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Thursday, 27 February 2014
Friday, 24 January 2014
Naming the new hospital
Recent information on the new hospital, replacing the City Hospital at Dudley Road, and the Sandwell General Hospital at West Bromwich, is that work is starting, and it is due to be opened in 2019. The published name is "Metropolitan Hospital", which I think makes battleship grey appear more colourful than a rainbow.
This has been generally described as being on the site of the old GKN factory., just on the Sandwell side of the border of Sandwell and Birmingham.
In fact, the location is far more interesting. In 1851, the Great Exhibition was opened in Hyde Park. When the exhibition closed, the structure was moved to Sydenham, and renamed the Crystal Palace. The designer, William Paxton, modeled it on the conservatories he had designed for Chatsworth, in Derbyshire.
The glass came from the Chance Glass factory on the Smethwick - Oldbury border.
The steel structure was made by Fox, Henderson & Company, London Works, Smethwick. Charles Fox, knighted for his work on the Great Exhibition, began this company to construct track and rolling stock for the growing railway industry, and made items for Stevenson. The various structures included bridges, and some of the most important railway station roofs, including Paddington, Waterloo, and the Birmingham New Street station which was demolished in the 20th century to make way for modernisation.
At its peak, about the time they ceased trading in 1856, Fox, Henderson & Co. employed about 2,000 workers in Smethwick. The liquidation of the company was due to unpaid bills for railway work in Europe, and an enquiry completely exhonourated the company. But the impact on Smethwick was devastating.
The London Works was the original factory on the site of the coming new hospital.
So the idea follows - here is a great opportunity for us to commemorate the great scientific and industrial heritage of Birmingham and Smethwick. Name the hospital, and parts of the hospital site, after the many great scientists and industrialists of our area. After all, "Fox-Henderson" would make a far more interesting name for the hospital. We have the well-known Murdoch, Boulton and Watt as possible names, as well as Galton. Or Chance, after the glass manufacturers. Another Smethwick engineer, Richard Tangye, made some very elegant as well as practical steam engines and other machines. One of Charles Fox's employees was William Siemens who was one of the greatest mechanical and electrical engineers of the 19th century. He lived in Summerfield Cottage while he worked at the London Works. Ruskin lived in West Smethwick.
I am floating the idea, which resulted from conversation with John Hopkins during January. John is involved with both the Friends of Deer's Leap Wood, and the Smethwick Pumping Station. His interest in the Fox, Henderson connection to Crystal Palace sparked this line of thought.
So how about it? A campaign from ordinary people, saying that we should use this opportunity to publicise the contribution of our side of Birmingham, and neighbouring Smethwick, to the technological advancement of the world.
Robert Higginson
This has been generally described as being on the site of the old GKN factory., just on the Sandwell side of the border of Sandwell and Birmingham.
In fact, the location is far more interesting. In 1851, the Great Exhibition was opened in Hyde Park. When the exhibition closed, the structure was moved to Sydenham, and renamed the Crystal Palace. The designer, William Paxton, modeled it on the conservatories he had designed for Chatsworth, in Derbyshire.
The glass came from the Chance Glass factory on the Smethwick - Oldbury border.
The steel structure was made by Fox, Henderson & Company, London Works, Smethwick. Charles Fox, knighted for his work on the Great Exhibition, began this company to construct track and rolling stock for the growing railway industry, and made items for Stevenson. The various structures included bridges, and some of the most important railway station roofs, including Paddington, Waterloo, and the Birmingham New Street station which was demolished in the 20th century to make way for modernisation.
At its peak, about the time they ceased trading in 1856, Fox, Henderson & Co. employed about 2,000 workers in Smethwick. The liquidation of the company was due to unpaid bills for railway work in Europe, and an enquiry completely exhonourated the company. But the impact on Smethwick was devastating.
The London Works was the original factory on the site of the coming new hospital.
So the idea follows - here is a great opportunity for us to commemorate the great scientific and industrial heritage of Birmingham and Smethwick. Name the hospital, and parts of the hospital site, after the many great scientists and industrialists of our area. After all, "Fox-Henderson" would make a far more interesting name for the hospital. We have the well-known Murdoch, Boulton and Watt as possible names, as well as Galton. Or Chance, after the glass manufacturers. Another Smethwick engineer, Richard Tangye, made some very elegant as well as practical steam engines and other machines. One of Charles Fox's employees was William Siemens who was one of the greatest mechanical and electrical engineers of the 19th century. He lived in Summerfield Cottage while he worked at the London Works. Ruskin lived in West Smethwick.
I am floating the idea, which resulted from conversation with John Hopkins during January. John is involved with both the Friends of Deer's Leap Wood, and the Smethwick Pumping Station. His interest in the Fox, Henderson connection to Crystal Palace sparked this line of thought.
So how about it? A campaign from ordinary people, saying that we should use this opportunity to publicise the contribution of our side of Birmingham, and neighbouring Smethwick, to the technological advancement of the world.
Robert Higginson
Newsletter for January 2014
The NWENF Newsletter for January 2014 has been uploaded.
The date link will take you to google drive. Select "Download" from the File drop-down menu, or use the CTRL S short-cut. It is probably more convenient to use the "Open with Acrobat Reader" rather than download the file to your computer, and then to open it with Acrobat Reader.
The next Newsletter is due for distribution at the beginning of April.
The date link will take you to google drive. Select "Download" from the File drop-down menu, or use the CTRL S short-cut. It is probably more convenient to use the "Open with Acrobat Reader" rather than download the file to your computer, and then to open it with Acrobat Reader.
The next Newsletter is due for distribution at the beginning of April.
Friday, 28 June 2013
Safer Roads for our Neighbourhoods - Community Speed Watch
| Do you have an issue with Speeding down your road? Would you like to see something done about it? Due to concern from local residents, the West Midlands Police Harborne Team have conducted some speed checks in the area. The most recent was on Selsey road on Friday 21st June. Heres a photo of the nice PCSOs who helped do the speed check....  The Police are encouraging communities to become involved in speed watches where local residents and the Police join forces to tackle speeding. Volunteers armed with speed guns can monitor and record cars that break the speed limit. That all sounds good, but to begin with, we would like to see what you think about the problem We have therefore set up a quick survey online to get some feedback. Click here to access the survey Hopefully we can show the results in the next newsletter. | |
Thursday, 4 April 2013
Birmingham Energy Savers Confusion
| Introduction | Because we nominated a number of households for Green Deal assessment and work in the "Community Pilot" phase, also known as "Go Early", we feel responsible for trying to keep people informed. The only certain information is posted on https://www.gov.uk/green-deal-energy-saving-measures/how-the-green-deal-works |
| Warning - telesales offering energy survey | I received a telesales phone call, ignoring my TPS registration, on Thursday lunchtime. "Adrian" from an un-named company based in Coventry. They will be doing energy efficiency surveys in Poplar Avenue on Friday. Would I like an appointment? The survey takes only quarter of an hour. "Adrian" rang off when I started asking who he was. Warning - we do not know if this sales call was from a genuine company or not. If you want a Green Deal assessment, phone 0800 917 5772 for the Birmingham Energy Savers. Accept an unsolicited telesales call at your own risk. |
| Progress Report | Following this telesales call, I rang the BES freephone to ask - again - what progress there was on my own BES assessment. When NWENF first got involved in nominating households for the Community Pilot phase, we were told that Birmingham City Council had a grant of £2.5 million for this, and that it was to be used by 31 March 2013, by giving householders up to 90% subsidy on any energy saving work to be done. Also, the NWENF was to be given £25 per household for nominations. Then we heard of a deadline of 24 January, and managed to get 10 nominations by that date. More nominations were taken at our Public Meeting on 2nd February. My house was amongst the nominations in January. We had a survey at the end of February, and are still awaiting our Energy Efficiency Certificate. Two weeks ago, I called the freephone number to enquire after progress. I was told that any households which did not meet the "Golden Rule" (that energy savings would be enough to justify the work) had already been notified. Other households were to have a "household assessment" as soon as appointments became available. Today (Thursday 4th April) I was told something different. Firstly, I was told that I could access my Energy Efficiency Certificate and recommendations for work on the internet. Secondly, I was told that it was now past the deadline for any work under the "Go Early / Community Pilot" phase. Any work to which I agreed would be paid for out of the savings on my electricity bill. No information about any of the subsidies which had originally been promised. Thirdly, after the call centre staff had checked, I was told that my house had not been included in the "Go Early" nominations. But I know from phone calls during February that we were logged as nominated by NWENF under the Community Pilot phase. |
| Confusion | We hear different versions about how the Birmingham Energy Savers scheme works. At the BES Launch Event on 4th February, we heard that this Community Pilot phase was a trial for how to run the Green Deal over the whole country during the next 3 years. One target for Birmingham was to improve the energy efficiency of about 26,000 homes during the next 3 years. We heard a glowing report from someone in the Sutton Coldfield area whose house was lovely and warm after having had various Green Deal jobs, including exterior wall cladding insulation. So we are left with uncertainty about how the scheme will operate, and how any of the households which NWENF nominated for the Community Pilot will benefit from the Green Deal.. |
Saturday, 30 March 2013
Green Deal - Birmingham Energy Savers
| Green Deal | We nominated some households for the Community Pilot phase of the Birmingham Energy Savers programme under the government's Green Deal project. My energy efficiency survey was at the end of February. Having heard nothing for 3 weeks, I phoned the freephone contact number . A helpful person at the call centre explained that households which had been surveyed but failed the "golden rule" had already been notified. For the rest of us, they were waiting for "household survey" appointments to become available. This is the second stage, when someone comes to assess whether your household income qualifies you for additional grants towards the cost of energy efficiency work. |
| "Golden Rule" | This is a calculation method which decides whether or not any specific energy efficiency task is worth spending the money. That is, for an item such as loft insulation, there is a cost of doing the job. If the likely savings on the fuel bill are big enough, compared with the cost of doing the work, it is counted as passing the golden rule. If the fuel savings are small (this would be the case if you already have at least 4" of insulation) it may fail the "golden rule". Subsidies and money from the energy supply companies are taken into account. |
| ECO | "Energy Companies Obligation" The energy supply companies (British Gas, E-on, nPower, etc) have an obligation to help their customers reduce energy consumption. One estimate if that there is about one and a half billion pounds available under ECO. That is why they were giving away low energy light bulbs a few years ago. This money is said to be one of the subsidies available under the "golden rule" calculation. |
Notes | We hear different versions about how the Birmingham Energy Savers scheme works. For more information, use the freephone service 0800 917 5772 |
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Transport in Brum - Views
E-mail enquiry | We have received an e-mail to say that views are being sought about what we - ordinary people - think of transport in Birmingham. "Fareeda Aqbar is part of smarter choices-city council road safety/cycling/walking initiatives and she would appreciate responses to the following questions from local residents." |
| Topics | What do you like most about your area ? How well do you feel connected to your area ? What makes you feel that ? Do your neighbours help each other ? If yes -how ? If no -why not ? What are your transport difficulties in your area ? |
| Contact for response | All responses by e-mail, please. fareeda.akbar@birmingham.gov. |
Notes | We have not been told the timescale for this, but we suggest that you respond by mid-April if possible. NWENF is going to send them our Survey results, in summary, but it would be useful for as many people as possible to respond to this invitation. If you want the Council departments to know what our neighbourhood is like, we need to tell them. |
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