Birmingham has a long and rich history and the names of George and Richard Cadbury are linked with the story of the City Their success in creating Cadbury’s Chocolate led to the building of their factory in Bournville. The brothers created a Garden Village around the factory to cater for their employees. Sadly Richard died before seeing the project completed although this spurred on George Cadbury to complete the project. Bournville village is now run by a Trust and is a legacy which is enjoyed by both residents and visitors to the area.
IgersbirminghamUK organised their first photographic Instameet of 2024 at Selly Manor which is part of Bournville Village Trust. Selly Manor also has a long story. The original building “Smythes Tenement” dated back to 1476. Over time, the building deteriorated and was split into separate dwellings called the “Rookery”. The house was saved from demolition by George Cadbury who brought the property in 1907 and relocated Selly Manor from Selly Oak to Bournville Garden Village. The House was rebuilt next to the Chocolate Factory in 1916 and opened as a museum.
Nearly 30 photographers arrived at the Museum on a bright sunny Saturday morning. We received a welcome from staff member, Daniel, who gave us an overview of the house and then encouraged us to visit the rest of the area. We were given a leaflet of the heritage trail that takes in all the notable buildings in the Bournville village. We have some excellent photographers in the IgersbirminghamUK ranks as evidenced by the pictures that emerged on Instagram. You can follow the pictures and reels from the day with the following tags and I have provided links to the relevant pages. Please take some time to visit the pages and see the wonderful pictures. Thanks to the other members of the IgersbirminghamUK team for their organisation and help with the meeting Nicky Warwickshire, LenaMac77 and James_never_Jim.
The following is a selection of my pictures from the Selly Manor and Bournville Village Visit.
Further reading on Selly Manor and the Bournville Village Trust.
Following on from Selly Manor some photographers moved onto the Bournville Quaker meeting House where one of the Quakers, Anne, was most kind and showed us around inside. The outside of the church does have a fairy castle feeling. Inside the large hall was impressive with light streaming through the windows. There is a raised platform with chairs and table from the Selly Manor museum. This, as Anne pointed out, is not used for worship as Quakers sit around in circles in the centre of the hall usually with a table. Anne then took us up to the balcony to see the organ and from here we were able to take pictures down into the hall. I was even fortunate that Anne agreed to be in my 100 Strangers project.
There is much more to see in and around the Bournville Village Trust and those photographs will have to wait till another day. I spend much of my time talking to other Instagrammers during an Instameet and do not get the opportunity to take that many photographs. Catching up with others and seeing what they have photographed is a bonus with such Instameets. After the meeting we headed off to the Glass House brewery by the canal in Stirchley. We had a good catch up including talking about that elusive picture that got away!
If you are interested in the @IgersbirminghamUK Instameets then I have other accounts on my blog with the one below as a starting point.
