Campaign to Reopen Edgbaston Quaker Meeting

23/01/2021

To cheer us all up during these difficult times here are some recent photos of the Edgbaston Quaker Meeting House garden. There are many features including the superb plants, 3 bird-boxes, 2 benches, a pond, 3 memorial plaques to late beloved Quakers together with the reminder of equally difficult times past: as the east face of the meeting house is pockmarked by shrapnel from an exploding World War II landmine which landed near-by! Also within a 500 meter walk of the meeting house there are numerous reminders of Quakers who lived near by dating back to the 18th Century in the form of 3 Blue Plaques positioned there by Birmingham Civic Society and Heritage England, even a statue of the Quaker Joseph Sturge at nearby Five-Ways junction. Please browse through these photos included in several posts on my timeline complete with captions. Friends will appreciate these captions are by no means definitive explanations of these features and if you have something to add please send me a friend request and place your own comments

20/01/2021

More photos of Edgbaston Quaker Meeting House, its garden and items of relevant local interest (please see the captions describing each)

20/01/2021

Some more photos of local interest concerning the Edgbaston Quaker Meeting House, its garden and items of local interest (please see the captions describing each)

20/01/2021

Some more photos concerning the Edgbaston Quaker Meeting House, its garden and items of local interest (please see the captions describing each)

The Quaker FLORENCE BARROW 1876-1964 was a longstanding beloved member at Edgbaston Quaker Meeting who lived only 200 metres away at 23 Frederick Road, Edgbaston, B15 1JN where this Blue Plaque is now located. The unveiling ceremony organized by Birmingham Civic Society took place in 2019 at Edgbaston Quaker Meeting House attended by several close family members including her great-niece and great-nephew Abigail and George Barrow who are mentioned about in relation to digging the garden pond – please see an article about this unveiling on Birmingham Civic Society’s website at the following link:

http://www.birminghamcivicsociety.org.uk/blue-plaque-to...

Florence is remembered for a lifetime of service especially through the Quaker Relief Services during WW1 when she served war refugees both in France and Poland, and shortly following that war she became a founder member of COPEC until her death in 1964 (this stands for Christian Conference on Politics, Economics and Citizenship which was held in Birmingham in 1924). COPEC was one of the first housing associations and remarkably Florence sold her inherited family home at Frederick Road using most of the proceeds to buy 19 back-to-back houses which became the first COPEC properties. There is also a Wikipedia page dedicated to Florence at the following link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Mary_Barrow

MOLLIE BARROW 1908-1970 was Florence’s niece-in-law who is also remembered with a plaque at 6-8 Braithwaite Road, Sparkbrook, Birmingham B11 1LB. She was a much loved GP in what was then the slum districts of Highgate and Sparkbrook where she also served on numerous committees and left a significant legacy in her will for the benefit of this deprived community. She has a street named after her ‘Barrow Walk’ which is about a mile away from the meeting house at B5 7LD. To read more about Mollie’s remarkable life of service please see the following websites:

www.grahamstevenson.me.uk/2011/08/25/barrow-mollie-dr

www.hasc-bham.org.uk/mollie