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Lee Bank
Lee Bank was an inner city area of Birmingham, England. It was part of the Edgbaston and Ladywood wards, inside the Middle Ring Road or Middleway, which surrounds Central Birmingham. Lee Bank's neighbouring areas are Edgbaston, Ladywood, Highgate and Balsall Heath. Nearby is the former site of Matthew Boulton College before it moved to the Eastside, and a new development called Opal One consisting of student housing. Famous people that have lived on the estate include the former pop duo Hot 'N' Juicy, who achieved fame when their song, Horny, was remixed by Mousse T. History Victorian era to World War II Historically, the area consisted of Victorian back-to-back slum housing. Unlike most industrial cities of the time these properties took the form of 3 and 4 storey courtyard based housing (with several families sharing one house). In the early 1930s, the notion of slum clearances had become popular in the country, however, clearing Lee Bank was delayed until after World Wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tower Block, Lee Bank Middleway (geograph 2632669)
A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specifically distinguished from buildings in that they are built not to be habitable but to serve other functions using the height of the tower. For example, the height of a clock tower improves the visibility of the clock, and the height of a tower in a fortified building such as a castle increases the visibility of the surroundings for defensive purposes. Towers may also be built for observation, leisure, or telecommunication purposes. A tower can stand alone or be supported by adjacent buildings, or it may be a feature on top of a larger structure or building. Etymology Old English ''torr'' is from Latin ''turris'' via Old French ''tor''. The Latin term together with Greek τύρσις was loaned from a pre-Indo-European Mediterranean language, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birmingham Blitz
The Birmingham Blitz was the heavy bombing by the Nazi German ''Luftwaffe'' of the city of Birmingham and surrounding towns in central England, beginning on 9 August 1940 as a fraction of the greater Blitz , which was part of the Battle of Britain; and ending on 23 April 1943. Situated in the Midlands, Birmingham, the most populous British city outside London, was considered an important industrial and manufacturing location. Around 1,852 tons of bombs were dropped on Birmingham, making it the third most heavily bombed city in the United Kingdom in the Second World War, behind London and Liverpool. There was also significant bombing of towns in the neighbouring Black Country, particularly in Dudley, Tipton, Smethwick and West Bromwich, where there were hundreds of casualties. As with most provincial cities bombed during the Blitz, reports of the bombing were kept low key. Wartime censorship meant that Birmingham was not mentioned by name in contemporary news reports about the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beau Nash
Beau Nash (18 October 1674 – 3 February 1762), born Richard Nash, was a celebrated dandy and leader of fashion in 18th-century Britain. He is best remembered as the Master of Ceremonies at the spa town of Bath. Biography Nash was born in St Mary's Street, Swansea, in 1674. His father, Richard, a native of Pembroke, had risen to be partner in a glass-works at Swansea, which- although he was "of modest means"- gave him the means to pay for his son's education. Nash's mother was a niece of the Welsh merchant John Poyer, who was mayor of Pembroke town and served during the English Civil War. The Nash family were "known" in the countryside, but the Poyer family was of "gentler blood". Nash's comparatively obscure origins were sometimes the subject of comment; when the Duchess of Marlborough mentioned it, Nash replied "Madam, I seldom mention my father in company, not because I have any reason to be ashamed of him, but because he has some reason to be ashamed of me." After at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bath, Somerset
Bath () is a city in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 101,557. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, west of London and southeast of Bristol. The city became a World Heritage Site in 1987, and was later added to the transnational World Heritage Site known as the "Great Spa Towns of Europe" in 2021. Bath is also the largest city and settlement in Somerset. The city became a spa with the Latin name ' ("the waters of Sulis") 60 AD when the Romans built baths and a temple in the valley of the River Avon, although hot springs were known even before then. Bath Abbey was founded in the 7th century and became a religious centre; the building was rebuilt in the 12th and 16th centuries. In the 17th century, claims were made for the curative properties of water from the springs, and Bath became popular as a spa town in the Georgian era. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
River Avon, Bristol
The River Avon is a river in the south west of England. To distinguish it from a number of other rivers of the same name, it is often called the Bristol Avon. The name 'Avon' is a cognate of the Welsh word , meaning 'river'. The Avon rises just north of the village of Acton Turville in South Gloucestershire, before flowing through Wiltshire. In its lower reaches from Bath to the Severn Estuary at Avonmouth near Bristol, the river is navigable and known as the Avon Navigation. The Avon is the 19th longest river in the United Kingdom, at , although there are just as the crow flies between the source and its mouth in the Severn Estuary. The catchment area is . Etymology The name "Avon" is a cognate of the Welsh word ''afon'' "river", both being derived from the Common Brittonic , "river". " River Avon", therefore, literally means "river river"; several other English and Scottish rivers share the name. The County of Avon that existed from 1974 to 1996 was named after ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Topping Out
In building construction, topping out (sometimes referred to as topping off) is a builders' rite traditionally held when the last beam (or its equivalent) is placed atop a structure during its construction. Nowadays, the ceremony is often parlayed into a media event for public relations purposes. It has since come to mean more generally finishing the structure of the building, whether there is a ceremony or not. Also commonly used to determine the amount of wind on the top of the structure. History The practice of "topping out" a new building can be traced to the ancient Scandinavian religious rite of placing a tree atop a new building to appease the tree-dwelling spirits displaced in its construction. Long an important component of timber frame building, it migrated initially to England and Northern Europe, thence to the Americas. A tree or leafy branch is placed on the topmost wood or iron beam, often with flags and streamers tied to it. A toast is usually drunk and sometimes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alwyn Sheppard Fidler
Alwyn Gwilym Sheppard Fidler CBE (8 May 1909 – 1990) was a Welsh architect and town planner who was chief architect for the new town of Crawley from 1947 to 1952 and was the first person to be appointed City Architect of Birmingham, where he remained from 1952 to 1964. Life Alwyn Gwilym Sheppard Fidler was born in Holywell, Flintshire on 8 May 1909. His father, William Ernest Fidler was a schoolteacher and his mother was Phoebe Maud, née Williams. He attended Holywell grammar school as a child. In 1927 he studied architecture under Charles Reilly and Patrick Abercrombie at the University of Liverpool. Fidler married Margaret Isabella Kidner on 1 January 1936 at St Bride’s Parish Church, Liverpool. They had a son together. Fidler was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1963. He died on 4 January 1990 of a cardiovascular disease. Career By 1937, Fidler had become chief architect to the Land Settlement Association, supported by the Carn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Wimpey
George Wimpey was a British construction firm. Formed in 1880 and based in Hammersmith, it initially operated largely as a road surfacing contractor. The business was acquired by Godfrey Mitchell in 1919, and he developed it into a construction and housebuilding firm. In July 2007, Wimpey merged with Taylor Woodrow to create Taylor Wimpey. Wimpey was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1934. History Early years The business was founded by George Wimpey and Walter Tomes as a stone working partnership in 1880 in Hammersmith.White, p. 2 The company built the first Hammersmith Town Hall in 1896, and went on to lay the foundations for the first "electric tramway" in London in the late 1890s. The company also built the White City Stadium complex which included a series of pavilions and gardens for the Franco British Exhibition of 1908 as well as an 80,000-seat Olympic stadium for the 1908 Olympic Games. The Mitchell Era George Wimpey died in 1913 at the age of 58. His ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Council Estate
Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in social housing. Houses and flats built for public or social housing use are built by or for local authorities and known as council houses, though since the 1980s the role of non-profit housing associations became more important and subsequently the term "social housing" became more widely used, as technically council housing only refers to housing owned by a local authority, though the terms are largely used interchangeably. Before 1865, housing for the poor was provided solely by the private sector. Council houses were built on council estates, known as schemes in Scotland, where other amenities, like schools and shops, were often also provided. From the 1950s, blocks of flats and three-or-four-storey blocks of maisonettes were widely built, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tower Block
A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and fun ..., as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdiction. It is used as a apartment building, residential, office building, or other functions including hotel, retail, or with multiple purposes combined. Residential high-rise buildings are also known in some varieties of English, such as British English, as tower blocks and may be referred to as MDUs, standing for multi-dwelling units. A very tall high-rise building is referred to as a skyscraper. High-rise buildings became possible to construct with the invention of the elevator (lift) and wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Mitchell (landscape Architect)
Mary Frances Mitchell (21 August 1923 – 1988) was a British landscape architect. Life Mitchell was born in Downton in Wiltshire, 1923. Her parents were Nancy (born Salter) and Albert Edwin Mitchell. Her father was a farmer, and she enjoyed being outdoors. She attended Clifton High School for Girls in Bristol. She worked in South Africa after the war, and she returned to the UK in the 1950s, where she was employed by Birmingham's City Architect's office. In 1959-60 she was involved in planning the landscape of new land acquired by Birmingham University at the Vale in Edgbaston. The brief was to preserve the "green and gracious appearance of this part of Birmingham" whilst building several halls of residence that would be separated on the 45 acre site. Mitchell organised quite extensive landscaping for the project, and the site is listed. The overall design of the site was said to influence later similar developments at York University and the University of East Anglia. left, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Landscape Architect
A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water management, sustainable design, construction specification, and ensuring that all plans meet the current building codes and local and federal ordinances. The practice of landscape architecture dates to some of the earliest of human cultures and just as much as the practice of medicine has been inimical to the species and ubiquitous worldwide for several millennia. However, this article examines the modern profession and educational discipline of those practicing the design of landscape architecture. In the 1700s, Humphry Repton described his occupation as "landscape gardener" on business cards he had prepared to represent him in work that now would be described as that of a landscape architect. The title, "landscape architect", was first used ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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