102 Moseley Rd in 2008, from Barnard on The Stirrer
As has been well documented in local and national media, there was an ‘incredibly severe fire’ in a disused care home on Moseley Road yesterday morning, in which two people died and another two were injured. Below is an unedited press release and appeal for information sent to me by West Midlands Police. There is also a discussion around the incident on The Stirrer Forum.
FOR RELEASE: WEST Midlands Police and the fire service continue to investigate the cause of a major fire at a disused care home.
The unexplained blaze which claimed the lives of two people happened in the early hours of yesterday morning (Tuesday 20 July) on Mosley Road, Highgate.
Two men escaped the building which officers now know was used by rough sleepers.
One of the survivors, a 23-year-old man, remains in a stable condition in hospital suffering from smoke inhalation and minor burns.
The second, a 48-year-old man, also attended hospital and was discharged the same day.
The two people whose remains were found are yet to be identified.
Mosley Road itself remains closed as structural engineers from the city council assess the site.
Chief Inspector Sean Russell, from Birmingham Central police station said: “Given the severity of the fire, the investigation is likely to take some considerable time.
“We continue to keep an open mind as to the cause of this unexplained fire and urge anyone with any information about the people who used the building or the incident itself to contact us.”
Anyone with information is urged to contact Birmingham Central police station or the national charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Those of you who missed the special screening of the Philip Donnellan piece on BBC1′s Inside Out on 8th March, which featured interviews with Filum fans at the Spotted Dog who’d just watched his documentary film The Irishmen, you can watch it again in the YouTube film above – sorry the sound is a little out.
Fans of Irish film might like to go along to the Spotted Dog tomorrow evening for an Irish Film Night from 6pm onwards as part of St Patrick’s Festival Birmingham. Landlord John Tighe is screening Everlasting Piece, The Informer and Dancing at Lughnasa. I can’t make this one because I’ll be chatting about Patrick McCabe at the St Patrick’s Literary Festival at The Old Crown Inn from 7pm. Go along to hear all about the darkly comic McCabe, poetical W B Yeats, avant-guarde Samuel Beckett, and modernist James Joyce.
Fans of Irish culture might also like to see the Irish storyteller Katrice Horsley weave her magic at The Irish Centre, 7pm this Weds 17th March (St Patrick’s Day), again as part of St Patrick’s Festival Birmingham. Irish film fans in particular would do well to check out the Flatpack Festival in Birmingham later this month. Highlights include:
Synth Eastwood’s Fast Forward Show on Fri 26th March, when Dublin collective Synth Eastwood will host a night of live music, animation and interactivity at The Rainbow.
The Secret of Kells at The Electric Cinema on Sun 28th March, ‘a stunning animation about how the Book of Kells was completed and survived to become one of Ireland’s national treasures.’
BBC One Programmes – Inside Out West Midlands, 08/03/2010 – The episode of Inside Out that features a report on film-maker Philip Donnellan, who bought real life to screen with films such as The Irishmen, which we held a special screening of in The Spotted Dog especially for this programme. It features interviews with members of Birmingham’s Irish community about their responses to the film. Inside Out is available to watch on BBC iPlayer until Monday.
BBC News – Does peace and quiet always take priority over loud music? – Problems encountered by the Ministry of Sound nightclub make the BBC look at the bigger British picture, which of course leads them to Digbeth’s The Rainbow and The Spotted Dog. John Tighe has dire warnings about where this might lead:
“They are going to close down Digbeth, the only area of Birmingham where live music is played.”
I took a stroll down Cheapside today to take a look at what was left of the D&P Textiles warehouse after the massive fire yesterday. As you can see from the photos, quite a bit of damage has been done – the roof of the storage area has completely gone.
One of the guys clearing up said, “It’s made a lot of mess. But it’s made the news, it’s made this area famous.” Although I’d like to think Digbeth can be famous for a bit more than a fire, he’s not wrong:
BBC News reported on the ‘suspicious’ nature of the fire and the building’s asbestos roof, which apparently ‘poses no risk to the public’. Good to know.
The Birmingham Post quoted a lot of numbers – ’45 firemen tackled the blaze…ten engines, three main jets and a hydraulic platform had been used to douse the fire.’
The Express and Star disagreed with the Birmingham Post and said there were 60 firemen. They’ve got a picture of three of them squirting hosepipes at the blaze.
The Birmingham Mail predicted Monday morning ‘commuter misery’ due to resulting road closures, which I was surprised by as the Bradford Street entrance to Rea Street was open by the end of Sunday and Cheapside is not a major route road. Did anyone experience any problems this morning?
According to an update report on BBC News today, Managing Director of D&P Textiles Phil King has promised the factory will reopen soon, and ‘he hoped his workforce of 35 women would be back at their machines within the next couple of weeks.’ Let’s hope the mammouth clean-up operation he faces goes as smoothly as possible.
Thank God the only casualties were clothes. However, I did manage to find one surviving item – a lone piece red and gold ribbon. This now has a new home in the DiGpuss Shop of found items.
Last night was the special screening of the documentary film The Irishmen for BBC current affairs programme Inside Out, who are doing a documentary about film-maker Philip Donnellan, based in Birmingham in the 60’s and 70’s. Keeper of the Philip Donellan archive Dr Paul Long, of Birmingham City University, was kind enough to introduce the film and let everyone know about an opportunity for a freelance archivist – contact Paul Long (details at bottom of link) if you are interested.
Inside Out were keen to collect reactions from Birmingham’s Irish community about the documentary and they were not disappointed. Many regulars from the Irish Heritage Group showed up, including Douglas, who was kind enough to bring a souvenir of his early days in Birmingham with him.
After the screening the BBC interviewed a few people. They are not sure when the resulting show will be aired, but promised to let me know when it will be. The Irishmen is a really lovely film about the experience of Irish labourers in 1960′s Britain – why they came here and the culture-shock and back-breaking work they faced, with a beautiful soundtrack of live folk music to boot. If you get the chance to watch it, please do.
On Monday 25th January at 8pm in the Spotted Dog there will be an extra special screening of the documentary film The Irishmen for the BBC current affairs programme Inside Out. The Irishmen is a film about Irish railway workers in London in the 1960′s by Philip Donnellan, a documentary maker based in Birmingham in the 60′s and 70′s. Inside Out are making a film about Donnellan and are keen to collect reactions to this documentary:
We’d like very much to show the film to members of the Irish community here in Birmingham and then see what they think of it. Things like: Do they agree with what was being said? Does any of it still ring true? Should the film have been shown at the time or is it too one sided? etc.
So come along to the Spotted Dog for a great film, a nice drink and the chance to discuss it with the lovely chaps from the BBC afterwards. And if that weren’t tempting enough, there will also be free tea and buns in abundance.
“Essentially we’re trying to ‘rescue’ local people’s understandings of an area before it is redeveloped, just as rescue archaeologists go into an area to record archaeological traces which are threatened by new building,” says project leader Dr Phil Jones.
Phil Jones hopes the human data of photographs, recorded interviews and maps collected will ‘lead to more sensitive approaches to urban regeneration’ in the future. One can only hope.
BBC – BBC One Programmes – Inside Out West Midlands, 02/11/2009 – The Digbeth Noise Abatement issues is one of the ‘three surprising stories from the West Midlands’ featured on Inside Out, 7.30pm BBC1 tonight. ‘Is the growth of city centre living threatening live music?’ asks Mary Rhodes. Sadly, it would seem so. This unfortunately clashes with the Digbeth Residents’ Association meeting at 7pm in the Paragon Hotel tonight, so set your recorders.
In the shadow of the new Birmingham, the original Brammagen. Welcome to Digbeth.
Digbeth features in a piece about how local industries are dealing with the credit crunch, it includes an interview with Bill Good, Chief Executive of TW Stamping building supplies factory on Charles Henry Street. You can watch it again on BBC iPlayer by following the link, the feature is approximately 30 minutes into the show.
