Fazeley Street, Birmingham

EVERY UNIT TELLS A STORY

Five Units on Fazeley Street

Lives in a Landscape

BBC Radio 4, Summer 2009

Ten years ago I recorded a radio feature with BBC producer Laurence Grissell where I met a diverse group of people who were working in the units of Birmingham's Fazeley Street industrial estate. Back then it was in the throes of moving away from traditional firms based around the building and engineering trades, to a new era where 'creative' businesses and communities were beginning to move in...

While we were interviewing on location, I took some snaps with my phone capturing the street at this point in time. The photos were taken primarily as a reminder of the architecture and the details of Fazeley Street which may have been useful to incorporate into my script. 

I've not been back since - I wonder what lives are part of this landscape today?

This was the online description of the programme when it was first broadcast back in August 2009:

As the sun rises over this ramshackle grouping of canalside workshops, warehouses and offices, an unexpected array of characters set about their diverse businesses. Whatever their line, industry is very firmly the name of the game here. At 7.30am sharp, workaholic Roger opens up Clifton Steel and starts his daily rounds checking stock. Surveying his vast stockyard and reflecting on life in the steel business, he proudly proclaims, 'I'm an industrialist'.

Next door, young Adam is starting his first car window tinting job of the day, a blue VW. Heatgun in hand, he talks of the skill required to do it properly, declaring, 'I'm an artist'. Upstairs, solitary Derek - a real Mr Fixit - is slowly but assiduously drilling 300 precision steel components, alone in his workshop save for the accompaniment of classical music.

Their businesses are different but their hopes and fears strikingly similar. They talk of the influence of their fathers - for good or ill - their fears for the future and their pride in a job well done.

But as night settles and the industry ceases, Fazeley Street shifts gear. Adam finishes his last tint of the day, Derek drills his final hole and next door a group of 20 African evangelists don white gowns and prepare to praise God, while slick young rockers Copter rehearse at full volume for their next gig