Snowhill station in Birmingham is undergoing a major refurbishment at the moment. This tile which is curiously situated about 6 inches off the floor opposite the automatic ticket barriers ( well they’re designed to be automatic for everyone with a normal ticket but still need to be manned for travellers with passes – even those with smartcard capability – that is when the rail company bothers to staff the barriers, other wise they’re just left open)
But back to the tile of the cat. I’ve been meaning to find out its significance which is obviously high because before the tiles were stripped from the concourse the cat had the ignominy to be covered up with a large sign reading “DO NOT REMOVE THIS TILE” so that the contractors could leave it in place. It will be interesting to see how the tile is presented when the wall gets its final treatment.
I’m always meaning to stop and ask someone in authority on the station to explain but I’m always in a rush to get somewhere so I never do. So I rely on the power of the web for somebody to let me know what it is. Then I can tag it appropriately. This is real micro-mapping
Any offers?
Antje
For starters, OSM has the exact position of the Mona Lisa (Node 2199945838). It’s ultimately all about notability.
ness
My mate works at snow hill and helped to make sure that tile was left in place. The theory is that in ye olde days it was common to have a station cat. Maybe it was to commemorate a popular station cat.
Andy Mabbett
Ten years on, it would be good to know if any more has been learned.