Simon4130
master brummie
A lot of folk will probably wonder how or why somebody with no obvious connections to Birmingham became so interested in the city. Very recently I have come across a distant family connection going back to my Great Grandfather’s sister but I will save that for another post. That side of my family come from Tenbury Wells in Worcestershire but my Great Grandfather moved to Ireland back in 1913.
I first visited Birmingham back in 1991, well passed through it really as I was with a friend and we were going to stay with his Grandfather in Clevedon and this involved a coach change at Digbeth. All I had time to do was to have a quick walk around and take a few photos but it was like a different world to me so different from Dublin which even today has very few tall buildings and back then it was unusual to see a face that wasn’t white and Irish. So my first impression of Birmingham was of a large city of high buildings and very multicultural compared to anything I had ever seen before. Two weeks later I passed through again for another quick look, some more photos and this was my lot until I returned again in 1996.
I have always had an interest in transport especially buses and older types in particular. So in 1996 with the same friend a short break was planned that would take in a bus museum and also provide the opportunity to travel on some interesting buses and routes. Birmingham was chosen and we booked into what was the Chamberlain Hotel (now the Paragon) on Alcester Street. A visit was planned to Aston Manor Transport Museum on Witton Lane as well as bus trips to Coventry, Wolverhampton and Walsall. Having an interest in buses is what really started it off because the interest in the vehicles leads to an interest in the routes they operate on so you get to know the geography of the city and then you develop an interest in the city itself and that is how it happened for me.
The Birmingham I first came to know was the city of the 1960’s Bull Ring and markets, I had done very little research before that trip so finding places like Victoria Square was just by chance. I used the Rotunda as a landmark so I wouldn’t get lost and navigated around with a bulky A-Z guide. For various reasons involving family and finances it was to be 2010 before I got to come back again, gone was the Bull Ring I knew along with a lot of the open markets, various streets had been pedestrianized in the intervening years, bus companies and routes had changed. But my interest in the city was quickly rekindled and back in Ireland I had by then bought an old Birmingham bus for restoration which I consider to be part of the history of the city and one day in the future I will see that it returns home.
This weekend will see my eight visit back to Birmingham since October 2010 and I look forward to it. I now have friends and contacts and an ever growing interest in the city itself, the history, buildings and streets as well as of course its transport history. Anyway apologies for the very long post, hope it doesn’t bore you but it gives an insight into why I find Birmingham interesting and why you find me here on the forum.
So here I am enjoying the forum and always looking forward to my next trip to Brum:courage:
Simon
I first visited Birmingham back in 1991, well passed through it really as I was with a friend and we were going to stay with his Grandfather in Clevedon and this involved a coach change at Digbeth. All I had time to do was to have a quick walk around and take a few photos but it was like a different world to me so different from Dublin which even today has very few tall buildings and back then it was unusual to see a face that wasn’t white and Irish. So my first impression of Birmingham was of a large city of high buildings and very multicultural compared to anything I had ever seen before. Two weeks later I passed through again for another quick look, some more photos and this was my lot until I returned again in 1996.
I have always had an interest in transport especially buses and older types in particular. So in 1996 with the same friend a short break was planned that would take in a bus museum and also provide the opportunity to travel on some interesting buses and routes. Birmingham was chosen and we booked into what was the Chamberlain Hotel (now the Paragon) on Alcester Street. A visit was planned to Aston Manor Transport Museum on Witton Lane as well as bus trips to Coventry, Wolverhampton and Walsall. Having an interest in buses is what really started it off because the interest in the vehicles leads to an interest in the routes they operate on so you get to know the geography of the city and then you develop an interest in the city itself and that is how it happened for me.
The Birmingham I first came to know was the city of the 1960’s Bull Ring and markets, I had done very little research before that trip so finding places like Victoria Square was just by chance. I used the Rotunda as a landmark so I wouldn’t get lost and navigated around with a bulky A-Z guide. For various reasons involving family and finances it was to be 2010 before I got to come back again, gone was the Bull Ring I knew along with a lot of the open markets, various streets had been pedestrianized in the intervening years, bus companies and routes had changed. But my interest in the city was quickly rekindled and back in Ireland I had by then bought an old Birmingham bus for restoration which I consider to be part of the history of the city and one day in the future I will see that it returns home.
This weekend will see my eight visit back to Birmingham since October 2010 and I look forward to it. I now have friends and contacts and an ever growing interest in the city itself, the history, buildings and streets as well as of course its transport history. Anyway apologies for the very long post, hope it doesn’t bore you but it gives an insight into why I find Birmingham interesting and why you find me here on the forum.
So here I am enjoying the forum and always looking forward to my next trip to Brum:courage:
Simon
