Talk:Bull Ring, Birmingham

Untitled
Some photos of the "old" Bull Ring would be nice, if anyone has any available, for comparison. DWaterson 22:39, 17 July 2006 (UTC)
 * I have some but they are not my own and I do not know where I got them from so I cannot be sure on copyright. - Erebus555 15:23, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

Improving this article
This article has the potential to be large, detailed and possibly even featured.

First, I think it needs to be sectioned off into numerous sections. First will be history of the site so the markets etc. Next is the 1960s shopping centre. The next section will be about the current centre and this will have subsections.
 * First subsection: Demolition
 * Second subsection: Archaeology (information about archaeological findings underneath the centre)
 * Third: Construction and completion
 * Fourth: Advertising and first week
 * Fifth: Artwork

Then the usual see also's, references and external links. As well as that we need to fill the table up completely. Any objections?--Erebus555 20:03, 2 September 2006 (UTC)


 * I have created some subsections. The first is history of the site and a subsection of archaeology as there have been excavations on site during construction. The next section is about the 1960s Bullring. I have not done the demolition section I had outlined above as there is currently very little information for it. That is the same for construction. I created a section about the Rotunda as it is commonly wrongly believed that it is in fact a part of the Bullring when it really is not. I also made the artwork section. There is a list of references of two books which could be used to give information on this and I added two links to Birmingham.gov.uk pages which give significant info on the Bullring. - Erebus555 20:31, 16 September 2006 (UTC)

Bull Ring or Bullring?
I have a feeling this article would be better moved back to Bull Ring, Birmingham, being as that is the historical spelling, with Bullring, Birmingham as a redirect. It somewhat depends on the focus of the article; if we are trying to cover the whole history of the market, then "Bull Ring" is more appropriate. At the moment, the article seems to be trying to achieve this. If the article were more narrowly focussed on the 21st Century development, then obviously "Bullring" would be the correct choice. Thoughts? DWaterson 17:22, 21 October 2006 (UTC)
 * The article may be trying to focus on the Bull Ring's history, but the infobox does not. If the article were to be renamed to Bull Ring, I think it would need a lot of re-arranging so that it doesn't look like one third of the page is about the Bullring and the other two thirds is about the Bull Ring market.  The first time the article's name is used, it says Bull Ring market, but then an infobox with information about the shopping center is directly to the right of that.  See what I mean?  jd || talk || 17:31, 21 October 2006 (UTC)
 * I believe this article should be about the whole area as the development of the Bullring was on the historical area of the Bull Ring. Confusing, I know. But the 21st century development is on the old market area and the market area has moved east somewhat out of the original area which the shopping centre is on now. The markets are also smaller and are on the land once known as Smithfield (the only thing that shows the area was called Smithfield is an 1960s office block called Smithfield House which is directly above what was Reddigntons Rare Records). Therefore, I think this article should be moved back to Bull Ring and should focus on the area not exactly the markets and shopping centre separately. - Erebus555 18:15, 21 October 2006 (UTC)
 * That sounds good, but if the article is meant to focus on the area, this should be made clear in the first sentence. At the moment, it isn't.  jd || talk || 18:23, 21 October 2006 (UTC)
 * What should the opening sentence be written as then? Maybe:

"The Bull Ring retail area has been an important feature of Birmingham, England since the Middle Ages when it served as a market ."? - Erebus555 18:59, 21 October 2006 (UTC)
 * How about "The Bull Ring is a retail area in Birmingham, England. It has been an important feature of Birmingham since the Middle Ages, when it served as a market."?  jd || talk || 20:33, 21 October 2006 (UTC)
 * I got no objections to that. That's fine in my opinion. Anyone else? - Erebus555 21:12, 21 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Sounds slightly like it served as a market only in the middle ages. Perhaps: The Bull Ring is a commercial area of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. It has been an important feature of Birmingham since the Middle Ages, when its market was first held." DWaterson 23:55, 21 October 2006 (UTC)
 * I'm not sure about the West Midlands bit, but apart from that it does sound better. jd || talk || 00:02, 22 October 2006 (UTC)
 * I agree with J Di. As long as it shows that there it is a commercial area with both a market and a shopping centre then I am happy. - Erebus555 11:06, 22 October 2006 (UTC)
 * OK, I added the West Midlands ref as most other articles referring to Brum include the ceremonial county name, but it isn't really necessary. I'll make the change. DWaterson 18:45, 22 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Article also moved back to Bull Ring, per above. DWaterson 18:52, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

Pictures of old Bull Ring
It would be great if someone had some photo's of the old 1960s Bull Ring to put on the site. G-Man * 19:49, 6 November 2006 (UTC)


 * I am trying to get permission from who runs the Birmingham.gov.uk to use one or two of the images on the website but I still have not had any replies. - Erebus555 19:54, 6 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Heh, good luck in ever getting a reply to anything from the city council... :) Unfortunately, http://www.virtualbrum.co.uk/ charge for photo licences, or they would have been useful. DWaterson 13:04, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

No. of anchor tenants
The infobox states their are 3. Selfridges' and Debenhams are obviously two, but what is the third? None of the other stores are as large as the former two surely? 84.66.200.218 15:50, 9 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Hm, good point. Currys.digital is the only other store I can think of that might fit the bill. Perhaps the figure of 3 is an error? DWaterson 16:56, 10 September 2007 (UTC)
 * According to the Bullring website, TK Maxx is a part of the centre. It is significantly larger than the other stores, I believe (apart from Selfridges and Debenhams). So that's probably it. 84.67.145.16 (talk) 19:49, 20 February 2008 (UTC)

UGLIEST BUILDING IN UK
How come there is no information about this:

"Birmingham, in the Midlands of the United Kingdom, for example, was recently voted the ugliest city in the country through a national poll.

This came after the city's Bullring Shopping Centre and the Birmingham Central Library were named as the number one and two ugliest buildings in the country."

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/10/22/ugliest.buildings/index.html?iref=mpstoryview#cnnSTCText —Preceding unsigned comment added by 123.200.242.179 (talk) 10:48, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

Yes, but this could just been seen as a personal attack if presented the way you wrote it —Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.172.136.32 (talk) 13:42, 27 December 2009 (UTC)

Old Market Hall.
The old Market Hall was not derelict before being demolished in 1963.The Market Hall lost it`s roof to a WWII bomb but continued to be used open to the elements with many stalls including one which sold tortoises at costs between two shillings and sixpence and seven shillings and sixpence depending on size!.I remember this very well and I was born in 1952.94.196.236.83 (talk) 22:10, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

image overload
there are a bit too many images in this article, especially combined with the long images going across the pages. I know many people are proud of their pictures, but having images running both sides and through the page is just too much.--Crossmr (talk) 07:13, 5 August 2009 (UTC)

Odd claim moved here
I moved this claim out from the middle of a citation URL:
 * The bull was destroyed in 2011 during the 2011 England riots.

I found no source supporting this, and the linked article says nothing about it. The Mall in 2013 shows it in use ("The bull gets a new look". 27 October 2013. Bullring.co.uk). So ... discuss? --Lexein (talk) 18:38, 4 November 2013 (UTC)

Four white truss arches
I thought the four white truss arches were worth a special mention, as they are quite prominent. Unfortunately the sources I've cited both say that their supporting piles are between the railway tunnels, but that doesn't make sense: it is quite evident from the satellite imagery (and common sense) that the supporting piles must be either side of the railway tunnels, and that is what I have put.--Shantavira|feed me 15:34, 25 January 2014 (UTC)

Criticism: Old v New
The article makes no criticism of the 'New' Bull ring which is actually disliked by quite a few people. Nor, in it's criticism of the 1960s Bull Ring, does it make any mention of the fact that a lot of people were happy with the 'old' version. Both views should be given for balance. As it stands the article reads like an advert for the 'new' version 213.114.44.178 (talk) 11:09, 7 February 2015 (UTC)


 * This sounds more like your personal criticisms and preferences rather than a general public consensus. In addition, other shopping centre articles do not describe personal criticisms in the way you have described as they would mostly be subjective. I disagree that the article reads as an advert for the current centre. -Sammich28 (talk) 18:00, 22 July 2015 (UTC)

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