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Chris Upton

Birmingham's first experienceof photography
Retail & Consumer
An exhibition reveals when photography came to Birmingham, writes Chris Upton.
Chris Upton: Yearning for quiet please!
Economic Development
Last week we had one of our regular students and staff committee meetings at Newman.
Chris Upton: Fame was all too fleeting
Economic Development
I’ve been in a lot of people’s living rooms recently. These are not, I hasten to add, the confessions of a full-time burglar or the boast of a regular socialite.
Sex in the Victorian city of Birmingham
Retail & Consumer
A charity tackling prostitution delivered only mixed results, reports Chris Upton.
Chris Upton: Windsor fails to sell itself
Economic Development
Last Saturday, as my birthday treat, we took ourselves down to Windsor.
Chris Upton: Modern television sets have a life of their own
Economic Development
I never expected to see eye-to-eye with the Duke of Edinburgh over anything, but the Duke’s recent cri-de-coeur about televisions lifted my spirits.
Chris Upton: How Staffordshire Horde of gold eclipsed Matthew Boulton's silver
Economic Development
After three weeks of frenetic activity, Chamberlain Square has now returned to quiet normality.
Chris Upton: Why General Sir Richard Dannatt may come to regret move into politics
Economic Development
The Greek poet Simonides penned a terse epitaph for the Spartans who died holding the pass of Thermopylae in 480BC against the massed forces of Xerxes.
Real estate
Retail & Consumer
Not all of Birmingham’s architectural gems were bulldozed. Chris Upton rejoices.
Chris Upton: About time we found our Zen
Economic Development
As Sandy Denny once memorably sang: ‘Who knows where the time goes?’
Garlands for the deaths of English maidens
Retail & Consumer
Chris Upton reports on how our ancestors marked the death of an unmarried woman
European exiles regrouped in West Midlands during the war
Retail & Consumer
European governments sought refuge here during the Second World War, reveals Chris Upton.
Chris Upton: Wedding alert for hotel guests
Economic Development
I’m sure I’m not the first person to notice that the less time a marriage lasts (recrimination, trial separation, temporary reconciliation, divorce), the more elaborate and expensive is the ceremony which launches it.
Chris Upton: The protest’s long history on streets of Birmingham
Economic Development
The second round of skirmishes between the English & Welsh Defence League and its opponents took place in Birmingham the weekend before last.
Chris Upton: How Sunday was derailed
Economic Development
In the early 19th Century a Birmingham Sunday (or a Sunday anywhere) contained an awful lot of white space.
Chris Upton: Public enquiries and the search for 'truth'
Economic Development
When I retire from the world of academia, I have great hopes of a second career as the chairman of a public enquiry or two.
Peace and quiet for the hermit
Retail & Consumer
Reclusive individuals are not a modern phenomenon. Chris Upton looks back over centuries of hermits.
A long tradition of Midland hermits ... male and female
Retail & Consumer
Reclusive individuals are not a modern phenomenon. Chris Upton looks back over centuries of hermits
Chris Upton: How thimble led to wealth
Economic Development
The humble thimble has a long and venerable history, especially in Birmingham.
19th century law enforcement in Birmingham
Retail & Consumer
Crime is nothing new in Birmingham. Chris Upton explains how it was dealt with in years gone by.
Chris Upton: Birmingham riots search for the city's centre
Economic Development
Medieval historians love talking about nucleated and non-nucleated settlements, forbidding terms for what is actually a very simple idea.
Chris Upton: A testing time for Edgbaston
Economic Development
It used to be my annual treat to go to at least one day of the Edgbaston test.
Chris Upton: Honour settled with a duel
Economic Development
Lots of things were illegal in 19th-century Birmingham: prize-fighting, bull-baiting, gambling, dog-fighting, the list is endless.
Chris Upton: Honour settled with a duel
Economic Development
Lots of things were illegal in 19th-century Birmingham: prize-fighting, bull-baiting, gambling, dog-fighting, the list is endless.