Tag: Birmingham

July 5th – As I cycled back from Digbeth to the city centre, this collection of floral tributes caught my eye. It then occurred that this was where a young man recently fell to his death from the car park above, in an apparent suicide. I’m inured to roadside shrines like this as I see so many marking road accidents, but I don’t mind admitting that when confronted with this one, I wept for the poor lad openly.

An awful, awful thing, and a sign of the times.

July 5th – I found myself in Birmingham City Centre at 9am. I had to be elsewhere, but my trusty old bike lock had finally failed and it was time to get a new one, so I went to the nearest bike shop to New Street Station: Evans Cycles in Temple Row. I was sad to discover that oddly, the shop didn’t open until 10. This cost Evans a 60 quid sale, as I went to On Your Bike in Digbeth, instead. On the way between the two, I noted that once again, Birmingham is undergoing change. The revamp of New Street Station – which will do little for travellers, but provide a great retail opportunity for big business – is gathering steam. I have no idea what’s going on here in Stephenson place, but the end result will be a new branch of John Lewis. Something tells me that this is going for the Selfridges effect. I’m not sure that will work twice…

June 29th – I went somewhere I’d not explored before today. I was in Tyseley again, and needed to go to the bank, so just after lunch I headed to Acocks Green. I’ve passed through before, but never studied the place. I rather like it. Busy, varied, with lots of greenery and nice architecture, I found the church, that of St. Mary the Virgin, fascinating. A J.G. Bland design of 1864, it lacks a tower or spire, although it was designed to have both. Opposite is a school, one entrance to which has an ornate lintel with the legend ‘Cookery’ carved upon it. I found busy shops, and a place with identity and heart. I’ll certainly be back.

June 7th – Birmingham New Street. This is Birmingham New Street. All regular travellers through Birmingham’s derided main station will recognise that tannoy jingle. I have a love-hate relationship with the place; dark, grubby, overcrowded, a nightmare on a bike or for the elderly or disabled. Yet, unlike so many stations, the layout is logical, compact and easy to grasp. It just carries way too much traffic and we need a new station – possibly on Eastside – to relieve it, then maybe the platforms could be reduced in number and widened, some natural light could be let in. 

There’s history, here, too, but not many realise. The arches at the end of platform 2 and 3 are a remnant of the original Victorian Station, as are many of the retaining cutting walls. The signal box – a remarkable Brutalist style structure designed by Bicknell & Hamilton to resemble an electrical component, is listed and a wonderful thing. As developers tear away at the upper levels, the ‘regeneration’ (how I hate that word) of this much misunderstood transport hub will not solve any of it’s functional problems, but I’m still rather fond of the old dump, if I’m honest.

June 6th – I left Darlaston late in the afternoon to head to Tyseley for an important meeting at short notice. This happened to coincide with heavy downpours, which I managed to avoid with an air of smugness that must surely come before a drowning. At 5:45pm, Moor Street in Birmingham was busy, and wringing wet in the midst of a rainstorm. At the other end of my short hop, I waited ten minutes for the rain to ease off. With all the gutter-less canopies, Tyseley is surprisingly hypnotic in the rain.

May 21st – Today, I was mostly in Tyseley again, which meant a short hop on the Snow Hill line. I jumped on the train at Moor Street Station – a beautifully restored building, more of a film set than commuter hub. Like it’s sister Chiltern Railways station, Marylebone, it’s a bright, airy, wonderful place to catch a train from. 

A rare delight in the UK rail system.

May 16th – Today found me in Tyseley, which made a change. I don’t come down this way much, but when I do, I always love the air of bustle in these industrial, urban streets. There’s always something going on around every corner; stuff to be shifted, things being unloaded. The backtreets are alive with the buzz of small industry – sewing machines, lathes, injection moulders all add to the background susurration, along with the clank of metal, clatter of doors and hiss of compressed air. Intermingled with it all is the faded air of a once possibly genteel Victorian place, whose station still bears the hallmarks of that period, from when the nearby terraces must also date. Most people pass this place in disgust, but actually, if you spend a while and traverse its streets, it has a kind of faded charm all of its own.

May 10th – Yesterday was hard. I had to go to Telford, then attend a meeting in Birmingham, before returning to Walsall for another event. I got home late, tired and hungry. In Birmingham at 6pm, I enjoyed a spin around the city, and made time to call at my favourite coffee shop, The Urban Coffee Co., in Church Street. I love the place, despite it being a tad prone to be full of hipsters. I noticed when travelling around the evening city, these old red K6 phone boxes beside the Council House. I wonder why they remain, and why the curious spacing? I also noticed in Colmore Row that pavement cleaning is a serious business these days. I bet that guy goes home with wet legs…

May 8th – Bloody typical. A miserable bank holiday Monday, followed by a crestfallen return to work on a gorgeous, bright sunny spring day. I was heading to Telford, which means catching a train from New Street’s platform 4c, which I always think of as being Birmingham’s equivalent of platform nine and three quarters. There was something about the light today, the sun, the music I listened to on the way… it did feel very good to be out, even if I was going to work. Most peole seem to hate this station, and aspects of it are truly horrendous; but I also have a genuine affection for the old place. It feels like home, I guess.