Mailbox – Page 2 – What Was Pebble Mill?

Move to the Mailbox

The article from the Birmingham Post circa 2002, explains how the move from Pebble Mill to the Mailbox was going to be a positive one, enabling technology and the studios to be improved. The move from the ‘leafy suburb’ of Edgbaston would apparently make BBC Birmingham more in touch with its audience!

Unfortunately these aims were not realised, and the move proved to be symptomatic of the decline of BBC Birmingham.

Thanks to Stuart Gandy to sharing this cutting.

The following comments were left on the Pebble Mill Facebook page:

Andy Marriott: ‘Unfortunately pretty much every move is a downsizing event, and it’s not just the BBC. I’ve been helping a friend out with a project at the old Granada site in Manchester and it’s depressing to see the facilities that existed there that they simply don’t have at their new site.’

Jean Palmer: ‘I’m sure that those who worked there could have told them it wouldn’t work. Shame we lost Pebble Mill’

Carolyn Davies: ‘All very sad….BBC Wales about to relocate….hope the same doesn’t happen…..’

Sue Farr: ‘I always suspected that London was jealous of Brimingham’s success and that was what was behind the decisions that were made. None of us believed any of it was going to benefit the Midlands, did we?’

Andrew Langstone: ‘Seems The Mailbox is the BBC’S dumping ground for things it doesn’t know where to put them.’

We are BBC Birmingham – Resources & Drama

This still is from a brochure produced when BBC Birmingham moved to the Mailbox, in 2004. The brochure was for staff and people elsewhere in the industry, promoting the services and departments within BBC Birmingham.

Post production took outside bookings at this time, from series like Fifth Gear, as well as internal bookings.

Drama, did not relocate to the Mailbox, due to insufficient space, the cost, and the inability to film scenes around the premises, and instead arranged accommodation for themselves at the University of Birmingham.

Thanks to Dharmesh Rajput for sharing the brochure, and keeping it safe for the last decade.

A-Z of BBC Birmingham

This A-Z Welcome pack was given to BBC staff transferring from Pebble Mill to the Mailbox in 2004. The pack included some discount vouchers for shops and restaurants in the Mailbox, as well a copy of the BBC Values, and this ‘Welcome’ message from Controller of English Regions, Andy Griffee.

The irony of the statement about striving to bring more and more production to the Mailbox will not be lost on stalwarts of BBC Birmingham.

Thanks to Dharmesh Rajput for sharing this pack, and keeping it safe over the past decade.

The following comments were left on the Pebble Mill Facebook page:

Jane Elledge: ‘It was utter bullsh*t at the time – anyone who argued against the move was labelled ‘negative’ and a troublemaker. We weren’t. We were just rightly arguing against what was obvious to most of us and has proven to be one of the most stupid things ever done by the BBC.’

Helen Chetwynd: ‘What a laugh! I particularly like the bit that says he believes that “key talent will increasingly look forward to coming here and working at the heart of a newly buzzing city centre building……” yeah, right’

Jane Green: ‘Agree with everyone here – the hard part was having to listen to the PR we knew to be false and that the move was the beginning of the end for BBC Birmingham. I still have my BBC drinks cup given in ‘celebration’ of the move too.’

Chris Camden: ‘Remember it well and so agree with Jane Elledge. As union reps we fought against the decision but no one in management would listen to us and had their own agenda. We all knew it was not the ‘centre’ of Birmingham and that it was an unsuitable building for television production. So very very sad. I still have the piece of mosaic from Pebble Mill wall, that we were all given.’

Herbie Donnelly: ‘They even piloted the One Show from the Mailbox, guess what? Yeah London knicked it.’

Pat de Whalley with the Wadsworths

A huddle of WM presenters are joined by Dr Who’s Tardis.

Included are: second from the left, Pat de Whalley, next to Julie Mayer with Tony Wadsworth on the right. The photo also includes Pat’s sons, Andy and James.

This photo was taken outside the Radio WM studios on the ground floor of the Mailbox, when Julie and Tony showed Pat and family around the new studios.

An amazing place to work – Andy Tylee

Original foyer At Pebble Mill

The Queen visiting the Pebble Mill at One foyer studio in 1981. Photo from Keith Brook.

The Queen visiting Pebble Mill at One foyer studio in 1981. Phil Sidey in front of the stepladder. Photo from Keith Brook.

I worked at Pebble Mill between 1979 and 1987. It didn’t actually feel like going to work – more like Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. It was supposed to have been the Midlands’ white elephant, but Phil Sidey in particular and the staff in general ensured that the place soared above that position. Phil was an unpredictable, iconoclastic genius and polymath who for me personified the very best of the BBC’s creative, risk taking spirit. His invention of daily live TV from the foyer, rather than a studio made the atmosphere in the building crackle with excitement and tension. It was a genuinely amazing place to work.

The BBC’s decision to shut and demolish was an act of insane vandalism. The Mailbox is risible by comparison.