I’ve lived in Birmingham for a good long while now. I get out, go places and see things. However, it’s easy to get stuck in a rut and miss out on things especially the more obvious stuff.
This isn’t a list of what I suspect might be the coolest or bestest stuff around town. There’s no particular rhyme or reason to them. They’re just some things I think I probably should’ve done by now.
- Eat at Cafe Soya
- Go to the Barton Arms
- Visit Merry Hill shopping centre
- Explore the Botanical Gardens
- Have a proper wander round BM&AG
- Mooch around the Barber Institute
- Go to the Imax (probably to see something dinosaur-y)
- Bear witness to the Symphony Hall’s mighty organ
- Watch some cricket at Edgbaston
- Check out the back-to-backs
- Visit Aston Hall when it re-opens
I’ll add more as they occur but that’s a start.
Btw, I’m not 30 til next year and I don’t have any massive anxieties about it.
Merry Hill isn’t in Brum so it doesn’t count – and really isn’t worth the bother anyway. Black Country museum/Dudley Zoo are better attractions out that way.
Have you been to Sutton Park yet? It’s very big, slightly wild and has horses, cows and deer wandering around. Aston Hall re-opens soon I think – really impressive if you haven’t been. Like a proper stately home in the middle of a inner-city suburb.
True – I’m playing fast and loose with Merry Hill. It’s somewhere I feel I should at least have first hand experience of – I’m not necessarily expecting to come away enriched. Have added Aston Hall though, ta for that.
My gran lives on the edge of Sutton Park so I know it fairly well. I have memories (terrible memories!) of swimming in the open air pool. I reckon it was a smart move filling that thing in.
I’ve always wanted to go to the Barton Arms too. Perhaps we could have a future blog meet/event there?
Too late for me to make it to the Barber Institute (in fairness, that’s South Brum so practically London for me…) and Aston Hall wasn’t open in time.
So I score pretty well, especially as I walk in Sutton Park practically every week. I still haven’t found the donkey sanctuary though I often get asked for directions to it.
30’s OK so far Chris, so don’t worry about it!
Bartons Arms is an odd thing: as students we were told to NEVER go there because it was rough. Turns out that it’s a haunt of BCU staff, and does amazing thai food. And the meeting room is OK – we had an away day there for work.
I went to a wedding reception at the Barton Arms last year, my first visit despite passing it on the 33 bus for 18 months when I lived in Kingstanding. It’s fantastic. Beautiful decor, great beers, top food and a good atmosphere. We really should definitely do a meet there.
Can’t believe you haven’t done Cafe Soya yet. It’s practically a cliche for the arts / media crowd. 😉
@jezhiggins often does teh cricket. He dragged me along once and I enjoyed it despite myself.
I once had a job trimming the hedges at Aston Hall. They have a lot of hedges. Them hedge trimmers sure get heavy after a few hours…
If you’re off to the Barber Institute then now’s the time to do it, they’ve got an ace Swedish exhibition on there at the moment.
They usually put on free performances of classical pieces on Friday lunchtimes too.
Interesting, the Barton Arms you say… I’ll have to check it out…
Barton Arms has some amazing food. You go in the front and think it is just a pub and then at they back they have this restaurant with amazing Thai food. That is why they won Pub of the Year a few years ago. i have only been there once but firmly recommend it!
Well, you have my Zelda so when you return that you could go to the Barber? Its not big, and its on campus! Haha! Logic! 🙂
I worked at the Barton’s Arms for 3 years while i was at Uni.
It does thee best thai food and the chefs are adorable. All the years i worked there, i never witnessed any trouble.
I reccomend its something to definately do. We had people coming from all over to look at the decor and sample the real ales.
If you go ask for a tour of upstairs and the cellars, i was always happy to give one.