Random Stuff!

[User001]

Looks like some great construction going on in Brum.

I think the UK regions are going through a good boom at the moment. Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool seem like a jungle of cranes at the moment.

A UK regional city is about to get the 5th tallest building which is great to see in a non-London environment.

Chester is about to get a huge re-development too, which is a city I hold close to my heart.

This coupled with the huge upswing in UK aviation shows that despite some setbacks (UK steel), the economy looks good at the moment and another reason not to leave the EU. If it ain't broke, don't dismantle it to fix it up again.

Let the good times roll.

 

[Brum X]

Also a UK regional city is just about to start building the largest office building outside the capital currently under construction it wont be the tallest however it will be the biggest (aka 3 Snowhill) a massive vote of confidence for the UKs Second City.

Another x 3 cranes to go up in the city centre

This building will be a massive 360,000 sqft and 85 metres. In height even this will be dwarfed by 103 Colmore row which will be 107 metres but smaller in floorplates.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Does Birmingham have any hop on-hop off open top bus tours such as City Centre Sightseeing? When my wife and I looked a few years ago we could only find a local company that operated only at weekends. We were astonished considering there are much smaller cities with less to offer than Birmingham that have regular City Centre Sightseeing-type tours.

 

[Brum X]

Does Birmingham have any hop on-hop off open top bus tours such as City Centre Sightseeing? When my wife and I looked a few years ago we could only find a local company that operated only at weekends. We were astonished considering there are much smaller cities with less to offer than Birmingham that have regular City Centre Sightseeing-type tours.

You make a very valid point about the open top bus tours, we do still have them but again only at weekends and between April and October. Even though i am a very proud brummie, we still have that monster called the ring road which cuts off most of the (proper) city centre from the outer sections of the city centre, not the most picturesque view of Birmingham. The best way to get around Brum is to walk and this is the reason why they have made the city centre of Birmingham (The bit inside the motorway) a pedestrian friendly centre with not many roads at all. One of Birmingham's assets is the canal so again you would not beable to see this on an open top bus tour. Birmingham is and will never be the most beautiuful of cities, it is not meant to be. We are still an industrial city with large swathes of the south of the city centre still industrial with working factories. Having said that i believe Birmingham was the fourth most visited city by foreign tourists in 2015 behind London, Edinburgh and Manchester, however i take these figures with a pinch of salt. What do they class as foriegn visitors ?? VFR from India/Pakistan ??? or tourists from America ???

In my opinion the strength of Birmingham is its economy and its contribution to the wealth of Britain.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Thanks for that BrumX. Birmingham does have some superb buildings and I'm sure would be of great interest to many. The canals don't have to be visible from a bus so long as a hop on-hop off stop gives access. That said, no doubt a company would have expanded beyond weekends if it was thought viable, but I'm still amazed that it's not.

My wife and I have often visited cities, home and abroad, for short breaks and where we can we always get our bearings on the first day or two by using this type of bus service.

Each year the ONS (Office for National Statistics) usually publishes a league table of UK cities relating to the number of overseas visitors and from memory Birmingham usually does feature in the top four. I believe it's calculated through the number of hotel visits and includes both leisure and business travellers,

 

[Brummiegem]

If you want to see a different view of Brum,why not try a canal tour.
There are a few operators based at Gas street basin.You head towards Dudley,and the Black Country museum,or head southwards to Bournville.
Great way to spend a summers day.

 

[Jon Dempsey]

An trip up to the balcony at Marco Pierre White gives you some spectacular views. The food's not bad either!

 

[Jon Dempsey]

Chester is about to get a huge re-development too, which is a city I hold close to my heart

Many happy memories of Chester. Fantastic city.

 

[jfy1999]

If you want to see a different view of Brum,why not try a canal tour.
There are a few operators based at Gas street basin.You head towards Dudley,and the Black Country museum,or head southwards to Bournville.
Great way to spend a summers day.

I went on a canoe trip with a group of friends along the Birmingham canals a couple of years ago. We ended up marching through the ICC, all clad in wetsuits and life jackets and brandishing paddles

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I bet that put the wind up some locals and tourists.

 

[wolfheze]

Latest addition to the bhx of old collection. Airframe was built in 64 and served with BOAC then BA until 84 when it was sold to the RAF and converted to a tanker. Was finally taken out of service and scrapped in 2011. View attachment 3219

 

[Brum X]

Loving the models

 

[jfy1999]

Artist Roger Hiorns is going to bury an old 737 aircraft under the future site of the Icknield Port Loop housing estate. The plane will become a tourist attraction and will have a staircase running from the cabin door to street level.

http://www.theguardian.com/artandde...ry-boeing-737-under-birmingham-canalside-ikon

 

[wolfheze]

Interesting. Wonder what the airframe is?

 

[wolfheze]

Was quite happy today having passed the first two parts of an HGV course. Then looked at the news and found out Prince had died. Can't believe how many well known people have died recently, many at a fairly young age. For someone struggling with my their own mortality it's not what I needed to hear. Bowie and Prince were both music icons and played a big part of my youth.
Anyway I will be returning my HGV practice dvd to Garretts Green tomorrow so will try to catch the A380 on the way back.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Congratulations on passing the course

Then looked at the news and found out Prince had died. Can't believe how many well known people have died recently, many at a fairly young age. For someone struggling with my their own mortality it's not what I needed to hear. Bowie and Prince were both music icons and played a big part of my youth.

I feel the same way as you.

As I get older I seem to think more and more about that moment. Although it was a while ago I think losing my parents really bought it home to me that we are all mortal, when you are younger you just assume that they will always be there. Lately we seem to have lost so many people from my youth, Paul Daniels, Victoria Wood, Ronnie Corbett, Prince, David Bowie...I just hope there aren't anymore for a while.

Apologies if that's a bit depressing for a Friday night

 

[thunderchild]

I've been switching from humming When Doves Cry to The Ballad of Barry and Freda all day!

 

[Ray Finkle]

To lighten the mood a little

I'd like to add some Prince videos but it's tough to find them on Youtube.

 

[Butty]

To lighten the mood a little

I'd like to add some Prince videos but it's tough to find them on Youtube.

 

[Elmdon80slad]

I have been compiling for my own cross reference benefit, all the old registrations i have seen from logs/movements and memory and putting thier history into a A5 pad so i can tick them in my Biz and Airlines books, this has ment checking each reg to see if its still flying or not using sites like Plane Logger etc, its taking a lot of time - 4 months into it so far, but it will be worth it.

E.