A Tolkien Centre in Birmingham

The scant recognition in Birmingham that is accorded to world renowned author JRR Tolkien consistently surprises overseas enquirers, most of whom already know something of his connections to our city. So the Birmingham Tolkien Group (BTG) is working to establish a Tolkien Centre set in The Shire Country Park to commemorate the unique cultural legacy of our connections to Tolkien, his popular works and the landscape and people that inspired him.

I have developed PowerPoint presentations on the proposed Tolkien Centre and The Shire Country Park and have presented these to key individuals, local conservation, local history and community groups, who have given the concept a warm welcome. I’ve now produced a shorter version suitable for downloading as an Acrobat (pdf) file. All computers nowadays should have an Acrobat reader installed (if not, you can download one (free) from the Adobe website). You should be able to open the file by double clicking on it (then page down or page up through the slides). To download the file, right click on the file name, select ‘save target as’ from the drop down menu go to where you want the file to be on your computer.

tessntp.pdf

The following are the essential arguments:

A Tolkien Centre would serve the whole of Birmingham from a primary location within The Shire Country Park - ideally with an associated facility in Edgbaston near to the two towers. The strategic vision is of a Tolkien Centre in the Country Park to make Birmingham the world leader in recognising Tolkien. And, very importantly, it would promote sustainable living and engage communities through a state of the art eco-friendly building.

The Park and the Centre together would secure the future of many locations that influenced Tolkien, and should be essential elements in the heritage and tourism strategies for Birmingham. They will greatly enhance the image of the City at home and abroad. The most appropriate location would be near to Sarehole Mill and Tolkien’s childhood home.

There would be many community aspirations for a Tolkien Centre. For example: developing links with schools, colleges and libraries particularly on ecology and the environment; promoting literacy and wider interest in literature; expanding interest in history, heritage and Tolkien; helping to conserve crafts using skilled workers, artists and sculptors; encouraging creative and recreational activities; promoting sustainability and a deeper respect for the environment; building capacity to sustain the Park through volunteering. Hall Green Library already works closely with local schools, and a Tolkien artwork project had very good results.

Broader reasons for a Tolkien Centre include the enhancement of the City’s image through a distinctive building marking Tolkien’s unique connections with Birmingham. A world class eco-friendly building would also be a base for enjoying and conserving the Cole Valley - a green thread of biodiversity in the City - and encouraging lifestyles to combat climate change. A Tolkien Centre would be a notable addition to the City’s distinctive buildings and would signal Birmingham’s commitment to sustainable regeneration.

But could there be a fly in the Ointment? The Environment Agency would (outside of the South East!) object to building in the ‘100 year flood plane’. The Agencies original estimates showed extensive areas flooded on both sides of Cole Bank Road. But a consultant’s report commissioned by BTG shows that the area north of the Mill (behind it, in the main field for the Middle-earth weekend) is much less flooded - a judgement that is confirmed by local observations. So a Tolkien Centre located to the North of Sarehole Mill is the realistic alternative. But there remain many issues to resolve, not least among them that you cannot please everybody!

An Anglo-Saxon style hall would be a central feature of the design, as would sustainability. The Centre would be carbon neutral. This would be achieved by many means: green roofing would be used to reduce water run-off, improve insulation, produce oxygen and harmonise roofs with the local environment; photovoltaic panels would generate electricity backed up by a combined heat and power boiler; a small wind turbine would supplement power generation; there would be extensive use of timber in construction as a renewable resource for sustainability and to fit the aesthetics of the Centre and the Park.

In addition, geothermal heat would be drawn into the building from the surrounding land; a wind driven ventilation system would draw in fresh air from outside and expel stale air; a Ritter grid system for the car park would stabilise the ground and allows grass to grow through; rainwater collection would be used for recycling to flush toilets and a (possible) reed bed sewage system to keep down the load on the City’s treatment plants will be evaluated.

The Centre would use a timber pellet fuelled boiler, which would be carbon neutral using pollarded timber, most of it grown in The Shire Country Park; insulation levels would be well in excess of the building regulations in order to minimise heating requirements; heavy masonry walls where appropriate would provide a heat sump by absorbing sunlight; rammed earth would also be used in construction as local conditions allow.

The result would be a building that would be a great cultural asset for the whole city which would: be ecologically cutting edge; promote all forms of sustainability; act as a focus for life-long learning; be a lasting attraction in its own right; have an inspiring aesthetic reflecting its ideals; provide an anchor for the City’s Tolkien attractions and form a base for regenerating the River Cole Valley. So in giving long overdue recognition to Tolkien in Birmingham, the Centre would also be a building of which the whole of the City could justly be proud.