I was born in London, and when I was about three and a half, my family moved to Birmingham because of my Dad’s job. For a very long time, when people asked me what my home town was, I would always make sure to tell them that although I now lived in Birmingham, I was really a Londoner.
Although Birmingham is the UK’s second city, it doesn’t have a very glamorous or edgy reputation in the way that other big cities such as Manchester or Bristol do. The ’Brummie’ accent is widely considered ugly and while Manchester gave the world Oasis and Morrissey, we provided Ozzy Osborne (complete with accent!). Birmingham’s economy was historically based on manufacturing (Jaguar and Land Rover cars are built here) and during the 70s and 80s, as production moved away from Britain, Birmingham struggled economically. The city centre was renowned for being rundown and ugly; the most famous building was a 60s monstrosity known as the Rotunda, shown below in all its 70s glory.
However, there has in the past decade or so been a conscious effort to regenerate Birmingham. Millions of pounds have been invested in renewal projects, using the new Bullring shopping centre as a focus. The old 1960s dilapidated centre, which itself was built on the site of a medieval market, was demolished and the new mall opened in 2003. One of the symbols of Birmingham's new confidence in itself is the architecturally daring Selfridges building in the Bullring, made especially controversial by its setting next to St Martin's, the oldest church in the city. I love the organic shape and strange building material, as well as the juxtaposition between traditional church architecture and an aggressively modern retail temple, but many would disagree! Love it or hate it, the Selfridges building has become an iconic image of Birmingham very quickly.
Being able to grow up in Birmingham while all this exciting regeneration work has been going on, and seeing the inhabitant's reawakened pride in their city, has really given me an appreciation for the virtues of the place which has now been my home for 19 years. Though Brummies are still not the hippest people in Britain, the Brummie mentality is not to take oneself too seriously. Instead of worrying what the rest of Britain thinks, a Brummie enjoys the wonderful amenities of the city, including the oldest working cinema in the UK, the world's pre-eminent collection of pre-Raphaelite paintings and the country's busiest public library. The day is finished off with Britain's best curry in the birthplace of the balti before retiring to a luxury apartment in the newly renovated Rotunda building (a building only a Brummie could think appropriate for 'luxury apartments'!).
So ask me now what my hometown is- I might just answer Birmingham.
Selfridges seen behind St Martin's. Architectural statement or giant pair of breasts?
FURTHER READING: www.birminghamitsnotshit.co.uk
EDIT: The pictures don't seem to be working- have a look at http://benflatman.com/Bull%20Ring/Bull%20Ring.html for the first one and http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/06/wonders_retail/source/6.htm for the second.
