Selly Oak (Birmingham) Regeneration

[woodhousen]

that "nature reserve" in selly oak is only a reserve through practicalities......in reality its nothing like one....unless the burnt out saxo is "nature"

[Biosonic]

I agree, but it has become a natural habitat and they have to be protected - lots of furry things and flying things and all that. It is absolutely crucial that we retain 'wild' green spaces as well as parks etc, and from the Selly Oak Plan the reserve will be smaller, but retained. I hope the pressures to develop the entire area are resisted.

On the plus side, a huge area of badly contaminated land is/has being/been cleaned

[woodhousen]

for god sake, it isnt as if its all being built over, infact i seem to think that the enitre super hospital project was redesigned to allow for the discovery of a number of badger sets????

[mahill]

Originally Posted by cookoid_0

Well I guess they may havea point, but I used to go running round/through that "nature reserve" and I rememeber it as being a bit of a dump. Full of rubbish etc. I bet most people didint even know it was there until this plan came about!

I lived in Smelly Oak for three years and it's the first I've heard of a nature reserve

[woodhousen]

its the grassy part between b&q and the allotments

[Biosonic]

Originally Posted by woodhousen

for god sake, it isnt as if its all being built over, infact i seem to think that the enitre super hospital project was redesigned to allow for the discovery of a number of badger sets????

Calm down Woody - I'm not having a go! Take your aggression out on Accura, not me!

I am glad the hospital was redesigned due to the badger sets. If a house or a housing estate has to be then so should a hospital. There is always the option of translocating wildlife anyway. (It wasn't just badgers btw).

And I know it isn't all being built over - that is what I was saying. It is being reduced, but I hope it doesn't get reduced further in years to come.

It is important that Birmingham doesn't become a mass of bricks, Tarmac & concrete. We have to have rich, green, wildlife corridors, where flora and fauna can flourish, and kids can realise that plants aren't nicely arranged in rows and the grass isn't 2 inches long and there are more wild animals than just pigeons and magpies. We don't have a divine right to the land and it demonstrates a sophisticated, green and intelligent city if we have tracts of land set aside to allow something other than humans to live here.

[Sonny97]

I didn't even know there was a nature reserve in SO! From my own experiences of walking through that particular area over the last 30 odd years, the only wildife I ever saw was the odd cat, a few sparrows, couple of foxes, sticklebacks and a couple of youths shagging in the bushes!

Are all these things protected speices these days lol

[Biosonic]

And it is more than just that grassy part. It stretches from the back of Halfords along the canal right up to the university, and out alongside the road that leads down to the Golden Cross pub.

[woodhousen]

BIO....do u think that aggression was aimed at u? im never agree towards one of my trusted allys, my anger was aimed at local esidents.

the point i was making is that poeple saying that there is going to be mass tarmacing over shit loads of land. however, this is clearly not the case if they have allowed for the existance of badger sets. it isnt like they will have left a tiny little pieve of grass for these badges. english nature tel developers that they have to leave masses of room whan a habitat is thought to be at threat from a development.......this redevelopment of sellyoak is not destroying green untouched land. it is simply redeveloping the underused land that is currently ruined whilst maintaining the habitiats of the parts that are working

STUPID PEOPLE!

[Biosonic]

Oh, OK then

[Blunther]

Woooo, looks good this does.

[CargoHold]

The Titanic Cafe, is that the really manky one on the right heading out of the city ?.

My dad say's that batteries were never made on the site, but the name comes from the metal works where they "battered" metal sheets into shape.

I spent my early years living in SO [ Greenhill Drive] and remember our regular saturday morning trips to the ABC cinema that stood where sainsbury's now stands. This bloke used to come on stage before the film and ask who's birthday it was in the coming week, if it were yours you got in free the following week. If i was telling the truth every time i put my hand up then i reckon i would be about 167 years old by now.... lol.

I was christened at St Mary's church, is that still there ?.

CH

[Engels]

Originally Posted by Biosonic

We don't have a divine right to the land and it demonstrates a sophisticated, green and intelligent city if we have tracts of land set aside to allow something other than humans to live here.

yes we do have a divine right....

Genisis 1.26
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

dominion = "dominance or power through legal authority"

So in other words we can do what we like with this world as God's book says so.... this must be how Bush justifies drilling for oil in Alasksan national parks then

[Biosonic]

What about things that don't creep and aren't cattle? Things that wriggle?

Good point though. Let's Tarmac the lot!!!

Is there oil in Selly Oak?

[Biosonic]

Originally Posted by CargoHold

The Titanic Cafe, is that the really manky one on the right heading out of the city ?.

My dad say's that batteries were never made on the site, but the name comes from the metal works where they "battered" metal sheets into shape.

I spent my early years living in SO [ Greenhill Drive] and remember our regular saturday morning trips to the ABC cinema that stood where sainsbury's now stands. This bloke used to come on stage before the film and ask who's birthday it was in the coming week, if it were yours you got in free the following week. If i was telling the truth every time i put my hand up then i reckon i would be about 167 years old by now.... lol.

I was christened at St Mary's church, is that still there ?.

CH

It is that little cafe just after the railway bridge...

And St Mary's is still there - the one with the really tall steeple? Lovely church

I don't remember the ABC but I do remember them building Sainsbury's and Great Oak pub. Then they knocked down The Great Oak to extend Sainsbury's car park!

As a kid I used to love watching the buses come in and out of the bus garage whilst my dad was in B&Q!

And I never knew that about Birmingham Battery & Metal Co.! Remember the 3 big chimneys? They disappeared overnight. I also remember being scared as a kid when I saw the tallest chimney belching yellow-green smoke into the sky...

[mahill]

Originally Posted by Biosonic

Is there oil in Selly Oak?

Yes, it's what they fry the fish in at Big Johns' on the corner

[Blunther]

Originally Posted by mahill

Don't knock it sunshine! That used to be my favourite chippy!

Not least 'cos me cousin worked there, and used to pile me massive kebabs for free en route to the pub

[Sonny97]

I used to love going to the ABC Cinema, where Sainsbury's is now. Every Saturday when I was a kid 30 odd years ago me and my chums used to bimble down to watch the Saturday Matinee and throw sweets from the circle into the stalls below.

Shame it got flattened to make way for another bloody supermarket

oh and Big John's does a mean fish 'n' chips !

[CargoHold]

I found this link on the council website, if you are interested in the road layout then scroll down to the bottom of the page and download the PDF's.

http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/Generat...&MENU_ID=10935

CH

[morestoreysplease]

The ABC was our closest cinema until it was knocked down. I saw loads of films there including one of the absolute greats - JAWS in the summer of 76! The road used to be a 4 lane road like further down in Bournbrook with the shops and pubs set back. My Gran lived in Winnie Road parallel to Bristol Road (towards the hospital) Ahh Memories