Brum viewed through the eyes of a born n' bred Londoner...
Written: Mar 25 '04 (Updated Dec 11 '06)
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Pros: Good for theatres and shopping, a couple of interesting places to go...
Cons: ... terrible infrastructure, just too small to keep you busy for long
The Bottom Line: Not a bad place but there are plenty of better places to go in England. There's nothing here that's "must-see". A better place to live in than visit!
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| captaind's Full Review: Birmingham, U.K. |
Now, before Brummies like Carl_Lazarevic and Kookytree start getting upset, I’m reviewing Birmingham as a place to visit, not live. (Having lived here for a year and a half now, I can say it’s not a bad place to live at all. Certainly not perfect, but not bad.) And thanks to Chris for pointing out that I'd previously mistakenly posted it under a "Birmingham" that was in Alabama!!
The main problem with Birmingham is the lack of a good infrastructure. The roads are pretty bad and always clogged up. Efforts are being made to combat this, but of course this in turn has resulted in road closures and a worsening of the problem. There is a metro line - BUT JUST ONE!! (Being used to the London Undergound network this was a tough concept for me to get my head around.) There is talk about new lines and / or a tramway system, but talk is all it ever is as there always seems to be someone to block any plans before they pick up speed. But on the plus side, the buses are actually pretty good here (with bus-only lanes aplenty - great if you're on the bus, awful if you're driving), and once you learn the best routes you can normally avoid the worst traffic. (When you’re visiting for a short spell, of course, you won’t be able to work out what the best routes are until it is too late.) That said, I love London, parts of which have probably the worst traffic in England.
It’s about an hour and a half’s easy drive from the Peak District, which is a truly beautiful place to visit if you’re in Birmingham for an extended stay. (But if you really want to see the Peak District, you’d be far better off staying in Matlock). The reason I mention this if that, while it’s a pretty good place to visit for a day or too, Birmingham isn’t really big enough to keep you busy for a whole week. It’s pretty close to Wales too, so if you want to see as many places as possible in Britain while staying in a central location, Birmingham’s a pretty good choice.
Things to do in Birmingham
There are quite a few theatres in Brum, of which I’ve been to the Old Rep (a pleasant little old-style theatre) and the Alexandra (a bit bigger and more modern, not a bad theatre although I’ve been to better). There are a few more scattered around and if you like theatre (or cinema, for that matter) you’ll find yourself pretty well catered for. There’s not much in the way of museums and historical houses up here, at least not compared to somewhere like London, which is absolutely full of both. There is one Art Gallery that I know of (I don’t claim to be any sort of expert on Birmingham!), which tends to be free to enter as the exhibits are actually all for sale (usually costing £500 and more).
Of interest to younger ones (and, let’s face it, some not-so-young-ones) is Cadbury World, situated in the southern part of Birmingham, near Selly Oak (colloquially known as Smelly Oak - oh how we laughed…). This gives you the opportunity to see how chocolate is processed along with getting your hands on some and plenty of things for the kiddies to do. For fans of J R R Tolkien, there is a tour available (sadly I haven’t had the chance to go on it yet), which takes you around the area the Professor lived, and explains the things that influenced his writing (including the “Two Towers” that became the title of the second book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy). Less than an hour from Birmingham is Dudley, home of a zoo, a castle, and the Black Country Museum, which shows how life was lived in the industrial revolution by actually replicating the environment (though thankfully not the smell…).
The City Centre
If you like shopping, the recently re-opened Bullring is the largest enclosed shopping centre in England (and possibly Europe). It’s nice enough but to me it’s just like any other shopping centre – but then I have the traditional male hatred of wandering round shops for hours… The City Centre is actually very nice, although quite small. The architecture is sympathetic and the modern buildings actually look good when you see them and the old Cathedral in the same glance (though the new Selfridges building is an outstanding example of why many modern Architects deserve to be shot). It’s very clean for a city, which is another plus point. But you won’t take more than a few hours to basically see everything worth seeing in the centre of the city.
The Ugly Side Of Brum
Apparently Birmingham has two titles it can be ashamed of – the Prostitution Capital of Britain (I haven’t seen any evidence of this myself, thankfully) and the “Cheap Drugs Capital of Britain”, which according the news reports stems from rival gangs undercutting each other’s prices. In the parts of Birmingham I’ve seen there doesn’t seem to be much evidence of this (though I try to avoid the seedier parts anyway), though there seem to be shootings in various parts of the city alarmingly regularly. However it can only be a matter of time before the results of the prostitution and drugs trade become more evident in the daylight, as unfortunately is true of some areas of London. As it stands at the moment though, you’re unlikely to run into anything too bad on your visit.
Overall
Don’t get me wrong, I like Birmingham. The main problem with it is that it is just so small. Part of this impression is no doubt due to the fact that I come from London, which is huge by comparison, so read into that what you will. But I have also visited many cities across the globe, and believe me, Birmingham is among the small ones. That is, I guess, part of its charm, but it feels like a small city trying to pretend it’s a bigger one. There’s not a huge amount to do - it’s a good place for a short break if you’re in the UK and like cities, but I can’t overall recommend it because that’s the limit of its appeal.
Related Links
The Royal Botanical Gardens in Birmingham.
Recommended:
No
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