Birmingham’s canals have been at the centrepiece of the city’s renaissance over the last ten to fifteen years. A lot of money has been spent cleaning up the towpaths and making them accessible to visitors. Old warehouses have been converted into loft appartments, standing side by side with new developments like these in Sherborne Wharf. It is essentially a boat maintenance yard, servicing the many barges that have permanent moorings here or those that pass through the city, in need of refuelling as they navigate the inland waterways of central England.
A short walk from here leads to Brindley Place, which is teeming with bars and restaurants.
Walk through the tunnel and emerge in Gas Street Basin, and one of the best watering holes in Birmingham.
A short walk alomg the towpath brings you to the Mailbox development, so called beacause it used to be a huge Royal Mail sorting office. Now it's home to fashionable bars and restaurants and a very up-market shopping centre featuring Harvey Nicholls and many designer boutiques way out of most peoples' price league. The BBC also operates its Midlands base out of here, operating on just two floors, tiny compared to its former Pebble Mill base which has now been demolished.
It does look pretty...
5 comments:
I love water, and I love waterways in cities: your post was a real treat, and the photos are lovely. I haven't yet visited Birmingham and didn't know how pretty it was, but your blog might get me there--
Thanks!
Not all of Birmingham is this pretty but in a land-locked city the canals really are an oasis amid all the brick and concrete. I guess so far I've only shown the good parts!
Thanks for the brilliant photos especially of the Tap & Spile where myself and my wife spent many a happy Sunday dinner time. Cheers
This is just another world to me Can Basin was still wasteland when I was there.
Lovely xx
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