West Midlands

C20 West Midlands – Lillington and more

Hello Members and Friends in the West Midlands

There are just a few places left on Saturday 26 November’s walk encompassing the delights of Art Deco, Fedeski and Gibberd in Royal Leamington Spa, led by Anna Douglas and John Brightley, starting at 10.30 at Our Lady’s Lillington (lifts are being organised from the station so if you need a lift just ask and mention your train arrival time when emailing to book). As usual for our walking tours the cost is £5 for members and £10 for non-members, payable in cash on the day, students and trainees free of charge.

Further ahead, a diary alert for a trip to Broadway on Sunday 26 February 2017, details to follow, where we will be looking at how the Arts and Crafts style endured throughout the 20th century in Broadway, becoming the vernacular for both new and conservation projects, and how a giant of C20 design, Gordon Russell, flourished in this small Cotswold town.

The funding of Walsall’s New Art Gallery is under threat, and although Caruso St John’s building itself is not intended to be affected, there is always a concern for the consequences of a change of use, viz the new Design Museum. There is a petition on –

https://www.change.org/p/walsall-art-gallery-closure-of-walsall-art-gallery-yet-another-significant-social-demise-of-identity?source_location=topic_page

which takes less than a minute to ‘sign’.

Thanks to one of our local members for alerting us to: ‘Midlands Modern – from 1930 to 1980 – Design and manufacturing in the Midlands’, an exhibition at Birmingham City University’s Parkside Gallery which is on until January 14, and includes Chance Glass, Tibor, Old Hall, Duport and Gordon Russell.

http://www.bcu.ac.uk/parkside-gallery/exhibitions.

Having mentioned Christmas, it is only fair to help you with your presents list –

Apply online for The Twentieth Century Society membership subscription for a loved one by 12 December to ensure that their membership pack arrives in good time to put under the tree. And don’t forget that C20 books, such as 100 Buildings 100 Years and 50 Architects 50 Buildings or our C20 Architects series, make perfect presents. Show them you care.

And finally, you may be interested in the news just in today that a pair of 1930s Lamp Standards on The Bancroft, opposite the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon have been listed at Grade II in their own right.