Birmingham weekend ideas

Here is the Visit Birmingham website, which has a section for whats on this weekend-
https://visitbirmingham.com/

As you get off your train at New Street station do not miss the giant mechanical bull in the middle of the concourse. I do need to get to one of his performances sometime- due to earlier delays I missed that yesterday when I was passing through.

Birmingham has more canals than Venice, so look down at those, and do take a boat trip while you are there. Cadbury World, the National Sea Life Centre and the Black Country Living Museum are three of the obvious attractions.

At Cadbury's, also make time to see Bournville- the worker's model village.

Also visit the City Markets

Stratford on Avon is also in easy striking distance, by train from Moor Street Station (just round the corner from New Street station, where you arrive at).

Ironbridge does not have such a good bus service as you might expect (and none on a Sunday).

Birmingham does have an expanding tram network, and you will see lots of work ongoing in connection with that.

There are 3 central Birmingham travelodges, none of which are what I would consider to be 5 minutes walk from New Street- 10 to 15 minutes is more realistic. The Moor Street one is closest, but even then 5 minutes is stretching a point in my opinion.

I am surprised that Rick doesn't feature Birmingham at all.

Regarding the oft repeated, Birmingham has more canals than Venice:

quoting from the official Birmingham webpage about the question of Birmingham having more miles of canals than Venice

With a population of over a million and a size of over 10 miles across
Birmingham dwarfs the Italian city state of Venice, so comparisons of
canal length are not very helpful! However just as Venice developed as
a renaissance powerhouse because of its trade and transport links, so
Birmingham grew rapidly from the mid eighteenth century because of its
canal networks.

The first canal was built in 1768 and at one time the Birmingham Canal
Navigations had about 160 miles of canal across its network. Canals
are now a popular tourist attraction, carrying recreational and
residential boats across the region.

From another of their webpages we see that the number of miles has really shrunk from 160 to 35 (drop of 78 percent) yet so much larger manages to have more miles than Venice...

Birmingham has 35 miles of canals, which is said to be more than Venice.

Now to completely debunk the Birmingham has more canals than Venice.

The Canal and River trust website https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/canals-and-rivers/birmingham-canal-navigations names all 13 canals making up the BCN, the Birmingham Canal Navigations, but these go for miles and miles beyond the city limits of Birmingham. Those which do not go through Birmingham I have ruled out.

Waterways in the Birmingham Canal Network

• Birmingham & Fazeley Canal
• Birmingham Canal Main Line
• Birmingham Canal Old Main Line (starts in Smethwick)
• Daw End Branch Canal (near Walsall)
• Dudley No. 1 Canal (in and around Dudley)
• Dudley No. 2 Canal (Birmingham (Selly Oak) end long caved in)
• Grand Union Canal
• Rushall Canal (Walsall)
• Stourbridge Canal (Stourbridge and 5 miles)
• Tame Valley Canal (Walsall)
• Walsall Canal (Walsall)
• Worcester & Birmingham Canal
• Wyrely & Essington Canal (Wolves to Walsall)

So actually 4 canals in Birmingham. Anybody want to venture how many in Venice?

To answer the OP - you can easily get to Ironbridge on a day trip. Use a taxi from Telford.

On a canal theme - I could sail to Birmingham city centre from home via The Lee Navigation, which is pretty close to me. I'd join The Paddington Arm of The Grand Union Canal, and then The Grand Union Canal proper, all the way to Brum.

I think Greg may be gone by the time I get there though.

Thanks for the ideas, very helpful. Now I just have to hope the trains from Durham to Birmingham don't get cancelled due to rain. Delays don't worry me too much, as long as I get there by tonight so I have a place to sleep.

that's a valid concern because whilst eastern Scotland got clobbered yesterday northeast England and the whole of the Pennines are in Storm Babet's sights today.

I hope you are successful without too much difficulty making it to Brum today.

I have walked the entire route described by Gerry plus a bit more. I will quote from Nicholson's guides (the authoritative source of boating information)- "In it's heyday" in 1865, the BCN comprised over 160 miles of canal. Today just over 100 miles of canal remain"

100 miles is far greater than 35. Many of the lost miles remain at least partly in water. What is in the centre of Birmingham has been transformed over the years, especially the area around "The Mailbox"- the former Postal Sorting Office (a very old name for the area). Anyone who actually looks will find canals everywhere- including at Cadbury's [that is why the factory and village are there], and at the Black Country Museum.

Quite frankly I will trust Nicholson's far more than any city council website, as would any boater.

The Canals made Birmingham the thriving city it is now- yes it was around many centuries before, but made it an industrial powerhouse.

OK- for those who want to be real pedants what was meant was the Birmingham Canal Navigations (their name, not mine- look up the history of the BCN- there isn't the space here to write the very complex matter up). Also to most people Birmingham covers really most of the West Midlands as a descriptor. It is like saying that Manchester only covers the central parts of the city (strictly true, and I am always fighting the corner of Salford to be a separate city or each of the suburban areas- but the reality is that all are seen as part of Manchester). By the way Birmingham Airport on this nonsense definition is way outside the city limits. It is in neither Birmingham or neighbouring Coventry (and Coventry has it's own airport.

The red doors you see in many of the bridges of the BCN are a very distinctive feature of the area (and all but unique on the connected waterways system) - they were installed during WW2 so that the fire services could use the canal water to fight fires caused by the Blitz. They are still maintained and still capable of use.

Apart from pedants corner the OP asked for ideas for the weekend which no-one else has provided.

Also visit the Jewellery Quarter

The reason the main shopping centre is called the Bull Ring, and for the bull in New Street Station, is because of a history of bull baiting down by where the markets are now.

For Greg-

If you have made it to Leeds (and I think you will have) but are stuck-
National Express have departures with space to Birmingham tonight at 1930 (arr 2355) and 2030 (arr 0220) also overnight departures at 2315 and 0200).

Megabus also have 4 departures from Leeds all with space this afternoon/evening, with space.

Flixbus also have a service at 1925, currently with room.

I'm not sure there will be any further train service today. As we are on Code Red there may be no replacement coaches either.

Further various Travelodges in Leeds and Sheffield (the two places you are most likely to be stuck at) have capacity for tonight at half decent prices. I haven't checked PI but assume they also will have.

Thank you isn31c, that's very thoughtful of you to check the buses for me. My train from Durham got to Sheffield where it was cancelled, they told us to get on the Manchester train then Birmingham. So as you would expect it was packed from Sheffield to Manchester - had to stand for the trip. But now am currently on the Manchester to Birmingham train, just passed Stoke - on Trent. It's of course delayed, but we are still rolling so fingers crossed for the nest 30 minutes or so to Birmingham.
Thanks again for you thoughtful work..

If Greg was on the delayed 1325 Manchester Pic to Reading it arrived at 1533 and terminated at New Street.

Hope your day improves, Greg.

This will be one for grandkid and work mates story file

Good, pleased they found you a route. Every cloud has a kind of silver lining, as you got to see the Hope Valley route through the Peak District.

Ultimately that is what this forum is for.

On Wednesday the Stoke route was closed all day as the storm swept north. Something got caught in the overheads, the object got caught by a passing train which then dragged the overhead wires down. Manchester to London services then were diverted via Crewe!

Well I just got into my hotel room in Birmingham so things worked out. Thanks for the advice and pm about buses. While it turned out the train still got me here, I really appreciate the thought and effort of looking up bus info for me- Thank you so much!

I thought I would post this for anyone in the future searching for Birmingham activities - the museum and art gallery is closed until 2024 for renovations. I was hoping to visit it while waiting for the weather to clear but I'm out of luck.

"Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery is currently closed for essential infrastructure works.
BMAG is planned to re-open to visitors in 2024 – the exact date is to be confirmed."

https://visitbirmingham.com/things-to-see-and-do/birmingham-museum-and-art-gallery-p323031

after all the discussion about canals - sorry you can't get into the museum - a stroll around Gas Street Basin and the crossings of the canals in that area can be very pleasant. Then a stroll around the Jewellery Quarter maybe.

The Severn will likely be in flood so maybe not try a trip to Ironbridge?

Thanks Nigel, yes, I don't think IronBridge is going to happen due to weather and timing. I only have one and a half weeks left, and still want to see Blenheim Palace, Oxford, Salisbury, Bovington Tank museum, Portsmouth, Canterbury, and Dover. So looks like Cotswalds, IronBridge and London will have to wait for another trip. I know for many people a 5 week trip to England and Wales without seeing London would be absurd, but I was there 30 years ago for 5 days, and it's also easy to see it next time I go to the continent via the Chunnel. That's my reasoning, for better or worse.

I was there at the museum a couple of months, when it was "closed". While the substantive part was closed, there were several galleries that were still available to visit and the rather wonderful Victorian tearooms. I don't know if you have been up there today, and can verify whether or not that is still the case. You were taken on a slightly weird route round the place because of the geography of the building, working round the closed sections.

I plan to walk the area pretty soon so hopefully some parts are actually open. I really want to see the tea room. Every since I was introduced to scones with cream and jam back in Devon I try every tea room I can find!

I just finished walking around the building twice and it’s locked up tight as a drum. There was a building nearby called Birmingham midlands planning and library and the reception person told me as far as he knew nothing at all was open or accessible including the tea room. Too bad, I was looking forward to the tea room.

Well, at least we know it is definitively closed now until a date to be advertised in 2024. They must be on the next (final?) phase of the work now.
Thanks for checking that anyhow.