1/21 Amid such bleak news from Birmingham here’s a more detailed look at something distinctive about it - its legacy of inter-war art deco private flats. No other UK city outside London has so many, and there are virtually none in the obvious peers like Leeds and Manchester. 2/21 The earliest example is Calthorpe Mansions on Frederick Road at Five Ways. 41 2 and 3 bed flats, built 1931, before many of the London examples, by Joe Cohen. Cohen was born in Ladywood and later set up the Jacey cinemas chain (his initials).

1/21 The thread I did on Corporation Street's history seems to have gone down well - so I've decided to do another: this time on the eastern side of the city centre, focussing on the High Street. Here it is from the junction with New Street. Every single building no longer exists 2/21 This wasn't a grand boulevard like Corporation Street but rather a mismash of buildings, as seen in the first pic here - I rather like building on the right, owned by the Co-op, which was once a major presence on the street (The second is the street viewed from Dale End).

1/13 Corporation Street was one of the defining achievements of Joseph Chamberlain's mayoralty, an attempt to give Birmingham the grand boulevard it deserved. Here it is in its prime. 2/13 Some of its grandeur still exists at either end, but it is a shadow of its former self. What exactly happened? But first a quick aside: its construction destroyed the original Old Square, one of the first Georgian squares outside London, predating e.g. Queen's Sq. in Bristol

1/8 Discussion of the post-war redevelopment of Birmingham tends to emphasise the loss of individual civic buildings. The loss of cityscape is understated. Take this view of Steelhouse Lane looking towards Colmore Row, where there used be a crossroads w/ Bull St & Snow Hl 2/8 The Gaumont cinema provides a good anchor. Here's another picture right outside it, looking the other way (you can see the Gaumont logo on the far left).

1/ Few tweets on Birmingham & Black Country economic history. This stuff is quite obscure - even less well known than in many other cities - and a lot of urban policy types don't really worry about it. But it's crucial to understanding the area's modern predicament. 2/ Birmingham and the towns to the north and west of it that became known in the 19th C as the "Black Country" owe their existence to the thickest, most extensive seam of coal and iron ore deposits in Europe, in combination with plentiful wood for charcoal in Arden to the south.