Birmingham TV and Film Walking Tour
On Thursday 26th June, Kathryn Lennon-Johnson set off on walking tour of Birmingham for the Love Architecture Festival 2014, visiting locations used in film and TV. Luckily she wasn't alone, and was joined by Lisa Deering from Glancy Nicholls, Martin Simms from Film Birmingham and Mark Wilson from BTVFLOC.
The group led a tour of 18 people from TV production, education, local authority, automotive and construction.
- The group hearing from Martin Simms (Film Birmingham) about cinematic explosions in Victoria Square, next to the Council House and Town Hall
- The group listening to Lisa Deering (Glancy Nicholls) on the incredible acoustics of St Paul’s church
Amongst other things, we learnt:
- Charles Dickens performed the premiere of A Christmas Carol in the Town Hall
- St Philip’s cathedral was originally a church, and is actually constructed of brick with a stone façade
- An application was made in 2003 to demolish the Grand Hotel, but it was spot-listed by the Victorian Society
- Producers and directors always try to create a bank robbery scene after they’ve visited the Municipal Bank vaults
- The glass lightwells of the WWII Council House mortuary can be seen in Gas Hall (off Edmund Street)
- Tiswas was filmed for £300 an episode, including paying all the presenters
- Pete Postlethwaite’s emotional ‘Albert Hall’ speech in Brassed Off was actually filmed in the Town Hall
- The Hall of Memory is built on a filled-in canal basin
Kathryn and Lisa are both committee members of NAWIC, the National Association of Women in Construction. For more information about NAWIC's activities and events, please visit www.nawic.co.uk
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