Culture on your doorstep – Billesley common

Billesley Common 1st edition Ordinance Survey 1831 This work is based on data provided through www.VisionofBritain.org.uk and uses historical material which is copyright of the Great Britain Historical GIS Project and the University of Portsmouth

Here’s Billesley Common in 1831.  A fair bit has changed since then (see the map below).  Maps are a great place to start finding out about a place – there’s also some great images of Billesley Common, historical and other:

The Transport War Memorial on Billesely Common & Doug Smith’s book about it

We also have historical websites, like William Darque’s excellent A History of Birmingham Places and Placenames, and access to related statistics too, on sites like Vision of Britain

Billesley Common New popular edition Ordinance Survey 1945 This work is based on data provided through www.VisionofBritain.org.uk and uses historical material which is copyright of the Great Britain Historical  GIS Project and the University of PortsmouthAdd caption

There’s more sources we can find, giving us more statistics, more photos, more information.   Billesley was the site of one of the earliest council estates in Birmingham; It is also an area identified as a ‘priority area’ with ‘multiple factors of deprivation’, so it’s not surprising to find a rich source of information from the city council (and indeed the Police).

So what’s missing?  Why spend time focusing on an area which is already so well documented historically?

I guess for me it’s all about who is involved in writing those ‘histories’, how they are presented and what control the people who own those ‘stories’ have.  And that’s why we’re looking to work in Billesley – building on conversations we have already documented as part of ‘Stories from the Mill‘ project.

Billesely Stories – a project for which we are applying for funding is about documenting and representing the stories of people who live and work in Billesley.  We will document conversations, training and leading local volunteers to interview each other.  We will be working with local people and artists in whatever media appropriate – photography, film, dance, sculpture, poetry – whatever.  We will exhibit or perform in Billesley too – by local people, for local people, in the locality.