What struck me early on is the tagline ‘growing up in working class Birmingham’ is not the working class I recall. I grew up in Bedford, some 70 years behind the author but my idea of working class is someone who needs to work as they don’t have any other means of income. However Katy […]
My favourite bank holiday in August is often spent in Scotland or on a UK road trip. It comes hot on the heels of the anniversary break in Lithuania and having also enjoyed the big adventure in Hong King earlier in the summer, another trip now seemed unnecessary. So we decided on some day trips […]
It was a chef that first changed my mind. Possibly like you, I supposed here’s another Americanism popping into our culture right here on our city’s doorstep. But as I’ve heard more about Resort World, I’ve grown markedly more excited. Of course it’s bringing jobs and many £££s into the region but more than that, […]
One amazing month (and a bit) in Birmingham. Friday 11th Complete Muppetry Comedy Night at Two Towers. Comedy night, actually in a brewery Monday 14th King Crimson at Symphony Hall Weds 14th Royal Danish Orchestra at Symphony Hall I’d ordinarily count myself lucky if I get to this amazing venue once or twice a year so […]
For nearly all of the six years I have been living in Birmingham, one of our three stations has been receiving a major face lift. New Street station, one of the busiest in the UK with, I hear, 170,000 passengers going through it daily (twice what it was built for in 1967), previously functioned and […]
The Library of Birmingham is a beautiful building, nonetheless, I had my doubts that it was going to be functional from the start. Having coped without a weekly visit to the old library for nine months, like many, I counted down the weeks to having access to a local library again. The excitement remains even […]
I’ve been meaning to read this book by the Birmingham author for some time so it thanks to bumping into another writer, AA Abbott, who lent me a copy! I wanted to take a light, quick read with me while spending a few days of reading/writing/coffeeing in France and this is perfect. Even after reading […]
The follow up to Clovenhoof, one of the funniest books I read last year. That one had Satan being sent to live on Earth and covered all the trials and tribulations of the Prince of Darkness living in the West Midlands. This included working out what money is, what parts of the body do and […]
Five places to go for breakfast or in the case of those places opening later, brunch. Brewsmiths For an honest to goodness breakfast, Brewsmiths is the place to go. Regulars (the JQ Royalty) know what the 1B is (sausage pattie, bacon, poached egg, toast with jam/marmalade & filter coffee or breakfast tea) or indeed the […]
The book is based in our two major cities, Birmingham and London and is full of thoroughly familiar landmarks in both. I now can’t walk past St Pancras without looking around for the flat featured in this book! As the author commented at the recent Meet the Author event, in this book, all the bad […]
