"Home Sweet Home" Birmingham by eddilowe

Birmingham Travel Guide: 803 reviews and 1,309 photos

Birmingham's Bull outside the Bull Ring - Birmingham
Birmingham's Bull outside the Bull Ring
The Heart of England

I love this City....it makes me angry the outdated opinions that people very often have about Brum and so I will make it the purpose of my Birmingham VT page to let people know (slowly) about all that this glorious city has to offer.

When I decided to start building my Birmingham page I sat down with my family and a large pad of paper and had a brainstorming of all the Things to do I could list. It became all too apparent that there were a) lots of places I knew about but had never been to and b) there were even more places I had not heard of and hence never been to! :o(

I will only write tips for places I have been to so it's given me a bit of an incentive to get out there and explore my own City and the surrounding areas.

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My most recent foray into the depths of Brum was a mammoth trip round Hockley, better known as The Jewellery Quarter

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The City has changed quite dramatically of recent times and the city centre has undergone huge changes. Birmingham is now home to one of the largest shopping centres in Europe - The Bull Ring, which you may have seen with the space age selfridges to one end...... It is covered with 15,000 aluminium discs (you can see part of it in the photo lower down the page.

Also, see my General Tip regarding Tourist Information Centres which lists all the locations and telephone numbers etc....

Famous Brummies & Brum Residents & Brummie things
Gravelly Hill Interchange (or Spaghetti Junction) - Birmingham

Gravelly Hill Interchange (or Spaghetti Junction)

Composer Albert Ketelbey (an ancester of mine), Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath (Tony Iommi is often seen shopping in Tesco at Shirley, Solihull apparently), Jasper Carrott, Cat Deeley, Toyah Willcox, Duran Duran (Simon Le Bon is an honorary Brummie), UB40, Stevie Winwood, Robert Plant (who is technically from the Black Country but can be seen shopping in Brum), Frank Skinner, JRR Tolkein, Lenny Henry, Sir James Watt, Matthew Boulton, Spaghetti Junction, Noddy Holder, Dexys Midnight Runners, Nigel Mansell, Roy Wood from Wizzard (my dad knew him in his younger days), Cadburys chocolate, Charles Darwin, Don MacClean, Ocean Colour Scene, Ruby Turner, tennis player Ann Jones, football commentator Gary Newbon, Richie Neville of 5ive, Neville Chamberlain, figure skater John Curry, Tony Hancock, Enoch Powell, WH Auden, Barbara Cartland, Trevor Eve, Jamelia, Robert Kilroy-Silk, Ian Lavender, Sue Lawley, Sir Simon Rattle, Mandy Rice Davis of the Profumo affair, actor Pat Roach, Moody Blues, Chris Tarrant, DJ Johnnie Walker, ex F1 commentator Murray Walker, Julie Walters, Phil Lynott, silent movie star Albert Austin, Edward Burne-Jones

....and I'm sure there are many, many more!

Bull Ring at Night - Birmingham

Bull Ring at Night

  • Intro Updated Oct 4, 2005
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Reviews (9)

Museum of the Jewellery Quarter - Birmingham Museum of the Jewellery Quarter Things to Do (8)

Admission FREE The organised tour is a must. It lasts for an hour. When you enter the shop section ask staff to... more travel advice

Pen Museum, Birmingham - Birmingham Pen Museum in the Jewellery Quarter Things to Do (8)

Admission FREE This bit from the Pen Museum website: "Birmingham was the centre of the world pen trade for... more travel advice

Assay Office - along the Findings Trail - Birmingham Jewellery Quarter - The Findings Trail Things to Do (8)

The Findings Trail is a series of 26 markers set into the pavement each indictaing a bit of information about the... more travel advice

Charm Bracelet Trail - Birmingham Jewellery Quarter Charm Bracelet Trail Things to Do (8)

The charm bracelet trail consists of 16 markers set into the pavement like the one pictured, each telling a small piece... more travel advice

Comments (3)

  • Reply
    Nemorino's Profile Photo
    Dec 28, 2005 at 2:30 PM

    Brings back memories. I used to take groups to Birmingham every summer (in cooperation with Brasshouse Centre), because Birmingham and Frankfurt are partner cities. Fine Jewellery Quarter tips!

  • Reply
    masc4s's Profile Photo
    Nov 6, 2005 at 12:50 PM

    Looking forward to seeing this page grow Eddi. Nice start and a good read :-)!

  • Reply
    sourbugger's Profile Photo
    Jul 20, 2005 at 3:41 PM

    prooves that birmingham is not all souless concrete tower blocks

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