Anyone who has been down Broad Street recently can not fail to have noticed the Library of Birmingham standing tall between the Birmingham Rep and Baskerville House in its bling.
Some hate it. I love it. Already, it is bringing a presence that is transforming Centenary Square. Continue reading “Library of Birmingham: Outside in” →
Here’s a cute little addition to the facilities at the Library of Birmingham – a place for a snog.
Whoops! Sorry, to have said the first thing that came into my head when I saw these cosy little red booths. Of course, it’s not a place for a snog. (Slap hand) Continue reading “Library of Birmingham: A place for a snog” →
When the £188.8 million Library of Birmingham opens to the public, it will be more than the doors that are swung wide. The library will be open in ways it has never been before. Continue reading “Library of Birmingham: Opening what was closed” →
Look at this picture. Does it look like a library to you? No, nor me. If you’d asked, I’d have said it was a garden. Continue reading “Library of Birmingham: The people’s playground” →
Here are seven reasons why I have been just lovin’ this soggy summer.
1) The knowledge that the reservoirs have been re-stocked and the ground is rich and moist makes me feel safe and replete. Continue reading “Why I am loving the summer rain” →
Sometimes the best things are those that we stumble upon.
It was never part of my plan to play the organ for funerals, but it just so happened that I became a church organist because I could play the piano and there was a vacancy on the organ stool. Continue reading “Why I love funerals” →
Calling all Balsall Heath, Birmingham types. Come along to the next Great Green Clothes swap at Balsall Heath Church Centre, Edward Road B12 9JU on Friday 23 April at 7pm. (People from Moseley and Kings Heath can be honorary Balsall Heathens for the evening. So can anyone else for that matter.) Continue reading “Come swish in Balsall Heath” →
See this woman. I’ve just found out that she is my great great great great grandmother.
Earlier this week, as part of a feature I was writing for The Birmingham Post, I went with family historian Paul Wilkins to Birmingham Central Library to trace my family tree and discovered, amongst other great worthiness, that I am a direct descendant of Elizabeth Fry, the woman who reformed prisons in the nineteenth century and is commemorated on the back of a fiver. Continue reading “Elizabeth Fry is my nan” →