Talk:BT Tower, Birmingham

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Untitled

"It has become one of the most important communication towers in the world." - that needs backing up. Secretlondon 17:37, 14 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Agreed. I've inserted a 'citation needed' because I too am sceptical of this assertion. If one doesn't turn up soonish I propose removing that paragraph entirely. Matthew 16:30, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

I'm searching for a source. I know I read it somewhere on the net. Typical of me not to include it in the article. - Erebus555 17:14, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

I've removed the statement as I can't find the source now. I remember seeing it but either the website or page has been deleted or I am not searching hard enough. - Erebus555 18:29, 28 January 2007 (UTC)

Canal

The tower does not actually stand over the canal, or even adjoining it. Oosoom ^Talk to me 14:22, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

Number of stories

Just before an edit war begins, I thought the matter of the number of storeys within the building should be discussed. At present, the article says that there are 35 storeys but this says there are five, which is added with the statement; "Contrary to popular belief, the Birmingham BT Tower does not contain regular floors through it and is mainly nothing more than a concrete core with stairways built into it." However, this says there are 35.

This may whittle down to, which source do we believe? I'd say the skyscrapernews source is more believable due to the expertise and focus of the website. But, virtualbrum is also quite a reliable source. So what should be done? - Erebus555 19:00, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

I'd agree Erebus555. I use SSN and SSC quite a lot, and have never come across any incorrect info on the site. I think the point is that whilst there may be 35 "storeys", only 5 of them are actually useful for offices or otherwise, the remainder being simple stairwells for roof access for maintenace, and cannot be counted as such. (This shows it quite well). L.J.Skinner^{wot|I did} 19:41, 11 May 2007 (UTC)

I reverted the edit back to 5 storeys, and left a message on Pigsonthewing's talk page here quoting the source. He seems not to have reverted, so I'd assume that leaving it at 5 is OK. L.J.Skinner^{wot|I did} 15:44, 12 May 2007 (UTC)

Both sources are inaccurate. This is the trouble with secondary sources. I've gone back to a contemporary primary source and amended the article accordingly. The web is no substitute for a good reference library. --Harumphy 17:37, 13 May 2007 (UTC)

I can't remember exactly how many equipment floors there were, however the control room was on floor nine. Below the aerial galleries there was an area called the waveguide turning room. This was the entire floor area of the tower as the two lifts didn't go that high. My memory maybe playing tricks on me, I was last in the tower in 1973, but I thought that there was only four galleries. I know that I have a Post Office pamphlet somewhere that I got back in the seventies. I will try and find it and let you have a pdf version of it. G1cbk (talk) 20:20, 29 March 2011 (UTC)

Brindley House

I joined the Post Office in 1971 which was about the time when Brindley House was beginning to be occupied. The Post Office used several buildings in the city centre and Brindley was supposed to be used to concentrate all these outlying offices in one location. It was a dual purpose building having fifteen office and ten equipment floors. You have to remember that it was designed in the strowger age when exchanges occupied large floor areas. As far as I can remember it was due to house the 60MHz cable system which would have needed a repeater station and a trunk test. These would have been known as Birmingham Brindley Trunk Test and something like Birmingham H. They would have taken up at least one equipment floor. The new cordless operator boards were also to be housed there and this would have taken two floors, one for the switching equipment and another for the boards themselves. G1cbk (talk) 20:20, 29 March 2011 (UTC)