Birmingham: a Weekend in the City by Maxine Jones
Featured Hotel in Birmingham
Malmaison Hotel
See all hotels in Birmingham >
Where am I? Three large, paved piazzas make up the traffic-free city centre, bordered by neo-classical and 19th-century buildings and filled with quirky monuments and statues. People congregate on wide, open steps and around fountains. Flowers are in bloom. Nearby, bright coloured barges flow past canal-side bars, restaurants and galleries.
I’m in Birmingham, hub of the industrial revolution, victim of World War II and the worst excesses of 60s architecture. After a long rejuvenation process, the operations are over, the wounds healed and the bandages off. A new beauty has been born and the city’s old glories polished up.
In the redesigned Bullring shopping area, the aluminium-sequined blob of Selfridges sits next to the 19th century church of St Martin’s, the one surprisingly enhancing the other.
In Victoria Square, the temple-like Town Hall, a grade 1 listed building, shimmers after a £35 million refurbishment, restoring it to its original purpose as a concert hall. The Council House, taking up one side of Victoria Square, and the adjacent Museum and Art Gallery in Chamberlain Square are worthy of Paris or Rome.
So I’m impressed as soon as I step off the bus from the airport. My two teenage sons and I have made the 40-minute plane trip from Dublin in search of bargains and good food. Birmingham is renowned for its restaurants. With 51 per cent of the population of ethnic origin, there is a variety of food on offer – and prices, after Ireland, are laughable. A three-course meal in a top restaurant can be had for £12 a head.
We’re only here for two nights and by the time we’ve reached our hotel in Broad Street, passing the glass face of Symphony Hall (with one of the best acoustics in the world), I already wish we were staying longer. Posters for upcoming events include Christy Moore and Ladysmith Black Mambazo – artists tuned to appeal to what Birmingham Council calls “the West Midlands’ uniquely diverse community”.
The Irish connection is particularly strong, with Digbeth hosting the biggest St Patrick’s Day parade after Dublin and New York. Schoolchildren even play GAA here.
As England’s second city, Birmingham may not have as much to offer as London, but everything is so tantalisingly close and accessible (indicated by neat blue and gold signposts), that less in this case seems more. We walked everywhere, except once taking a taxi from the Jewellery Quarter to Thinktank, on opposite sides of the city – for a fiver. The bus from the airport (around 20 minutes) was £1.80.
Thinktank compares with the National Science Museum in London but without the crowds. I immersed myself in the history of the city, watching footage from World War II, when the city was reduced to rubble and body bags were piled three high along the streets. Little was reported of Birmingham’s losses in order not to demoralise the rest of the country and encourage the Germans. I also read testimonies from the first West Indian immigrants in the 1950s. The boys, meanwhile, were doing interactive stuff on the other three levels.
In the same complex as Thinktank is a huge IMAX cinema, where Monsters and Aliens were showing in 3D. I persuaded the boys to go to the smaller, quirky Electric Cinema instead, the oldest working cinema in the UK. They watched ‘The Boat that Rocks’, sprawled on leather couches as if at home. Drinks and ice-cream orders can be texted to the bar to save you getting up. Another signature touch is the serving of Parisian absinthe using a traditional fountain. Fired up by a shot of this, I floated down the road for a tour of the Back to Backs, the last of the slum housing in Birmingham, now owned by the National Trust.
The pop music theme was followed up with a visit to St Paul’s gallery, home to original artwork from iconic album covers for the likes of Led Zeppelin and David Bowie. Leafy, Georgian St Paul’s Square has several galleries, including the RBSA run by local artists.
Beyond St Paul’s Square is the famed Jewellery Quarter, which I’d have appreciated more without the two boys. For 250 years this had been the centre of the UK’s jewellery trade. It’s 400 jewellery businesses only recently allowed the public access and now vie with each other for custom. Bargains are to be had, but the boys had the Bullring and runners in mind. For £10 they bought designer ‘trainers’ that would easily have cost €80 back home.
At Asha’s restaurant that night (owned by Bollywood singer Asha Bhosle), we enjoyed a memorable Indian feast. “I don’t want my starter to end,” said eldest son.
The next day we explored the canal side, where the creatures at the Sea Life Centre went down well – can such a tiny frog really kill 100 men? The much publicised 4D cinema was a bit of a disappointment but was made up for by an unfanfared and seriously disorientating mirror maze.