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theironroom.bsky.social
Archives & Collections, Library of Birmingham
@theironroom.bsky.social
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Preserving & sharing 800 years of Birmingham's history at the Library of Birmingham.
For enquiries, please email [email protected]
Follow our blog @ www.theironroom.wordpress.com
More info @ birmingham.gov.uk/archives
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A blue plaque will be awarded to the Town Hall on Monday 15 December to mark the first public reading of A Christmas Carol by Dickens in December 1853: bmusic.co.uk/news/birming... Ref – Town Hall 77A #LibraryofBham @bmusicltd.bsky.social #BirminghamCivic
A colour illustration of Birmingham Town Hall which is in the left background. A street scene in the foreground consisting of vehicles and pedestrians. A row of buildings in the far right of the illustration.
December 10, 2025 at 9:15 AM
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#ModelOnATuesday. This week we’re veering slightly off the beaten track and bringing you this model of the Civic Centre on Broad Street planned after WW1. Baskerville House and the Hall of Memory, the only buildings still in place. Ref – WK/B11/6869 #LibraryofBham #Brumpic
An architectural model of a civic square - a collar of buildings to the sides and in the backdrop of the square. The buildings are Greco- Roman in style with columns in front of entrances and symmetrical windows. The large square in the centre of the model is occupied by a very tall thin column with a shape at its peak. The column is surround by herbaceous borders and trees. A small circular building in the bottom right of the photograph and a larger circular building with columns around its front in the bottom left of the photo.
December 9, 2025 at 7:00 AM
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#BirminghamLibrary In this week’s blog, we guide you through the new version of our online archival catalogue, CalmView: theironroom.wordpress.com/2025/12/08/u... New features include links to our digital gallery, Iron Room blog and Eventbrite for booking a search room appointment #LibraryofBham
A screen grab of the home page of an archival catalogue. Birmingham City Council logo in the top left corner. Tab bars across the top right. A central panel with a photograph of the Library of Birmingham in it. A box superimposed over the top of the central panel headlined - Popular Searches. Text on the bottom left identifying the Archives & Collection catalogue.
December 8, 2025 at 5:15 PM
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#Disability In 1817 the Earl of Dartmouth chaired a committee to establish an institution to care for people with disabilities caused by bone and joint problems - the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital was born. The hospital moved to Newhall Street in 1877. Ref: Newhall Street 24 #LibraryofBham #ROHNHSFT
The exterior of a three-storey building. Facia on the front reads The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital - a row of windows separates the facia. A main entrance reached by two symmetrical pairs of stairs with railing support.
December 8, 2025 at 4:01 PM
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#SundayShowcase today is British Pakistani Boys, Education and the Role of Religion by Karamat Iqbal, investigating the significance of education to the community and the achievement of British Pakistani boys. Ref - L 21.85 IQB #ForwardPartners #LibraryofBham
A book on a table. Front cover of the book facing on to the camera. Title is British Pakistani Boys, Education and the Role of Religion in the land of the Trojan Horse by Karamat Iqbal. A bookcase behind the book on the left of the photo and a door on the right.
December 7, 2025 at 11:15 AM
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#CityOf1000Trades this week is this late 19th century trade card for Sylvester & Co, purveyors of warm ventilation located at the corner of Berkeley Street and Broad Street. Ref - MS 4834/859 #LibraryofBham
A trade card advertising Sylvester & Co, Engineers and manufacturers of warming ventilation and cooking apparatus. A gothic typeface with flourishes on the S of Sylvester and E of Engineers.
December 6, 2025 at 10:01 AM
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#PhotoFriday this week is this 1967 photo of St. Mark’s Street, Ladywood taken before the entire area was redeveloped and the street truncated. Ref - MS 4557, 2013/098 (Box 6) #LibraryofBham @Brumpic
A photograph of a long row of three storey terraced houses running from left to right across the photo. A female figure sat on a chair outside a property halfway up the street. A group of three outside another property a few doors up from the seated figure. A gap in the run of the houses where a street intersperses with the road and then a block of another three houses. A tower block in the background.
December 5, 2025 at 8:15 AM
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#BirminghamTheatre Vesta Tilley (1864 - 1952) made numerous appearances on the Birmingham stage as a male impersonator. This cartoon is from The Owl, April 1890. Ref - LF 08.2 #LibraryofBham
A cartoon of an androgynous figure with arms held aloft. They are attired in a pair of shorts and a blouse with an accentuated collar with a vest underneath. An abstract background. Text at the bottom reads Miss Vesta Tilley - Ere The Lamps Were Lit.
December 4, 2025 at 9:00 AM
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#Scouts this rally cry for new recruits by the Birmingham & District Association of the Boy Scouts appeared in The Rotaria, October 1914. Ref - L 24.2 #LibraryofBham #ACCScoutsBham
A tableau showing eight mirror panels of Boy Scouts in various outfits - four at the top and four at the bottom. A central panel with details of the organisation, the request to join and where the central offices are based. The motto of the scouts beneath this. Background has armorial flourishes and emblems.
December 3, 2025 at 9:15 AM
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#MapOnATuesday is this plan of the Hockley district showing land allotted to Sir Thos. Gooch by the Birmingham inclosure award, c1805. Ref - MAP/94047 #LibraryofBham
A map. Table of details in the top left corner detailing the apportionment of land and its corresponding size. Various parcels of land on the map with the name of the landowner. A series of pathways running across the map.
December 2, 2025 at 7:00 AM
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Today is #WorldAIDSDay2025 Here’s an article from In The Pink profiling the use of safety pins to identify a commitment to safer sexual practices to minimise the risk of contracting HIV. Ref – LF 22.85 #LibraryofBham #birminghamlgbt
The front page of a newspaper. Title in the top left is In the Pink. Across from this, the emblem of the gay triangle and the text West Midlands Free Lesbian and Gay newspaper along with the date and issue number. Two columns of text beneath this.
December 1, 2025 at 8:15 PM
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#Disability Birmingham’s Royal School for Deaf Children was established in 1812 by Dr Jean Gabriel Marie De Lys, a physician who practised at the Birmingham General Hospital. A residential school opened in 1815 on Church Road, Edgbaston. The school closed in 1984. Ref – WK/E1/1216 #LibraryofBham
A photograph of a classroom. Dense oak panelling on the far left of the photo. Young female pupils dressed in Victorian school uniform sat at desks on the left of the photograph looking towards a teacher on the right of the photo sat by a raised desk and chalk board. A young female figure is stood in front of them with her hand raised and the teacher is touching her fingers. A wooden balustrade behind the figures. The upper section of the back wall has various pictures and maps mounted on it.
December 1, 2025 at 4:00 PM
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#SundayShowcase #Railway200 This week, John Jackson traces the 40 mile section of line connecting Birmingham with the strategically significant railway centre of Derby. Ref - L 47.34 #LibraryofBham
A book on a table. Front cover of the book is facing towards the camera. Title of the book is The Birmingham to Derby Line by John Jackson. Front cover is split in two by the title and author name. Photos above and below of post war locomotives, possibly manufactured in the 1960s or 70s. Book presses behind the table.
November 30, 2025 at 11:00 AM
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#CityOf1000Trades Just how many times do you need to repeat the name of your company in an advertisement? We think this may be an advert for Starkey and Adcock from the1856 Birmingham Post Office Directory #LibraryofBham
A full-page advertisement for Starkey and Adcock. Year in the top left of the page is 1856 and the page number in the top right is 67. The royal coat of arms in the top centre of the page - lion on the left and unicorn on the right. Above the coat of arms, the name Starkey And Adcock. Text beneath the coat of arms explaining the services the company offers and the factory location at 37 Great Hampton Row.
November 29, 2025 at 10:15 AM
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#PhotoFriday this week is this photo of a public water fountain on Aston Road taken in 1987. Now a rarely seen feature of the urban landscape. Ref - MS 4557, 2013/098 (Box 6) #LibraryofBham @Brumpic
A photograph of a water fountain which is positioned in front of municipal public buildings. The fountain has a four cornered roof supported by columns. Ornate tiles adorn the walls of the fountain and a bench is on the left of the construct.
November 28, 2025 at 8:00 AM
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#BirminghamHistory we recently found this cartoon tucked away in a box. Note states it was purchased in 1792 at the sign of the Turk’s Head, Moor Street. Ref – Mixed/Miscellaneous prints and photo (ex ST/PR/5) #LibraryofBham
Title of the cartoon at the bottom is Thee Pay Six - Pence. A building on the far right with a male figure holding various notes with writing on them. He is looking towards a figure in the bottom centre pushing a barrow. Another figure on the far left riding a horse. In the left and mid background, two buildings with wording locating them at Saltley. The building on the far left looks like a stately home and the one in the back centre like a toll house.
November 27, 2025 at 9:15 AM
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Our #EarlyAndFinePrinting Collection holds a copy of the Book of Hours in Low Dutch, c1498 on vellum written in Paris. A Christian prayer book popular in the Middle Ages. Ref - 091/MED/8 #LibraryofBham
A page from an illuminated manuscript. A depiction of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. A figure on either side of the cross, the figure on the right looking up at Jesus. A skull on the ground in front of the figures. The illustration is surrounded by an ornate border.
November 26, 2025 at 10:00 AM
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We recently received documents relating to #Cluedo and its creator and designer, Anthony and Elva Pratt. A small display of documents is now on show on Level 4 until the end of January 2026 www.birmingham.gov.uk/news/article... #LibraryofBham
A blue plaque on a brick wall for Anthony Pratt who invented Cluedo in the property between 1943 – 1945. The outline of a window frame on the far left of the photograph.
November 25, 2025 at 6:15 PM
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#BirminghamPanorama Imagine sketching the landscape of the town from a hot air balloon. Here’s Ackermann’s Panoramic view of Birmingham, 1847. Ref - L85.1 / 295795. You can probably pick out St. Martins church in the middle of the image. #LibraryofBham
A bird’s eye view of a landscape. The perspective is on the incline as it reaches the top of the page. A crisscross of roads and streets run across and up and down the image. A church spire can be seen in the centre of the image. The image is heavily populated by buildings apart from the top left and right corners which are open space.
November 25, 2025 at 7:15 AM
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Today's blog looks at Birmingham born, Jane Bunford (1895 - 1922) who was the UK's tallest woman, estimated to be around 7 feet 9 inches: theironroom.wordpress.com/2025/11/24/j...
Photo Ref - WK/B6/163 #LibraryofBham
A photograph - a worker's cottage in the bottom left foreground. Other houses behind the property. A horse and cart halfway up the street outside a property. A public gaslight in the immediate foreground of the photo on the right. A tree in the background.
November 24, 2025 at 8:01 PM
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#Disability History Month runs from 20 November until 20 December. Chance to look at Birmingham institutions such as the Birmingham Royal Institute for the Blind started in 1846. Ref - WK/E1/481 #LibraryofBham
Illustration of a two-tiered Victorian institution with a domed clock tower in its centre. The building is in the grounds of a park and figures are stood outside the entrance.
November 24, 2025 at 4:02 PM
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#SundayShowcase this week is Who Will Remain by Kasim Ali. A novel set in Alum Rock, Birmingham focusing on the character of Amir and the decisions he makes to secure his own future and keep out of danger. Ref – L 52.21 ALI #LibraryofBham #juskasim
A photograph of a book on a table. The book is facing cover on. Name of the author at the top of the cover is Kasim Ali. Below this is the title of the book – Who Will Remain. The background of the front cover is a reproduction of an A – Z map of Birmingham. Behind the table on which the book is standing is a bookcase.
November 23, 2025 at 11:15 AM
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#CityOf1000Trades Funny what you find when you least expect it – this advertisement for Cheatham's of Hindoo House, 22 New Street is included in the Illustrated Birmingham Times, no. 2, Sept 1854. Ref - LF 08.2 #LibraryofBham
An illustrated advertisement. The word Archery repeated three times across the top of the page. The words Wholesale and Retail beneath this. Then a paragraph of description explaining the wares sold. Beneath this, numerous line drawings of figures engaged in sporting events including cricket, fishing and archery. Beneath this, another paragraph detailing the goods sold by Cheetham’s. Then details of the shop’s location on New Street.
November 22, 2025 at 10:01 AM
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#PhotoFriday this week is this photograph of the Hope & Anchor pub on Edmund Street taken c 1960. When opened c1762, the pub was a two-story Georgian house. The building unfortunately no longer stands. Ref - WK/B11/4795 #LibraryofBham #Brumpic
A photograph of a street scene - a clocktower in the background. Two buildings on the right of the photograph – the building in the foreground is a public house - a sign for Ansell’s brewery above its entrance. A lone male figure stood in its doorway. The building behind is more austere - in the style of the high gothic revival of the nineteenth century. Pedestrians walk past.
November 21, 2025 at 8:01 AM
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#BirminghamHistory Birmingham born Catherine Hutton (1756 – 1846), a novelist and letter writer. Daughter of William Hutton credited with writing the first official history of Birmingham. Our archive contains a collection of Catherine's manuscripts and miscellaneous papers (MS 168) #LibraryofBham
An illustrated portrait of a female wearing attire associated with the late Georgian and Regency periods. A loose scarf on her head cascading down to her right shoulder. She is looking to her right. She has a locket around her neck falling to her décolletage. She is wearing a billowing dress with an accentuated cord around her waistline.
November 20, 2025 at 9:15 AM