of repairs, to ensure the whole of the building was saved from closure. The hope is that now the Gala pool space is weatherproof, it can be used for events and fundraising activities to help with the costs of running the baths. “Moseley Road Baths has been a key Heritage at Risk project for us for some time now and we’re so keen to see this special building’s future secured,” said Historic England’s Regional Director Midlands, Louise Brennan. “The completion of the roof repairs is a major step towards returning this extraordinary site to its former glory.”
RELIEF AS BOULTON BIBLE TO STAY IN BIRMINGHAM Matthew Boulton’s 18th century Baskerville family bible will permanently remain in the city at the University of Birmingham’s Cadbury Research Library. Birmingham Assay Office had announced plans to sell part of its archive collection, including the family bible of one of its founders, at a London auction in March, but the bible was withdrawn from sale at the last minute. The auction withdrawal follows a fundraising
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campaign to buy the bible to keep it in the region, with thousands of people supporting the appeal after the Assay Office said it was ‘unable to store and preserve such a volume of books’. Type historian Dr Caroline Archer, who helped lead the rescue campaign, described ‘the remarkable support of people in Birmingham, Britain and around the world’ and thanked them for their support in raising awareness of the bible.
