What's new pussy cat?

There have been a lot changes and goings on in the city of late.  Let me take some time to fill you in on what's happening.

No sooner had they finished refurbishing the Kings Arms at the end of Harborne High Street than a suspected electrical fire took out the entire upper floors.  The pub, which was renamed the Huntsman and was decorated with a Lord of the Rings theme, is sadly now decimated but there does remain a rather ironic banner outside suggested we try their BBQ.  This is the second major fire in recent months for Harborne, in May arsonists destroyed the old Stead and Simpson shoe shop which also damaged Superdrug next door and the Coral betting shop the other side. Coral has now re-opened, work is continuing on Superdrug but the entire roof is still missing from the shoe shop.

In more Harborne news the old Clinton Cards is now a Costa coffee, hmmm not sure that is a good development, see my previous blog on supporting local businesses.  But work is moving on a pace at the old annex/school which will one day be luxury apartments and a cookery school.

The Library of Birmingham is due to open in September, the boards are starting to come down, so you can see the ground floor and the amphitheatre opening now.

Developers have finally started to demolish the old Five Ways Shopping Centre.  According to the signs this will become a 4 star hotel from Park Regis.  http://www.staywellgroup.com/hotels/united-kingdom/park-regis-birmingham  I think from the picture the bedrooms will be in the former Auchinleck house office block.

Further development seems to be afoot in Broad Street as there is now an enormous "smoking" shelter outside the old Orleans building and building work is clearly going on inside.

Check out the Visit Birmingham site for the See Birmingham http://visitbirmingham.com/this-is-birmingham/ in 30 seconds video for some of the historic and fascinating locations around Birmingham.  This includes the Jewellery Quarter and coincidentally I was there last weekend.  I needed to check the setting of my engagement ring checked which is easy to do in Brum as we have the whole area to go to, in fact the problem is rather more one of choose rather than finding someone to do it.  So let me give a shout out to A&A Jewellers who did a lovely job for me at a very reasonable price.  And of course being in the area I popped by the graveyard to visit me old Gramps who is buried there, aka Jacob Wilson the last town-crier of Birmingham who is my Great x 5 Grandfather. http://www.wikigallery.org/wiki/painting_235835/William-Thomas-Roden/Portrait-of-Jacob-Wilson,-the-Last-Town-Crier-of-Birmingham

In case you don't know the New Street Station development is now half way through.  The new concourse shopping area reminds me of an airport and there is now plenty of seating, something which was sadly lacking in the old station.  The outside and surrounding roads are at the looks worse before it looks better stage.

 Next week I'll be reporting from the International Food Festival, so get down to Victoria Square and check it out.

Birmingham 2nd Best??????

I've always wanted to write an article for one of the Sunday Newspaper entitled Birmingham, 2nd Best? to discuss why the countries 2nd city is marginalised on the pages that discuss great restaurants or cool hang out joints.  London is usually the main feature with mentions of Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow but never ever Birmingham.  But imagine my surprise when I start researching it and find out that in fact Birmingham is not the official 2nd city of England. There is no official 2nd city in this country.

However there is apparently a big debate as to the unofficial title between Birmingham and Manchester. Whilst Birmingham is the larger city by size and population Manchester want the title due to the arts and culture there.  What?????????  Seriously?   Well that's absolute rubbish, we have Michelin starred restaurants, too many museums to count, the Birmingham Royal Ballet, the Symphony Hall, the NIA, the NEC, the IKON gallery, classical architecture, modern innovative architecture etc, etc.  How much more culture do they want?

However I have now seen that The New Statesman website has ploughed into the debate so check out what they have to say.  http://www.newstatesman.com/lifestyle/2013/08/birmingham-or-manchester-which-britains-second-city

My problem with all this is people passing judgement who have never even been here and believe me I've heard it.  In fact on holiday last year I met a couple in a restaurant who asked where we were from when we said Birmingham they actually replied "oh dear never mind, I suppose someone has to be"  when I challenged them on what exactly about Birmingham offended them it turned out they'd never set foot in the place.  Now my question is why is it considered acceptable to bad mouth Birmingham?  Now you may think from everything I've said I think Brum is the best city in the whole country, well actually I'm much more realistic than that and I've been to most of the major cities.  So I like to think what I say about other cities whilst being my own opinion it is at least a considered and experienced opinion.  During my recent holiday I visited Newcastle for the first time and I must say it's a wonderful city, really beautiful, friendly and with so much to see, so if you are ever in the "desolate* North East" I encourage you to visit.

* I think desolate must mean 80% made of of areas of outstanding natural beauty?!?!?!?

Dates for the diary:

The Birmingham International Food Festival starts on 14th August until 26th August.  Well worth a visit there are stalls selling fresh breads, cheeses, meats etc and also hot food such as Paella, german sausages and curries.

By the way if you are a theatre buff Wicked is coming to the Hippodrome next July and tickets are already on sale.

Upcoming Events

Sadly I am on holiday for the next couple of weeks rummagin in Northumberland so I'm missing out on a lot of fantastic events, including my cousins wedding.  But I would hate for you to miss out while I'm away so here are some of the things going on in Birmingham:

Entente Florale Europe

A European floral competition where each participating Country puts forward a representative Town and Village. The Town and Village are visited by the Jury and an assessment is made. Birmingham is the entrant for the UK.

FINDINGS Birmingham

25 April-19 July - GRAIN Library of Birmingham photography commission by Tom Hunter.

Universe of Sound

25 May-16 June - A major digital installation that leads to a weekend exploration of music and space featuring free family activities, film screenings and live performances.

Bollywood 100 in Birmingham

7-30 June - Birmingham will be rolling out the red carpet as it celebrates 100 years of Indian cinema, popularly known throughout the world as Bollywood.

Brindleyplace Dragonboat Festival

22 June - The annual Dragonboat Festival will be returning to Brindleyplace in a bid to find out which local business will be crowned winner of the popular charity race.

#FutureFoodies

26 June - Meet passionate local traders, and sample their artisan food products and high quality beverages.

BASS Festival

11-30 June BASS (British Arts and Street Sounds) remains a feature of Birmingham's vibrant emerging underground of Black and Urban music. The BASS festival is still the UK’s only monthlong, annual celebration of urban creativity and culture.

Gardeners' World Live

12-16 June - Enjoy practical gardening advice from BBC experts, superb shopping and the RHS Flower Show Birmingham.

BBC Good Food Show Summer

12-16 June - Back and bursting with all the inspiration you need to make your cooking come to life with summer flair.

For more information see http://visitbirmingham.com/

Custard Factory - Vintage Fair and The Oasis

Last Saturday I popped down to the Custard Factory in Digbeth for the Vintage Fair.  Why is it called the Custard Factory I hear you ask?  Well there's another thing Birmingham can lay claim to, Bird's custard.

Bird's Custard was invented by Alfred Bird in 1837, because his wife was allergic to eggs, which was the key ingredient used to thicken traditional custard. The formula he came up with used cornflour to thicken the liquid and vanilla flavouring to mimic the custard flavour, before the days of ready made custard you used to mix custard powder with sugar and milk and heat to make the custard.  As these things do people began trying Alfred's custard substitute and like it, so he formed Alfred Bird and Sons Ltd. in Birmingham. By 1843, the company was also making the newly invented baking powder and, by 1844, was promoting custard powder nationally. By 1895, the company was producing Blancmange powder, jelly powder, and egg substitute. In World War I, Bird's Custard was supplied to the British armed forces.

The original custard factory has long ceased to exist, but the larger factory Bird's opened in Gibb Street remains, and has been adapted as the Custard Factory arts centre.

Anyway history lesson over, it's now a fascinating place sort of the Camden Market of Brum, whilst last weekend was a particular Vintage Fair there are a lot of vintage shops down there permanently.  Also cafes, galleries, furniture shops and much more.

http://www.custardfactory.co.uk/

I stopped in Yumm cafe for lunch, and had an excellent halloumi cheese wrap, wandered round the temporary vintage market, popped in and out of the shops and stopped to admire some of the art work around.  This is the sort of place I love unique individual businesses rather than chain stores.  I remember Gok Wan doing a programme a couple of years ago about fashion in all the major cities.  His conclusion of Birmingham was that we love our Vintage and that is true.  Sure we have our equivalents of Cricket in Liverpool but why would you want to look like an identi-kit model of a wannabe WAG when you can be yourself.  The city used to be known as the city of a thousand trades well now it's the city of a thousand looks.  Maybe this has something to do with the 2 universities  and so there is a plethora of students in the area or maybe the fact we are in the middle of the country makes us like any good middle child desperate to be seen as an individual?

Another example of bucking the norm is The Oasis, definitely not to be confused with the High Street retailer.  http://www.theoasisfashionstore.co.uk/  This is the home of Goth, Punk, Metal, Hip-Hop and much more, they were doing body piercing way before it was "fashionable".  When I was a kid it was a scary fascinating place to go, it is a labyrinth of independent stalls and back then some of the areas were filled with strange smelling smoke (which I'm sure was just joss sticks :-s ) it was almost a right of passage in Brum to go into The Oasis, mums definitely didn't like it!!  And if you actually bought something, well that was coolness guaranteed.  It was the best fashion show around to hang out in The Oasis and see what people had created for themselves.  This is what their website says:  The Oasis celebrated it's opening in Birmingham City Centre with a parade down Corporation Street. That was almost 40 years ago but Oasis, still today, remains a totally unique aspect of Birmingham's personality.

At the Oasis we constantly strive to offer customers the best in unique and individual products, services and clothing. From piercings to pipes, boots to beads, tattoos to tutus and much more in-between. They're all available from a veritable plethora of independent retailers.

The Lord Mayor's show 2013

So as promised I visited the Lord Mayors show in the city centre today, my first real trip as roving reporter for Rummagin.

The first thing I came across was an open air concert with good old deck chairs laid out.  Bev Bevan was there performing.  In case anyone doesn't know he was the drummer in The Move and ELO (and if you've never heard of either of these I suggest you google them) he's from Sparkhill Birmingham and currently has a show on BBC Radio WM.

The Town Hall

The Council House

Looking down New Street from Victoria Square

The Lord Mayor himself  Councillor John Lines

Most of the scheduled events focused on the kids, the best thing I saw was the "Mad Science" demonstration in the main marquee.

I also discovered the Cadbury Dairy Milk Marvellous Creations Travelling Funfair over at the Bullring.  I observed wacky games, a touch of circus style spectacle and plenty of free chocolate being given out to those who dared enter.

One thing no one can argue with we are the city of chocolate!!!

Supporting Local Businesses

So if I said to you I was going to the farmers market to get local produce, what would you say? I know a lot of people who would be very puzzled.  Local produce, in Birmingham?  What can that be, coal and bad 60s architecture?  Well sadly these people are forgetting the fact that Birmingham is in the centre of the West Midlands and the West Midlands is made up of large chunks of what used to be Warwickshire, Worcestershire, and Staffordshire.  Sounds a bit more rural now doesn't it?

The fact is we are surrounded by swathes of beautiful countryside and farm land, in fact with the exception of the North West where you hit the cities of Wolverhampton and Dudley via the fascinating historic areas of the Black Country you only need to drive 5 or 10 miles in any direction to get out to the countryside.

Today I have just been over to Cannon Hill Park and the mac, on the last Sunday of the month they have a Food Market with a host of stalls from local artisan producers.  They have homemade cakes, speciality teas, breads, cheeses, organic vegetables, honey and preserves, chocolates, and many others.

But this isn't the only one around, the various markets tour the area so there is something going on most weekends if you care to look for it.  One organiser is http://www.skettsfarmersmarkets.co.uk/ They appear in Birmingham city centre twice a month, visting Harborne, Solihull, and Sutton Coldfield once a month.  Other markets pop up in Kings Norton on the green, Moseley who also have regular arts and craft markets and Halesowen.

Harborne on Market Day

 Last weekend I accidentally happened upon the Forest of Arden Food Festival in Alcester which included a number of my old favourites and some exciting new finds.  http://www.alcesterfoodfestival.org.uk/

I'd like to take time to list some of the stalls I try to frequent and other recent discoveries:

• Nightingales Farm http://www.19gales.co.uk/ from Atherstone. For Pies and pasties, they do a family sized pasty (can't call it Cornish but you know what I mean) which my husband loves, all to himself!
• Offchurch Poultry & Eggs from Leamington Spa for Duck breasts and both duck and hens eggs.
• Tan Rosie http://www.tanrosie.com/ from Birmingham who do Caribbean foods, I recommend the jerk spices and the fried plantain.
• Wenlock Edge Farm  http://www.wenlockedgefarm.co.uk/ from Shropshire, for bacon and sausages.
• Woodhouse Farm http://www.woodhousefarm.co.uk/ out at Elmesthorpe Leicestershire, another source of excellent meats.
• Brocklebys http://www.brocklebys.co.uk/ for amazing pies both savoury and sweet.
• Fudge Heaven http://www.fudgeheaven.co.uk/ for their Fuffle (is it fudge is it truffle????)
• Britains Best Pork Scratchings http://www.fatpig67.com/ speaks for itself.
• Platinum Pancakes (find them on twitter) who not only make delicious crepes but also only use local ingredients and list them on their board.  
  
• Five n' Dime for American inspired baked goods, I tried their baked donuts and Salted Caramel, yummy!!!

Alcester and Forest of Arden Food Festival

Now I appreciate that these things can be expensive but for some of the unique products and quality I think it's worth it.  However I do draw the line at some people who see markets as a license to print money.  There was a stall I once visited where the "product" was simple a square of puff pastry with a small dollop of filling e.g. goats cheese and onions or chicken and pesto just placed in the middle of the flat square of pastry then baked, for which they were charging £4.50 each!!!  I could have made the same at home for about 50p, needless to say they didn't last long.

But it's not just the travelling markets that need our support it's also the High Street retailer who aren't chains or multi-national conglomerate.  When I visit Harborne I like to stop by the Cafe Boutique, a great little place doing teas, coffees, cakes and lunches.  Nicer and cheaper than Costa Small Fortune or Megabucks, you know who I mean.  Sadly in Harborne over the past few years many small independent shops have tried their luck and after initial success the trade has fallen off and they have closed.  If we let this happen we will end up with empty high streets or US still strip malls where every store in every city is the same.

Cafe Boutique

So listen to Auntie Bonglecat and support your local businesses.

Upcoming Events in Birmingham:

The Lord Mayors Show - Bank Holiday Monday 27th May
The Birmingham Vintage Fair at the Custard Factory - 1st June
Spring Festival at Cannon Hill Park - 1st & 2nd June

Hello, Good Evening and Welcome

Welcome to the first post of Rummaging in Brummagem.

I was born in Birmingham sometime in the 70's (a lady never reveals her age) I remember when you could drive down New Street and when the Bullring was a scary place to set foot in.

But that was a long time ago and things have changed, A LOT!!!   But sadly attitudes from around the country haven't.  It seems to me that someone in the South East popped to Birmingham in the late 70s and reported back "Don't go there guys, it's a shit tip!"  And that's it, the opinion has been formed and no one will change there mind.

Have you ever noticed how the magazines show hip and trendy place around the country, and it's always Manchester, Sheffield, Glasgow but never ever Birmingham.  Which is strange because we have (off the top of my head) more Michelin starred restaurants than anywhere outside London, more theatres than any other major city (again outside London, we'll take that as a given from here on in), museums, parks, cinemas, shopping centres, the Frankfurt Christmas Market largest one outside German, the 3rd largest St Patrick's day parade in the world the other 2 being New York and Dublin, China town, the jewellery quarter, the gay village................

We are a cosmopolitan, multi-cultural exciting vibrant city and there are too many people out there who write us off as a load of dim-witted bluecollar works with a stupid accent.

Well PEOPLE I'm here to put this right, so follow me on a trip around Birmingham exploring all there is to see and do, discussing local issues and busting some long held myths.

Bonglecat xoxo