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Elliott Brown Art; Culture & creativity
07 Nov 2022 - Elliott Brown
Gallery

Museum of the Moon at Lichfield Cathedral

Another Luke Jerram work of public art on display. Museum of the Moon was at Lichfield Cathedral from the 21st September to 31st October 2022. Elliott got a train on the Cross City Line to Lichfield City (on the 30th October 2022), and after a Costa stop at Three Spires, walked to the cathedral. During the day the entry ticket was free (paid evening tickets were sold out).

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Museum of the Moon at Lichfield Cathedral





Another Luke Jerram work of public art on display. Museum of the Moon was at Lichfield Cathedral from the 21st September to 31st October 2022. Elliott got a train on the Cross City Line to Lichfield City (on the 30th October 2022), and after a Costa stop at Three Spires, walked to the cathedral. During the day the entry ticket was free (paid evening tickets were sold out).


See also Gaia at Millennium Point (February 2022)

I was first aware of Museum of the Moon after Birmingham People with Passion Damien Walmsley and later Jack Babington visited and took photos at Lichfield Cathedral.

 

Museum of the Moon is a touring artwork by UK artist Luke Jerram.

Measuring seven metres in diameter, the moon features 120dpi detailed NASA imagery of the lunar surface. At an approximate scale of 1:500,000, each centimetre of the internally lit spherical sculpture represents 5km of the moon’s surface*.

Over its lifetime, the Museum of the Moon will be presented in a number of different ways both indoors and outdoors, so altering the experience and interpretation of the artwork. As it travels from place to place, it gathers new musical compositions and an ongoing collection of personal responses, stories and mythologies, as well as highlighting the latest moon science.

The installation is a fusion of lunar imagery, moonlight and surround sound composition created by BAFTA and Ivor Novello award winning composer Dan Jones. Each venue also programmes their own series lunar inspired events beneath the moon.

 

It has been over six years since I last got a train from Birmingham New Street to Lichfield City. Back then I did a spire climb at St Mary's in the Market Square.

I found out that this moon exhibit in Lichfield Cathedral was ending on the 31st October, so I got the train up on Sunday the 30th October 2022. It got in around 12:30pm, and was there around 20 minutes, including a look around the inside of the Cathedral on the ground floor.

It appears that there is other moons at other venues all around the world, same with Gaia, the Earth sculpture.

Submitted one photo to the Birmingham Post & Mail Flickr group, and it got published in the Birmingham Mail readers letters page on Tuesday 1st November 2022, you can see that photo at the end of the gallery below.

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dndimg alt="Museum of the Moon" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/MoM%20Lichfield%20Cath%20(Oct%202022)%20(9).JPG" style="width: 100%;" />

Photography by Elliott Brown

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Elliott Brown Classic Architecture
25 Oct 2022 - Elliott Brown
Did you know?

The Crown on Station Street, where Black Sabbath rehearsed, is due to reopen in a few years time!

The Crown on Station Street, the corner of Hill Street, has been closed since 2014 (a Japanese developer bought the pub and car park behind). It has remained unused ever since. But in October 2022, it was announced that Birmingham Open Media will have the pub fully restored. This will take a couple of years. It will be the site of a new live music venue and digital centre. 

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The Crown on Station Street, where Black Sabbath rehearsed, is due to reopen in a few years time!





The Crown on Station Street, the corner of Hill Street, has been closed since 2014 (a Japanese developer bought the pub and car park behind). It has remained unused ever since. But in October 2022, it was announced that Birmingham Open Media will have the pub fully restored. This will take a couple of years. It will be the site of a new live music venue and digital centre. 


The Crown on Station Street - history

The public house at the corner of Station Street and Hill Street was built in 1881 opposite Birmingham New Street Station, to the designs of Thomson Plevins (1825 - 1897). The same architect who designed the Grand Hotel in 1875. He was a Scottish architect who practised in Birmingham.

The likes of Black Sabbath was first hosted at The Crown back in 1968. The pub later hosted the likes of Status Quo, Led Zeppelin, and UB40, until at least the 1980s.

The pub was still open in 2014, but closed in the middle of the 2014 FIFA World Cup (in Brazil),  when it was bought by Japanese development company Toyoko. Unfortunately, in the years since then, nothing has happened to the pub, and it's been left to rot, and get covered in graffiti.

Jez Collins, the creator of the Birmingham Music Archive has been looking to refurbish the pub for a number of years now. He will be working with Birmingham Open Media (BOM). The work could start in 2023, and it is hoped it could be completed by the end of 2024.

More information from Thomas Cramp at Birmingham Live here: Pub venue of Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath's first gig to be restored after lying derelict

 

The Crown - gallery of photos

During the early years of the rebuilding of Birmingham New Street Station, I took a series of photos of The Crown from Hill Street and Station Street. At the time it was externally painted in black and white, as can be seen during January 2011.

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Another photo of The Crown during April 2011, when new bollards had been installed in the middle of Hill Street, at the Station Street junction. Behind the pub is the Centre City Tower, and is a short walk down to Smallbrook Queensway and Hurst Street in Southside.

dndimg alt="The Crown" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/The%20Crown%20Station%20St%20(Apr%202011).JPG" style="width: 100%;" />

 

In September 2015, Birmingham New Street Station, was completely reopened to the public. This half had closed in 2013 at Half Time Switch Over. From the newly opened Southside Steps (our Spanish Steps), you can see The Crown to the left. By this point it had been closed down for more than a year.

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I went into John Lewis Birmingham store for a look around during October 2015. On the upper floors there was views to The Crown, and other buildings on Station Street and Hill Street, but view was slightly obscured by the patterns in the windows. So was a bit hard to see. Sadly during the pandemic in 2020, this John Lewis store closed down, never to reopen. But the store was used for filming of the Tom Cruise movie, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part I (during the summer of 2021). Then known as Mission: Impossible 7. It is due for release in cinemas by June 2023. But it won't feature The Crown in the movie. It was transformed into Abu  Dhabi Airport (including Grand Central).

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In April 2017, I got views of The Crown for the first time from the balconies at the Southside end of Birmingham New Street Station. The lower half of the former pub had been repainted, but was looking graffiti free at this point. The pub was a short distance away from the Electric Cinema and The Old REP Theatre.

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The Cricket World Cup was on in Birmingham during June 2019, as could be seen by these banners located on Station Street outside of The Crown. A no 16 NXWM Platinum bus in orange livery, was about to turn from Hill Street onto Station Street, for the journey towards Handsworth and Hamstead.

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In November 2019, for the festive season, the Southside BID put fairy lights up along the buildings on Station Street, including on The Crown. It looked good after dark, once the clocks had gone back.

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During the pandemic, local graffiti and street artists were pasting their art on the windows and walls of The Crown, as could be seen on Station Street during August 2020. The art here was a dissected cat by Tempo 33.

dndimg alt="The Crown" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/The%20Crown%20Station%20St%20(Aug%202020).JPG" style="width: 100%;" />

 

Even more graffiti art and vandalism on The Crown during October 2020, as I spotted a Ariel Atom car turning from Hill Street onto Station Street. Traffic gets busy around here at weekends.

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By April 2021, as lockdown restrictions were beginning to ease, you could now hire Voi e-Scooter's and West Midlands Cycle Hire bikes outside the Southside entrance to Birmingham New Street Station. Meanwhile the graffiti was still all over The Crown, and wouldn't be cleaned off until before the Commonwealth Games began a year later.

dndimg alt="The Crown" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/Crown%20BNSS%20Voi%2003042021.jpg" style="width: 100%;" />

 

The Crown as it is, now in October 2022. The rainbow colours from the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games are still up. Signs on the former pub point to Smithfield (where beach volleyball and basketball was played) and to Edgbaston (cricket). Only graffiti now says "Ozzy woz here". These views were taken from the Southside balconies at Birmingham New Street Station. I took these photos after hearing that the pub might reopen in a few years time.

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Photography by Elliott Brown

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Elliott Brown Modern Architecture
19 Oct 2022 - Elliott Brown
Gallery

Views of the BT Tower from the Library of Birmingham and 103 Colmore Row

If you go up to the Secret Garden in the Library of Birmingham, you will get views of the BT Tower from the north eastern corner. Orelle Restaurant at 103 Colmore Row also has views of the BT Tower (from the back). But you can't see it from the front facing balcony on the 18th floor (but can from the ground floor foyer near Newhall Street).

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Views of the BT Tower from the Library of Birmingham and 103 Colmore Row





If you go up to the Secret Garden in the Library of Birmingham, you will get views of the BT Tower from the north eastern corner. Orelle Restaurant at 103 Colmore Row also has views of the BT Tower (from the back). But you can't see it from the front facing balcony on the 18th floor (but can from the ground floor foyer near Newhall Street).


BT Tower from the Library of Birmingham

One of my many visits to the Secret Garden, at the Library of Birmingham on Level 7.

On the 13th August 2021. When they were putting up a new BT logo, only a T was visible. And scaffolding up to remove the crane on top of the tower. You can also see how far the BT Tower was from Three Snowhill and 103 Colmore Row.

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The BT Tower seen on the 4th September 2021. This was after they had completed the new BT logo. Was a lot of scaffolding above at the time. But the crane scaffolding was coming down.

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The BT Tower on the 13th August 2022. complete with new logo, and being crane-less. Was still some scaffolding on top.

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BT Tower from 103 Colmore Row

On the 6th August 2022 the last weekend of Key the City, so a long wait in the foyer at 103 Colmore Row, to go up to the 18th floor balcony one last time. While sitting in the foyer at the back, a window out to Newhall Street had this view of the BT Tower. I only went on Saturday's, so never went to the 19th floor on a weekday, like some people did.

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Views from Orelle Restaurant, taken on the 24th floor of 103 Colmore Row on the 8th October 2022. A north-westerly direction towards the Jewellery Quarter, looking up Newhall Street, as 103 Colmore Row shadowed below.

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Photography by Elliott Brown

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Elliott Brown Squares and public spaces
17 Oct 2022 - Elliott Brown
Gallery

Cathedral Square from above: Views from 103 Colmore Row

Key to the City gave you the chance to see Cathedral Square from above, from the 18th floor balcony at 103 Colmore Row, between June and August 2022. From October 2022, you can go up to the 24th floor, at Orelle Restaurant for an even higher view! Best to go during the day, and not at night. Photography by Elliott Brown.

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Cathedral Square from above: Views from 103 Colmore Row





Key to the City gave you the chance to see Cathedral Square from above, from the 18th floor balcony at 103 Colmore Row, between June and August 2022. From October 2022, you can go up to the 24th floor, at Orelle Restaurant for an even higher view! Best to go during the day, and not at night. Photography by Elliott Brown.


Key to the City - June to August 2022

View from the 18th floor balcony at 103 Colmore Row

11th June 2022

The first opportunity to see Birmingham Cathedral (The Cathedral Church of St Philip) and Cathedral Square, along with the Colmore BID from this vantage point.

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16th July 2022

An attempt to zoom down to Cofton Nursery's floral piece for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, which won Gold at the Chelsea Flower Show.

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The House of Fraser and 43 Temple Row. Sadly, Lloyds Bank closed down in this building in September 2022. The nearby NatWest branch also closed down at the opposite corner. Horatio Nelson once stayed in a hotel on this site back in 1802, it is marked by a Birmingham Civic Society blue plaque on the former NatWest building (1 St Philip's Place).

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6th August 2022

The last weekend of Key to the City, so one last opportunity to see Cathedral Square from the 18th floor balcony of 103 Colmore Row. The grass was a bit dry at the time, due to the summer heatwave.

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Orelle Restaurant

Views from the 24th floor of 103 Colmore Row

8th October 2022

Much higher vantage point here, but as was inside of Orelle Restaurant, there was glass windows in the way, so sometimes a bit of glare from the lights inside and out. This is a month after the death of the late Queen Elizabeth II. And around a month befor the return of the Christmas Market here.

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Photography by Elliott Brown

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Elliott Brown Transport
05 Sep 2022 - Elliott Brown
Gallery

Miniature Railway Wythall operated by Elmdon Model Engineering Society at The Transport Museum, Wythall

It wasn't just heritage buses at The Transport Museum, Wythall. On the August Bank Holiday Mondat 29th August 2022, visitors could pay to go on the Miniature Railway Wythall operated by Elmdon Model Engineering Society. The locomotive in use was called Blanche from the Penrhyn Railway. Kids seemed to have enjoyed it.

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Miniature Railway Wythall operated by Elmdon Model Engineering Society at The Transport Museum, Wythall





It wasn't just heritage buses at The Transport Museum, Wythall. On the August Bank Holiday Mondat 29th August 2022, visitors could pay to go on the Miniature Railway Wythall operated by Elmdon Model Engineering Society. The locomotive in use was called Blanche from the Penrhyn Railway. Kids seemed to have enjoyed it.


Miniature Railway Wythall operated by Elmdon Model Engineering Society

Shortly after getting off the car park shuttle bus at The Transport Museum, Wythall, I saw the station Elmdon Halt from the Miniature Railway Wythall.

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The first time I saw the miniature railway in action, was while looking at various heritage buses parked up. Was a grassy bank, and saw the miniature steam train Blanche come around.

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I was in The Power Hall, and briefly popped out when I saw this footbridge, shortly afterwards saw the miniature train heading around on the tracks. It went past the heritage buses, as well as a picnic bench area with bouncy castle and slides for kids.

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I was later in another bus garage on site, near the milk float collection, popped out and saw this tunnel. I did not wait around to see if the miniature steam train would come out of it. So back to the milk floats and buses it was.

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Before leaving, and after coming back to Wythall from a free bus ride, and ice cream. Saw the miniature steam train at Elmdon Holt, before we got back on the car park shuttle bus, to return to the Phoenix Group car park.

dndimg alt="Transport Museum Wythall" dndsrc="../uploadedfiles/MRW%20Elmdon%20TMW%2029082022%20(10).JPG" style="width: 100%;" />

Photos by Elliott Brown

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