text:
Erdington

Erdington is a suburb and ward of Birmingham in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Warwickshire, it is located 5 mi northeast of central Birmingham, bordering Sutton Coldfield. It was also a council constituency, managed by its own district committee. The former council district consisted of the ward of Erdington as well as Tyburn (formerly Kingsbury), Stockland Green and Kingstanding, although all of Kingstanding and most of both Tyburn and Stockland Green wards lie outside the historical boundaries of Erdington. Stockland Green was formerly part of Aston, Kingstanding part of Perry Barr, and Tyburn (Tyburn Road South & Birches Green) partially split between Aston and Hodge Hill (Castle Vale). Erdington (ward) was part of the Sutton Coldfield constituency before 1974.

Erdington Manor
Erdington had its own manor house, Erdington Hall, which was protected on three sides by a double moat and on the fourth by the River Tame. It had developed from a small fortified homestead constructed by an Anglo-Saxon named Eardwulf in the area of Bromford. Demolished in the 17th century, it stood on a hill at the junction of what is now Wheelwright Road and Tyburn Road. The double moat was drained in the 18th century by Sir Charles Holte. Until 1912 another building stood, but this was demolished for the construction of the Tyburn Road, though a small section remained until World War I.

Other moated properties included one at Fern Road, one at the junction of Moor End Lane and Berkswell Road, and another that surrounded a large farm called Pipe Orchard, the site of which can be seen in the Erdington Grammar School playing fields.

Middle Ages
Erdington developed as a village as a result of settlers travelling up the course of the River Tame from Tamworth in the 9th century. The settlements of Minworth and Curdworth were also established. It is believed that the Roman track 'Ridgeway', now Chester Road, was another route for settlers, since the early nucleus of the village which was a very short distance from the path.

At the time of the Norman conquest the Earls of Mercia had possession of the village: Edwin, grandson of Lady Godiva, owned the property. He tried to resist the Normans' attempts to gain possession of Erdington, but he was executed in 1071. The earldom then passed to William I who placed the manor and village in the possession of William Fitz-Ansculf, a powerful Norman baron who lived at Dudley Castle. He then gave the manor to Peter de Erdington.

Erdington was mentioned in the Domesday Book under the name Hardintone and was under the possession of Peter. It had arable land for six ploughs, a mill and 5 acre of meadows and woodland. It was valued at 30 shillings and was one mile (1.6 km) in length and half a mile in breadth.

As Erdington was near Sutton Forest, the Normans imposed strict laws on the village forbidding the hunting of wild animals and the keeping of sheep. Tenants were permitted an allowance of timber from the forest, but with limitations to protect royal game. Erdington remained within the precincts of Sutton Forest until 1126, when Henry I exchanged the Manor of Sutton, with forest, for two manors in Rutland belonging to Roger, Earl of Warwick. The forest became a chase and the woodland laws were relaxed.

The mill mentioned in the Domesday Book was located in Bromford, close to the manor house at a loop in the river, where a straight channel was cut to facilitate the milling of corn. The mill was owned by the lord of the manor and the tenants were obliged to grind their corn there. Erdington was connected to Bromford via Bromford Lane, which still exists today in the middle of a 1960s council estate.

In the 15th century, a chapel was built at the side of the manor house for the residents of Erdington. However, attendance was low and the chapel fell into decay. The residents were then urged to travel to the parish church in Aston; however, again the attendance was low. A south aisle was therefore added to the church and became known as the Erdington chantry.

The Black plague affected Erdington severely as indicated in the 14th century local records. Henry de Pipe, owner of the Manor of Pipe (now Pype Hayes Hall), lost his wife and all but one child. His second wife, Maud, was the daughter of George de Castello of Castle Bromwich. However he soon discovered that she was pregnant with a child of another man, and he then died.

Tudor period
Around the 1500s the Gravelly Hill area began to become mentioned in documents. John Leland described the area as "by sandy ground, better wooded than fertile of wheat ... the soil is sandy and good for conyes." Thus there were many rabbits (conyes) and it is known that it remained as a rabbit warren for a while, as it was deemed unsuitable for cultivation. At the foot of Gravelly Hill was the River Tame, which was spanned by Salford Bridge. Salford Bridge was first mentioned as Shrafford Brugge during the reign of Henry III. It was originally a footbridge; however in 1810 it was improved to allow the crossing of vehicles. The word Shrafford was of Saxon origin, meaning "the ford by the caves". These caves were cavities in the nearby Copeley escarpment. The caves were artificially enlarged, and survived World War II. During the war, they were used as air raid shelters. After the war they were completely destroyed for the construction of the Gravelly Hill Interchange.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, new families lived at Erdington Hall. The Dymocks moved in: they were a prominent family, including several knights. However their strict manorial laws made them unpopular amongst the residents of Erdington.

English Civil War
As the English Civil War erupted, Erdington was expanding rapidly through the purchase of land for agricultural purposes. In 1643, Birmingham was plundered by the Royalists. After his victory in Birmingham, Prince Rupert passed through Erdington and Sutton Coldfield with his troops on their way to Lichfield.

18th and 19th centuries
In 1759, a turnpike act was passed for the Chester Road and another act was passed in 1807 for a road that passed through Erdington village from Birmingham. This resulted in Erdington being a stop-off location for stage coaches which passed along the Chester Road to Chester from London. In 1783, the Birmingham-Fazeley Canal was completed. It passed along the southern boundary of Erdington at Tyburn. Planning requests included that the canal should not pass within 500 metres of Pype Hayes Hall.

By the mid-1700s, Erdington had a population of under 700 and within its boundaries were 52 roads, one forge, 40 farms, 96 cottages, two smithies and a shop. By 1832, it had a population of 2,000.

Erdington has had historic ties with both Castle Bromwich and Water Orton through administration, governance and land ownership whilst being part of Aston Parish. In 1894 Erdington broke from Aston to become an urban district. Administrative offices were established at Rookery House on Kingsbury Road, which now forms part of Rookery Park. In 1911, the urban district council of Erdington and that of Aston Manor were absorbed into the growing city of Birmingham.

Erdington shopping centre formed the core of the area with most of the older housing being located close to it. The railway alongside also attracted the development of many Victorian and Edwardian houses.

Highcroft Hospital
Highcroft Hospital was a former Poor Law institution, and then a psychiatric hospital. There was a social stigma to being treated there. Other large psychiatric institutions in Birmingham have been broken up. Some of the old Highcroft Hospital grounds have been used for new housing. The main hospital building has been renovated into luxury apartments and has been named Highcroft Hall. Highcroft Hall was built between 1869 and 1871 by Victorian architect Yeoville Thomason.

The building, sanctioned by the Poor Law Board, was originally a workhouse providing housing to paupers, idiots, tramps, seniles, lunatics and imbeciles (terms used at the time with distinctive definitions).

The building was originally named the Aston Union Workhouse, but was renamed over the years as Erdington House (1912 – following the City boundary changes), and then Highcroft Hall Hospital (1942); and was more commonly referred to in later years as just Highcroft Hospital.

Over the years, the hospital has generally provided care for the mentally ill. In 1994, the hospital became part of the Northern Birmingham Mental Health NHS Trust. During the following two years, the facilities in the old buildings were gradually rehoused in more modern units nearby and in 1996, the main building was declared closed. The main house was derelict for the next eight years, before being refurbished by property developers between 2004 and 2006.

Lyndhurst estate
On the Sutton Road, a number of houses were demolished in 1957 for the construction of the Lyndhurst Estate. Number 44 was retained as it was an old building considered to be of interest. The demolished houses were detached post-1840 Victorian villas. Constructed on the site were six tower blocks and numerous low rise maisonettes. The tallest of these, Harlech Tower, was 16 storeys and at the time it was the tallest tower block in Birmingham, though many taller blocks were later built. In 1961, the estate won the Civic Award for Housing for the retention of the original trees from the villas and the architectural qualities of the tower blocks which included an exposed concrete frame, a sweeping staircase and a false upper storey to hide the laundry facilities on the roof.

The Lyndhurst estate has since been redeveloped. The low rise maisonettes were demolished along with Harlech and Burcombe Towers. Modern residential properties were built on the site and the remaining tower blocks refurbished.

Pitts Farm estate
Pitts Farm estate is off Chester Rd in some places bordering Pype Hayes Park. There are plans to develop and improve the area.

Etymology
Though referred to as Hardintone in the Domesday Book, it is widely accepted that the name comes from a reference to a fortified homestead established by Eardwulf in Anglo Saxon times, with 'ton' or 'tun' being an Anglo-Saxon suffix for a settlement of that period. This homestead developed into a large house in the area of Bromford and became Erdington Hall.

However the name "Yenton" also applies to the possible corruption of "Yerdington", an enclosure, which could apply to a moated homestead.

Features
Erdington's history is documented well through its buildings. One of the most well-known features in the area is Spaghetti Junction, situated on the southern edge of the district and on the border of Aston and Gravelly Hill. As well as being a road interchange, two railway lines, three canals, and two rivers also converge on that location. Britain's longest bridge, Bromford Viaduct starts here, carrying the M6 to Junction 5, Castle Bromwich. It has long been a historic crossing point in Birmingham, with the incorporation of Salford Bridge, which was first mentioned in a deed in 1490, although a bridge is believed to have been at this location since 1290.

Fort Dunlop
Nearby is Fort Dunlop, former home of Dunlop Rubber, a relic of Erdington's industrial past. At its peak, it employed 10,000 people but its industrial usage has declined since, with Dunlop maintaining only a small presence in the area. The factory closed in September 2014.

The main building was redeveloped from 2005 to 2006 into office and retail space by Urban Splash. The area surrounding Fort Dunlop is used by logistics companies and also features showrooms operated by several car manufacturers, including Birmingham's only Lamborghini dealership.

Shopping
Fort Dunlop lends its name to the nearby The Fort Shopping Park, constructed on reclaimed land by the Birmingham Heartlands Development Corporation in 1996. Erdington has a distinct concentration of retail space, known as Erdington town centre or Erdington village, the main focus of which is Erdington High Street. There is also a market located on Barnabas Road and another market, Wilton Market, between Sutton New Road and the High Street, next to Wilton Market is Swannies which is intermediate between a market and a shopping centre. Opposite Wilton Market and Swannies on the High Street is a Cooperative Store which has been there since at least the 1950s and is the largest Supermarket in the town centre. Erdington town centre is now a Business Improvement District.

Other features in central Erdington
Also on the High Street is Erdington Parish Church, and nearby on Sutton Road is The Abbey Church. The original Abbey building forms part of the neighbouring Highclare School. The Parish Church was severely damaged by fire on the morning of 4 October 2007. It has now been extensively repaired and modernised. Also nearby, on Mason Road, is Erdington Swimming Baths which were constructed by the Birmingham Baths Committee, this was a complex including Saunas and a fitness centre as well as a swimming pool, but has now been replaced by a new leisure Centre and Baths on Orphanage Road nearby. Erdington Library, Opened in 1907 as a Carnegie library, is a public library operated by Birmingham City Council. It is the meeting place of the Erdington Historical Society on the second Monday of every month.

Other features in Erdington
Schools

Josiah Mason Campus, a campus forming Birmingham Metropolitan College, was formerly a further education college by the name of Josiah Mason College that merged with Sutton Coldfield College in 2006. Before the site was taken over by Josiah Mason, there were two grammar schools and a further secondary school. The two grammar schools were Marsh Hill Boys School and Marsh Hill Girls Schools (the schools were formally known as Grammar Technical Schools); the third school on the site was Stockland Green Bilateral School.

Other secondary schools in Erdington were: Erdington Girls Grammar School, Jaffray School, Moor End School and St Edmond Campion School which were "fed" by children leaving Primary Schools at Erdington Hall and others(list needs completing).

Community Facilities

To the north of Erdington, within the area of Pype Hayes on the border with Walmley, is Pype Hayes Park and Pype Hayes Hall, the former home of the Bagot family. A smaller park in the area is Sorrel Park.

The Old Green Man on Bromford Lane (now known as the Lad in the Lane) is one of the oldest public houses in Birmingham. Another, is the 'Charlie Hall', in Ward End. It's named after the Birmingham character actor who starred in many Laurel and Hardy films.

In 2017, a brand new sports facility opened to the public. It cost £7.5 million and provided the people of Erdington with a 25-metre swimming pool, a teaching pool, a 70-station gym and a community room/studio space. Fitness classes, children holiday activity area and birthday parties are also hosted there.

Hospitals
Erdington is served by the Good Hope Hospital in neighbouring Sutton Coldfield. Erdington is also served by the Birmingham Hospice and by Northcroft Hospital built on the edge of the site of the former Highcroft Hospital.

Geography
Erdington itself borders the traditionally working class areas of Aston, Perry Barr and Hodge Hill as well as Kingstanding, Tyburn, and Stockland Green and the affluent, spacious districts of Sutton Coldfield, Minworth, Castle Bromwich and Water Orton (North Warwickshire). The area is also close to both Lichfield and Tamworth in Staffordshire. It is located approximately 4 mi north east of Birmingham City Centre.

The borders of Erdington are:
 * Boldmere via the Chester Road
 * Stockland Green which borders with Witton at the end of Marsh Hill (with Wyrley Birch part of Kingstanding (ward))
 * The Yenton and Chester Road form the border from Wylde Green
 * Following Chester Road down all the way to the Tyburn House Public House would end the Erdington constituency as Castle Vale (formerly Castle Bromwich and the Aerodrome) is further down
 * New Oscott past Oscott College
 * Walmley (Eachelhurst Road)
 * Moving back would be the Tyburn road which intersects Kingsbury Road and leads right back to Spaghetti junction on the border of Aston & Gravelly Hill.
 * Birches Green and Tyburn Road.
 * Minworth and Curdworth at the North Eastern end of Kingsbury Road heading towards Kingsbury Village and the Warwickshire border.

Erdington also includes Pype Hayes. This was formerly a working class area of Council houses built between World War I and World War II. These houses had to be demolished due to problems with the concrete used in their construction. Pype Hayes is now an area with modern houses, some are owner occupied, others belong to Housing associations. One tower block, Sorrel House, was retained and refurbished.

Brookvale Park Lake and surrounding land is a park that was formally a drinking water reservoir until the steadily encroaching city made the water unfit for human consumption. It was briefly converted into an outdoor pool until that was also abandoned after health and safety concerns.

Two tornadoes touched down in Birmingham on 23 November 1981 as part of the record-breaking nationwide tornado outbreak on that day. The first tornado, rated as an F1/T2 tornado, touched down in Erdington at about 14:00 local time, causing some damage across the northern suburbs of Birmingham.

Demographics
At the time of the 2001 Population Census there were 22,626 people living in Erdington. The area where Chester Road crosses Birmingham Road and Sutton Road is called "The Yenton". The area had a population density of 50.7 people per hectare and the ward covers an area of 446.2 hectares. Erdington had a slightly higher proportion of females, at 52%, to males. This followed the city trend as 51.6% of the population of Birmingham are females. 98.6% of the population of Erdington lived in households whilst the remaining 1.4% lived in communal establishments. This is 0.3% above and 0.3% below the city average, respectively. There were a total of 10,547 households in Erdington, producing an average of 2.2 persons per household. This is below the city average of 2.5 and national average of 2.4. 63.4% of the households are owner occupied, above the city average of 60.4%. The local authority rented out 19.2% of the population. 5.8% of the households were rented from housing associations and 8% were rented privately. 459 of households were vacant, which accounted for 4.4% of the total number of houses in Erdington. The most common housing type was semi-detached properties, whilst purpose built blocks of flats were the second most common.

The age patterns of Erdington are very similar to that of the England. 29.7% of the residents were in the 25–44 age bracket, above the city average of 28.3% and the nationwide average of 29.3%. 19% of residents were of a pensionable age, above the city average of 16.7%. 60% of the population were of a working age (16–65 years of age), above the city average of 59.8% but below the national average of 61.5%.

Some 8.9% of the population were born outside of the country, below the city average of 16.5% and national average of 9.3%. 89% of the population are white, well above the city average of 70.4% and just below the national average of 90.9%. Black ethnic groups were the second largest in Erdington, representing 3.9% of the population. 3.8% were from Asian ethnic groups and 2.8% were from mixed ethnic backgrounds. The remaining 0.5% were from Chinese and other ethnic groups. More specifically, the British White ethnic group represented 81.7% of the population and the Irish White represented 6%. 3.2% of the population were of Black Caribbean descent and 1.8% were of Indian descent.

71% of the population of Erdington stated themselves as Christians, the same figure for the rest of the country although higher than the Birmingham average of 59.1%. 14.9% of the population stated that they were of no religion. Muslims represented 2.2% of the population, below the Birmingham average of 14.3% and the lowest number in the city (together with the Sutton Coldfield wards).

Erdington had an unemployment rate of 8.1%, below the city rate of 9.5% but above the national average of 5%. 65.5% of the population were economically active. Of the economically inactive, 36.2% were retired and 10.7% were students. 33% were long term unemployed and 9.9% had never worked. Of the economically active, 17.5% worked in the Manufacturing sector. The largest employers in the area were the Education Department of Birmingham City Council, Colliers Peugeot dealers and Cincinnati Machine (UK) Ltd. all of which employed 200 people between them.

Erdington's best known resident was Josiah Mason, the philanthropist whose bust now stands at the centre of the roundabout at the junction of Chester Road and Orphanage Road, which leads on to Berwood Farm Road and Welwyndale Rd, so named because he founded an Orphanage there in 1860.

Transport
Erdington railway station lies on the Cross-City Line, which runs northwards to Lichfield and southwards to Redditch via Birmingham New Street. The line and station opened in 1862. Erdington is also served by the two adjacent stations on the line, Gravelly Hill, which was also opened in 1862, and Chester Road, which opened in 1863.

Important roads that access the area include A38 (Birmingham to Derby road), A5127 (Gravelly Hill) and the A47 Spine Road. The M6 motorway forms the southern border of the district, with connections at Junction 6 (Gravelly Hill Interchange). There is a well-established network of bus routes through Erdington with connections to Birmingham city centre and Sutton Coldfield, the majority of which are operated by National Express West Midlands.

In the southern area of the district is the Birmingham Fazeley Canal which helped develop that area as a major employment sector. The River Tame added to this, and with the introduction of the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway the area became a prominent industrial area.

Politics
Erdington has long been represented by the Labour Party. There was much surprise when Conservative Robert Alden won a seat in Erdington ward de-seating the Labour candidate Susannah McCory in 2006. Again in 2007, McCory lost to the Conservatives, this time to Gareth Compton who replaced the retiring long serving Labour councillor Renee Spector. The other seat in the ward was won, again by the Conservatives, by Bob Beauchamp, an Erdington garage owner.

Since a boundary review implemented in 2018, the area is now covered by wards of Erdington, Pype Hayes, Gravelly Hill, Castle Vale, Stockland Green and Perry Common. The traditional town centre of Erdington is covered largely by the new smaller Erdington ward.

Birmingham Erdington is a constituency, which is currently represented by Paulette Hamilton of the Labour Party. Noted members of parliament have included Robin Corbett, Julius Silverman and Jack Dromey. Previously the areas Member of Parliament have included Sutton Coldfield to form a singular constituency. In addition to Erdington, the constituency includes the former (pre-2018) wards of Kingstanding, Stockland Green and Tyburn all outside the traditional Erdington boundaries.

Culture and sport
It was formerly home to the famous rock music venue, Mothers (previously the Carlton Ballroom), which from 1968 until it closed in 1971 played host to bands such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and The Who. The resident band were Erdington locals The Moody Blues and the DJ was John Peel. The club was located opposite St Barnabas Church on the High Street above a furniture store. Other local Erdington artists included The Spencer Davis Group and Black Sabbath.

Erdington is home to Erdington United Football Club and Erdington RFC, a rugby union club with a strong focus on its youth development teams.

Erdington has two cricket teams: Highcroft and Great Barr Unity (formed in 2003 by the merger of Highcroft CC and Great Barr CC) and Erdington Court. It also has a Gaelic football and hurling team, Erin Go Bragh and a successful non-league football Club, Paget Rangers FC. It is also home to Birmingham's American Football team, the Birmingham Bulls.

Notable people

 * Gabriel Agbonlahor, Aston Villa F.C. striker was born near Erdington.
 * Ronnie Bird (footballer),(1941–2005), Born and raised in Erdington, Bird was a professional footballer during the 60s and 70s, notably for Cardiff City, Bury & Crewe Alexandra.
 * Havergal Brian, the composer lived in Edwards Road in the early part of the 20th century.
 * Ryan Cartwright, an actor who plays the character of Gary Bell in the SyFy science fiction drama Alphas.
 * Paul Devlin (footballer) (born 1972), born and raised in Erdington. Played for Birmingham City, Sheffield United, Notts County and Watford.
 * Leon Edwards, professional mixed martial artist, current UFC Welterweight Champion.
 * Ann George, (1903–1989) actress, known for Crossroads: Kings Oak (1964), Crossroads: A Celebration (1971) and All Star Comedy Carnival (1972).
 * Topsy Jane, (1938–2014), actress. She was best known for her roles in the films The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (film) (1962), Mix Me a Person (1962) and The Wind of Change, (1961). www.imdb.com/name/nm0417429/
 * Victor Johnson, (1883–1951) was a track cycling racer who, in 1908, won a gold medal at the Olympics; became 'World Amateur Sprint Champion' in Germany and the 'British National Quarter-mile Champion'.
 * Mike Kenning (footballer), played for Norwich City, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Charlton Athletic & Watford amongst others. Kenning played 412 professional games scoring 88 goals.
 * John Lodge (musician) and Mike Pinder, founder members of the Moody Blues, were born and raised in Erdington.
 * Jeff Lynne, singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist who co-founded the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), was born in Pype Hayes, Erdington.
 * Garfield Morgan, (1931–2009) actor. Living in Erdington he began acting with a local youth club drama group. He subsequently made hundreds of appearances in many shows but is best remembered for playing Detective Chief Inspector Frank Haskins in the crime series The Sweeney.
 * John Oliver, the host of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on HBO, was born in Erdington
 * Gertrude Page, (1872–1922), writer, known for the novels Paddy the Next Best Thing (1923), Edge o' Beyond (1919) and Love in the Wilderness (1920).
 * Terence Rigby, (1937–2008), late RADA trained actor with a number of film and television credits to his name. In the 1970s he was well known as police dog-handler PC Snow in the long-running series Softly, Softly: Taskforce.
 * Martin Shaw, actor, best known for his roles in the television series The Professionals, The Chief, Doctor in the House, Judge John Deed and Inspector George Gently.
 * Murray Walker, motorsport commentator lived on Holly Lane whilst on a Dunlop scholarship at Fort Dunlop
 * Muff Winwood, musician with The Spencer Davis Group, brother of Steve.

title: Erdington


text:
Mainframe Studios

Mainframe Studios is a Canadian animation company owned by Wow Unlimited Media and based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Founded in 1993 as Mainframe Entertainment Inc. by Christopher Brough, Ian Pearson, Phil Mitchell, Gavin Blair and John Grace, the company established itself as a leading contributor to the introduction of computer-generated imagery (CGI) live action in animation, film and television.

The company previously operated as a subsidiary of Starz Inc. (at the time a division of IDT Corporation) between 2003 and 2007. Local post production firm, Rainmaker Income Fund, acquired a majority stake in the company, initially rebranding it in the process as Rainmaker Animation and would fold into it in 2008, permanently rebranding it as Rainmaker Entertainment. Rainmaker would revive the "Mainframe Entertainment" name for its then-newly-created division meant for television production. On 25 October 2016, the company announced a triple acquisition and merger of Frederator Networks and Ezrin-Hirsh Entertainment to create the holding company, WOW! Unlimited Media, and rebrand a second time to Rainmaker Studios. In 2020, the company would rebrand a third and final time to Mainframe Studios to return to their "Mainframe Entertainment" name roots.

The company is best known for the production of the first fully computer-animated half-hour television series ReBoot; Beast Wars, a reimagined relaunch of Transformers from Hasbro; and Barbie since 2001, in partnership with American toy company Mattel — the majority of films which later expanded into other audiovisual media to create a multimedia franchise for the flagship fashion doll property.

As Mainframe Entertainment
The company was established in 1993 as Mainframe Entertainment Inc. by Christopher Brough, a noted Los Angeles-based animation producer and a British animation team known as "The Hub" – Gavin Blair, Ian Pearson, Phil Mitchell and John Grace. They were looking to create ReBoot, the first fully computer-animated television series, after having used the technology to produce music videos like Money for Nothing and Let's Get Rocked. Due to the cost of shipping equipment back home, advantageous tax credits and proximity to Los Angeles, the company set up shop in Vancouver, Canada.

In 1994, ReBoot launched on ABC in the United States and YTV in Canada. The series intermittently ran for four seasons with production ending in 2001. The company's second project was produced for American toy company Hasbro. Beast Wars (known in Canada as Beasties), a relaunch of the Transformers brand, debuted in 1996 and concluded in 1999. A follow-up, Beast Machines was produced between 1999 and 2000. Both ReBoot and Beast Wars were produced with Alliance Communications, who had taken a 50% ownership of Mainframe. In 1996, Mainframe paid $17 million to reduce Alliance's share to 15%.

Mainframe became a publicly traded company with a listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange on June 17, 1997. In conjunction with the public offering, Alliance sold 700,000 shares in the company, lowering their ownership to 7.8%. Christopher Brough became the CEO, Pearson the president, Blair as director of operations and Mitchell as Blair's assistant/vice. In its first year on the stock exchange, Mainframe posted an $11 million loss despite producing hit multi-award-winning computer-animated shows during this period.

Mainframe opened its American division in Los Angeles on 17 April 1998 to be led by Dan DiDio and oversee content development, production and local distribution. DiDio previously worked with Mainframe through his stint as executive director of children's programming at ABC.

After having earlier produced two ReBoot themed rides for the company, the IMAX Corporation made a $16 million investment in the company in 1999, which gave IMAX roughly 30% ownership of Mainframe, included the creation of a new joint venture meant to facilitate the creation of animated films based on Gulliver's Travels and Pied Piper, with a third project titled Pandora’s Box. The films were intended to be stereoscopic, 3D feature length releases, though none of the three saw completion.

At the end of the 1999 fiscal year, the company reported a $17 million loss. Thanks to episode deliveries for Beast Machines, Beast Wars, Shadow Raiders and Weird-Oh's the company posted its first profit of $1.4 million in fiscal 2000. Buoyed by Heavy Gear, Action Man and their first direct-to-video film, Casper's Haunted Christmas, Mainframe posted another profit of $2.4 million for fiscal 2001. Despite the success, the company faced a major management shakeup that year. Pearson had stepped down as president in June and left the company shortly after, with fellow co-founders Blair and Mitchell also leaving in 2002 and 2005, respectively.

In 2001, American toy maker Mattel partnered with Mainframe to produce Barbie in the Nutcracker. The direct-to-video feature sold more than 3.4 million units in its first year. The success of the release led to a longstanding relationship between Mattel and the animation studio. Mainframe (and its successors) would later produce the majority of the franchise's direct-to-video films, as well as a television series.

Following financial losses of $18.9 million and $7.5 million in fiscal 2002 and 2003, the American IDT Corporation announced it would purchase 56% of Mainframe for $14 million on September 16, 2003. After the cancellation of Spider-Man: The New Animated Series that same year, the company moved away from producing television series. While a number of projects were announced they ultimately did not see fruition, including a pre-school oriented ReBoot spinoff called Binomes as well as Mainframe's first live-action production, an adaptation of Harriet the Spy. In 2005, the company acquired the distribution rights to the live-action/CGI-animated television series Zixx. Mainframe also provided animation for the show's second and third seasons in conjunction with Thunderbird Films. The bulk of the company's work now consisted of direct-to-video projects and television specials.

After producing the visuals for the 2003 MTV Movie Awards, Mainframe started a creative services division to produce video game animation, graphic design, motion graphics, titling, show opening sequences and branding in 2005. This branch of the company worked on a number of projects, including cut-scenes for Prototype, 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand and Ghostbusters: The Video Game, as well as the 2006 MTV Movie Awards.

As Rainmaker
Finding itself under new ownership, IDT sold its 62% stake in Mainframe to Vancouver-based post-production firm Rainmaker Income Fund on 20 July 2006 for $13.8 million. The next month Rainmaker announced it would acquire the remaining 38% of Mainframe. On January 30, 2007 Mainframe was renamed to Rainmaker Animation. Later that year, Rainmaker sold its visual effects and post production divisions to Deluxe Entertainment Services Group, leaving only the animation business.

In June 2012, Chinese animation studio Xing Xing Digital announced its intent to purchase Rainmaker, with the company willing to pay off Rainmaker's $7 million debt. The purchase was called off after Rainmaker and Xing Xing were unable to finalize the sale by September 14, 2012.

In 2013, Rainmaker completed its first theatrical feature film, Escape from Planet Earth. Directed by Cal Brunker, it received mixed reviews from critics but was a success at the box office, grossing around $75 million worldwide. On 7 October that same year, Rainmaker launched a television production division and revived the "Mainframe Entertainment" brand for its title, starting with a CG-animated incarnation of Bob the Builder.

Rainmaker released its second theatrical feature film, Ratchet & Clank based on the video game series of the same name by Insomniac Games, in the first quarter of 2016 to financial failure. This poor reception to the film caused Rainmaker to take a $10 million impairment charge on their investment in the production and was later cited as the reason the company abandoned plans to adapt the Sly Cooper video game franchise into a theatrical film.

Later that year on 25 October, Rainmaker announced their intent to acquire and merge Erzin-Hirsh Entertainment and American-based Frederator Networks (and its main division, Frederator Studios) and consolidate them under its then-new holding company, WOW! Unlimited Media Inc. (TSX:WOW.A). At that time, the company changed the names of its home-base divisions to Rainmaker Studios and Mainframe Studios. Since the reorganization, the company has been heavily involved in television production animating ReBoot: The Guardian Code, a live-action/CGI-animated re-imagining of the ReBoot brand, Barbie: Dreamhouse Adventures, the first-ever full-length TV series in the "Barbie" media franchise and Spy Kids: Mission Critical, the animated reboot/spin-off of the Spy Kids (franchise) in 2018. In 2019, the studio released its first traditionally-animated production, a pilot based on Knowledge Network mascots made in Toon Boom Harmony.

As Mainframe Studios
On 16 March 2020, the studio announced it would be rebranding as Mainframe Studios and consolidate Rainmaker Studios under the "Mainframe" branding and fully returning the studio to their original "Mainframe" name. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mainframe Studios initiated remote work measures for its employees.

On 24 June 2021, the company confirmed that it would develop a 2D-animation pipeline in support of its first production in the medium, an animated series inspired by YouTube personality Guava Juice. The following August, Mainframe announced that it would open a virtual studio in Toronto in the east of the country, building upon its earlier remote work experience.

Films/movies
Features/cinematic/theatrical:

Television:

Direct-to-video (DTV):

Other credits

 * 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand (video game trailer)
 * Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Pre-rendered cut scenes)
 * Ghost Hunter Dax
 * Good Boy! (CG effects)
 * Harriet the Spy
 * Legion of 5
 * Luna, Chip & Inkie in The Festival of Wishes
 * The Outer Limits (1995-2001) (CG effects)
 * 2003 MTV Movie Awards
 * 2006 MTV Movie Awards
 * Prototype (video game trailer)
 * WET (video game trailer)
 * Ratchet & Clank: Life of Pie (2021)
 * Ready2Robot (web-series)
 * Stargate SG-1 (1997-2007) (CG effects)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Mainframe Studios


text:
Perry Barr

Perry Barr is a suburban area in north Birmingham, England. It is also the name of a council constituency, managed by its own district committee. Birmingham Perry Barr is also a parliamentary constituency; its Member of Parliament is Khalid Mahmood.

The constituency includes the smaller Perry Barr ward, and the wards of Handsworth Wood, Lozells and East Handsworth, and Oscott, which each elect three councillors to Birmingham City Council.

Etymology
There were four ancient manors in this area (all part of the parish of Handsworth) called Hamstead, Oscott, Perry, and Little (or Parva) Barr. Perry is the area around the parish church and this name is seen on maps but now seldom used. Over time, through confusion or convenience, the whole district came to be known as Perry Barr. "Perry" comes from the Old English "pirige", meaning "pear tree". The derivation of "Barr" is Old Celtic "barro" meaning "hill top". Barr Beacon, the area's highest hill, is in neighbouring Great Barr.

History

Perry Barr was originally two separate entities, both mentioned in the Domesday Book as 'Pirio' and 'Barre'. Pirio is recorded as having an estimated population of 35 and Barre with an estimated population of 25. William Fitz-Ansculf is recorded as being the tenant in chief of both manors, and Drogo as the tenant. It is thought that the two manors may have been combined in the Early Middle Ages.

In 1874, Perry Barr established its own institute based on the model of the Birmingham and Midland Institute.. In 1878, Henry Irving became the president of the Perry Barr Institute and addressed members of the institute on 6 March 1878. His speech was reprinted in the 13 March release of Theatre and also reprinted onto pamphlets by the institute's members and sold for sixpence to fund the construction of a new building for the institute. It was converted into a Carnegie-funded library in September 1897. In early 2007, this library, ultimately known as Birchfield Community Library, was demolished due to its dilapidated condition. Another library in the area is Tower Hill Library.

Aston Villa opened their Wellington Road ground in Perry Barr in 1876, playing there until 1897.

Perry Barr Urban District was an urban district in Staffordshire from 1894 until 1928, when it was largely incorporated into Birmingham and thus also Warwickshire (this included an area which is now considered part of Great Barr). It then became part of the West Midlands in 1974 when Birmingham became a metropolitan borough in the county.

In 1903, Birmingham Crematorium, the City's first, was opened by Sir Henry Thompson, president of the Cremation Society, in Perry Barr at 389 Walsall Road. It has been privately owned, currently by Dignity plc.

In the 1920s, Oscar Deutsch opened his first ever Odeon cinema here. The original cinema is now a conference venue, having also been a bingo hall. The 1920s Perry Barr Stadium on the Aldridge Road hosts greyhound racing and the Birmingham Brummies speedway team. It has a 500-seat capacity, and was refurbished in 2004. It is the former home of the Birchfield Harriers, whose Art Deco-styled bas relief badge it still carries. The Harriers now operate from nearby Alexander Stadium.

Aston Technical College (later renamed North Birmingham Technical College) moved to a new site in Perry Barr in the late 1960s, and was incorporated into the creation of Birmingham Polytechnic (now Birmingham City University) in 1971. The site had formerly been the location of Birchfield Road Primary School and Birchfield Road Secondary Modern School.Two of the college's buildings existed as part of the university's City North Campus, but closed in 2018 when the site was again levelled and construction began on accommodation for athletes competing in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022 in Perry Park.Delays in construction due to the Covid 19 pandemic meant that the accommodation was not completed in time to be used for this purpose.

There is a mall-style shopping centre in the district known as "One Stop" Shopping Centre. This was built in the early 1990s, replacing a previous 1960s-era shopping centre. To facilitate the 1990s construction, a length of the River Tame was diverted and canalised. A Wetherspoons pub, the Arthur Robertson, opened later is named after Arthur Robertson, the Birchfield Harriers' first Olympic gold medallist (1908).

A memorial to PC Malcolm Walker, of the West Midlands Police, is situated outside shops on the city-bound side of Birchfield Road. He died on 4 October 2001, when his motorcycle was struck during a police pursuit.

The site of the former Perry Hall is now Perry Hall Park. Perry Park hosted the Birmingham Carnival in 2005.

Transport
Major roads in the ward and constituency include the M6 motorway and the A34. Bus routes operated by the National Express West Midlands Perry Barr bus garage in the area include Nos 11A, 11C, 33, 46, 51, 54, 68A, 68C, 907, 907A, 934, 937, 937A (evenings and Sundays), 952, 997, and 997E (towards Pheasey). The A4040 and A34 roads cross at Perry Barr, the former carrying the Birmingham Outer Circle bus routes. In addition the A453 towards Sutton Coldfield begins at Perry Barr.

Route X51 runs through Perry Barr, but does not stop in Perry Barr. The nearest stop on the route is Walsall Road, Alexander Stadium before running non-stop to Birmingham City Centre.

To the south-west of the ward is the Walsall line, part of the old Grand Junction Railway, which has two railway stations within the boundaries of the ward; Hamstead railway station and Perry Barr railway station. The latter, opened in 1837, is one of the oldest stations in the country to remain on its original site.

The Tame Valley Canal bisects the ward, with boats from Salford Junction, under Gravelly Hill Interchange climbing the 13-flight Perry Barr Locks towards Hamstead and on to Rushall Junction. There is a feeder reservoir, Perry Reservoir, in Perry Park.

The River Tame passes through the area and is crossed by several bridges, including Perry Bridge, a scheduled ancient monument of 1711, on the line of the Roman Ryknild Street and its 1932 Art Deco replacement carrying the Aldridge Road. The old bridge appears on the badge of nearby Handsworth Grammar School. A stream, the Holbrook, originating on the slopes of Barr Beacon, flows into the river just upstream from the bridge. The area around the bridge is known as Holford.

Sport
Aston Manor Cricket Club are situated in Perry Barr, as is the international athletics stadium Alexander Stadium. These are located on Church Road just by Perry Park. The Hub on Holford Drive is home to Continental Star F.C., as well as Continental Star Cricket, Continental Stars table tennis club, tennis clubs, and Aston Amateur Boxing Club.

Perry Barr Greyhound Stadium on the Aldridge Road plays host to two sports: greyhound racing, which is primarily run on Saturday nights with daytime meetings during the week, and speedway, the team racing there being the Birmingham Brummies, who run on a Wednesday night schedule from April to October. The Birmingham Brummies currently ride in the SGB Championship which is the second tier of British speedway.

Ward
The Perry Barr ward is part of the Birmingham, Perry Barr parliamentary constituency. Following boundary changes in 2004, the eastern edge of the ward follows the M6 motorway from Spaghetti Junction to junction 7 at Great Barr, including parts of the communities of Witton, Aston, Perry Barr and Great Barr.

Since 2004, the three councillors representing Perry Barr on Birmingham City Council have been Ray Hassall, Karen Hamilton and Jon Hunt, all of them Liberal Democrats. Hassall was elected in 1990, Hunt in 2003 and Hamilton in 2004. Hamilton became the first black councillor elected for the ward. In a 2017 by-election, Morriam Jan, elected as a Liberal Democrat, became the first councillor of South Asian origin elected for the ward.

Prior to 1990, the ward had a strong tendency towards the Conservative Party. No single party held all the seats in the ward between 1990 and 2004. The Liberal Democrats took a clean sweep at the 2004 Council Elections in which all seats were contested, but only after three recounts. In 2006, Hamilton increased her personal majority from 31 to more than 1,500, and the party went on to win every election in the ward until boundary changes in 2018.

The ward had Labour representation for a period, from 1995 till 2004 following the election of Mike Leddy (1995–2003), along with the defection of Ron Whitehouse from the Liberal Democrats to the Labour Party (2000–2004).

For the 2018 and any subsequent elections the ward was reduced in size to two councillors and parts of the former Aston ward, included in 2004, were returned to a new Aston ward. The new Perry Barr ward includes Witton Cemetery and the Moor Lane Sports Ground.

Election winners

 * 1986 – Conservative
 * 1987 – Conservative
 * 1988 – Conservative
 * 1990 – Liberal Democrat
 * 1991 – Liberal Democrat
 * 1992 – Conservative
 * 1994 – Liberal Democrat
 * 1995 – Labour
 * 1996 – Liberal Democrat
 * 1998 – Liberal Democrat
 * 1999 – Labour
 * 2000 – Liberal Democrat (defected to Labour within 12 months)
 * 2002 – Liberal Democrat
 * 2003 – Liberal Democrat
 * 2004 – 3 x Liberal Democrat (following boundary changes)
 * 2006 – Liberal Democrat - Karen Hamilton
 * 2007 – Liberal Democrat - Jon Hunt
 * 2008 – Liberal Democrat - Ray Hassall
 * 2010 – Liberal Democrat - Karen Hamilton
 * 2011 – Liberal Democrat - Jon Hunt
 * 2012 – Liberal Democrat - Ray Hassall
 * 2014 – Liberal Democrat - Karen Trench (previously Hamilton)
 * 2015 – Liberal Democrat - Jon Hunt
 * 2016 - Liberal Democrat - Ray Hassall (deceased March 2017)
 * 2017 (by-election) – Liberal Democrat - Morriam Jan
 * 2018 - 2 x Liberal Democrat (following boundary changes) - Jon Hunt & Morriam Jan

Demographics and notable residents
The 2001 Population Census recorded that 22,704 people were living in Perry Barr. 28.2% (6,410) of the ward's population was represented by ethnic minorities, compared with 29.6% for Birmingham in general.

British musician Steve Winwood was a choirboy at St John the Evangelist Church of England parish church in Perry Barr.

title: Perry Barr