Tag: Birmingham

September 26th – I’ve spent a lot of time in Tyseley lately, and I have an odd kind of love-hate relationship with the station. Tyseley, as Ive noted here before, is now a heavily industrialised area, and has a mixed air of quiet decay and frantic commerce. The station, with it’s GWR accoutrements and air of very faded splendour speaks of a time when this Birmingham suburb was more genteel and rail was king. Scruffy, rotting and largely unloved, the station sits like a drunken duchess, quiety getting drunk whilst dwelling on past glories in some last chance saloon. Willowherb and buddleia grow from gutters, walls and platforms; the roofs and canopies leak, and everything gives an air of decay. But somehow, I actually think I like the place.

September 24th – The bad evening predicated a bad morning; it was one of the worst commutes weather-wise I’d had for years. Thanks to a tipoff early on twitter by Aiden MacHaffie, I knew before I left that trains on the Cross City were shafted, and my journey would therefore have to start at Walsall. Heading to Tyseley in heavy rain, the usually assortment of bad weather bad drivers made themselves painfully evident. The trains were rammed, and by the time I found myself waiting at Moor Street, I was wet, chilly and down in the dumps. I don’t know so much about autumn, someone seems to have left the door open and winter wandered in. Ugh.

September 21st – The madness of crowds. On my way through Brum, I’d heard there was an event for cyclists up in Victoria Square. Sadly, I was too late for the free pastries, but I did meet a nice fellow cyclist or two, which was rather nice. Heading back down through the city centre I was bemused by the huge queue snaking its way up New Street from out of the Bullring Shopping Centre. Then I twigged: It was iPhone launch day. I’m an Apple nerd myself, but I’d draw the line at that.
I can remember waiting on launch day for the iPhone in Lichfield, but there were five of us. I did that for the experience, and never again. I guess many of these folk are hoping to pick up a couple of units to sell on. Strange days indeed.

September 19th – Off to Tyseley, and stood on Moor Street Station in Birmingham, I looked through the railings back towards Masshouse, and the edge of Eastside. Not many folk realise that Moor Street Station actually sits on a bridge over the approaches to New Street Station, so this may one day be the location of a new Birmingham central transport interchange. I was struck by the state of this area in terms of architecture and regeneration. Caught between dereliction and rebirth, the shiny new blocks contrast jarringly with the boarded up buildings nearby. With the recent change in control at Birmingham City Council, hopefully the indecisive hiatus that stalled development of Eastside for over a decade will end.

September 6th – I don’t really want to think about this, but that’s remarkable scaffolding on the side of the former Midland Hotel on the corner of Colmore Row and Church Street in Birmingham. I can’t imagine how you even begin to erect something like that. My admiration for those who do is unbounded. Ugh.

September 6th – in Birmingham early evening, I spotted this fine and clearly well-loved steed locked up outside the Odeon on New Street. A great example of British engineering, Moulton are a design icon. This is a folding bike full of technical genius and innovation, this example has a Rohlhoff gear hub, one of the best such hubs ever produced. It may look odd, but this is a fine bike with a devoted, cult following. A joy to see.

August 30th – An odd day. I only had one thing to do – go and meet someone in Tyseley, Birmingham. I set off for the 9:20 train from Shenstone, but a fallen tree at Erdington stopped all services. So my easy day turned into a cycle your of Birmingham. I raced into the city through Sutton, Wylde Green and Erdington, hopped on the canal under Spaghetti Junction, pausing only to photograph the oddest, most scary scaffold tower setup I’d ever seen (Yes, that is on a raft, held on with a ratchet strap, no, I don’t know why either). I continued to Tyseley through the city centre on the canal, passing Camp Hill and the most unpleasantly surfaced canal footbridges I’ve ever experienced. On the way back, I called in at stops in Greets Green and Darlaston. I was knackered, frankly…

July 13th – This is just a wee reminder about how poor rubbish services are for some folk. The people here, between Four Oaks and Little Aston, live in one of the poshest, most exclusive areas of Birmingham. Sadly, refuse services in the Second City are still third rate; no wheelie bins here. For whatever reason, these bags of waste – recycling and general trash – have been missed and will lie here for another week.

Next time you hear someone grumbling about Walsall or Lichfield’s bin service, reflect on this.

July 12th – Station to station on seemingly different days. I left for work this morning – again, I was in southeast Birmingham – in bright sunshine, with clear blue skies. I took my jumper off, enjoyed the breeze and the traffic. The view of the Bull Ring from Moor Street was particularly wonderful – so many architectural styles in one view. Sadly, on my return at 8:30pm, the day had turned nasty. Short heavy showers, separated by steady drizzle. Shenstone station looked as handsome as ever, but the weather was a real pain. Why do I seem to keep scaring summer off?

July 11th – Acocks Green. I’ve discovered that taking the train to here, rather than Tyseley, rewards me with a nicer ride to my destination. Tyseley is very, very industrial, yet bordering it is a perfect, interwar Metroland of Victorian and Art Deco townhouses, on wooded, somnambulant streets. There is great, but modest architecture in these backways, and little traffic. The sun came through this morning, and lit the whole thing up – it felt like I was in an episode of Mr. Ben, or possibly ‘Keep the Aspidistra Flying’ – I couldn’t make my mind up which was more applicable. A lovely place. I think I’m in love.