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Birmingham Old Central Fire Station HQ Inside Pics--->>>



  2004 1.5 DCi 80 Dyna
Im not sure if people are interested, but this is what I do when im not shouting at my clio for one reason or another...


**PIC HEAVY**

Unlike most explores I do, this one was with permission from the owners.

From the front, you are met with 11 Big Red Bay Doors which allowed the engines out to an emergency, the building was built in 1934 and the architecture is amazing

A shame that in time, not so far in the future, the building will be knocked down, saving only the red doors and the clock tower which will be incorporated into a new mixed use building (but mostly student housing).

The fire station was decommissioned in December 2008 and moved down the road about 2 miles away to a brand new state-of-the-art building that can work well with current technologies.

West Midland Fire Service spent 12 months consulting with B'ham City Council for the best use of the building after they left.

The building still has a lot of character, even though most of the rooms are empty offices. On the top floor of the main building, there is something that you would not expect to see when looking at it from the outside (see pictures)

Many of the floors are wood laid, creaking as you walk on them. There are underground tunnels that were used for training and as with all fire stations, a training tower (locked :dapprove: )

This site was used not so long ago by the BBC for filming of the new series of Survivors.

For a bit more on the building, this is a good site to read...

http://expbirmingham.wordpress.com/2007/10/23/the-west-midlands-fire-service-hq/


Anyway, nuff babble, onto the images.

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All the doors to the pole were locked, so I could only get a shot from the bottom, no ride in the fireman's pole for me:eek:

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Fire Service Carpet :D

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.

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Through these doors was something I really wasn't expecting to see...

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An old band photo...

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Control Room...

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Views from the tower, the clock was sealed away...

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B.A. Storage area...

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Tunnel training instructions...

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Hi Hiiii

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For more pics (yes there are more!) please visit my website, www.photoaddiction.co.uk

D-UK
 
We should be preserving these wonderful art-deco buildings! Not knocking them down!

Great bit of work!

I said the same last time I went to liverpool and passed through an area with some great period buildings that were boarded up and being left to fall apart. The government is always complaining about housing shortages yet there are perfectly salvagable buildings that could easily be reused.
 
  172 cup
Never even knew a fire station like that existed. It is fooking HUGE. Far too big for what they need it for so can see why they have moved
 
  1998 BMW e46 323i
An old gf used to live in the tower block across the road from there at Uni. The noise as the gates opened used to wake me up 13 stories high,..

Epic photos, and what a shame Aston University is swallowing it up!
 
  2004 1.5 DCi 80 Dyna
Cheers for the feedback everyone, I didn't know whether or not people would like these kind of images.

2 images from this set of pictures will now be a late entry for my exhibition in Birimgham from August to September: www.hygt.co.uk

Never even knew a fire station like that existed. It is fooking HUGE. Far too big for what they need it for so can see why they have moved

It was actually the Birmingham Fire Head Quarters, all the rooms were for different departments, only the lower floor of the main building was dedicated to the appliances.

[edit]

Great set of photos, that last one messes with my head - two exposures?

Yeah, I took one of me in the mirror and one I set the camera to timer and went out of view, cut out the mirror with me in, in photoshop and added it to the empty pic.
 
Last edited:
  megane/clio
great pictures , worked there as a fireman...ooops firefighter i mean quite a few times , pity its closed in my opinion , and the cobbles in the yard can't be touched apparently as they are listed so i'm told :)
 

Gally

Formerly Mashed up egg in a cup
ClioSport Club Member
Fantastic mate! Who owns the building now?

I've never seen a fire station with so many bay doors!
 
  2004 1.5 DCi 80 Dyna
camelbak?

The water thing? no, its a bottle attachment so you can screw it onto any standard size bottle, good if you don't have room for a water pouch. Get em from Home Bargains for 99p

The company who are the developers are Watkin Jones.
 

riz

ClioSport Club Member
  Jaguar XFR
Nice, i take it you were from that other website that went down.
Have you done ITV and Five ways ?
 
  2004 1.5 DCi 80 Dyna
Nice, i take it you were from that other website that went down.
Have you done ITV and Five ways ?


28days?

Haven't done five ways tower (there is a security guard at the bottom of it now)


but have been back and forth to Central studios, most of my pics can be found on my archive website: www.fotoarc.co.uk
 

koi

  Audi S1
Stunning building, crazy that they are knocking it down. They should try to keep as much of the original features as possible, give it some character rather than make another run of the mill new build.
 
  FF RB 182
Amazing photos! Love them all!!!

shame they are going to be student accommodation as I don't think they will appreciate it.
 
  "Navy" N17 TWO
^ +1
Should be made into some sort of museum for the Fire Service
Excuse the pun but hose pics are on fire! :)
 


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