Birmingham was once a grey, drab city but has now become a vibrant cosmopolitan area.
It is a city with something for everyone. There are great shopping centre, canals that run across the city, there are more canals here than in Venice. There are good pubs, bars and nightclubs and some fantastic restaurants such as the San Carlo for Italian, Chez Jules for French and Chung Ying Garde for Chinese cuisine. The Bank, a glass fronted restaurant is very popular and serves sophisticated modern British dishes.
There are several theatres, museums and art galleries in the city including the Thinktank which is a museum of Science and Discovery.
Although it cannot be called a pretty city redevelopment is helping and the Bullring shopping centre is no exception.
Birmingham was in the 7th century an Anglo-Saxon farming hamlet and was said to be a village worth 20 shillings in the 11th century Doomsday Book.
In the 16th century iron and coal supplies became available and metalwork industries were established.
In the 17th century Birmingham became known as a small arms manufacturing town.
The 19th century saw the building of the canal structure.
Birmingham suffered badly from bombings in WWII and was extensively rebuilt in the 1950’s and 1960’s.
Exploring the city is best done on foot, at least until the area becomes familiar, as it is difficult to get used to the ring roads, roundabouts and underpasses.
The shops are in the New Street area and City Plaza, Pallasades and Pavilion centres. The Arcadia centre is in the south of the city and is at the start of Chinatown. The Bullring lies between New Street Station and Digbeth Coach Station. Designer boutiques can be found in the Mailbox. Some of the shops to be found around the city are Belle of the Ball, World of Fashion, Iceberg, D’Jan, Dorothy Perkins, High and Mighty, Slater Menswear and Urban Style Clothing.
The Jewellery Quarter is a major production centre with manufacturers and showrooms this is a popular tourist area.
Outside the City Centre, built in 1890 is the home of Cadbury World. Here you can see chocolates being made and hear the history of chocolate making. It is an interesting day out and loved by children. The village is set around a green with large unique houses and also can be seen the smaller cottages that were built for the factory workers. It is a very popular tourist attraction and gets busy during the summer months making advance booking advisable.
Birmingham holds several interesting events throughout the year, some have relocated from London and include Crufts Dog Show, the largest dog show in the world held in March, Horse of the Year Show, a top equestrian event held in October. Also held across the city is Artsfest, the UK’s largest free arts festive, this takes place in September and in May is held Gay Pride one of the largest and colourful gay celebrations.
Long distance trains are run by Virgin and trains to London run every 30 mins and the journey takes an hour and a half.
There are plenty of properties for rent in Birmingham with prices around £500-£650pcm for a l bed flat and £550-£850 for a 2 bed flat.
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