Lapworth Museum of Geology

The Lapworth Museum of Geology is located in the Aston Webb building at the University of Birmingham, where it forms a key part of the Earth Sciences department. The Lapworth dates back to 1880 and retains the original, Edwardian display cases, although it has recently won funding from the Lottery Heritage Fund for redevelopment.

The Lapworth Museum is named after Charles Lapworth, who was a geologist who worked in furthering the understanding of how mountains are made. He was the first Professor of Geology at Mason College, which became the University of Birmingham in 1898.

Charles Lapworth - Source

Much of the items on display at the museum are fossils, including shells, trilobites, crinoids and ammonites. There are samples of the Solnhofen Limestone as well as mineral samples from the surrounding area, especially the coal mining history of the Black Country.

Entry to the museum is free and it is fully wheelchair accessible. 

You can read more about the Natural Science collections ofthe West Midlands here.

The Lapworth Museum has a Twitter feed!

Trilobite!

 

The Lapworth Museum can be found in the Aston Webb building at the University of Birmingham (A Block).  The University can be reached by train on the cross-city line; head for University station. If you've never been to campus before, aim for the clock tower - Old Joe is in the courtyard in front of the Aston Webb building (it is the curved redbrick building - also worthy of a blog post due to the detail and sculptures above the main doors!)

The University can also be reached by bus - the 61 and 63 stop on the Bristol Road. The 98 and 99 stop by the Medical School, near the railway station. You can also drive, though parking on campus is limited, especially during term time. There are disabled bays near the museum entrance. 

The University website has a collection of maps and PDFs available - see here for more.

University of Birmingham Blue Plaque; Edward Elgar

"Sir Edward Elgar, composer, became the University's first Professor of Music in 1905"

Glacial Erratic; University of Birmingham

I did it! I found another one! I knew there was a glacial erratic somewhere on the University of Birmingham main Edgbaston campus, but I was never exactly sure where, and there has been a lot of work on campus with the construction of the Bramall Music Hall.

A few weeks ago, a friend and myself walked under the Bramall down a new flight of steps, and there it was! A huge boulder, perched on some grass. I will admit, I got very excited – but I am a geology student.

Note Michael for scale ;-)

This BBC page called ‘Walk Through Time’ alludes to the boulder being near the Physics building, but it isn’t exact.

The BCGS Geology Matters website has an interesting article on the origin of these huge boulders – I had always assumed that they were from the last ice age, but maybe they are even older deposits?

Canal Walk; University to Stirchley

This walk heads south, from the University of Birmingham to Stirchley, along the Worcester and Birmingham Canal. The walk took me about an hour. This route is popular with cyclists and joggers so be prepared to move aside!

I joined the canal via a hole in a wall, near to University railway station (building on the left).

The canal towpath goes over a new bridge that was built as part of the new relief road work. The cross winds up here are quite powerful!!!

At the Selly Oak Railway Bridge, on the left hand side, a graffiti-ed wall can be seen. This is the start of a railway bridge - I'm not sure if it was ever used, but it would have taken the railway in the direction of Harborne.

Towards the end of the walk, you go past the back of the Cadbury factory! Sundays are Dairy Milk days ;-)

This was a really pleasant walk to do on my way home from work on a lazy sunny Sunday! The canal carries on from Stirchley towards King's Norton Junction, but I decided to leave the path here.

University of Birmingham Blue Plaque; Charles Lapworth

"University of Birmingham. Charles Lapworth, undertook pioneering work into the formation of mountain belts, 1882-1883"

He also went crazy doing so.

The Earth Sciences student society is named LapSoc (Lapworth Society) in his honour, though this is routinely changed with some sort of pun for their socials (Lashworth, Lapizza, Lapsausage etc.) The Museum is also named after him.

This plaque can be seen on the wall of the Lapworth Museum of Geology at the University of Birmingham, main campus.

University of Birmingham; King Edward VII

"His Majesty King Edward VII opened these buildings July 7th 1909, and concluded his address thus; 'To you the students I say that the honour and dignity of this university are largely in your hands and I look to you to initiate and hand down worthy traditions to your successors.' 

This statue was presented to the university by Alderman Francis Corder Clayton, the first Pro-Vice Chancellor, to commemorate the opening of the university by His Majesty King Edward VII"

Statue can be found in the Aston Webb building on the main Edgbaston Campus of the University of Birmingham.

University of Birmingham Blue Plaque; Fred Shotton

"University of Birmingham. Frederick Shotton. Furthered understanding of climate change 1949-1974"

On the wall outside the Lapworth Museum of Geology, on the Edgbaston campus of the University of Birmingham.

Fred Shotton was also key to the D-Day Landings. Read more here and here.

University of Birmingham Blue Plaque; Physics

"John Henry Poynting. First Professor of Physics; determined the mass of the earth in Birmingham in 1890"

Winterbourne House and Garden

I visited Winterbourne House and Garden on June 10^th, as part of the University of Birmingham’s ‘Community Day’, with my sister. We had always known about Winterbourne; I have visited the house before, and my sister had a work ‘do’ here a while ago, but neither of us had properly explored the gardens before. (I did a mini blog about the Community Day here)

The entrance fee was £1 for Community Day, it is usually £4 (prices can be seen on their website). The entrance is sited at the end of a driveway; the house is set back from Edgbaston Park Road. One sight that always makes me smile here is the sheer amount of bees on the plants along the pathway! I thought it was lavender bushes, but Winterbourne tells me it is in fact Nepeta.

Inside the house are a few rooms which have been opened up to allow you to explore and get a feel for what the house was like when it was a private residence. As an aside, my Nan used to work for Nettlefold! There is a little train track, some clothes that were worn, old books, tobacco boxes, and all sorts of nooks and crannies to explore.

Outside, there is a terrace where you can sit and have dinner if the weather is fine enough. The terrace overlooks the formal garden, with its’ lawns and flower borders. My sister and I went to explore the garden, so off we went down some steps and under the lime trees.

I then decided to go through a gap in the hedge – what a good decision! It opened up into another part of the garden, with hidey spaces, benches, and bee hives! We decided to stay on the lawns instead of the paths, and carried on:

We then came across a little gem; the woodland garden. I LOVE things like this; it reminds me of going to the Lost Gardens of Heligan a few years ago. It was such a surprise to see this in a Birmingham suburb, it really is somewhere you should all visit!

Here are some pics, though I feel like this blog and the pictures won’t do it justice.

It really is a place to visit to get the feeling yourself. More pics are up on my flickr account, and you can also read more at these links:

Visit Birmingham 

Trip Advisor 

And of course, their own website: 

L x

Pics taken by me and/or my sister, June 10th. Feel free to nick 'em or visit and take your own. Click for bigger.

Old Joe, University of Birmingham

Old Joe is the clocktower at the University of Birmingham’s main Edgbaston campus. I can remember staring at this clock when I was a child, as we went past on the train into town. I can remember knowing that one day I would go to the University of Birmingham and study there. It was also how I knew we were nearly home – look for the clock face illuminated over Selly Oak. I suspect many people still do this today.

I got lost in the area of Bournbrook a few months ago; I saw Old Joe rising through the trees and I ended up finding my way to the Bristol Road. He’s a good egg.

Anyway! Old Joe is a freestanding clock tower, and is quite tall (~100m) and was built without scaffolding, which for the early 20^th Century was quite an achievement.

Many students are suspicious of Old Joe – there is a myth (fact?) that if you walk under the tower as it chimes, you will fail your exams. Also, if it chimes 13 you’ll fail your degree. I’ve both stood underneath as it chimed, and heard it chime 13. Guess I’ve got no chance then!

More information can be read here and here. There is a breeding pair of peregrine falcons nesting at the top and they return every year. They can be heard and seen flying around the top of the tower in Spring. The inscription around the edge says;

"THIS TOWER COMMEMORATES THE FOUNDING OF THE UNIVERSITY THROUGH THE INITIATIVE AND ACTIVE ENCOURAGEMENT OF ITS FIRST CHANCELLOR THE RIGHT HONOURABLE JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN" [Wiki]

As an aside, I read an article that stated the Edgbaston campus was the inspiration for Isengard of LOTR fame – this provided quite a laugh, but I wonder…

L x

Photo was taken by me on June 10th.