Yesterday saw us start off with a bus journey to Birmingham, a short walk across to brindleyplace, and lunch in the Brasshouse, having discounted the Lloyd’s No.1 and the Walkabout on Broad St because of the sheer volume of the football on TV (remember how they said the sound would be muted?), and we then dropped below street level, under Broad St, and past Gas St basin, finally leaving the crowds to their brain-dead obsession with shopping by passing The Mailbox, and out of town on the Worcester and Birmingham Canal.
The change is amazing, as pretty much anywhere on the urban canal network around Birmingham. All is quiet apart from the cross-city railway line, and the walk out past the University, QE Hospital and Edgbaston tunnel is quite pleasant. We stopped for a swift pint in Selly Oak at a disappointing pub (students!), and then got to the outskirts of Stirchley, before catching a bus back to the city and then walking to the Irish Quarter for a look visit to The Anchor, and just up the road, the White Swan. A few drinks later, and it’s back to the Bartons Arms for Thai food and more beer. All three pubs are lovely Victoran Birmingham pubs, designed by James & Lister Lea, all in 1901. Must have been a good year, judging by the architecture, and the beer.