Bull Ring Shopping Centre (1965) | Birmingham | Promotional Film

The film was made by the Bull Ring Centre's developers, John Laing & Son (the firm behind the M1 motorway construction and Coventry Cathedral), who had established their own in-house film unit in the 1950s. It intended to lure not prospective shoppers but the town planners and government officials who might stump up the cash for such grandiose civil engineering projects. Despite the film's relentless optimism, Birmingham's first Bull Ring centre dated quickly: plans for a re-design were being circulated not twenty years after completion. Its replacement finally opened in 2003.
This bright and breezy promotional film explores every concrete corner of Birmingham's original mega-mall, from planning and construction to the site's official opening, attended by Prince Philip. Shopaholics, nostalgists and fans of Brutalist architecture alike may marvel at the mall's serene arcades, continental cafes and modern piazzas - a vision of modernity in concrete and piped muzak.

[@carolfox1438]

What a wonderful surprise to find this film after 56 years! I worked for John Laing in the Bull Ring Centre from 1961 - 1966 and took part in this film. I’m the girl in red arriving in the car park and walking up the escalator (9 mins), also sitting in Gino’s restaurant. It’s the first time I’ve seen it, but I remember it well… it’s brought back so many happy memories. I want to thank the person who took the trouble to upload it… it’s amazing!

[@TheMLMGold]

You look lovely in the video. Great retro and nostalgia for a long gone age

[@andystreet4022]

As a Laing employee, you may recall my late Father in Law Roy Selway. He loved the work Laing did there and I believe Roy held a very prominent position as Purchasing Agent for the Company. I was very fortunate to accompany Roy to several Friends of Laing lunches/dinners and met Lord and Lady Laing personally.

[@carolfox1438]

@@andystreet4022 oh goodness, yes I remember Roy very well. In fact he and his wife came to my wedding in 1964. My husband worked with Roy at the Calthorpe Road office as his buyer. What a small world! Thanks so much for commenting on my post.

[@andystreet4022]

@@carolfox1438 ...... both Roy (2014) and Vi (2023) are no longer with us I'm afraid. They enjoyed many happy years of retirement. I married their daughter Carol in 1997 and we had two wonderful children Eva and Harry. It saddens me to say that we also lost Carol in the Pandemic of 2020 to Cancer at just 53 years of age. Roy was more than a Father in Law, he was "old school" and very well liked by many. He was my buddy. Whenever he talked about Laing, his face would glow with pride, I imagine you all had a great time together.

[@carolfox1438]

Yes, Roy was a real gentleman. We enjoyed many happy times together at various Laing functions. My husband Peter, who sadly passed away in 2018, always spoke very highly of him and enjoyed the working relationship they had together. I’ll have to dig out my old wedding photos… Roy and Vi will definitely be on them! So sorry to hear that Carol has also passed away, and at such a young age. The last few years must have been very difficult for you and your family.

[@midsummermellie2277]

I have never been able to see this film - but I am the lost child (although my name is not Elise). My mum and I were asked to take part as my dad worked for John Laing. I have some recollection of the day so thank you for bringing back to memory. Can't believe how vintage it looks.

[@millomweb]

I miss that Birmingham. The 'Concrete Collar', the pedestrian underpasses - now cars and peds share the same roads again just like this shopping centre avoided. My decade in Brum was 1996 to 2006 and looking at this, I'm guessing I never found the Bull Ring Shopping Centre. Pallasades, crossed the bridge with a few shops on it and nothing further to get excited about. Had lots of it closed down by then ? Ballroom - now there's a shock - and car in lifts to the car park on top. And I wonder what happened to the 'This is the centre of Brum' blue plaque that was on the ring-road bridge the ped ramp went down to go underneath?

[@mitchsmith71]

Wow, what a find for you, cool.... so, you must be knocking on nearly 60 now then? :-o

[@millomweb]

@@mitchsmith71 Aren't we all !

[@mitchsmith71]

@@millomweb no, not me, this film was made before I was born... I only remember the old Bull Ring in the 80's, and from memory, it was a bit rubbish. Looked a better time back then.

[@samkan1922]

Midsummer Mellie why you lying

[@golden.lights.twinkle2329]

I lived in nearby Coventry and a visit to Birmingham was a visit to the 'big city'. The Bull Ring was marvellous when it first opened but it all went quickly down hill from there. The nice shops didn't last long, the supermarket closed, the 'clientele' got to be less desirable and shoppers deserted it for the rest of the city centre. In the end it was a place to be avoided for safety reasons. Everything seen in this video has now been demolished.

[@rogerdoger3347]

Birmingham is not that big. it's very segregated in areas people are not integrated or educated, lots of racism and divisions. Locals are miserable and demented , lots of mental health issues in Birmingham. People are depressed and poverty and crime is the highest.

[@richardsimcock4043]

Swing and a miss! My Birmingham is one of the most integrated cities on Earth. Brum has always been a melting pot.. since the beginning! There have always been racists.. but my wonderful home city is not divided. Don’t let the liars influence you. Come and visit! We are a friendly bunch

[@rogerdoger3347]

@@richardsimcock4043 Rubbish Birmingham is very racist and segregated areas are segregated by ignorance and choice locals hate outsiders and older and younger generations are racist, brummies don't like blacks or foreigners as thier nieghbours hence why many moved out to the outer areas of Birmingham the city and region is full of bad mental health issues poverty and drug problems

[@g-dave8002]

@@rogerdoger3347 just want to make sure we are speaking about Birmingham, UK and not Birmingham, Alabama in the US. Alabama is an extremely backwards and racist state, but Birmingham in the UK (where Bull Ring is) does not seem to be a racist place. But I could be wrong.

[@rogerdoger3347]

@g-dave8002 Birmingham UK as locals in Birmingham are demented and backwards look at the state of areas in Birmingham and locals are miserable and live in thier caves and have racist attitudes no integration in Birmingham many suffer from mental health issues and people are poor and on drugs and most live on social high unemployment levels city is suffering from poverty and crime issues .

[@jaymahoney1363]

It still looked similar in the 80s and 90s 😊

[@georgygeorge4599]

Much more civilised than today

[@rogerdoger3347]

Really ?

[@numberstation]

@@rogerdoger3347Yes, really.

[@rogerdoger3347]

@numberstation loads of racism and segregation issues in Birmingham and west midlands then and nothing changed lots of bigoted people crime ,poverty and drugs issues in Birmingham and west midlands.

[@numberstation]

@@rogerdoger3347 Christ, you’re like a bloody broken record. How about looking at the appalling rise in violent crime in Birmingham in recent years? You know, something that isn’t just a matter of opinion? According to figures published by the Office of National Statistics, between 2011 and 2021 violent crime resulting in injury went from 8,177 to 16,025 per year. That’s a rise of 96%. Murders increased from 22 to 31 per year, an increase of 40.9%. Now search online for “Birmingham UK St*bbing/M*rder/Sh*outing (obviously filling in the missing letters) and click on images. You think it was like this back in 1965? You’re an idiot.

[@numberstation]

@@rogerdoger3347 Christ, you’re like a broken record, the same thing over and over again. You’re obsessed. Why not look at something that isn’t just a matter of opinion but a matter of statistical fact, like the appalling rise in violent crimes in Birmingham? ONS figures show an increase from 8177 to 16025 per year from 2011 to 2021, that’s a rise of 96%. Homicides went from 22 to 31 per year, a rise of 40.9%. Now search Birmingham UK st*bbing/sh**ting/m*rder and click on images. Don’t go pretending it was always like this. Things WERE more civilised.

[@stevenmccabe4700]

Wow, I'd forgotten what the 'old' Bull Ring was intended to be; a modernist extravaganza of comfort and choice for shoppers. I recall going there in the late 1960s when it was regarded as a testimony to Birmingham's forward-thinkng and confidence. It's easy to forget that the city, largely based on manufacturing - especially automotive - was booming. The 1970s undermined all that and by the 1980s under Thatcher Birmingham felt very different. By the 1990s the Bull Ring was seen as typifying a decaying city and hopelessness. What's replaced it is undoubtedly an improvement but this film clearly shows the sense of optimism of the post-war reconstruction. However. It must be said, what the Luftwaffe started, the city planners finished.

[@ajs41]

Birmingham was wealthier than London in the early 1960s.

[@smartchip]

@@ajs41 banksters sorted that, they are the overlords, because we gave em the power,

[@iainmc9859]

We share a name and probably essentially the same Brummie experience. I don't think we're closely related as my Dad was from Scotland and Brum has a large Irish contingent. Maybe back 'In the old country', although I've never got past the bars in Dublin myself.

[@robinbrum]

From an aesthetic point of view concrete doesn't age well and I was glad to see the back of the old Bullring. The new version utilises the space well they did a great job on St Martins. I still find the shopping centre bland beyond belief and completely lacking in character but maybe that's the nature of such places. I still miss the old open market and Manzoni gardens with the King Kong statue!

[@Paratus7]

Thatcher? You are blaming Birmingham’s demise on Thatcher?! Unbelievable. Go there today.

[@salaf4609]

I miss the old bullring 😢

[@magesterium2485]

Wonderful montage of the Birmingham bullring Shopping centre. Look how smartly people were dressed up to go there. Lovely smiley people .

[@misslaurap]

everyone was so much happier looking then and they looked smart it was a like a day out

[@rogerdoger3347]

Everyone In Birmingham today is miserable and angry and frustrated.

[@richardsimcock4043]

@@rogerdoger3347Here you go again.. nope! Brum is wonderful. Friendliest place in the UK!

[@rogerdoger3347]

@@richardsimcock4043 Birmingham friendly lol its very segregated and racist locals hate outsiders, no one talks to each other in Birmingham the city and region is full of mental health issues most are depressed and miserable ,Birmingham is grey depressing and locals are rude and hostile.

[@musiclover5023]

I remember going to the Bull Ring every Saturday with my mother. I always got bored, Lol

[@_threepointedcircle_]

Two things that stand out to me. Everyone seems to be smartly dressed, and there's absolutely no litter anywhere.

[@HOPPOVERSION1]

That's when people had respect

[@ThingsiHateLots]

@@HOPPOVERSION1 that’s when there was no excess packaging for people to litter

[@brucelawson]

Well, yes. it's a promotional video, not a documentary.

[@_threepointedcircle_]

@@brucelawson if you tried to do promotional stuff in brum now you'd struggle to clean it up

[@jakeb7912]

Now the chavs are destroying Birmingham lol.

[@g6isa]

I’m still nostalgic for the Bull Ring I knew as a kid in the late 40’s and 1950’s. The old Market Hall, the street traders Hobby’s, the speakers on Saturday night.....

[@nealeTH]

I love the optimism of this film

[@keyfizz]

Anyone remember the Telly Savalas narrated one. ..."Birming haaaam my kinda town".

[@midgecooper1772]

As a small child in the seventies, shopping in Brum I was fascinated by all the different paving materials on the floors and pavements, including rubber tiles in the underpasses. Sad but true. I would love to time travel back there, just for a day.

[@richardsimcock4043]

I used to love that too! Manzoni gardens had some crazy paving, as did the roundabout by St Chad’s where the Kennedy mural used to be. The new new Bull Ring is not a fun place to be. It may have loads of shops but you can’t sit down.. it’s a shame too! Brum has great people to watch go by. Aah well! Old man rant over.

[@daviddarrall9384]

Why can't we shop like this today?

[@LawNerdSoph]

20 years before I was born. I still remember the old Bullring style before they changed it in 2003

[@theshamanarchist5441]

No one cares.

[@vordman]

It only lasted thirty years before being demolished and completely re-designed. That must be some sort of record for such a big building.

[@MartinHannett_]

Not at all, lots of residential buildings were torn down after 20, some as low as 15!

[@MartinHannett_]

There was an award winning eco-Sainsbury's store built in Greenwich around the 2000s. It lasted 10 years and was demolished despite being in every design magazine at the time. EDIT: I just looked it up, TWO YEARS is all it lasted!

[@vordman]

@@MartinHannett_ How odd, maybe there was something wrong with the foundations.

[@MartinHannett_]

@@vordman No. They moved 200 metres away and the land was bought by IKEA. It’s a disgrace!

[@saxongreen78]

Yeah...in Melbourne we had a number of skyscrapers built in the 1960s that had to be torn down after 25-30 years because they had Sick Building Syndrome...they were all built upon the rubble of ornate, expensive Bluestone Victoriana which had stood for 90+ years. Stupidity.

[@bluerose35]

Back on the memory lane. A trip to Bullring out door market, the donut shop @ the top of stairs, the Woolworths, and the fish market. OMG, those were the days.

[@duffbaker9554]

Mid-1960's modernism. The jet-age. Simply smashing!

[@ajs41]

Optimism is a good thing. For the last 20 years or so it's been fashionable to be pessimistic and I'm not sure that's a good thing.

[@2000mk1]

I bet any money that A) None of the business's originally in the old market made it in to the new Bull Ring and B) That staff to park your car ended shortly after it had opened.

[@MartinHannett_]

Yes and history is repeating itself. In sheffield the Castle Market, a 60s icon in itself, was actually loved for its time warp appearance inside and out. So i've heard it was demolished a couple of years back and the new market has fell flat on its arse.

[@MartinHannett_]

@a one That's not the impression I got from reading online but I suppose there are many who would view it with rose tinted specs. There is a similarly timewarp building here in Glasgow called The Savoy Centre which has a gloriously 60s interior - alas it's to be renovated imminently, it may already have been in fact.

[@Barcrest]

Yeah that car park didn't last long at all. It used some automated system that constantly failed i believe and just became a huge pigeon coup.

[@annother3350]

It'll be sad if all this architecture goes

[@taiterobinson793]

Patrick Bradley IV been to the savoy centre recently as I live not far from Glasgow and it’s still pretty much a nice tacky place as it’s always been

[@josephwilliamhack-myers599]

I would have loved to grow up in the 60s and the 70s!

[@cheriegoodwin6819]

I did it was a totally different world, loved it..

[@sheranlanger247]

Oh my god, the song has just come back to me.... At the Bull Ring shopping centre There's a smile on every face From the moment that you enter You know it's a friendly place There're shops galore And so much more And a famous indoor market Come by bus or come by car There's a place where you can park it It's the place to shop with the family One stop shopping variety With pubs and restaurants if you want a snack Once you've been you'll want to come back Whatever you need you'll find it at The Bull Ring shopping centre 😀😁

[@Jehannum2000]

No way could you remember all of that!? The first and last lines are all I recall.

[@mabeluk6272]

Omg me too still have a bus ticket with the gollywogg on. I worked at the bullring at one of the stalls inside upstairs. The lighthouse in 1982

[@leisureandlifestyle8400]

Excellent video preserving local history forever

[@sandrahassan42]

This brought tears seeing.everything was just so perfect. Even the casual dress was so posh. My mama loved to shop and of course with me moan crying 😊Miss you mama 1935~2010 BIRMINGHAM IS AN AMAZING CITY WITH AMAZING PEOPLE. Just the few that’s spoiling it in 2018. Just look back how it use to be. God bless Birmingham

[@Yestes]

Mitchell C Birmingham twinned with Baghdad

[@vordman]

All so civilized and respectable. Decent white people, not some multi-racial hellhole. Sigh. If only we could go back to those days.

[@golden.lights.twinkle2329]

People never really dressed like that in the Bull Ring.

[@robinhoodsherwood2646]

​@@vordmanare you there?

[@richardsimcock4043]

@@vordmanI love all my Brummies. Wherever they started their lives or however they live them. My Brum loves everyone. Peace!

[@CancerGaming56]

This Birmingham is so familiar yet so different.

[@martinharrison7927]

Am I the only person in the world that loves 60s architecture

[@MartinHannett_]

Not at all, it's a growing movement but sadly amidst the demolition of many of the great examples of it. The Tricorn Portsmouth is already lamented by many.

[@vickywitton1008]

yes

[@sputumtube]

Not at all. I was brought up with this. To me it's beautiful, optimistic and hopeful of a new age far removed from the drudgery of past times. Such a shame that it wasn't embraced by so many people who were determined to live in an era much less forward-thinking. And now, half a century later all these wonderful buildings, open spaces and design innovations became, until recently, squalid, post-apocalyptic looking wastelands covered in grafitti, infested by drug-dealing scum-bags among a festival of litter and boarded-up, once thriving shops. The re-generation of the Bull Ring now is a wonderfully successful fresh approach in the spirit of the architects shown here.

[@Frankiezollo58]

Some of it was creative but a lot of it is poorly planned. It didn't help when the concrete became streaky. The Birmingham library was in the style of Prince Charles a monsterous carbuncle. The Rotunda and the Bt tower though look futuristic and have stood the test of time.

[@danielward9898]

Disagree. The 1960s Bullring ended up being a smelly and crime ridden disaster. You're romanticising an architectural disaster.

[@lespion7411]

It's so sweet and naive, it feels just like Walt Disney talking about his idea for Disney Land

[@robertmcmillan3638]

Yeah. It's like the Jetsons or something.

[@tonyhurley2668]

Used to love nothing more than spending our weekends up "town". Birmingham was a great place to grow up.

[@smartchip]

Yeah bruv, I agree, town, been awhile since I said that, fellow brummie, born & raised,

[@tonyhurley2668]

A great city mate.👌🏻

[@adeh503]

Uptown and going into the oasis market, best place ever, you could buy everything in there

[@Ross.Cavendish]

Being narrated by Richard Baker, this sounds like an episode of "Mary, Mungo & Midge".

[@mick5296]

Remember riding on the top deck of midland red buses and seeing the footings being dug and construction going on of the Bullring. later as a teenager, going into town and loving the atmosphere of the bullring, especially at christmas !. Happy times

[@blankblank5547]

mick what age are you now??

[@michaelggriffiths]

Man, the atmosphere was amazing!! Lost forever now. Nostalgia overload!

[@dodgydruid]

Telly Sevalas aka Kojak narrated another Birmingham publicity film I seem to remember.

[@2760ade]

This place was a toilet from day one! Grey horrible concrete that looked old even before it opened. The damp subways and staircases permanently smelt of urine and were positively dangerous at night. I'm so glad that Birmingham has rejuvenated itself and is so much more optimistic in its architecture now. Incidentally, what happened to the big gorilla that I remember being, I think, near the open air market section?

[@nativenewlondoner]

😂Toilet is about right.

[@rogerdoger3347]

​@@nativenewlondonerBirmingham always been a toilet its worse today and the state of locals.

[@alanwareham7391]

I left school in 1964 and my first job was in the Bull Ring Centre, thank you for reminding me of the memories of so long ago when I worked in the stall opposite Pearce and son at Simpson bros .But it’s hard to believe that it was 56 years ago

[@xrpaul877]

What a wonderful progress we made since then ;-) People engaged with their cell phones all day, multiculturalism, online shopping......progress is not always for the better.

[@user-mc1yd9bp5x]

Multiculuralism is even in Spain lots of English people there

[@MickAngelhere]

I used to go to the Bull ring market in the nineties with ten pounds and buy food there , all very different now

[@buskingkarma2503]

That's the bull ring I remember as a kid!👀😍 I moved away when I got older,,but I have fond memories,one in particular is,,being on my dad's shoulders walking through the crowds,the things I'd see up there on his shoulders as a young child was amazing!

[@imansfield]

Oh I so want to go and have a Pepsi at Gino’s. Those umbrellas make it so continental!

[@Theocracy8]

This video makes a fine addition to the British culture and history of buildings. Look at the people back then, some are now very old and some have already gone. Now I'm depressed

[@Jehannum2000]

*Most* have died, except the kids.

[@smartchip]

Beautiful, as a brummie born & raised, I remember the olde bull ring as a school kid,

[@tutornick]

Fascinating film. Very striking how they completely ignore Moor Street Station and barely mention New Street. Totally car and bus centred.

[@Merseysiderful]

Four years later in 1969 Richard Baker was the narrator on the animation series “Mary, Mungo and Midge.”

[@mistofoles]

He also narrated "TEDDY EDWARD" !

[@Jehannum2000]

"Do you live in a town?"

[@Richard-dg7bf]

I like it when they're going up in the lift.

[@Richard-dg7bf]

TheRenaissanceman65 "Do you live in a town?"

[@rickwellings4127]

Thanks for posting this, it's a really interesting document of the time.

[@bully2iscoming897]

Nobody: Absolutely nobody: KZbin reccomendations: HEY DO YOU WANT TO LOOK AT A PROMO VIDEO FOR A BIRMINGHAM SHOPPING CENTRE FROM THE 60s?!

[@soundseeker63]

I always used to think central Birmingham was simply an area that had been over-developed in the 60's and had dated badly as a result, but seeing this, it looked pretty awful even when it was all new! I find it hard to reconcile the cheerful optimism and ambitiousness of the planners with how quickly it all became very dated and rather depressing. I wonder if we will be saying exactly the same about the "new" Bull Ring development in 20 years time, or have we learned any lessons from history? I guess time will tell!

[@Barcrest]

The issue was down to maintenance. It needed constant looking after and wasn't so it quickly went down hill.

[@spooky1304]

Well incredibly it IS now 20 years since the new Bullring opened and it hasn't dated at all. Its much much better than the old one.

[@misslaurap]

fascinating footage of my home town before i was born i love these clippets thankyou for uploading this ❤

[@tcbursey]

Cannot believe they got rid of the old bull ring, amazing amount of culture and history lost forever looked beautiful had no idea

[@rhodesianwojak2095]

Lol ok boomer

[@robertmcmillan3638]

There's a shopping centre in Cumbernauld that's been voted worst building in Britain (or something like that). Very much in the 60's/70's style. I shudder what they'll end up doing with that.

[@arleimacedo3816]

In Lisbon, Portugal, they made a shopping center escavating under a real bullfight arena, the Campo Pequeno, which continues to function until today, with regular "touradas" in the Portuguese way: the bull is not killed, some of the fights are made with the Toureiro on horseback - a wonderful spectacle that can be seen in Internet, and a group of man catches the bull by bare hands.

[@MerleOberon]

I remember living in the future back in the 60s.

[@MartinHannett_]

I can't imagine what driving a car into the area like the first 15 seconds would have felt like!

[@danielward9898]

Shame the utopian visions of the 60s never lived up to the reality. eh? :-(

[@ajs41]

@@danielward9898 A lot of that was the fault of individual people themselves. They allowed their own standards to slip. People can't always blame the government for everything that goes wrong.

[@robtyman4281]

@@ajs41 Oh, so it's the fault of the people who had to live and work in these buildings then??? ......not the fault of planners who made bad decisions or architects who designed poorly designed buildings which used cheap sub-standard materials. Wow, I never realised it was all the peoples' fault......silly me. LOL

[@robertmcmillan3638]

@@robtyman4281 People/society came from 2 world wars and living in slums with outdoor toilets to this brave new world of the Jetsons etc. Things only went downhill in the late 70's when people started to have a sense of entitlement combined with lack of jobs etc. Yeah. No one makes people Rob old grannies or take drugs.

[@baljitsagoo6411]

happy days..loads and loads of good memories..wish we can go back in time. Proud Brummie:)

[@pintpot]

It was crap, Baljit! :) It's much better now

[@davidcufc]

Laing Construction founded in the tiny Cumberland village of Sebergham.

[@prepperjonpnw6482]

Thank you so much for uploading this you have made my day lol Please upload as many of these as you can. It will make many many people happy.

[@alaurrahman5206]

Thank you for bringing back the memories

[@Laytonia1977]

Great upload!!! many thanks.

[@mohammedyasirishaq9731]

Wish there was a time machine to go back in time. Bullring was so beautiful back then, Its looks like you in America for some reason. Guess its the music, picture print and voice of the man speaking.

[@mohammedyasirishaq9731]

And

[@annmitchell4663]

This is how I remember it..lovely.

[@gazzab3224]

I remember the old shopping centre so well.

[@allanwainwright3056]

brings back alot of memories . so different now there. I wish those days were still here .

[@ajs41]

It's amazing how modern everything looks considering it's only 20 years after the end of the Second World War. One of those walkways is still in use today, the one that connects the shopping centre to New Street station.

[@lordsummerisle87]

Let's build a shopping centre for a booming industrial manufacturing city! The first thing is a ballroom. Then an indoor pond, complete with fake flowers. And a pub full of formica. Oh and valet parking. The 60s were indeed a weird time.

[@robertmcmillan3638]

A better time also. A society that functions, unlike nowadays.

[@jaydentownsend5402]

@@robertmcmillan3638 No rape inside of marriage was still happening. Yippie

[@lordsummerisle87]

@@robertmcmillan3638 better only for those who "fit in". Not much fun being female, asian, gay, or disabled in those "better" days. Were there things better 50 years ago than today? Sure. But don't imagine that everything was.

[@robertmcmillan3638]

@@lordsummerisle87 Well since people in the past in the UK were predominantly white and straight then society was reflecting that. Now everything is a free for all mess where people can't even reason correctly and political correctness is ACTUALLY ruining some people's lives. I prefer homosexuals to be in THEIR privacy NOT on TV and walking by me holding hands in the street every few minutes. It's not homophobia, it's called preference. But well seeing some groups preferences trump others preferences and they're gonna teach your kids about it at school.

[@lordsummerisle87]

​@@robertmcmillan3638 I suspect that you believe tabloid headlines don't you. UK's population today is predominantly white and straight. I notice that you didn't address the rampant sexism of the 1960s. Why does seeing two people of the same gender holding hands offend you? And what's the problem in teaching kids "some adults love people of the same sex, and that's no reason to mistreat them"?

[@DarylJayEborda]

I am loving these videos! Been living here in Birmingham for 4 years now ❤

[@BibTheBoulderTheOriginalOne]

6:03 and into the picture pops an Alexander bodied Midland red bus...pure heaven.

[@ketoking9435]

Wonderful upload,,, Thank you,,,

[@fossehigh]

I remember the advert for Richard shops! Forgotten about that shop!

[@timvins]

Wonderful to watch but amazing how it went so dated and scruffy so quickly. I started work in the Wholesale market in 1981 and would walk through the Bull Ring to catch my bus at Corporation St and I remember it being dirty and not the place to go for good shopping. Rackhams, Lewiss, new street etc much nicer.

[@stevealexR1]

I like modernist and even brutalist architecture however I will admit that the white concrete,that looked so fresh when new in the Sixties didn’t wear well, got discoloured and thus looked shabby before its time was due.

[@adelestevens]

It was because the Bull ring centre concrete structure seemed to age so quickly that when the Arndale centre Manchester was built it was covered in weatherproof tiles....and quickly gained the moniker...."the toilet block".

[@Escapetheratrace-ji6rx]

Omg, Omg!!! This just blew my mind...how wonderful

[@robtyman4281]

Looking at this film and seeing all the positive comments about the buildings made me realise just how different Brummies are from Londoners. Londoners wouldn't be piling on the comments about 'wonderful, functional buildings' or even suggest that this could be better than what preceded it. I've a hunch that if the Barbican development had been built in Birmingham, everyone there would love it. As it is, Londoners have very divided opinions on it. I wouldn't exactly say that it's loved. Even the Royal Festival Hall struggles to get Londoner's falling over its architectural merits. I guess though that Londoners are less keen on 1960's brutalist architecture than Brummies are. Whatever floats your boat I guess.......

[@jaysmith6305]

LoveThese retro docsumentries and the sweet Richard baker of Mary Mumgo and midge fame ( showing age now lol ) ... happy days for me .. when Mum and Dad and Aunty and Uncle were still here ....

[@ketoking9435]

Jay Smith ,,, Me too,,theres a great website Classic Movie Store and I get loads of old stuff from there as luv late 60s and 70s,,,yep used to luv Mary,Mungo,Midge,,,Hector's House was a great time for telly,,,,

[@mikehudson8884]

I concur, well said Jay.

[@20centurymodern]

This was just amazing!

[@MartinHannett_]

Thanks, there are several other recently uploaded documentaries on modernist housing estates on the channel.

[@TheDarkstranger101]

I used to love going to the bullring with my grandmother in the 80's, there was also a second hand book shop just over the road from the bullring that I used to buy old Beano's from, but I can't remember the name of it, happy memories, thanks for up loading this fantastic video.

[@ajs41]

I can remember going to Habitat which was just next to the famous fountain with the coloured lights, when I was about 5 years old in the mid-80s. Do you know where precisely that was in the Bull Ring Centre? I can't seem to find out anywhere.

[@mistofoles]

"Mr Salweeky?.." "Fuck off, I'm busy."

[@DM-it2ch]

Aah.. the naive optimism of 1960's architects and town planners. And a time when "gay" simply meant happy. It seems as strange and alien as the middle-ages now!

[@nowalternottoday3809]

D M the Middle Ages? Birmingham more like the Middle East 😂🤣😭

[@laurencecope7083]

Been there loads of times, but wouldnt want to go now.

[@robertmcmillan3638]

Probably wouldn't be any point if someone lived outside Birmingham. All Shipping centres are basically the same nowadays. They are all homogenised, steel and glass which are owned by the same big companies (Intu or whatever?)

[@ashyslashy01]

I live in Birmingham, going to there tomorrow actually! It's crazy how much have changed.

[@_B.M_]

@sarah jones probably better than where you live.

[@rmg5111]

sarah jones same with Wolverhampton

[@rmg5111]

sarah jones people are weird their and it’s not safe either too much crime

[@jakeb7912]

Birmingham is a shithole crazy rough dump everyone is rude and got issues.

[@cappygolucky]

I feel like getting a cuppa tea

[@cryptogee172]

watching this is so relaxing... then interrupted by 2021 ads lol

[@chrisr7895]

So new and shiny

[@Xegethra]

I remember the old Bull Ring centre a little bit. I never went to town much as a child, the first 10 years of my life it was the old building then they knocked it down. I remember being inside some of the corridors if you will, don't recall the outside so much.

[@tomrobinson7879]

Wow what a time-capsule. It looked pretty good when new. Shame concrete ages so badly, especially when neglected over time as it was. Great moment around 13 minutes when he says "never before has such a galaxy of merchandise been brought together under one roof"... the camera then pans to a calendar with the title "More Junk"... how ironic.

[@West4ea]

Tom Robinson problem is we are a grey country. Concrete works in the sun in the drizzle of the uk less so

[@Picnicl]

Actually, good concrete with lots of cement in it doesn't look deteriorating at all - it can last for thousands of years, even get stronger with time as long as potential for cracking is addressed in its construction. Any bad aging of concrete will be a cheap version mixed with something else. Or vandals graffiting, chipping away, urinating etc.

[@amrgardner]

These places aged very quickly. Theres many issues but if you remove the granularity of ownership in a city and charge too much for retailers to rent and setup, these quickly go into decline. The old risky streets with dozens of owners to a block meant a more flexible, adaptable ‘shoppingscape’. We have now replaced this shopping centre for two others since its demolition, Grand Central and the New Bull Ring. Five years after opening Grand Central, the flagship John Lewis is already gone. The Bull Ring seems ever more ‘downmarket’ like the old Palisades became. Every 20-30 years it has to be made to look ‘new’ to attract retailers. Meanwhile the old shopping streets like New Street are forever changing and retain some appeal. Although with online shopping even these are seeing a decline now.

[@bobtheshorkie1987]

Is Mr Selwinky for real? He's like a Monty Python character.

[@streetentertainment]

Tbf was a real achievement at the time and was really futuristic. By the 90s it was just a crime ridden maze of empty shops and subways. New bullring amazing.

[@eveningchimpy]

It’s lost it’s sole now

[@Stewart.T]

I remember being taken to Forte's cafe in the Bull Ring.

[@mistofoles]

The Wheatcroft family were famous purveyors of flowers. Tom Baker used to be married to Harry's niece, Anna.

[@bensims7501]

This is like a harry enfield sketch

[@robertmcmillan3638]

Another thing that's relegated to the past unfortunately.

[@chriggle1]

That’s what my husband said too

[@lunalea1250]

May not be the "old Bullring Mkt", but it is still amazing, was there last week for fruits, meats/fish, scaled down, due to lockdown, but still hoing strong!🥳💚🍣

[@msbo5171]

How nice to see this. I visited Birmingham for the first time earlier this week. Lots of beautiful places, but was very surprised about the amount of homeless and addicted in the area. And that's coming from a Londoner - I guess they are more spread out in London. Anyway, I loved this, makes me think of more innocent times.

[@andrewwoods4907]

sadly that has all happened in the last 5 years. Drug dealers openly dealing in the day in once nice suburbs. Armed gangs stealing cars.etc. You can tell when talking to the police that they are at their wits end.

[@chrisg7011]

Thank Tony Blair's Labour.

[@andrewwoods4907]

@@chrisg7011 of course the guy who hasn't been PM for 12 years and didn't cut police by 22000 or close the police stations and training centres plus every other bit of social infrastructure put in place by his government... yep it was his fault.

[@chrisg7011]

@@andrewwoods4907 I take it you're a millenial who didn't know about how he opened up the boarders and allowed the influx in the first place. The illegal war and the other shady shit he did.

[@robertmcmillan3638]

@@chrisg7011 Well said. Tony Blair is going to go down as one of the worst PM' s Britain has had. It's made all the worse by him and Gordon Brown being Labour. You know supposed to be for the ordinary people? You expect bad $h1t from the Tory party but they two Labour tw@ts done some bad $h1t.

[@nileyfan1998]

Now it's construction all over the place 😭

[@robertmcmillan3638]

It's the same where I live. Can't go outside without having to navigate my way past construction sites or roads being dug up. It's been going on for 2 or 3 years somewhere or other in the City where I live.

[@ElementsMMA]

The Bull Ring shopping centre was a disaster. The ring road put a complete chokehold on the city centre. There was nowhere to park and the only places worth spending money was the rag market and outdoor market stalls. As a teenager we would never go shopping in town, always to Merry Hill. The New Bull Ring is an exceptional improvement. It is incredible to think what the town market at the size it was with a few dozen stalls, wrapped in a ring road, which I believe to be the original Bull ring site of old, is now.

[@zetametallic]

Love the lighting at 22:05. What happened to it? I'd love a mini version (obviously) in my house as I'm a lighting collector.

[@raycroal]

if it still looked like that on the inside today it would be a masterpiece

[@golden.lights.twinkle2329]

It never looked like that!

[@raycroal]

@@golden.lights.twinkle2329 so you are saying the bullring never looked like the footage that was filmed in the bullring??? that is an interesting point of view, tell me more.

[@enam98]

I live in Birmingham, the Bullring is like a 10 minute drive from my house.

[@melgrant7404]

What do you think of Birmingham today

[@enam98]

@@melgrant7404 it's pretty great I mean I like it here, I've been here 16 years, I've been to London a lot of times and I prefer Birmingham, here it's less hectic, less traffic, less people, i prefer it this way.

[@melgrant7404]

@@enam98 I would prefer it to London!

[@marktaurus206]

@@melgrant7404 Birmingham is a rough dump everyone is angry and hostile.

[@melgrant7404]

@@marktaurus206 not quite as it was definitely.used to be a nice place I heard

[@SajidHussain-lj5mr]

Bring back those good old days

[@helenm2169]

its so obvious 3 becomes one poetry x thats incredible 39 months jeez soory 29 months

[@gorbachev-1986]

Hi Patrick, I love these videos of the post-war vision for cities across the UK. This particular video obviously provides a narrative for the 'future.' Do away with the Victorian idea of ad hoc planning to something quite boastful of its intentions. Its quite ironic that we see a lot of redevelopment schemes in this day and age that professes to be the ultimate in terms of city planning. For example, my city, Newport South Wales have demolished the 1960's development to favour the current redesign, Friars Walk. I guess what I am trying to say is, the designers of the 1960's held phenomenal optimism for the projects that were laid out. Are we being too forthcoming with current developments? Are we building something that may be held with disregard in 30 years time? Have we not learnt from the past? I dont know. Nevertheless, thanks for these videos. I genuinely enjoy them!

[@MartinHannett_]

Nicholas Boyd That’s it entirely. What makes what we build now so much better than the stuff we demolish? Absolutely nothing as far as I’m concerned and I do believe that most buildings built today will be torn down for being ugly in 40 years too!

[@robtyman4281]

Nicholas, the blunt truth is that 60's planners had a hidden agenda. This was to 're-shape' our cities around the car. It was all about the car and nothing else. Nowhere was this more evident than in Birmingham. They were quite prepared to senselessly knock down sound old buildings 'in the name of progress', so that they could then have their ring road going right through the city centre. The way they had absolutely no regard for Victorian buildings was quite shocking - brutal in fact. This is why 60's architecture is known as 'Brutalist'. It wasn't just the stark minimalism, but the way these buildings often replaced a fine Victorian building where they were built . They were literally and metaphorically 'bulldozing the past'. In their minds the Victorians were just 'hopeless romantics' who revelled in detail. The 1960's buildings eschewed detail, as this was a dirty word. Detail had unclean connotations, and they wanted bright, new , featureless 'clean' architecture to reflect this. Such thinking contributed to many fine old buildings being demolished all over the UK. They may have only had good intentions on 'improving' a city, but their decisions were hastily made, and some had catastrophic consequences for social cohesion and the sense of 'community'.

[@clairecassey5880]

@@MartinHannett_ that's if they see 40 years, a lot of modern construction is too quickly built and to a tight budget, it's almost our contemporary version of the "system building" that condemned so many 60's/70's blocks of flats. Things like the Bull Ring were built as a long term investment, not a quick buck. There is now a trend of some 80's, even 90's buildings being pulled down...this is common in Milton Keynes where i live.

[@Picnicl]

Rob, I love your post however I'm sure you'll be aware that, at least formally, the term 'Brutalism' in architecture just means using raw concrete. It does not necessarily have to stand in opposition to Victorianism nor be a deliberately brutal affront to neighbouring architecture even though, in practice, several famous 1960s city centre developments did result in the destruction of Victorian architecture. Brutalism might have dispensed with detail on the surface but the labyrinthian nature of some collosuses like The National Theatre have detail in the geometry of their arrangement instead. Brutalism at its best relies on a Mondrian-like interplay of vertical and horizontal. For me personally, the worst so called Brutalism wasn't even Brutalism but was 'the international style' of vast areas of glazing, pseudo-hippy use of pebbles, indoor grass courts and flaking white paint and hospital -like corridors. Britain tended to adopt this utterly banal, inappropriate, but cheaper than Brutalism style mainly between 1970 and 1974. It was that appalling period, not brutalism's 60s heyday, that was the real need for postmodernism.

[@danw1374]

@@clairecassey5880 The hockey stadium in MK was less than 20 years old when it was demolished.

[@isaacsrandomvideos667]

Not surer how I got here but wow are those concept art’s gorgeous

[@malcolmclements9254]

I'm from Bham and now it all becomes clear. It's up n down and all over the place the original bullring. Escalators here steps there slopes...they obviously had no choice. I often wondered as a kid, if the architect was cock-eyed or simply drunk.

[@stephenbedworth3404]

I always remember waiting for the midland red 144 bus back to bromsgrove the smell of diesel fumes in the bus station

[@lunalea1250]

Now It's the #144 to Bromsgrove!

[@paulillingworth1242]

Well before my time but it gives impression of uk in much better times and people were nicer to each other and roads & pedestrians were planned properly and kept everyone moving safely. Bring this to current day, let us that never experienced it experience it, this would probably help fix today’s broken society.

[@robertmcmillan3638]

That's what people mean when they say the past was better. It's NOT rose tinted views, it's historical FACT!

[@Jehannum2000]

Anyone remember the adult shop on the upper tier of the open market in the 1990s? They ripped me off.

[@dandare2586]

Yes I do! Regularly raided by the vice squad I think in the 80's, most of the porn you could safely take to a vicars tea party......how times have changed!

[@ianbeale2527]

Yes, it was just called Private Shop. The Caribbean cafe on the end which for some reason was called both "The Fry Dumpling" at the front and the "Fried Dumplin" on the side.....there used to be a carousel there for donkey's years too, and the Roller Toaster by the ramp that sold Doughnuts 7p each or 5 for 25p . The open front chippy next to the sex shop where chips were served in bags and you put your own salt and vinegar on, and occasionally throw them over the balcony at the market shoppers below - or, if you were skilled, you'd drop them strategically into people's bags directly below you. Happy days in the 1980's.

[@dandare2586]

15:53 love the over Manning (womaning) just like in Holland today! There are probably less assistants in a Tesco's superstore now!

[@BloodMoonASMR]

Why are the umbrellas gay though xD