Birmingham Life

[Xela]

Overall, while i've had good times in Brum over the years, I'd be happy to move away and wouldn't miss it anymore. 

[Stevo985]

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!  

Yeah maybe. There are clubs, just not big massive clubs like there used to be. but again I don't think that's a brum issue really. I think big super clubs are dying in the UK a bit anyway. It's more bars and smaller clubs.

I think there's more places to go out in Brum now, but yeah big clubs aren't really there. But to me that's not a bad thing.

[Morley_crosses_to_Withe]

10 hours ago, Xela said:

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)

I was trying to remember these places but couldn’t picture them in my head. I’d say Broad Street had around fifteen viable places for a drink and the Arcadian had 52 Degrees North (which won national awards) on the upper level and about five/six decent places in the internal concourse. Then you had a few places just nearby outside or on Hurst Street (Green Room and Steering Wheel/Bambu).

As the outsider I am these days, it doesn’t seem that sheer volume has been replaced. Bennett’s Hill and Temple Street just doesn’t have an equivalent amount of venues.

[sidcow]

I would say if you feel unsafe in the city now but didn't years ago, that's just a side effect of getting older.  When you are young you see things differently and feel invincible.   When you are older you just don't feel that. 

I think overall you are less likely now to get into trouble if you are minding your own business these days.  Town could be quite moody in the 80's and 90s. You could get into trouble for stepping on a foot or spilling a drink or just be randomly attacked in the street. 

However I think it's more dangerous now if you are the type who likes a bit of a brawl.  Lot's more people carry knives now and for many of them it's just normal.  If you get into a scrap you just don't know what the other person might be carrying and be prepared to do. 

That's a society problem though and the same in every major UK City or large town. 

My son turns 18 shortly and it scares the shit out of me that he's probably going to start going clubbing soon. 

Edited September 13, 2020 by sidcow

[Lichfield Dean]

‘Eternal Wall of Prayer’ outside Birmingham gets go-ahead

Aim of £9.3m project is to encourage prayer and ‘preserve Christian heritage of the nation’

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/sep/13/eternal-wall-of-prayer-outside-birmingham-gets-go-ahead

I mean, I'm all for a giant Möbius strip being built. That'd be great. But the Christian aspect? Ugh. Please no.

Edited September 14, 2020 by Lichfield Dean

[Stevo985]

On 12/09/2020 at 22:14, 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. 

See I would say the total opposite to this.

Broad Street is shit. But there are far more areas and individual places to go out in Brum now than ever before imo.

[Davkaus]

51 minutes ago, Lichfield Dean said:

‘Eternal Wall of Prayer’ outside Birmingham gets go-ahead

Aim of £9.3m project is to encourage prayer and ‘preserve Christian heritage of the nation’

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/sep/13/eternal-wall-of-prayer-outside-birmingham-gets-go-ahead

I mean, I'm all for a giant Möbius strip being built. That'd be great. But the Christian aspect? Ugh. Please no.

Looks pretty cool. It's a privately funded project, so I don't see a problem with it really! 

[The Fun Factory]

On 12/09/2020 at 19:19, veloman said:

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 ! 

That's the sort of attitude which makes Birmingham less high profile than it should be.

It is a golden opportunity to market Birmingham and the wider west midlands to the rest of the country and beyond.

Some people still base their views on Birmingham from about 25 years ago still and have no idea what the city can offer.

[bickster]

7 hours ago, Davkaus said:

Looks pretty cool. It's a privately funded project, so I don't see a problem with it really! 

From that link. First sentence...

Quote

An enormous Christian monument, more than twice the size of the Angel of the North...

Nothing was worth reading after that. My one abiding memory of The Angel of the North is that it really isn't that big. I was so underwhelmed by its size, I imagined it to be this massive structure and it really wasn't. We're not talking a Spinal Tap Stonehenge thing but I really thought it was much bigger before I went. I like Gormley's stuff but seeing that was a bit of a disappointment

[sidcow]

2 hours ago, bickster said:

From that link. First sentence...

Nothing was worth reading after that. My one abiding memory of The Angel of the North is that it really isn't that big. I was so underwhelmed by its size, I imagined it to be this massive structure and it really wasn't. We're not talking a Spinal Tap Stonehenge thing but I really thought it was much bigger before I went. I like Gormley's stuff but seeing that was a bit of a disappointment

It's more than twice the size of The Angel, closer to 3 times bigger than twice, it is pretty much the same size as Nelsons Column. 

Sitting in a flat field I would think it will look pretty impressive, especially as it's being built of white glazed brick.  It's certainly going to stand out. 

I'm not religious but am all for this, it's going to be an impressive landmark that tells you that you are approaching Brum.  We haven't really got anything else like that until you get to Central Brum buildings. 

Edited September 14, 2020 by sidcow

[Xela]

Only the non believing heathens will be against this

They will be smited by the Almighty. 

[Enda]

That sign still makes me laugh 10-15 years later.

 

[bickster]

26 minutes ago, Xela said:

Only the non believing heathens will be against this

They will be smited by the Almighty. 

Bring on the smite

[villa4europe]

11 hours ago, Stevo985 said:

See I would say the total opposite to this.

Broad Street is shit. But there are far more areas and individual places to go out in Brum now than ever before imo.

Yep, broad street was shit 18 years ago when I first started going up and it's no better now

Brum was and still is only ever snobs for me

That said with age the best drinking there is the stretch between snow Hill and New Street, lots of good quality bars for sunshine drinking and the last train home 

[Stevo985]

1 minute ago, villa4europe said:

Yep, broad street was shit 18 years ago when I first started going up and it's no better now

Brum was and still is only ever snobs for me

That said with age the best drinking there is the stretch between snow Hill and New Street, lots of good quality bars for sunshine drinking and the last train home 

I can't be dealing with the new Snobs to be honest

[villa4europe]

Just now, Stevo985 said:

I can't be dealing with the new Snobs to be honest

Last time I was in there I put my drink down and walked out in disgust

Kanye west gold digger followed by walk the moon shut up and dance

Put it down to old age, in reality I don't go clubbing anywhere any more, I go drinking, and brum has plenty of good watering holes 

[Xela]

13 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

Last time I was in there I put my drink down and walked out in disgust

Kanye west gold digger followed by walk the moon shut up and dance

Disgrace!

Its all about Smells Like Teen Spirit or some Britpop classic! 

[villa4europe]

I've lost touch, don't think I've heard a new indie disco song in about 10 years, maybe an AM or Liam one in there 

That's not going to help Snobs, neither did the inevitable drink price increase, as soon as you realise the £1 bottle machine has gone the new place is on to a loser 

The sports bar is OK though, been in there for a "quiet" drink the night before a wedding (sunflower lounge thrown in too of course) about 12 of us and they let us in to the club for free at 10pm, just us in there, DJ pretty much on request, was great for about an hour 

Went again after the wedding on the Saturday night and it was ridiculously busy, 30 mins+ to get a drink busy

[Mark Albrighton]

I found the actress & bishop by the jam house to be alright for a late night indie music set.

Birmingham itself, obviously I’m not a local so can’t comment on too many specific locations (typical villa “shires supporter” that I am). But whenever I’m in the city centre I generally feel safe. I agree with the sentiment that Broad Street isn’t great, but then I am older now so it’s faults are more apparent to me. It may well have always been bad, but I was young and didn’t care. The JQ is my favourite, it’s a bit more relaxed and has it’s own kind of character. I’ve been to Moseley once or twice and that seemed alright, couldn’t give much in the way of detail. 

I had planned a proper jaunt around Digbeth which had to go on the back burner following lockdown. Hopefully it won’t be too long before I can tick off a few more locations in the area (the one so far being the old crown for an audience with God).

[Stevo985]

12 hours ago, villa4europe said:

I've lost touch, don't think I've heard a new indie disco song in about 10 years, maybe an AM or Liam one in there 

That's not going to help Snobs, neither did the inevitable drink price increase, as soon as you realise the £1 bottle machine has gone the new place is on to a loser 

The sports bar is OK though, been in there for a "quiet" drink the night before a wedding (sunflower lounge thrown in too of course) about 12 of us and they let us in to the club for free at 10pm, just us in there, DJ pretty much on request, was great for about an hour 

Went again after the wedding on the Saturday night and it was ridiculously busy, 30 mins+ to get a drink busy

Sunflower Lounge didn't survive the lockdown I don't think. Or was it Island bar... one of those didn't make it. i can't remember which now.

But both were good for something a bit more indy.

 

Agree with the shotu for Actress and Bishop. That's a good place. Sun on the Hill does some Indy stuff as well although I'm not a massive fan of the place myself.