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47-573: The Public Library and Baths ( grid reference SP078843 ) on Moseley Road, Balsall Heath , form one of many pairings of baths and libraries in Birmingham , England. The library was opened in 1895, with the baths following in 1907. Made of red brick and terracotta in Edwardian style, the structure is one of only three swimming pools in the country listed at Grade II* status. The buildings are owned by Birmingham City Council . The library

94-529: A 100 m square. For example, the grid reference of the 100 m square containing the summit of Ben Nevis is NN 166 712 . (Grid references may be written with or without spaces; e.g., also NN166712.) NN has an easting of 200 km and northing of 700 km, so the OSGB36 National Grid location for Ben Nevis is at 216600, 771200. Grid references may also be quoted as a pair of numbers: eastings then northings in metres, measured from

141-499: A military grid. Four of these largest squares contain significant land area within Great Britain: S, T, N and H. The O square contains a tiny area of North Yorkshire , Beast Cliff at OV 0000 , almost all of which lies below mean high tide. For the second letter, each 500 km square is subdivided into 25 squares of size 100 km by 100 km, each with a letter code from A to Z (again omitting I) starting with A in

188-752: A point in the Atlantic Ocean well to the west of Great Britain. In Cornwall , the WGS 84 longitude lines are about 70 metres east of their OSGB 36 equivalents, this value rising gradually to about 120 m east on the east coast of East Anglia . The WGS 84 latitude lines are about 70 m south of the OSGB 36 lines in South Cornwall , the difference diminishing to zero in the Scottish Borders , and then increasing to about 50 m north on

235-581: A process for bonding porcelain enamel to cast iron in the 1880s while working for the Alexander Manufacturing Company in Detroit . The company, as well as others including Kohler Company and J. L. Mott Iron Works , began successfully marketing porcelain enameled cast-iron bathtubs, a process that remains broadly the same to this day. Far from the ornate feet and luxury most associated with clawfoot tubs, an early Kohler example

282-754: A protective non-slip coating. While soft tubs have been available since the 1970s, by the 1990s they were being sold by major manufacturers. The tubs are typically marketed for children and the elderly, to prevent injury from falls. Inflatable bathtub is a specialized bathtub that is portable, and can be used both indoors and outdoors. They are especially well-suited for bathrooms that have shower, but don't have built-in bathtubs. They are also inexpensive and save room space. Some models have built-in accessories such as pillows, backrests and/or armrests, which are all air-inflated, with some models even having cup-holders installed in them. Inflatable bathtubs usually consist of many smaller inflatable parts, together forming

329-418: A site on Moseley Road close to the junction with Edward Road. A small cartway known as Midland Grove ran behind the site and the access this offered for the delivery of coal to the rear of the building was a key factor in the decision to choose this particular site. The Free Library opened in 1895 and has a clock tower. It was designed by Jethro A. Cossins and F. B. Peacock. The baths were added immediately to

376-475: A small, stand-alone bath that is filled with water from another source, or a device for supporting the baby that is placed in a standard bathtub. Many are designed to allow the baby to recline while keeping its head out of the water. Hot tubs are common heated pools used for relaxation and sometimes for therapy. Hot tubs became popularized in the U.S. during the early hippie era (1967–1980), appearing in films and music. Whirlpool tubs first became popular in

423-416: A £35-million injection into the government's Culture Recovery Fund . The baths building consists of two swimming pools (the first-class or "Gala" pool and the second-class pool), three 'slipper' bath departments (men's first-class, men's second-class, and women's) comprising a total of 46 private washing baths, a committee room which was primarily used for meetings of swimming clubs, a flat formerly used by

470-527: Is a system of geographic grid references , distinct from latitude and longitude , whereby any location in Great Britain can be described in terms of its distance from the origin (0, 0), which lies to the west of the Isles of Scilly . The Ordnance Survey (OS) devised the national grid reference system, and it is heavily used in its survey data, and in maps based on those surveys, whether published by

517-461: Is applied. This creates two lines of longitude about 180 km east and west of the central meridian along which the local scale factor equals 1, i.e. map scale is correct. Inside these lines the local scale factor is less than 1, with a minimum of 0.04% too small at the central meridian. Outside these lines the local scale factor is greater than 1, and is about 0.04% too large near the east and west coasts. Grid north and true north are only aligned on

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564-569: Is published by the Ordnance Survey is called the National Grid Transformation OSTN15. This models the detailed distortions in the 1936–1962 retriangulation, and achieves backwards compatibility in grid coordinates to sub-metre accuracy. The difference between the coordinates on different datums varies from place to place. The longitude and latitude positions on OSGB 36 are the same as for WGS 84 at

611-534: Is still run by the council, while the Baths are now run by a community enterprise, Moseley Road Baths CIO, following previous Council plans for them to be closed. During discussions in 1890 to absorb the Balsall Heath district into the city of Birmingham, it was decided that public baths should be built as soon as possible for the area if Birmingham was to acquire the district. A bill was passed and Balsall Heath

658-620: Is the system commonly used for the Channel Islands . European-wide agencies also use UTM when mapping locations, or may use the Military Grid Reference System (MGRS), or variants of it. The first letter of the British National Grid is derived from a larger set of 25 squares of size 500 km by 500 km, labelled A to Z, omitting one letter (I) (refer diagram below), previously used as

705-521: The College of Art and were listed at Grade II as a single entity in 1982, upgraded to Grade II* status in 2004 by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport . In 2006 a Friends of Moseley Road Baths group was formed to campaign for the long-term future of the building as a fully functioning swimming facility. Since their formation various community events and fundraisers have been held, including

752-931: The English Channel halfway between Dover and Calais , the ED50 longitude lines are about 20 m east of the OSGB36 equivalents, and the ED50 latitude lines are about 150 m south of the OSGB36 ones. Slipper Bathtub Modern bathtubs have overflow and waste drains and may have taps mounted on them. They are usually built-in, but may be free-standing or sometimes sunken. Until acrylic thermoforming technology permitted other shapes, virtually all bathtubs used to be roughly rectangular. Bathtubs are commonly white in color, although many other colors can be found. Two main styles are common: Documented early plumbing systems for bathing go back as far as around 3300 BC with

799-628: The English Channel which lies between the island of Jersey and the French port of St. Malo ). Over the Airy ellipsoid a straight line grid, the National Grid, is placed with a new false origin to eliminate negative numbers, creating a 700 km by 1300 km grid. This false origin is located south-west of the Isles of Scilly. In order to minimize the overall scale error, a factor of 2499/2500

846-685: The Isle of Man ). The Irish grid reference system is a similar system created by the Ordnance Survey of Ireland and the Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland for the island of Ireland. The Irish Transverse Mercator (ITM) coordinate reference system was adopted in 2001 and is now the preferred coordinate reference system across Ireland. ITM is based on the Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system (UTM), used to provide grid references for worldwide locations, and this

893-613: The Netherlands , possibly artistically inspired by the Chinese motif of a dragon holding a precious stone. The design spread to England, where it found much popularity among the aristocracy , just as bathing was becoming increasingly fashionable. Early bathtubs in England tended to be made of cast iron, or even tin and copper with a face of paint applied that tended to peel with time. The Scottish-born inventor David Buick invented

940-465: The Ordnance Survey or by commercial map producers. Grid references are also commonly quoted in other publications and data sources, such as guide books and government planning documents. A number of different systems exist that can provide grid references for locations within the British Isles : this article describes the system created solely for Great Britain and its outlying islands (including

987-601: The U.S. during the 1960s and 1970s. A spa or hot tub is also called a "jacuzzi" since the word became a generic after plumbing component manufacturer Jacuzzi introduced the "Spa Whirlpool" in 1968. Air bubbles may be introduced into the nozzles via an air-bleed venturi pump . Freestanding tubs have become popular in recent years as a result of larger bathrooms being constructed. Freestanding bathtubs may be made from various materials such as stone resin, cast stone, acrylic, cast iron, fiberglass, porcelain, copper, and cement. Soft tubs are made from soft plastic or foam with

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1034-487: The Western-style bathtubs, clawfoot tubs can also include a variety of shower head options. Clawfoot tubs come in four major styles: Pedestal tubs rest on a pedestal in what many would term an art deco style. Evidence of pedestal tubs dates back to the island of Crete around 1000 BC. A baby bathtub is one used for bathing infants, especially those not yet old enough to sit up on their own. These can be either

1081-399: The acrylic being used for outdoor spas to make acrylic bathtubs. Working with Spartech Plastics, they developed the modern co-extruded and durable acrylic bathtub. The company American Bath Factory was the first to expand the diversity of acrylic bathtubs to include whirlpools, clawfoot bathtubs, and a large variety of pedestal and modern bathtubs. The process for enamelling cast iron bathtubs

1128-548: The centenary celebration on 30 October 2007 which was attended by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham and swimmers past and present. In 2010 the Friends' group was awarded a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £48,000 to document the building's history and to interview former and current users of the building. Some aspects of the project are now online. In October 2021, the building was one of 142 sites across England to receive part of

1175-525: The central meridian (400 km easting) of the grid which is 2° W (OSGB36) and approx. 2° 0′ 5″ W ( WGS 84 ). A geodetic transformation between OSGB 36 and other terrestrial reference systems (like ITRF2000 , ETRS89 , or WGS 84 ) can become quite tedious if attempted manually. The most common transformation is called the Helmert datum transformation , which results in a typical 7 m error from true. The definitive transformation from ETRS89 that

1222-479: The discovery of copper water pipes beneath a palace in ancient Europe . Evidence of the earliest surviving personal sized bath tub was found on the Isle of Crete where a 1.5-metre (5 ft) long pedestal tub was found built from hardened pottery. The clawfoot tub, which reached the apex of its popularity in the late 19th century, had its origins in the mid 18th century, when the ball and claw design originated in

1269-604: The early years of World War II . An additional entrance was created to facilitate this purpose, which was subsequently used as a fire exit from Pool 2. By the end of 2010 a steel beam used to support the wall and roof above it had become severely corroded, leading to the pool's closure as this part of the building was in danger of collapse. Today, the library remains a functioning branch of Birmingham Library Services. The baths, originally ran by Birmingham City Council, are operated by Moseley Road Baths CIO. They reopened following extensive structural work during 2005. They stand opposite

1316-511: The emergence of colored sanitary ware, more design options for the homeowner. The Crane Company introduced colored bathroom fixtures to the United States market in 1928, and slowly this influx of design options and easier cleaning and care led to the near demise of clawfoot-style tubs. In the 1960s fiberglass bathtubs became the standard for homes, being lightweight and inexpensive. James R. Wheeler and his brother Richard in 1979 adapted

1363-485: The fire exit of Pool 2, asbestos removal from the basement, and extensive cleaning and painting. Pool 2 is currently open for swimming and is well used, but Pool 1 has been closed since 2003. The second-class 'slipper' baths were in continual use until October 2004, but have since closed. In January 2017 it was reported that the council plans to close the baths in June 2017. The Friends' group and an action group formed for

1410-479: The first floor of the boiler house. Pool 1 is grand in its detailing. It contains 63 glazed brick cubicles, a three-sided spectator gallery, cast iron roof trusses and bowed, wrought iron balconettes . Pool 2 is less ornate and was the second-class pool. Pool 2 did not originally have cubicles and bathers changed on benches around the pool side. The building reopened in April 2012 after 16 months of structural work on

1457-419: The first-class 'slipper' baths department. The second-class men's entrance led to Pool 2 and the second-class 'slipper' baths. The women's entrance led to the women's 'slipper' baths department. Originally all bathers were supplied with a towel, soap and (for swimmers) a costume, collected from the baths attendant's kiosk. Towels and costumes were subsequently washed and dried in the steam laundry room located on

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1504-506: The next major phase of work to the building started. This phase was expected to be completed in Spring 2025. In August 2024, ISG Ltd began restoration and redevelopment work. 52°27′27.15″N 1°53′8.92″W  /  52.4575417°N 1.8858111°W  / 52.4575417; -1.8858111 Ordnance Survey National Grid The Ordnance Survey National Grid reference system ( OSGB ), also known as British National Grid ( BNG ),

1551-453: The north coast of Scotland . (If the lines are further east , then the longitude value of any given point is further west . Similarly, if the lines are further south, the values will give the point a more northerly latitude.) The smallest datum shift is on the west coast of Scotland and the greatest in Kent . These two datums are not both in general use in any one place, but for a point in

1598-429: The north-west corner to Z in the south-east corner. These squares are outlined in light grey on the "100km squares" map, with those containing land lettered. The central (2° W) meridian is shown in red. Within each square, eastings and northings from the south west corner of the square are given numerically. For example, NH0325 means a 1 km square whose south-west corner is 3 km east and 25 km north from

1645-404: The pools coming into operation on 1 March 1908, the start of the municipal swimming season. On 21 November 1908, the first-class pool was floored over and the space subsequently used for social activities. It was one of several public baths to begin these activities in the winter months as there was little demand for the pools during this time of year. The baths were used as a makeshift hospital in

1692-690: The purpose explored options to keep the baths open under community ownership. It was announced that the pool would continue to stay open. Since then, the pool has remained open to the community for swimming and Moseley Road Baths CIO and the Friends have been working with the City Council, the National Trust, the World Monuments Fund and Historic England to draw up plans for their long-term restoration. On 2 October 2023 Moseley Road Baths closed for swimming and all other activities, as

1739-455: The resident money-taker, a boiler house containing two 1950s coal-fired boilers and a water filter room containing two filtration tanks dating from the 1930s. The boiler house has three levels: ground contains the boilers, first floor contains the laundry room, second floor contain a large cast iron cold-water storage tank. The building has three entrances, all of which led to a central booking desk. The first-class men's entrance led to Pool 1 and

1786-413: The south and were opened on 30 October 1907, much later than planned owing to severe delays experienced in boring a well on the premises. They were designed by William Hale and Son of 83, Colmore Row, and cost almost £34,000. As was common practice at the time, there were separate entrances for first-class males, second-class males, and women. Initially, only the 'slipper' bath departments were opened, with

1833-427: The south-west corner of square NH. A location can be indicated to varying resolutions numerically, usually from two digits in each coordinate (for a 1 km square) through to five (for a 1 m square); in each case the first half of the digits is for the first coordinate and the second half for the other. The most common usage is the six figure grid reference , employing three digits in each coordinate to determine

1880-405: The south-west to NN400900 in the north-east) the abbreviated grid reference 166712 is equivalent to NN166712. If working with more than one Landranger sheet, this may also be given as 41/166712. Alternatively, sometimes numbers instead of the two-letter combinations are used for the 100×100 km squares. The numbering follows a grid index where the tens denote the progress from West to East and

1927-554: The southwest corner of the SV square. 13 digits may be required for locations in Orkney and further north. For example, the grid reference for Sullom Voe Oil Terminal in the Shetland islands may be given as HU396753 or 439668,1175316 . Another, distinct, form of all-numeric grid reference is an abbreviated alphanumeric reference where the letters are simply omitted, e.g. 166712 for

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1974-722: The standard projection for Ordnance Survey maps. The Airy ellipsoid is a regional best fit for Britain; more modern mapping tends to use the GRS80 ellipsoid used by the Global Positioning System (the Airy ellipsoid assumes the Earth to be about 1 km smaller in diameter than the GRS80 ellipsoid, and to be slightly less flattened). The British maps adopt a transverse Mercator projection with an origin (the "true" origin) at 49° N , 2° W (an offshore point in

2021-470: The summit of Ben Nevis. Unlike the numeric references described above, this abbreviated grid reference is incomplete; it gives the location relative to an OS 100×100 km square, but does not specify which square. It is often used informally when the context identifies the OS 2-letter square. For example, within the context of a location known to be on OS Landranger sheet 41 (which extends from NN000500 in

2068-588: The units from South to North. In the north of Scotland, the numbering is modified: the 100 km square to the north of 39 is numbered N30; the square to the north of 49 is N40, etc. The grid is based on the OSGB36 datum (Ordnance Survey Great Britain 1936, based on the Airy 1830 ellipsoid ), and was introduced after the retriangulation of 1936–1962 . It replaced the Cassini Grid which had previously been

2115-412: Was advertised as a "horse trough/ hog scalder , when furnished with four legs will serve as a bathtub." The item's use as a hog scalder was considered a more important marketing point than its ability to function as a bathtub. In the latter half of the 20th century, the once popular clawfoot tub morphed into a built-in tub with a small apron front. This enclosed style afforded easier maintenance and, with

2162-563: Was annexed into Birmingham on 1 October 1891. The City of Birmingham Baths Department was then instructed to find an appropriate site for the construction of public baths in the area. Working in conjunction with the Free Libraries Committee (a library had also been promised to the residents of Balsall Heath as part of the arrangement which absorbed their district into Birmingham) the Baths Department soon located

2209-710: Was invented by the Scottish-born American David Dunbar Buick . The clawfoot tub was considered a luxury item in the late 19th century, originally made from cast iron and lined with porcelain. Modern technology has contributed to a drop in the price of clawfoot tubs, which may now be made of fiberglass, acrylic or other modern materials. Clawfoot tubs usually require more water than a standard bathtub, because generally they are larger. While true antique clawfoot tubs are still considered collectible items, new reproduction clawfoot tubs are chosen by remodelers and new home builders and much like

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