This is what Birmingham's concretezigguratlibrary turned into. Admittedly it was an acquired taste, not to mention a general obstruction to onward passage, but what a woefully underwhelming vista. The curvy building on the right is One Chamberlain Square, already home to hundreds of PWC staff and a couple of smart refreshment opportunities, while Two Chamberlain Square on the left is not yet fully occupied. Just behind is One Centenary Way, a much taller office block which I thought was still at the 'skeleton of girders' stage but apparently that's its intended look. At least the memorial fountain's scrubbed up nicely. In city brandspeak this redevelopment area has been called Paradise, so you'll see signs welcoming you to Paradise and enforcement officers with Paradise Security emblazoned on their jackets, but it really does look anything but. I should add that if you look in almost any other direction from this point the view is classical civic Victorian splendour so all is not lost, plus it is now much easier to pass through to the new library in Centenary Square. But the overall feel is of a sparse piazza for sweeping through, not for lingering, and I doubt Phase 2 will change my mind.
✉ Wednesbury
What I'd intended on my way to Wolverhampton was drop into Wednesbury Museum on the tram. In 2016 I visited all the other museums along the line but had to skip Wednesbury because it's closed on Fridays. This time I made sure I planned my trip for a Wednesday... but hadn't counted on the entire tram operation being out of action. Engineers discovered bodywork cracks on the trams in March and suspended services in early April while complete panel replacement takes place. It's all at the manufacturer's expense but a right pain for those who live and work along the line because the nearest railway line isn't entirely convenient. The extra bus journeys needed would have slowed down my journey beyond the point of practicality so Wednesbury got the chop, but at least I can add its Ruskin pottery to my next Midlands itinerary. On the bright side it meant I had an extra half hour to spend in Wolverhampton and stumbled upon this...
✉ Wolverhampton
How do you get the wider population inside an art gallery? In Wolverhampton's case they may have found the answer which is an exhibition devoted to famous local musicians. It's called Black Country Beats, it opened last Saturday and it has indeed attracted men of a certain age who wouldn't normally think twice. It has a room devoted to indie with t-shirts and flyers for the Wonder Stuff, Pop Will Eat Itself and The Mighty Lemon Drops. It celebrates diversity with Goldie, a larger than life Beverley Knight and Mr Robert Plant. It has a room pumping reggae and another celebrating bhangra, and even manages to slip in Babylon Zoo when you least expect it. But best of all it has an entire gallery entirely devoted to Slade, from their early days as skinheads propping up the bill to a wall chock full of actual gold discs. Up on stage are Jim's blue suit, Don's drum kit, and Dave's Super Yob Guitar, and you can't fail to be cheered by the grinning faces of the band wearing motley unwise super-glam costumes. To top it off a free juke box in one corner allows you to select from a full Slade back catalogue so you can cum on feel the noize while you browse. Other municipal galleries take note - popular music is art too.
✉ Oldbury
This is Sandwell Council House, the administrative HQ of the least well-known West Midlands council. All the others are named after big towns or cities but Sandwell is a modern construct, or rather it's the obscure name of a peripheral medieval priory bisected by the M5. It would have made a lot more sense to call the borough West Bromwich but when that combined with Warley in 1974 they picked the name Sandwell instead. The council gave residents the chance to change the name in 2002 but they decided against, and so the rest of the country continues not to know where they live. They live approximately here...
W'HAMPTON
WALSALL
BIRM ING HAM
DUDLEY
SANDWELL
SOLIHULL
COVENTRY
Sandwell Council House would be the largest building in Oldbury town centre were it not for the big Sainsbury's nextdoor. If it looks very late 1980s that's because it is. Across the road is a Wetherspoons that used to be Oldbury Library before which it was Oldbury Police Station before which it was Oldbury Magistrates Court before which it was The Court of Requests, so that's what the pub's called. The first ever branch of Lloyds Bank was just around the corner. And you might have heard of Oldbury if only its station, a short walk away, was still named after the town. Instead it was renamed Sandwell and Dudley in 1983, despite Sandwell not really existing and Dudley being three miles away, indeed it's a misleading moniker on every level. I feel better informed having accidentally visited.
✉ Coventry
I thought I'd missed Coventry's turn as UK City of Culture but hurrah, not quite. Thanks to the pandemic its 'year' was pushed back to start in May 2021 and only finally closes this weekend. Even better when I turned up in Broadgate precinct in the early evening they were busy practising the penultimate event, so I can claim to have actually seen some of it. A trio of dancers cavorted in mid-air while hanging from a metal disc, a bunch of acrobats bounced underneath, someone bashed a lot of percussion and a technician struggled to sync the booming backing music on his laptop. I wouldn't have described the tissue paper drop as "a spectacular explosion of colour", but maybe it looked better last night with all the ribbons attached. If you're not doing anything at half past nine tonight you can watch the final event online, that's Our Wilder Family, allegedly the UK's longest ever drone display. Coventry's 2025 successor is due to be announced later this month.
✉ Coventry
Have you seen what they've just done to Coventry station? It used to be slabbed concrete and now it's some kind of perforated monster in red and black. That'll be because the building's mostly multi-storey car park, easily accessed from the famous ring road, but with a bit of transport infrastructure tucked underneath. The main concourse is a bland brick cavern designed to funnel you towards the new gateline and thence to a fully accessible footbridge (which the old one defiantly wasn't). It's more functional than memorable, I'd say. But the best thing is that they kept the original entrance when they opened the new one so no architectural crime has been wrought. And whereas the new red station might tempt you on the way in, the old grey one is much more likely to lure you on the way out because it's in prime position in the middle of the platform, whereas the new one's tucked right up at the far end. I shall stick with the old, thanks.
