Birmingham

On Saturday I went into Birmingham to a meeting.  I took the train to the Jewellery Quarter.  I loved this sculpture outside the station.

 

 

As you walk from the station past the jewllery shops you can also see this graveyard.  Warstone Lane Cemetery.

The whole side of the building had this piece of art.

The clock tower.

 

 

After the meeting I met Roger for a very late lunch and then we walked up to the Cathedral passing these angels on the way.

The Cathedral grounds had market stalls set up.

We walked through to New Street where the German Market is held.  It was so crowded.  It was almost impossible to get to see anything or to get anywhere.  However I did mange these photos.

We walked through the Bullring shoppiing area to get to Moor Street Station and the train home.

We have never been into the Christmas market on a Saturday and I think I never will again.  We have been during the week before so I'll remember that for next time.

Thanks for joining me today
Bernice

Along the canal

After the PoliNations garden and the not-so-raging bull we strolled along the canal to the Roundhouse, where there was a lovely cafe. Hot choclate all round!

I had thought the Roundhouse was for stabling horses that worked on the canal.  It turns out that it was where Birmingham Corporation stabled their working horses in the early 20th century.

After we had watched lots of archive film of Birmingham we strolled along the canal back towards Snow Hill Station.

Who knew that a landlocked city had need a Harbour Master?

We wandered off the canal to a fabulous Italian restaurant on Ludgate Hill for lunch.  Then walked through St Paul's Square to the station arriving with 3 minutes to spare for a train home.

 

It was lovely to be out and about again.  Looking forward to sharing more adventures with you soon.

Thanks for joining me today
Bernice

Raging Bull

Well not so raging now.  It raged when it was part of the Opening Ceremony for the Commonwealth Games.  But now it's tame.

10 metres high!  I hope you like photos of metal because there are a lot of them today!

Here was our first view

 

I don't usually take photographs with people I don't know in them but I took this to show the scale of the bull.

The flag poles were a bit annoying too, but I couldn't move them or edit them out.

Thanks for joining me today
Bernice

PoliNations

You may have noticed  that over recent months I haven't blogged very often.  I hadn't been anywhere and I felt I didn't have much to write about.

However yesterday we went into Birmingham City Centre on the train.  We walked up to Victoria Square where the PoliNations festival was in its last three days.  It was a garden built in the city with colourful plants.  Almost 80% of plants grown in the UK come from other countries.  This garden celebrated both the diversity of plants and the diversity of the city's population.

The garden was built around the sculpture officially known as The River.  However it's known locally as the Floozie in the Jacuzzi.

There were paths between the flower beds to wander through.

With extra large 'trees' providing a canopy.  I had seen pictures of them and I though they were totally made of metal.  The framework was but the green bits were made of some sort of fabric.

There was a giant metal tulip.

Lots of lovely grasses

With the background of the Town Hall and the Civic Buildings.

I was pleased to see that the Anthony Gormley 'Iron Man' had been put back after the roadworks for the tram were finished.

The 'trees' looked amazing.

The weather was fabulous.  Sunny most of the time with a bit of a breeze and a reasonable temperature for mid September.

Thanks for joining me today
Bernice