We’ve been back from Crete for just over a week now but it feels like ages. Shame. Last Saturday we did another walk that I’d been excitedly waiting for. Birmingham is Jane’s beloved home town and my adopted city. It seemed only right that we should include in my walks this year a little spin around this historic city and it was Tony Taylor’s idea to combine it with a trip to see ‘The Blues’ – the local football team.
I planned for us to do a walk I’d found online called ‘Walk the World’ which is something the National Geographic Society set up last year for the Olympics. Basically this a case of walking around some of the historic and iconic sights of Brum and finding out their links with countries from around the world. Being a geographer this obviously ticked a lot of boxes for me!!
I managed to persuade quite a group of fellow enthusiasts to join me. Tony Taylor (not sure why but Jane always calls him that rather than just Tony!), Mandy, Tom, Geoff and Enid. All of them keen to learn more about their city. Or at least to go to the football in the case of the boys and Jane.
Much of the walk covered the same route in the city centre that I do when I work or go shopping in Brum. Yet again though, it was interesting to see the city through the eyes of a tourist. It opens your eyes to new things and makes you very much more appreciative of the city we are lucky to live near/in. Jane has always been proud of her city and of course loves Birmingham City Football Club.
Our walk started at one of these iconic sights, Iron: Man by Antony Gormley, the same guy who did the huge Angel of the North and the mysterious figures on Crosby Beach near Liverpool. The statue is meant to represent the manufacturing heritage of the city. This is a good meeting point and from here, off we set with me as tour guide. I really should have been a tour guide as I always love it on holiday. In fact we have a little song that we sing ‘Julie’s tours are the best, Julie’s tours are the best’. It doesn’t really have any other words and mostly its me that sings it.
Moving on…we walked up and past another Brummie favourite – the Floozie in the Jacuzzi. This is a statue in a fountain with a lovely cascade of water down the steps. Again, its a popular meeting place, particularly at Christmas when the German Market comes to town. Not long now…
Next we walked up the steps and through the old library passing a sitting sculpture of Birmingham’s first MP Thomas Attwood. This is definitely something I’ve walked passed a thousand times and never really taken any notice of but today we actually learned something about who he was and what he did.
Next we came out into Centenary Square and specifically the office where Jane works- Baskerville House. This building sits on the site of John Baskerville’s former home from 1726. Today there is another sculpture outside called ‘Industry and Genius’. This commemorates this chap who is most famous for his work in printing and he invented a very fine typeface called ‘Baskerville’ which is still used today. Check it out – you may even have it on your laptop!!
Around here there seemed to be lots of students with tables set up asking us to support their cause. Whilst most of us just said ‘no thank you’, Mandy meanwhile, took an interest in what they were all protesting about and signed everybody’s petition. Well done Citizen Mandy!
Next stop is the new Birmingham Library which had only opened the week before and truly is an iconic sight now on the cityscape. I think it will divide opinion as to whether its an attractive building but it certainly stands out. The outside of the building appears to be covered in metal ‘lacework’ which I think is meant to represent the city’s Jewellery manufacturing tradition. The architect for the building was Francoise Houben from the Netherlands and its intended to bring in visitors to the city which I’m sure it will.
On our way through to the International Convention Centre we passed some more famous 18th century industrialists. This is a statue called ‘The Golden Boys’ and they certainly were shining very brightly today. The ICC itself was opened in 1993 and also contains the Symphony Hall. I love going to concerts here as the acoustics are better than anywhere else I know. In addition, they have extremely comfy seats which at my age is very important!
Next we walked along the canals and I believe it’s said that Birmingham has more miles of canal than Venice itself. They looked very attractive today with the little flower covered bridges as we walked through to The Mailbox complex and another new building called The Cube. Jane and I would be eating here later that night in the glamorous rooftop restaurant. This area was absolutely packed with people on this Saturday lunchtime. The main attraction is all the restaurants and bars. One of the only shops remaining here is Harvey Nicholls. Jane and I went in here when it had first opened. Its a funny shop as it doesn’t really seem to sell much. We went into the ladies ‘department’ (exaggeration) only to find that they didn’t seem to sell anything in a size larger than 6. I said to Jane ‘Come on Bab, this place is not for us.’
As we walked and stopped to grab a Sarny, Tom, Jane, Geoff and Tony Taylor started to talk about the match. Blues have not been doing very well this season and hadn’t won any of their home games so far. It looked like it might be a bit of a grim afternoon. However, there were high hopes for the new boy Jesse Lingard on loan from Manchester United who would start today.
We crossed the main Bristol Road towards the Bullring and passed the Pagoda Island. This was a gift to the city from a chap called Wing Yip who you may have heard of. Wing Yip arrived by boat in 1959 from Hong Kong at the age of 19 with just £10 in his pocket. He opened a Chinese restaurant in Clacton-on-Sea and went on to open more restaurants and take-aways in East Anglia. Ten years later he opened a grocery shop here in Birmingham. From these small beginnings he has grown a food empire that now employs 400 people and supplies more than 2,000 Chinese restaurants around the country.
Right, we’re starting to pick up the pace now as the footy fans meed to be in the ground way ahead of time to savour the atmosphere. They also need a pint. We pass by the Bullring Shopping Centre which is celebrating its 10th birthday and then down past St Martins Church and the next iconic building- Selfridges. Round here it is incredibly busy and this cannot even be people Christmas shopping yet, surely? As we walk around we hear a wide range of different languages being spoken and it seems to me that Birmingham is making a big success of creating itself as a destination city. There’s a buzz about the place and not much sign of recession.
Before we say our goodbyes to the non footy fans we go through the more traditional outdoor markets where they’re selling fruit and veg by the bowlful. The traders shout out their bargains and its a very colourful and noisy scene. If this market were in Mexico or India we’d take loads of photos and so we did today!
We said goodbye to Enid and Mandy and the Bluenoses walked on up to the BCFC ground- St Andrews. Gone are the days when we were in the Premier league and there’d be thousands of people swarming towards the ground at 2pm ahead of kick off. But Tony Taylor took us to one of his favourite pubs where the Blues fans were gathering. By now we were very hot as it had turned into something of a muggy day and actually by now we’d walked quite along way. A couple of halves of cider soon did the trick although I really felt like I needed a bit of a lie down. We seem to be a bit out of practice after our lazy time in Crete.
We made our way into the Main Stand and got ready to cheer on the boys. Well, what an amazing afternoon. We were playing Sheffield Wednesday and we beat them…wait for it….4-1! The new signing, Jesse, exceeded all expectations and scored all 4 goals leaving everyone thrilled and smiling from ear to ear.
When we came out we walked all the way back home chatting excitedly about the spectacle we’d just seen. Tom and Geoff caught the train home and by the time Jane and I got back to our car at the flat we’d walked a total today of 6 miles.
It really is a great city with lovely friendly people and that leaves me only one thing left to say…
Keep right onto the end of the road, keep right onto the end!!
Walky Talky 