MR Colours

"The standard Midland Railway colours for all structures from at least 1875 was chocolate and cream. Window frames and roof valences were cream and doors maroon, the iron work of the latter would be black. Internal roofs were cream as well as the the ironwork of roofs."

Jamboree Train Tickets

The 1957 Scout Jubilee Jamboree used three stations on the Sutton Park Line, namely Sutton Park, Streetly and Sutton Coldfield. Jamboree attendees were issued with boarding passes colour-coded to the station they should use. Sutton Park was blue, Streetly was yellow and Sutton Coldfield was red. Apparently there were trains every 12 minutes for a while.

Firbank trouble?

Like the idea of the landscape cancelled and then the idea of the switch of usage (in the case of the landscape) from commercial to residential.

Have almost finished Firbank's story. In very simple terms the Sutton Park Line was one of his worst projects and he ended up in court (not his fault it would seem). He started off in the pits in Co. Durham at the age of seven and then improved himself and gained great respect for his honesty and hard work.

Goods Shed Visit

Birmingham Z & Stamp Design & Site

There is an association with 'Birmingham Z', but there also seemed to be 'Sutton Z' on signs when we visited the site. Is this indication of increasing localisation?

Getting a bit specific now. Was there a standard typeface used on the stamps/first day covers in the mid-20th century? This could be one way (along with a colour palette) of getting that aesthetic threaded in.

The site has a trajectory and it is the various historical events that knock it 'off course'. A patch of land's beautiful parabola was pushed one way by the railway, then another by matters postal and then another by the proposed future development. Switches. Aren't railway points sometimes referred to as switches? We switch between times to create contrasts or suggest possibilities.