BordesleyExile
master brummie
Writing of Birmingham, Robert Southey opens with "The devil has certainly fixed on this spot for his hothouse". Its always interesting to have different perspectives of Birmingham and Southey certainly provides unique insights. In his book Letters from England vol 2 published in 1814 he arrives from Worcester in a 16 seater coach with a door at one end & windows at the other. Like other travel writers he is impressed by the ingenuity he witnesses in Birmingham and he visits Soho. Unlike other writers he provides us with descriptions of the sights & smells of Birmingham, the method of gun testing, a raid on an establishment where counterfeit money is produced, the effects of the war with France on ordinary people & the untenanted houses which resulted. Like other travel writers Southey is impressed by the ingenuity he witnesses.
Southey's book is available on Internet Archive:
https://www.archive.org/stream/lettersfromengla02soutuoft#page/38/mode/2up/search/birmingham
Southey's book is available on Internet Archive:
https://www.archive.org/stream/lettersfromengla02soutuoft#page/38/mode/2up/search/birmingham