Digitising Town Hall Memories

Press Club member Alison Brinkworth (pictured) is helping to preserve memories of Birmingham’s iconic Town Hall.

Volunteering with a new project with the Birmingham Music Archive, she is helping to collect and digitise the Town Hall’s vast history “for the world to see.” And that includes not only its memorable gigs but also recording social history such as political rallies by the Suffragettes, Charles Dickens giving a public reading of his own works in 1853 – and the scene of rioting in 1901 on the occasion of a visit by David Lloyd George.

“Black Sabbath, Bob Dylan, Buddy Holly, Queen, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and many others have all performed at the Town Hall. I know a lot of journalists would have been involved in reviews – they may even have great stories from backstage or special guests who appeared and weren’t on the billing,” said Alison.

American singer Paul Robeson performed there in 1939 in aid of the Birmingham Mail Christmas Tree Fund

Special memorabilia & story collection drop-in sessions are being held at Symphony Hall on Saturday, 9 August; Saturday, 23 August and Saturday, 30 August. So if you have any old programmes, tickets, photos and audio-memories just turn up. Organisers will scan everything so no need to worry about handing over your treasured items for good.

“If people have any historical material but can’t get along to the drop-in sessions, perhaps they could email me at alisondayani@hotmail.com,” said Alison, who added: “The project is a really good way of preserving the Town Hall’s importance for the future, so hopefully we’ll hear from lots of people.”

The Grade I listed Town Hall, located in Victoria Square, opened in 1834 and was regarded as the first significant w the first significant work of the 19th-century revival of Roman architecture.