Committee Notes

Committee Member Notes


Faisal Ahmed

Faisal started and runs the online fabric store poundfabrics.co.uk. He is a charity trustee and holds a business degree from the University of Birmingham and a Master’s degree in Marketing and Strategy from Warwick Business School. Faisal was born and bred on the Estate and is passionate about developing it in a sustainable manner and maintaining the area’s beauty and greenery.

Meet your public governors

Nick Brown

Nick has lived on Calthorpe Estate since graduating from Birmingham University in 1979. he is now retired but worked as a Consultant Psychiatrist at Solihull and Queen Elizabeth Hospitals. He was Associate Postgraduate Dean at the West Midlands Deanery and Associate Dean for the Royal College of Psychiatrists. In retirement, Nick has taken a closer interest in local matters. He is secretary for the Norfolk Park Residents’ Association and recently joined the Dales Streetwatch. He is still trying to improve his golf at Harborne GC!


Sheila Hirst

Sheila moved to Birmingham with her husband in 1995 following years spent moving around the UK , from Edinburgh to Norwich, taking in Manchester, Leeds and Kenilworth on the way. Once her children were settled in school, she joined the University of Birmingham as a peripatetic secretary, fitting part time work around term times. She was offered a permanent contract and worked in the Dept of Public Health and Epidemiology, until she retired in 2011. She enjoys walking, swimming and looking after her grandson.


Mushtaque Ishaque (‘Mush’)

Mush qualified from Cambridge University in 1991, works at The Priory Hospital in Edgbaston and is a Professor of Orthopaedics and Spinal Surgery. He moved to the Calthorpe Estate from Vancouver, Canada in 2008 on his appointment as a Consultant Spinal Surgeon at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital. Born and brought up in London, Mush is a relative newcomer to Birmingham. Despite this he is passionate about the benefits of living on the Calthorpe Estate. Mush is married to Jo, a GP, has three children, two Bernese Mountain dogs, two Burmese cats and loves skiing.


Pauline Luget-Owen

Pauline trained at Stourbridge & Birmingham Colleges of Art. her professional career has been dedicated to architectural interiors – Heritage & New; from Cafe Royal, London – through University of Birmingham Great Hall – to Libraries for City of Birmingham. Born in Worcestershire, living in Edgbaston for 32 years, Pauline is the CRS lead for the Planning & Scheme of Management sub-group. She is passionate about all things to improve our environment, trees, community, good food and wine and Jack Russells!


Jonathan Middle

Jonathan came to live in Edgbaston in 1997 to work as a consultant clinical scientist at University Hospital Birmingham, specialising in quality assessment of laboratory services. He retired in 2010 but has stayed professionally active as Chair of the Association for Quality Management in Laboratory Medicine AQMLM and working with ISO on international standards in this field. Jonathan is Communications Lead for CRS and manages this website as well as responding to Contact form messages. He also chairs the Chancellors Hall Residents Association (CHRA), which is affiliated to CRS. He is a keen photographer and is involved in many musical activities!


Colin Morley

Colin has lived on the Calthorpe Estate for the last 13 years, prior to which he lived in Selly Oak after graduating from the University of Birmingham in the mid eighties. He is a recently retired chartered accountant, having previously worked for a large accountancy firm and was also a director of a Corporate Bank for sixteen years. The Society’s finances will therefore be in good hands! Colin’s interests are local history, travel and sports – rugby and cricket.


Steve Watson

Steve has a Doctorate in geotechnical engineering: how to make rocks behave or at least get out of the way when they don’t. An early career in mining and then brickmaking exhausted the rock career path and for most of his working life he has been a management consultant in remuneration: a word hard to spell and usually considered to be unfair. Taking over his mother-in-law’s garden on Ampton Road, the diversity of woody plants in the grounds led to Steve developing an interest in trees. Steve is Treasurer of the ‘Birmingham Tree People’, effectively the tree wardens for Birmingham City Council and one of the largest networks of its kind in the UK. He is currently studying for an Arboriculture Level 2 qualification which ironically leads him back to rock: the constituents of soil.