“I need someone to show me The things in life that I can't find” - Paranoid, Black Sabbath Wish I knew before that heavy metal was born in Birmingham! It would have certainly made it to the video 🤘
JRR Tolkien wrote Lords Of The Rings while he was growing up in Birmingham, there's a place dedicated to his work it's called Sarhole mill ( not sure if the spelling is right though lol )
@@RenataPereiraTV Ah, I beg your pardon, my phone rang during the video and I missed that bit. Actually, having watched more of your vlogs, you should work for the English tourist board.☺️❤️
The city centre itself is almost all nice, just not the connected towns within Birmingham: Bordesley, Alum Rock, Aston, Handsworth, Small Heath. I live and work in Brum and I thought this video was really nice. Obviously they didn't show any bad bits. I suppose the city centre is nice for tourists or a day out on the town, but for somewhere to live its okay. I can't wait to move back to my home town of Stourbridge, as soon as the HS2 is built then I can sell my apartment for higher value then head back home
Is that still there????? I think my first date was in there, about 1979. Then on to see Diamondhead at Digbeth Civic Hall. Funny, I remember the McD's, Diamondhead and DCH, but I'm buggered if I can remember the girl!!
Rosida Andriyana aww thank you for the lovely compliments. I’m sure you will be delighted to know that I’m a british citizen and on top I’m a Pakistani too so high five 🖐🏽 for that. Who works and provides for his family while you people come on RU-vid and make silly comments on me being an illegal immigrant. I’m hoping you’ll understand that I was born and bred in the UK and to prove that I can provide you with my British passport. I know you’ll make another compliment on me after reading this I just want to wish you all the best and have a good life. And oh yeah, this will always will remain our Birmingham, no matter how bad or good or even worse it could be but I’ll always will love it to the core. Thank you once again. Khuda Hafiz.
I'm an American and have lived in Brum for the past 18 months (expat for work)- I absolutely love it, and this video does it justice. It has a bad reputation from people who haven't been here in 20 years. Yes, there's rough sleepers and some crime (like every other major city in the world)... Brum is a treasure and is growing like mad- cranes dominate the skyline and property development investment here is the highest anywhere in the UK. HSBC, HMRC, Deutsche, HS2, and other organizations agree. Birmingham deserves to be the 2nd city it is. And it's only going to get better.
Thank you. Birmingham is my home town and I am so proud of it, yet it is usually ignored because of a certain reputation, which as you rightly pointed out is very outdated. Second biggest city, second biggest economy, largest local authority in Europe. I'm proud to call it my home town, and I am happy you enjoy it too!
@@arnelabih1845 Hey Arnela, I can't give a perspective of someone new to the city, but I can tell you some of the things I like. The public transport is good. Its not London standard, but no other city can meet that standard. I can get everywhere I need to relatively cheaply. An excellent food scene. Digbeth Dining Club is amazing, there's a load of new independents popping up all over the city, also the old stalwarts such as the balti triangle (best currys in the UK). Its a young city, lots to do and places to see. Lots of business is moving here, so there's a growing employment market. Some of the negatives include the traffic and increasing house prices (like most places these days). Overall I do think its an excellent place to live, I certainly enjoy it.
You managed to show how beautiful my home city actually is. Luckily you didn’t show much of the never ending, on going construction and road works and road closures!
I know - and I agree - when, when, when, will it ever, ever, end ?! I love Brum but I haven't been right into town for about six months because of the lunacy of it all... We should make MUCH more the canals and MUCH more of the Metro. Biggest library in Europe and it's open fewer and fewer days every week. Most acoustically perfect concert hall in the world and one of the best orchestras - but tickets are ridiculous.. Same with the ballet. A few tweeks to the way things work and are set up in Brum and the exodus of people and business from London would be a tidal wave.
Didn't show the tons of homeless on the ramp going up to grand central or outside house of Fraser and Llyods. Literally got a small community of them now
Great video. Digbeth is a cool area too to check out. The Digbeth Dining club on Friday and Saturday does great street food and it is great to walk around the street covered in amazing street art
Few tourists cover Birmingham because it hasn't as much to offer. Birmingham was the centre of the industrial Revolution and ever since has been a brash working class city, so it could be a culture shock to many compared to London. A good comparison would be Detroit or Baltimore, cities which have unfortunately declined as industrialisation declined. Nevertheless it is an important region and the home of many inventions including the automobile, and iron and steel smelting. It is regenerating now with culture, cuisine, the reinvigorated canal system and tech industries , events and conferences. I spent many hours in the library studying for my undergraduate degree reading original copies of Adam Smith & Karl Marx works.
@@raymondturner1478 just because they are Muslims there? Please don't come them and avoid visiting hospitals here due to the many Muslims who are doctors here. Many people get along with people of many different backgrounds it's not that hard
I was born and bred in Birmingham, and this is one of the best documentaries of the city that I've seen in a long time. I would correct one thing, though. You mention that most of the centre of Birmingham was destroyed during the war. That's not correct. I remember Birmingham during the 50s, and it was little changed from how it was before the war. Very little damage was done to the centre of Birmingham by the bombing. What destroyed a lot of the old buildings in the centre of Birmingham was the shortsighted plans made by the City Council, who tore down many of the oldest buildings during the 1960s. The Birmingham City Council during the 1960s did much more damage to Birmingham than the Luftwaffe did during the war.
Herbert Manzoni should’ve been prosecuted for criminal damage! As a Brummie in my twenties it makes me very depressed knowing there’s so much beautiful architecture that used to exist here and that I will never get to see.
Thank you for showing my city so beautifully! I go to all of these places regularly and you've shown them all in such a great way. There is good and bad in every city and so happy you concentrated on the good stuff. Thanks! 😍😍
So nice to see this. I don´t understand why people would make fun or talk bad about this city. How do find living there. I am actually thinking of moving there. What do you like best/least about it?
Renata, In 2009 I spent 2-weeks staying with missionaries sent out from my church. I stayed with them & pretty much hung out @ their house. They left Europe & now live in the USA, but I did take the train from London to Birmingham (& I liked how you explained the proper way to say Birmingham, Alabama, & Birmingham, England!!!). Very insightful!!!
I'm from Birmingham and for the last 20 years minimum have travele most of the world for work and I'm actually permanently based in Asia. Even after all this Birmingham is one of, if the best city in the world. It has it all 'but hot weather' noramally. As a tourist if you are in the uk you must visit.
Consider York for your next trip! Best city in England for history, culture and facilities. There's SO many places to visit in York even though it's relatively small.
You don’t see many travel vlogs of this quality on my home city of Birmingham. Like many have said in the UK 🇬🇧 it doesn’t have a great reputation. As I said in your previous vlog it isn’t where I’d advise tourists to come as there are plenty of better places to visit. Anyway fantastic vlog and some great information ℹ️👍
I left Birmingham in 2002, I can't believe my eyes howmuch it changed. I lived in Birmingham more than 20 years .I lived all my stay in edgbaston. I came to Birmingham in 1980, had bought a house opposite to edgbaston reservoir , in summer field crescent, I sold it before leaving . I miss all my friends there, I hope I get back there again if circumstances allow. With lots of love. PS: regards to my lecturers at the B'ham central University.
It seems like all these secondary UK cities have new life breathed into them. We enjoyed discovering and do wish you get a chance to rediscover the city
Absolutely a beautiful city. I know. I've been there and loved it. And yes, they have some awesome shops. The Shakespeare home which you mentioned is also a must see.
Lived in Birmingham (Jewellery Quarter) for 5 years now, and the video captured nearly all places I walk past on a daily basis. Recommend anyone visiting to get into the library, it is amazing inside and got two observatories to look at the city center from above.
Hello, we are from Worcestershire which is 30mins south of Birmingham and we would recommend you to visit the Cotswolds (Broadway, Stow on the Wold, Bourton on the Water) if you have time. Enjoy your visit to England.
Hi Kevin! Thank you very much for the idea. I heard a lot about Cotswolds and really wish I had the time. But I've already started listing down new places for next year, as it's very likely I'll be back in June. All the best!
Thank you for visiting my city, if you still have time I would advise you to go to the 7th floor of the library for some amazing views from its garden, or the Shakespeare Room on the 9th.
Bear Eats World Oh wow!!! Thank you so much for letting me know, I’ll share this info when I write a blog post about Birmingham. Unfortunately I already left 😭😭😭, so for me, next time! 😉😊🙌
I live in Birmingham and it's pretty beautiful. I went to the 7th floor of the Bham Library with my mother a 4 years ago. We took lovely photos there untill my mothers phone got robbed.
Birmingham and surrounding towns and villages, is by far the best City in England north of London, notwithstanding small cities of Oxford, Cambridge and York. Manchester and Liverpool are not even close.
Glad you enjoyed your visit to our city. As you probably saw there’s a lot of construction work going on. I can’t wait to see it all finished in a few years for the 2022 Commonwealth Games 😃
Nice to see a really positive review of my home town 😊. It's a shame you did not have time to make it to St Paul's Square in the Jewelery Quarter and the Custard Factory in Digbeth. There you would have got a flavour of the old Birmingham too.
Birmingham is the Greatest city on the planet....everyone who comes to be Birmingham or lives in Birmingham should be given a medal!!! Home of Duran Duran, Fine Young Cannibals, UB40, stephen tin tin duffy, ELO, Ozzy Osbourne and black sabbath... Im a proud Brummie....(as you can tell lol)
I was there at bridge Street premier Inn this time last week. I paid for a five night stay as a present for my ma's birthday. We saw the cube from outside the thyme restaurant as we looked over the canal, and also had a wonderful view of the nite nite hotel next to the holiday Inn express building from the view from our room at the front of the building. I'm from Milton Keynes. We have very modern architecture and a lot of money is put in to the place with good entertainment, restaurants etc. Birmingham is very modern like Milton Keynes. It was such a pleasure to visit. I cant believe the architecture and the amount of shops and restaurants. Me and my ma loved it. It was so lively. Much much much better than london, despite the fact that I have London in my blood. It's truly a wonderful place. Loved it.
This city had such an impact in my life. I was "stationed" there for almost three years during my Ph.D, where I was based with a Brummy metal foundry for my research, about 1.5 miles from the town center. I was a complete loner of that town. Didn't know anyone on that buzzing city. But somehow, it was a place I found how to self reflect, which made me grow on so many levels as an individual. I love the rich history of this city. People call it the Venice of the Midlands, and no it'll never be as "pretty" as Venice. But it's Venice's more rustic, industrial, hairy-chested cousin. I also used to call it Mo-town, as it was/is home to the automotive industry of Britain. And it was the birthplace of have metal :D
Birmingham- the 2nd largest city in the UK it has more canals then hamsterdam it has a Lego discovery centre the the most busiest railway staion is Birmingham new street
I created a business in Harborne - Blitzgeist Books - that eventually led to my magnificent Italian villa, where my library is housed. It's so large we are refurbishing 2 medieval apartments to house more, but the 10 greatest meals I ever experienced - I've eaten in Egypt, Vietnam, Turkey ETC ETC - were baltis in in Sparkhill Brum, as your tour reminded me. They are not Indian meals but, in reality, Muslim, mostly Pakistani and Bangladeshi. They alone are worth a trip back.
Thank you for making me look at my home town in a whole new way. You have made me feel proud and I hope u had a great safe time. Excellent video. Thank u and God bless
I haven't been to Brum since I was a kid almost 20 years ago, as all I really remembered is concrete, but this video actually makes me want to go and visit! great vlog!
A seriously great video! It really brings out all the nice bits of Birm that I forget about when walking through all the dodgy stuff every day :') You forgot to mention! The library has the Rep Theatre attached to it, and next door to the Back to Backs is the Hippodrome theatre - I'm going to see Les Mis there tomorrow! There's also The Electric Cinema next to New Street Station (the UK's oldest cinema with sofas and a waiter service inside, they also do special screenings of old films, sometimes), the Sea Life Centre (not too far from Brindley Place), the ThinkTank Science Museum, and the Ikon Gallery and the Custard Factory for anyone interested in art (who've already visited BMAG). If you fancy taking a short bus ride out of the city centre, you can also visit the Barber Institute of Fine Arts at the University of Birmingham that's also free to public access.
I am a Brummie born and bred and I would like to thank you for making such a wonderful and positive video about my city. I was so glad that you went to the Balti triangle for your Balti because if you had had it at the location where you had the fish and chips it would not have been authentic. They would have served it in one of those stainless steel bowls with handles whereas an authentic Balti is served in the cast iron Karahi in which it was cooked which was the case in the Balti you were served. One thing though. Birmingham was a beautiful city before WW2 as you alluded to but the Luftwaffe did not damage it as much as Birmingham City Council did in the 50's, 60's and 70's. Many wonderful Victorian buildings were demolished to be replaced by modern atrocities.
Great video. You made my city look beautiful. There are a lot of haters out there but we will show them. Birmingham is getting a lot of development and in a few years birmingham will be even better.
I think that what made Birmingham look amazing in this video was the sunny weather! From my experience, Birmingham shines when it is sunny. However, when it gets cloudy, which is frequent, it gets a bit sadder! Nevertheless, a very important and beautiful city.
@@DM-it2ch That may be in fact true! But as a counterexample, I can only see Edinburgh's true beauty when it is raining/foggy. But I guess those are my personal biases :P
@@alexandredecarvalho4357 Oxford is also beautiful in all weather! I think cities like Oxford and Edinburgh are lucky that they have beautiful architecture and warm honey coloured stone, it means they look good even on grey days. But the more grey/red toned U.K. cities get very dreary very quick.
Birmingham is beautiful! San Antonio, Texas also has a vibrant urban Riverwalk below street level filled with cafes, shops, galleries, apartments, museums and hotels. One of Americas most visited cites nearly 40 million annually. San Antonio is about the same size as Birmingham with nearly 3 million people in the metro. Nice video.
I´m so glad that I watched this video because the first video I watched about Birmingham was by a couple going round and the weather was grey and the areas they showed looked kind of grotty and I just got such a different impression of the city than from your video.
I remember when it was Wimpey on the ramp.All the Starlings nesting on and the sound it made was to me enchanting walking along Corporation Street in the Winter and window shopping and then entering Rackhams at being hit by the smell of Perfume on the ground floor and the distant shouts from the Newspaper kiosks on a Saturday for the Sports Argos and Evening Mail with the Bus of where ever you destination lay ready to greet you.Now it is a sad symmetry of itself and you just want to leave the place as soon as your mission is completed....
@0121 My city of Perth in Western Australia is far far more gooder. Studies show the Perth is the most beautiful city in the world. Birmingham food looks ordinary and you'd think they'd use buses in a color other than red to distinguish it from London. I've never been to Birmingham but it needs to be more betterer. Do ya know wot I mean?
Birmingham looks beautiful thank you for sharing such a detail video about our beautiful city. i did a similar video recently as well. you captured birmingham uk well.
Did you go inside the back to backs? There’s three houses and each house is furnished from different time periods and each one has a family of different backgrounds
I love Birmingham, especially in december when the german x-mas market is going on. Mr. Egg deserves an honourable mention as the best hangover food in the U.K.