Birmingham Life

[bickster]

On 09/09/2020 at 17:26, icouldtelltheworld said:

One of the saddest things for me is the Crown pub outside New St station. Some of the biggest bands from Brum played their first ever gigs there, it's been abandoned for at least 5 years and was ear marked to be turned into apartments. In Liverpool or Manchester that would've been turned into a tourist attraction and would be attracting visitors all year round.

Right this statement deserves a fuller reply thatn I originally gave

Famous Manchester Music Venues:

The Hacienda: Demolished now Apartments

Lesser Free Trade Hall (Where the Sex Pistols played twice....): Demolished, now a Hotel

International 2 (Home of The Stone Roses if you like): Demolished, apartments

The Boardwalk: Building still there, now offices

Twisted Wheel: Demolished, Now a Hotel

Rafters: Been closed since 2010

Band on the Wall: Still going

Famous Liverpool Venues:

The Cavern: Demolished to become a car park, don't be fooled into thinking the current one is anything other than a theme park

Erics: Later Bradys, Some Bar on Matthew St but again, the current Erics is not the same building and is another theme park

Planet X: Demolished and is now part of Liverpool One

Royal Court Theatre: Building still there, now a theatre again (No music)

Litherland Town Hall (Beatles first gig iirc) - Medical Centre

The Jacaranda: Was closed for many years, now reopened as a pub and record shop, does not trade off any Beatles association.

The Blue Angel: Still a club but populated by pissed students of the worst kind, makes no mention of the Beatles playing there.

The Stadium: Demolished now Offices

Out of all those legendary venues, only two still puts bands on and three are still in existence

[icouldtelltheworld]

10 minutes ago, bickster said:

Right this statement deserves a fuller reply thatn I originally gave

Famous Manchester Music Venues:

The Hacienda: Demolished now Apartments

Lesser Free Trade Hall (Where the Sex Pistols played twice....): Demolished, now a Hotel

International 2 (Home of The Stone Roses if you like): Demolished, apartments

The Boardwalk: Building still there, now offices

Twisted Wheel: Demolished, Now a Hotel

Rafters: Been closed since 2010

Band on the Wall: Still going

Famous Liverpool Venues:

The Cavern: Demolished to become a car park, don't be fooled into thinking the current one is anything other than a theme park

Erics: Later Bradys, Some Bar on Matthew St but again, the current Erics is not the same building and is another theme park

Planet X: Demolished and is now part of Liverpool One

Royal Court Theatre: Building still there, now a theatre again (No music)

Litherland Town Hall (Beatles first gig iirc) - Medical Centre

The Jacaranda: Was closed for many years, now reopened as a pub and record shop, does not trade off any Beatles association.

The Blue Angel: Still a club but populated by pissed students of the worst kind, makes no mention of the Beatles playing there.

The Stadium: Demolished now Offices

Out of all those legendary venues, only two still puts bands on and three are still in existence

Thanks for this - interesting info, definitely an exaggeration on my part but I still feel envious of the way other cities celebrate and promote themselves in comparison to Brum. I stand by my point that other cities do a much better job of celebrating their cultural history than Brum - theme parks or not, Liverpool's cultural history is much more visible in the city than anything in Birmingham.

Edited September 12, 2020 by icouldtelltheworld

[Wainy316]

I also remember the wankfest over the Manchester commonwealth games in 2002.  Let’s see if Brum gets the same in 22.

[bickster]

1 minute ago, icouldtelltheworld said:

Thanks for this - interesting info, definitely an exaggeration on my part but I still feel envious of the way other cities celebrate and promote themselves in comparison to Brum. I stand by my point that other cities do a much better job of celebrating their cultural history than Brum - theme parks or not, Liverpool's cultural history is much more visible in the city than anything in Birmingham.

I would agree with you there

[rjw63]

If finances allowed I'd be off from the Midlands tomorrow.

Nice one bed cottage in mid Wales, lots of greenery. Yes please.

[bickster]

4 minutes ago, rjw63 said:

If finances allowed I'd be off from the Midlands tomorrow.

Nice one bed cottage in mid Wales, lots of greenery. Yes please.

My mate once owned a farmhouse near Llanidloes, it was the highest house up the valley. No visitors, numerous farm gates on the way to the house up a track that had to be opened and closed before you got there, then a ford to negotiate before you got to the house. You'd see absolutely no-one for days on end, maybe a farmer and the odd hiker in summer. If you were on the run... chances of being found were absolutely minimal.

It was a great place to visit, I even spent a couple of weeks there now and again

I think it eventually sent him mad. He now lives in Thailand with a prostitute doing f*** knows what as he ran out of money years ago

[chrisp65]

3 hours ago, Wainy316 said:

I also remember the wankfest over the Manchester commonwealth games in 2002.  Let’s see if Brum gets the same in 22.

Now there is a very interesting point.

There were years of interest and hype around the Manchester CG. One of my favourite pieces of art was commissioned for it and turned in to a story of it’s own, eventually officially ‘completed’ in 2005, missed the event it was to promote by 3 years.

The first I knew of Birmingham hosting the 2022 Games was when you mentioned it in that post.

That’s nobody’s fault but Birmingham’s, surely?

 

[Genie]

18 minutes ago, chrisp65 said:

Now there is a very interesting point.

There were years of interest and hype around the Manchester CG. One of my favourite pieces of art was commissioned for it and turned in to a story of it’s own, eventually officially ‘completed’ in 2005, missed the event it was to promote by 3 years.

The first I knew of Birmingham hosting the 2022 Games was when you mentioned it in that post.

That’s nobody’s fault but Birmingham’s, surely?

 

Tbh I didn’t realise Birmingham had the CG coming up. 

[chrisp65]

43 minutes ago, Genie said:

Tbh I didn’t realise Birmingham had the CG coming up. 

I googled it to check, as I had never heard that before.

It’s a lovely little illustration of the Midlands ‘problem’.

 

[Stevo985]

Nightlife in Birmingham is far better now than it was 10-15 years ago imo.

It's just not in places like Broad Street. Broad Street is the absolute armpit of Birmingham. You couldn't pay me to have a night out there anymore.

Temple Street, Bennets Hill, Jewellery Quarter, St Paul's Square, Mailbox, Colmore Row, Brindley Place. Loads and loads of great bars and clubs.

You should never set foot on broad street. Except maybe to get a cab after a night in Brindley Place

Edit: this was meant as a reply to @Xela 's post including a bit about nightlife but I forgot to quote

Edited September 12, 2020 by Stevo985

[veloman]

5 hours ago, chrisp65 said:

The first I knew of Birmingham hosting the 2022 Games was when you mentioned it in that post.

That’s nobody’s fault but Birmingham’s, surely?

 

I was going to start a Thread on the Commonwealth Games but apathy took over. I have  nasty feeling that this is going to be a disaster. It seems to be being done on the cheap compared to Manchester. As an illustration , I would suggest that Cycling, particularly track cycling, has been one of our greatest source of medals .... and Birmingham is not even building it's own Velodrome !! I Believe track cycling i going to be held in London (now there's a surprise).. Even Derby has a Velodrome ! 

[Xela]

5 hours ago, Stevo985 said:

Nightlife in Birmingham is far better now than it was 10-15 years ago imo.

It's just not in places like Broad Street. Broad Street is the absolute armpit of Birmingham. You couldn't pay me to have a night out there anymore.

Temple Street, Bennets Hill, Jewellery Quarter, St Paul's Square, Mailbox, Colmore Row, Brindley Place. Loads and loads of great bars and clubs.

You should never set foot on broad street. Except maybe to get a cab after a night in Brindley Place

Edit: this was meant as a reply to @Xela 's post including a bit about nightlife but I forgot to quote

I think pubs and bars (be it gin, wine, cocktail, et al) and restaurants are better but i'm struggling on clubs? There is no big club nights that often in Brum, not like their used to be at the Sanctuary or Code or Que Club. Those were epic events. I think the whole industry has changed though

Broad St is a tip now, agreed, never used to be. Early 2000's you could have a good night out there... yes it was cheesy but that was part of the fun. I'd never go there again as its got proper rough. I do like the area around Bennets Hill/Waterloo Street now and around the financial district. Definitely my favourite area. Was close to buying a place there a few years back. 

I guess its down to what you prefer - a few drinks and a nice meal and Brum today is better... a few drinks and getting off your tits to house or trance and IMO, it isn't as good!  

[The_Rev]

11 hours ago, Wainy316 said:

I also remember the wankfest over the Manchester commonwealth games in 2002.  Let’s see if Brum gets the same in 22.

 

Not a chance. The fact we've had the Olympics since the Manchester Commonwealth games makes hosing a Commonwealth games seem less of a big deal, but Coronavirus will screw the Brum games over.  The Tokyo Olympics, if they happen, will take place in the summer of 2021 meaning that the 2021 World Championships have moved to 2022, ending about a week before the Commonwealth games are due to start.   Will that mean some of the star athletes Brum was expecting will no show? Will the public give a shit about a second major event so soon after the first? Probably not.  

[slowandlow]

Didn't we step in last minute (in relative terms) to host it too? 

And in addition to not hosting the cycling  or other certain key events we are no longer building an athletes village either

Can definitely see us coming out looking  like a bunch of words removed

[The_Rev]

23 hours ago, Xela said:

I was quite critical of Birmingham City Centre in another thread so thought I best answer this question. 

I've worked in Birmingham City Centre since 1997 with only a few months here and there out in the suburbs at the turn of the century. Personally, overall, I find the city far less nice to visit than 20 years ago. That is just my view and there may be a number of reasons for that, which I'll try and expand on. 

When I got my first job at 18, on Colmore Row, I absolutely loved coming into the city... who wouldn't? 18 years old, earning a wage and bang in the middle of the second city. I loved it. Discovering pubs with my new colleagues, spending my own money for the first time ever and in a city where I could while away my lunch hours flicking through CDs, videos (showing my age!) and books in a number of places I loved - Virgin Megastore on Bull Street, the huge HMV in the Pavilions (was it 5 or 6 floors high?!), Tower Records on Corporation Street (loved that place), WHSmith in Union Street, which was so big and seemed to span half of city centre! Plus Rackhams was a great shop back then as well. I'd never be bored. Plus the country was far more optimistic then... riding off the back of Cool Britannia and New Labour, which i think had a huge impact. The country seemed a more positive place. 

Broad Street always seemed a buzzing place in the 'noughties' and the nightlife in general seemed better around the turn of the century, including proper club nights... Miss Moneypenny's, Godskitchen, Sundiessential, etc and the clubbers just seemed more friendly. I just generally preferred the place 15-20 years ago. There may be a reason for that though - I was younger! I think i'm generally jaded of the place. I feel like its more dangerous now but obviously thats just my perception. Probably not helped by 'always on' social media and everything being reported on now. My view has probably changed as I've got older and maybe I am more naturally cautious now than back then and more aware of danger? Murder stats across the UK will show that the country is a safer place now than 20-25 years ago, so my concerns are probably unfounded. I've just got older and don't enjoy the place as much anymore. All the places I used to love are pretty much long gone. 

I will concede the food scene is much better and there are a lot more 'nicer' pubs/bars now and some of the redevelopment has made the city look better in parts. Although I was around the Dale End area not so long ago and it was **** grim. Gangs of kids hanging around, people out of their tree on drugs and far more homeless than before. Businesses in the area have reported no end of trouble there.  This is part of a wider national problem though as I'm sure Manchester and London have the same issues in that regard. I do maintain that people aren't as friendly and polite as they used to be. I've had far more negative interactions with people in recent years, which I don't recall happening in the past. 

I realise this probably reads like me looking back wth rose tinted spectacles and that may be the truth. I'm more than likely just tired of the place as well combined with the society we live in today. 

In summary.. I'm getting older and don't like it as much!   

 

 

Some of this stuff is definitely you.   I live in Warwickshire but I've worked in Brum for twenty years, I've probably got more friends in Birmingham than I have at 'home' too even if I exclude people I work with from that list.   

The city itself has changed a lot. I find it's much more pleasant these days, it's a shame that the high street has died somewhat as I'd love sifting through records and DVDs too but specialist shops like that dying is a problem on a global scale. The rebirth of Digbeth has been cool to see and I think that's going to continue for a while yet, I think HS2 and the tram going down there is the start of the gentrification which will probably only be fully realised when the teens and twentysomethings who are down there right now all get married and decide they want to live in the part of town that was cool when they were cool and they'll ruin it but that is a decade or two away yet.   Dale End is vile, but it's been left to rot.  The city have known for years it's getting knocked down and rebuilt so it's just full of low rent shops and people openly dealing drugs.  The tram is going to run through that row of shops where the super shady McDonalds is and it seems everybody is just happy to let it be until the rebuild starts. 

I don't really go to any other cities often enough to have an opinion except London which I visit four or five times a week. London is just different to everywhere else and I don't think it can be compared to Brum on any kind of level. You could very easily live your entire life inside the M25 and feel quite fulfilled because it's so big and so diverse and there's so much going on.  It's as far from Uxbridge to Dagenham as it is from Birmingham to Derby so the size of the place also means that a lot of the really visible problems just get lost in the enormity of it all.

[Dom_Wren]

Great Thread!

All my family is brum born (mum from Aston, Dad born in coleshill, but raised in city), I was born in weymouth. Some things from me:

 

*My cousin (born and bread brummie) as soon as he found out missus was preggers moved out (they had a flat in the mailbox).

*I ALWAYS go to the villa when im back in the UK and as an old man have never felt unsafe.

*Got mugged with said cousin at 15 in brum.

*Alot of family members have now moved from brum to other areas (Ohio, Spain, Herts, Myrtle beach) so maybe that tells you something. All very much working class brummies.

* A Piss up in brum with brummies is the best ever....

[Dom_Wren]

2 hours ago, Xela said:

I think pubs and bars (be it gin, wine, cocktail, et al) and restaurants are better but i'm struggling on clubs? There is no big club nights that often in Brum, not like their used to be at the Sanctuary or Code or Que Club. Those were epic events. I think the whole industry has changed though

Broad St is a tip now, agreed, never used to be. Early 2000's you could have a good night out there... yes it was cheesy but that was part of the fun. I'd never go there again as its got proper rough. I do like the area around Bennets Hill/Waterloo Street now and around the financial district. Definitely my favourite area. Was close to buying a place there a few years back. 

I guess its down to what you prefer - a few drinks and a nice meal and Brum today is better... a few drinks and getting off your tits to house or trance and IMO, it isn't as good!  

I got into a massive scrap in a kebab shop on broad street with the owner. As he said British troops dying in the war was great.....

[Morley_crosses_to_Withe]

Broad Street was a worthwhile place to out back in those days. It’s not any more and I wonder whether that’s reflective of a general decline in nightlife across the whole of the city centre. That’s not to say there aren’t still places to go, but 15-20 years ago, I’d say the nightlife was nicer, more expansive, had a greater volume of decent venues and was overall just better than it is now. 

On Broad Street, I remember places like the Living room (expensive, flashy), Stoodi Bakers (late night, good music), Some Place Else (pre-drinking venue) for the club - Bakers (which was generally well respected on the clubbing scene); then there was The Sports Bar (for pints and a bit of sport with mates), Rococco and Risa (I remember seeing Hendrie, Bosnich and Ugo in there several times) plus a number of others that were respectable and good for a night out.

Then there was also the Arcadian. It eventually seemed to surpass Broad Street as the place to go out. Some people used to say it was pretentious, but I never saw it like that. I just thought it was a trendy place to go out with nice people.

Then there were pockets of decent bars along places like Suffolk Street and Smallbrook, Summer Row, Regents Wharf, John Bright Street. Plus you had all the clubs Xela mentioned plus others (Steering Wheel, Bobby Brown’s, The Church, Liberty’s, Air)

And the on top of all that...places like St Paul’s Square, The Mailbox, Colmore Row and Brindley Place had good places in those days too, just like they do today. 

Everything just seemed nicer and more high end in those days. I don’t get up there much these days, but when I do, it mostly seems a bit rough and there seems to be a lot less choice available.

[Dom_Wren]

Just now, Morley_crosses_to_Withe said:

Broad Street was a worthwhile place to out back in those days. It’s not any more and I wonder whether that’s reflective of a general decline in nightlife across the whole of the city centre. That’s not to say there aren’t still places to go, but 15-20 years ago, I’d say the nightlife was nicer, more expansive, had a greater volume of decent venues and was overall just better than it is now. 

On Broad Street, I remember places like the Living room (expensive, flashy), Stoodi Bakers (late night, good music), Some Place Else (pre-drinking venue) for the club - Bakers (which was generally well respected on the clubbing scene); then there was The Sports Bar (for pints and a bit of sport with mates), Rococco and Risa (I remember seeing Hendrie, Bosnich and Ugo in there several times) plus a number of others that were respectable and good for a night out.

Then there was also the Arcadian. It eventually seemed to surpass Broad Street as the place to go out. Some people used to say it was pretentious, but I never saw it like that. I just thought it was a trendy place to go out with nice people.

Then there were pockets of decent bars along places like Suffolk Street and Smallbrook, Summer Row, Regents Wharf, John Bright Street. Plus you had all the clubs Xela mentioned plus others (Steering Wheel, Bobby Brown’s, The Church, Liberty’s, Air)

And the on top of all that...places like St Paul’s Square, The Mailbox, Colmore Row and Brindley Place had good places in those days too, just like they do today. 

Everything just seemed nicer and more high end in those days. I don’t get up there much these days, but when I do, it mostly seems a bit rough and there seems to be a lot less choice available.

met crouchy and barry down broad st. top lads! ill try and dig out the photo!

[Xela]

27 minutes ago, Morley_crosses_to_Withe said:

Broad Street was a worthwhile place to out back in those days. It’s not any more and I wonder whether that’s reflective of a general decline in nightlife across the whole of the city centre. That’s not to say there aren’t still places to go, but 15-20 years ago, I’d say the nightlife was nicer, more expansive, had a greater volume of decent venues and was overall just better than it is now. 

On Broad Street, I remember places like the Living room (expensive, flashy), Stoodi Bakers (late night, good music), Some Place Else (pre-drinking venue) for the club - Bakers (which was generally well respected on the clubbing scene); then there was The Sports Bar (for pints and a bit of sport with mates), Rococco and Risa (I remember seeing Hendrie, Bosnich and Ugo in there several times) plus a number of others that were respectable and good for a night out.

Then there was also the Arcadian. It eventually seemed to surpass Broad Street as the place to go out. Some people used to say it was pretentious, but I never saw it like that. I just thought it was a trendy place to go out with nice people.

Then there were pockets of decent bars along places like Suffolk Street and Smallbrook, Summer Row, Regents Wharf, John Bright Street. Plus you had all the clubs Xela mentioned plus others (Steering Wheel, Bobby Brown’s, The Church, Liberty’s, Air)

And the on top of all that...places like St Paul’s Square, The Mailbox, Colmore Row and Brindley Place had good places in those days too, just like they do today. 

Everything just seemed nicer and more high end in those days. I don’t get up there much these days, but when I do, it mostly seems a bit rough and there seems to be a lot less choice available.

Broad Street had a nationwide reputation as a good night out back then... you'd get people coming to Brum from all over just to go out on the 'golden mile'. I'm not sure whether i'd say famous or infamous! 

We always started at Some Place Else after work at 3pm on Friday... then we'd bar hop down the Broad Street... places like Key Largo, Branigans, Waxys, Revolution, Walkabout and then you'd turn around and go back up and maybe take in Stoodis or the Works! Cheesy nights but fun. Broad St now is full of kebab shops and fried chicken emporiums. 

On a good night we'd end up at Bonds or Code or Pulse (or whatever it was called afterwards)

Edited September 12, 2020 by Xela