Birmingham
Photo: Birmingham's instantly recognizable, iconic Rotunda is one of the first buildings you see when you arrive by train. It was designed by architect James A. Roberts and constructed in 1964-65. Once badly neglected, it's recently been refurbished into funky and fashionable apartment buildings.
Britain's second city is many people's idea of hell. A concrete
jungle strangled by huge roads—the nastiness of the place entirely
summed up by Spaghetti
Junction: a hellish multi-level motorway interchange at Gravelly
Hill just outside the city centre.
But how fair is that? If you've not set foot in Birmingham in the last 30 years, you might be surprised at the vibrant, stylish, multi-cultural metropolis the city has become. Far from being choked by traffic, almost all the city centre is now pedestrianised or bus-only. There are no fewer than three universities and several world-class cultural venues. And the shopping is as good as any you'll find outside London. Birmingham: it's time for another look!
Photo: The green around St Philip's cathedral is a popular lunchtime venue in the heart of the city's financial district centered on Colmore Row. It was designed by Thomas Archer and built in 1715.
The location
Birmingham's location—in the very centre of the UK mainland—is undoubtedly its greatest asset: they don't call it "the heart of England" for nothing. Thanks to the infamous motorways, Birmingham is easy to reach from almost anywhere; it's also at the hub of the national rail network with main lines radiating out to every part of the country. And don't forget the canals on which much of Birmingham's wealth was originally built.
Economy
Every time I visit Birmingham by train, the old expression "Where
there's muck, there's brass" springs to mind. There's undoubtedly less
manufacturing industry in Birmingham than at any time in its
post-Industrial Revolution history. The recent closure of Rover's
Longbridge car works is just the latest episode in a long and steady
decline. But there are some bright spots too. Birmingham's future as a
great shopping city looks considerably brighter thanks to the
completion of the huge, new Bullring
shopping centre. The city's financial heartland, roughly centered on historic
Colmore Row,
continues to prosper. The two old-established universities, Birmingham University
just outside
the city centre in Edgbaston and Aston
University a short walk from the main city heartland, keep the city
on its scientific and technical toes. There's also a newer college
called the University of
Central
England, Birmingham (a former polytechnic).
Things to do
Countryside
There's no doubting you're in a city, but you might be surprised how close you are to glorious countryside. Less than an hour further north and you're in the Peak District National Park. An hour to the west or south west and you're in stunning Shropshire, the Malverns, Wales, or the Cotswolds. If you can't escape the city so easily, there's a huge, splendid botanical gardens with lots of small garden areas to explore. Cannon Hill Park is a popular green space for many local people.
Shopping
Photo: The dazzling new Selfridges store in Birmingham's Bull Ring is very easy to spot!
There are plenty of shops here to keep you busy. Many people will
make straight for the Bull Ring,
but the traditional shopping area still thrives along New Street and
Corporation Street. There's a less interesting shopping area called the
Palisades above Birmingham New Street railway station. Most of the
select, upmarket boutiques have migrated from the City Plaza centre to
a brightly coloured office complex called The Mailbox, where you'll find
such names as Harvey Nichols, Crabtree and Evelyn, and Thomas Pink,
less than five minutes walk from the centre of town. For more
interesting shops, you'll need to search slightly further afield: not
many independent shopkeepers can afford high central city rents. There
are some interesting little shops dotted in the side streets and the
back streets. But some milestones have, sadly, now gone. Plastic
Factory, for example, on the way to Aston University, used to be a
great destination for indie students (like me) seeking rare, secondhand
records—but it's now closed down. The sensational Great Western Arcade
next to Rackham's is well worth a visit, if only to marvel at the
marvellous Victorian architecture.
Attractions
The Jewellery Quarter is literally (and metaphorically) one of Birmingham's jewels. You can still find lots of artisan jewellers nestling in the Hockley district, a few minutes' walk from the financial district. If science is your thing, how about a trip to the new science museum, Thinktank, at a place called Millennium Point. Although the city was badly bombed, there are still plenty of interesting historic buildings to explore. Soho House was the home of famous Birmingham industralist Matthew Boulton. If you like historic buildings, you're not very far from Aston Hall and Warwick Castle. Visitors from abroad will probably want to visit Stratford on Avon, birthplace of the greatest ever English writer: William Shakespeare.
Photo: Think Tank, the Birmingham museum of science and industry, makes a great day out for kids of all ages and includes a planetarium and IMAX® cinema. It's about 5 minutes walk from the rear of the main Marks and Spencer's shop.
Culture
Most of Birmingham's "cultural buildings" are clustered around the town hall in Chamberlain and Victoria squares, where you'll find a refreshing sculptural fountain and a leaning iron man by Antony Gormley. The Museum and Art Gallery offers a world famous collection of pre-Raphaelite paintings, but also has a carefully representative selection of more modern art and sculpture. The Gas Hall next door puts on changing exhibitions. (For contemporary art, you might want to head to the Ikon Gallery or The Custard Factory.) A short walk away from the Museum, the newly renovated Town Hall and Symphony Hall (two separate venues run by the city council) put offer the kind of international, classical music you will normally find only in London, as well as more popular music. If you like theatre, you'll need to head for the Hippodrome, the Repertory, or Alexandra Theatre. The Hippodrome is also home to the Birmingham Royal Ballet, which offers world-class dance to consistently packed houses. For Shakespeare, you'll probably want to head to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre at Stratford on Avon. You can easily be there and back in an evening. The National Exhibition Centre and NEC Arena are only 10 minutes the city centre (get the train to Birmingham International station, which is right next to the airport).
Photo: There's plenty of industrial history in the heart of Birmingham. This is the old Curzon Street railway station: the world's oldest surviving piece of monumental railway architecture. Built in 1838, it was once the terminus for the railway lines linking Birmingham to the other important industrial cities of London, Manchester, and Liverpool.
Places to stay
There are lots of hotels in the city centre, as you'd expect. You
can search for hotels, guest houses, self-contained apartments,
hostels, inns, and B&Bs on the city council's Visit Birmingham website.
Places to eat
Much as in London and Manchester, the multi-cultural population makes eating here an adventure and a delight. If you like Indian food, you'll want to head out to Mosley for a fantastic balti. If Chinese is your thing, make for Chinatown (the area around Hurst Street and the Hippodrome theatre). If you're visiting Birmingham for the day and want somewhere to go for lunch, you'll find the restaurant on the top floor of Rackham's (the House of Fraser department store) offers good value, traditional English meals and salads—though the tired décor is always faintly depressing and the staff, though friendly, may remind you of school dinner ladies! There's a modern restaurant in Selfridges in the Bull Ring. Druckers, a long-established coffee house, offers pastries, coffees, and light lunches. Hudson's on Colmore Row offers a quiet, upmarket cup of coffee, but it's expensive—and you may wonder exactly why. There are quite a few eating places (restaurants and cafe bars) dotted around The Mailbox but, during the working week, and especially in the daytime, they feel too urban and deserted for my liking. If you're looking for a quick bite, there are plenty of sandwich bars in the centre of town and, if all else fails, several urban branches of Tesco, Boots, Marks & Spencer, and Sainsbury's where you can grab a quick take-away snack.
Photo: Birmingham is constantly reinventing itself. The Curzon Street area is one of the latest parts of the city to be redeveloped. Here you can see brand new "living in the city" apartments overshadowing the apparently condemned shops in the front.
Getting here
Birmingham's easy to reach by car.
If you're coming by train, you'll need to get off at Birmingham New Street. There are several other small stations in the city centre, but New Street is the huge main interchange.
Coach travellers need to make for Digbeth
Coach Station. It's maybe 5-10 minutes walk from the city centre,
just far enough to be a pain if you have a lot of luggage. Take a look
at the city council's travelling
by bus web page if you want to get buses from Digbeth to other
local areas.
Birmingham International Airport is the huge airport on the south side of the city. If you're arriving here, you don't have to get an expensive taxi into town! Birmingham International rail station is right next to the airport and virtually all trains coming up from London and the south stop here. It takes about 10 minutes to get from Birmingham International by train to Birmingham New Street in the city centre. If you have lots of luggage (several suitcases), this isn't such a great idea, because train services are often very crowded—but it should be fine if you have only one large case or small hand luggage.
Cyclists are less in evidence in Birmingham than in London or cities
like Oxford and Cambridge.
That could be because Birmingham has historically always been a car
city. Still, there are plenty of cycle routes and the
city council produces a helpful cycling and walking map. See Cycling
in Birmingham on the transport section of the city council website
for lots of useful info, including details of local bike repair shops.
Map
Here's a map of Birmingham from Google Images. You can use the "Find businesses" tab and search box to find local businesses, places to stay, and so on.
More information
- Visit Birmingham: Official Birmingham City Council guide, includes online accommodation search.
- Birmingham City Council: Lots of information for local people and visitors. Explore the leisure and tourism section.
- My Brum: A more informal guide to the city, offering lots of inside, local knowledge on the best places to go.
- Birmingham: A very good, comprehensive tour of the city from Wikipedia.
- Birmingham: See what images of Birmingham people are posting on Flickr.
