Centenary Lounge

The Birmingham History Forum have been kind enough to provide us with some information about the history of Birmingham Moor Street Station where Centenary Lounge is situated.

If you’ve ever wondered what was on the site before Moor Street Station was built in 1909, the answer is that first it was a ‘public office’, and later a prison.

The original prison in Birmingham was located at Peck Lane and opened in 1697. It was extended in 1757 and finally demolished to make way for the construction of New Street station which was opened in 1854.

The Moor Street public offices were built in 1806, on the site where we are now, and were used as a meeting room and also a court room, prisoners being led from Peck Lane to the court for trial.  This practice apparently drew quite a crowd who became excited at seeing the wrongdoers being led across the city to the court in Moor Street.

So it was decided that it would be better to build a holding prison at the site of the court building, which was done in 1830. The prison was either at the rear of the building or most likely below ground level – nobody seems to know for sure.  Lack of space for prisoners was always an issue and finally it was used for holding prisoners before and after trial. Those that were found guilty were sent on to Warwick prison.

The new Victoria Law Courts were opened in 1891 and the Moor Street site was eventually cleared for the GWR station to be built in 1909.

Many thanks to Neville Philpott and to the Birmingham History Forum for providing us with this information.

We were very excited to play host to the team from Caryn Franklin’s How to Look Good show, and for Centenary Lounge to be used as a location for their fashion photography.

Three Birmingham mums won a competition to have a makeover on the show, and for the photography, Moor Street Station (including Centenary Lounge) was one of the locations for their shoot.

We think our art deco design perfectly complements these gorgeous clothes, don’t you?

In the Railway Heritage Trust’s annual report, it includes a guide to some of the key features of its stations.

Centenary Lounge has a full page feature in the guide, which highlights the heritage of the station and our cafe, and details the history of some of our interior fittings.

Read Centenary Lounge’s entry in the Railway Heritage Trust’s report.

Centenary Lounge has been featured in the Birmingham Post’s Essential Guide to Food and Drink. The guide gave us a great review, mentioning ‘the vibrant quality of this unique location’ and concluding that ‘Centenary Lounge is a great rendez-vous point to meet friends, and an ideal location to wind down prior to your journey home.’

Read the Essential Guide’s review of Centenary Lounge.

Our Recreations range of GWR themed tableware has been featured in PIR Hospitality Business Magazine. Read on for the full text of the article, or visit our Recreations site to browse and buy from the range.

Occasionally history and fashion combine to result in something inspiring and original in its effect. One such recent example has been the emergence of Centenary Lounge a 1930s themed bistro based in the heart of Birmingham’s commercial and retail sectors – an ideal stopping off point whether you are a busy commuter or just out for a days shopping. Centenary Lounge forms an integral part of Moor Street Station which is a feeder station to the main New Street rail complex in the city. The facility is housed within the original Moor Street buildings built in 1909 but which have recently been fully refurbished as part of an ongoing redevelopment of the Great Western Railways heritage at the complex. The project has been lead by Birmingham based restaurateur Aasia Baig who has a keen eye for detail and a passion for authenticity. Such has been the interest generated in the Centenary Lounge that it played host to Radio 5 live breakfast show in April 2010, when the now Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne was interviewed following the election debate held in Birmingham .

As Aasia explains “Centenary Lounge represented a real challenge to reproduce the ambiance and style of the 1930s when the GWR was in its hey day which had to be combined with the quality and standards required to operate in today’s food and beverage industry. Clearly there are many facets to address when trying to create something which is essentially “retro” and there has been a lot of help and support provided in this regard – however, one of the most important aspects when creating an eating establishment is the selection of tableware. It was essential to have something which matched the era although it was unlikely to be available off the shelf. In my search for this product I discovered a pottery business based in Stoke on Trent called Little Red Hen who specialise in the supply of bespoke tableware.

“The decoration process relies upon the traditional hand crafted skills for which the Potteries is famous and the results are quite stunning. The laurel pattern and GWR logo is relatively uncomplicated but the black design on white china recreates the original design to great effect. I should add this was only made possible by agreement with the National Museum of Science and Industry who control the copyright. With the success of Centenary Lounge now established it is my intention to expand further into hospitality related businesses and I can see that the appeal of bespoke decorated tableware is something that can be used to great effect. Clearly our actions have been well received as Centenary Lounge was short listed for a National Railway Heritage Award and the tableware has been endorsed by Sir William McAlpine”.

The Centenary Lounge experience provides some assurance that there is still hopefully a niche for traditional skills within the UK ceramics industry although the days of large scale production are long gone. For further information regarding the GWR range of tableware you can view this online at www.recreationsbycl.co.uk.

BBC Radio 5 Live’s breakfast show chose Centenary Lounge as the ideal place to record an election debate between politicians from the major parties. Among those taking part were the Conservatives’ George Osborne and the Liberal Democrats’ Paddy Ashdown.