"I've never been to Birmingham"
"Erm... fancy going tomorrow, on my birthday?"
"OK"
Went to Gas Street Basin, the heart of the Birmingham Canal Navigations and a place where I'd spent the night on a narrow boat listening to ghost stories when I was about 14. It's changed a bit since then. The ghosts have gone and urban re-generation has arrived...
I don't know if you can read it on this size image, but it's good to see that "Legs 11", a lap-dancing bar with "the best showgirls in town" is located in the white gabled building towards the right of the shot. Gas Street hasn't lost all of its charm :-)
Brindley Place, next door, is a great example of what can be done with an inner city run-down area. But, it's still Birmingham. Frankly, my least favourite city in the country. You can't even get a proper cup of coffee round there on a Saturday morning. Still, been there, done that, no need to go back again.
Then we went on to Bournville to have a wander round the Cadbury village. Very interesting it was too, especially since we were there at noon, when the carillon started to play. On making enquiries at the visitor centre, we were soon on our way up the bell tower to see Trevor Workman giving the wooden pegs some serious stick. His photo is "photo of the week", and can be found on my website if you're reading this when that accolade has passed on to another photo. A fantastic skill, and definitely well worth a visit if you are in that area on a Saturday morning.
After a spot of lunch there, we ended up at the lavender farm at Snowshill, near Broadway once again. It was absolutely packed with japanese tourists this time round, but I gave the Hasselblad a walk, and we will see how they turn out one day. It's a lovely spot there, I have to say.
Then, back home and a supper at the Marsh Cat.
Not a bad birthday at all.
And in the new car as well :-)
Now, we can start planning new year's jaunt in earnest. It's going to be good.
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Broadway - one of our favourite places in England.Fantastic deli near the bottom of the town. A bit too full of tourists at weekends, but very nice all the same. Birmingham gets an awful press but it's not bad at all. It's just that I can't understand some of the locals.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the heads up re "Legs 11". A bit tucked away though, no?
ReplyDeleteYeah, must have been a bit of a (culture) shock returning to the canal after all these (or is it 'those'?) years.
Reading about carillon man, Trevor Workman, prompted me to check out what it is all about. Fascinating! Never knew about it. And Trevor is one of the world's best. Nice one. As are the shots of him.
Was the smell off lavender strong? I am trying to remember the up-market brand of soap I used to buy in Boots for friends in "Europe". Type in 'British soap' into Google, and what comes up? Bleeding soap opera awards. Geez.
Not surprised the lavender farm http://bit.ly/avflFm was full of Japanese. Must be on the tour itinerary. Just wait for the Chinese to arrive next. All good for the export figures.
Just realised that the main colour used by Cadbury is in fact lavender.
Tried in vain to keep this down to 140 characters ;-)