B:Music has unveiled new historic gems at Birmingham Town Hall celebrating its illustrious music and cultural heritage. They range from Charles Dickens to Black Sabbath and The Beatles.
It includes a new blue plaque regarding Charles Dickens and new wall exhibits around the basement bar charting the iconic building’s history, created in partnership with Birmingham Music Archive and its Amplify volunteers.
The blue plaque, awarded by Birmingham Civic Society, honours how Dickens gave his first public reading of A Christmas Carol at Birmingham Town Hall on December 27, 1853. It will be erected in the atrium of the building.
It was unveiled by acclaimed Game Of Thrones actor Anton Lesser with Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Councillor Zafar Iqbal, on Monday December 15. It was ahead of the actor reading A Christmas Carol alongside The Orchestra of the Swan at the landmark.
While the bar walls in the lower floor now feature concert posters, gig tickets and key moments in social history.
Both are part of the wider Amplify Town Hall project, to refurbish the Town Hall and archive its history in order to protect its future. It has been supported with £123,651 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Through the project, B:Music and Birmingham Music Archive, with the help of 29 passionate volunteers, have compiled a new archive of over 1,500 items of memorabilia spanning Town Hall’s 191-year history. They have also captured audio memories, all of which are set to go into a new digital archive designed by Birmingham Open Media(BOM).
Jez Collins, Founder and Director of Birmingham Music Archive, said: “I’m thrilled that Birmingham Music Archive has supported this truly incredible project. We’re passionate about celebrating Town Hall’s wonderful heritage and protecting its future.
“By compiling a comprehensive archive from public and private collections, we’ve ensured these stories and memories are preserved for generations to come.”
Highlights include concert programmes and tickets from landmark performances, including Black Sabbath’s debut at Town Hall in April 1970 and The Beatles’ first performance in 1963.
There are also photos of notable performances during the 1970s by Kraftwerk, Earth, Wind & Fire, and John Martyn.
Visitors can also see historical posters including one showing Dickens performing and stage-managing a play at the Birmingham venue two years before A Christmas Carol.
Rachel Cranny, Head of Development and Impact at B:Music, the Birmingham music charity responsible for Town Hall, said: “Dickens had a genuinely special relationship with Birmingham, and his first readings at Town Hall marked a real moment in time for the city.
“He was very clear that he wanted these performances to be for working men and their families, which was highly unusual then and deeply important to him. Despite a wet and windy night, nearly 2,000 people attended and stayed for more than three hours as he read the story himself.
“The seating was cleared to allow as many people into Town Hall as possible, and the evening was a huge success. Dickens spoke of the great pleasure he took in sharing his ‘little Christmas book’ with the audience– a book that went on to become one of the most globally successful stories of all time.
“Those readings in Birmingham also marked the beginning of Dickens touring his own work, something he continued to do until his death.”
Nicola Gauld, Co-Chair of the Birmingham Civic Society Heritage Committee, added: “The Heritage Committee was intrigued to hear this story and strongly felt that it was a significant event in Birmingham’s past that should be commemorated and celebrated.”