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Birmingham’s Lunarticks [sic]

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From Wikipedia:

“The Lunar Society of Birmingham was a dinner club and informal learned society of prominent figures in the Midlands Enlightenment, including industrialists, natural philosophers and intellectuals, who met regularly between 1765 and 1813 inBirmingham, England. At first called the Lunar Circle, “Lunar Society” became the formal name by 1775. The name arose because the society would meet during the full moon, as the extra light made the journey home easier and safer in the absence of street lighting. The members cheerfully referred to themselves as “lunarticks”, a pun on lunatics.”

This week is Birmingham Heritage Week, and I bought tickets to the ‘Lunar Trail’, which took place today.  An hour-and-a-half guided walk around Birmingham City Centre, learning about the Lunar Society, described above.  The walk covers the first ten sites listed here.

A life-long Brummie, I know bits and bobs of the city’s history, but not much about these guys, whose members include  Matthew Boulton, Erasmus Darwin,  Joseph Priestley,  James Watt, and Josiah Wedgwood.

Despite a fraught start to the day, and fully expecting to be too late for the tour, we made it just a few minutes after the start time.  Constant drizzle didn’t daunt us, in fact, I was happier than if we’d trudged in sunshine!

We listened, chatted, trudged, and I took photos.  Here they are, including lots of shots juxtaposing the old with the new, ongoing construction and rejuvenation of the city centre, and a whole heap of reflections that gladdened my eye.  I particularly enjoyed the walk along the canalside, and yes, Birmingham DOES have more miles of canals than Venice! [35 miles in Brum v 26 miles in Venice.]

OK, here’s my Powerpoint ramblings about my home town:

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13 thoughts on “Birmingham’s Lunarticks [sic]”

  1. I still haven’t made it to Birmingham… looks interesting. I read Jenny Uglow’s book on The Lunar Men and now you’ve made me think I should read it again.

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  2. Interesting! I knew you have a lot of canals all over the country (we want to go on a canal boat holiday), but didn’t know there were this many in Brum. I remember barges passing up and down the river where my grandparents lived. We were not allowed to be in the river when they passed! Thankfully they were easy to spot, as the sound carried well through water so we always got out in time, even though we couldn’t se them before they were very close.

    The newly gilded statue – what are the men holding? Is it a big roll of parchment? You’ve certainly made the city even more interesting, maybe I (we) should aim for a Brum holiday sometime?

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    1. They are holding some plans. According to Wikipedia, “It is known locally as The Golden Boys after its colour, or The Carpet Salesmen after the partially rolled-up plan of a steam engine which they are examining. They were most famous for improving and developing the steam engine.” I’d never heard it called the golden boys but there you go!

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    2. Birmingham and the Brummies have a poor reputation nationally, the accent [which everyone gets wrong anyway] is seen as stupid, and is often used for comic effect. Sigh. Mind you, I must admit that I have twisted that to my advantage in the past! It’s a lively large market town at heart, tarted up a bit now, but still retains some of the original character. Not so tiring to walk round as London!

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  3. Glad you enjoyed the tour, its amazing how much we take for granted about where we live. We have done several Treasure trails and it is surprising how much you can learn from just looking around you. Thanks for the photos they bring a place alive for a non resident.

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  6. Thanks for the tour! I’m very fond of Birmingham as I was at university there then lived in Bearwood during the ’80s. It was a different city then but I loved the old library, the Bull Ring and the bustling markets. I love the old science museum too – our next door neighbour worked there so we’d often pop in to say hello and mooch round the fascinating machinery. Wasn’t there a massive bottling machine there? The regeneration of Birmingham has been done well though.

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  7. That sounded a good tour. Lots of places I’ve been to but I’m always interested in the history behind it all. Unsurprisingly Gerald & I do a lot of “that used to be a pub” spotting!! Great photos, you have a good eye for composition – I can just about point & click & hope some part of what I’m after is included in the final photo!!

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