Rest Day - Part 1

Today is a Rest Day - with no work commitment.

So time to explore Birmingham City Centre and chill out.  Not quite as hot as yesterday, but definitely less humid.

Arriving at New St Station, took the newly opened extension of the West Midlands Metro (tram) to Brindley Place.  From here it is a short walk across the Central Square to the canals and the National Indoor Arena (NIC) - not be confused with the NEC (in the south west, adjacent to the airport).  The NIC has been hosting the B2022 Games Gymnastic events.  I last worked in the NIC in March 2018 for the World Indoor Athletics.

As mentioned before, there is an extensive network of canals in and around Birmingham - developed at the early stage of the Industrial Revolution, they transported coal, iron and other heavy goods across Birmingham and the Black Country.  Most were built in 1700s and 1800s, and at its height the Birmingham Canal Network was over 170 miles in length.

James Brindley (b 1716, d 27/09/1772) was a millwright and became one of the most notable engineers of the time.  He worked on six canal projects, including the Duke of Bridgewater’s Canal, and built 365 miles (587km) of canals. 

By the end of the 19th Century the canal system was carrying 8 and half millions tonnes of goods a year.  Some major canals meet in the city: Grand Union Canal, Worcester and Birmingham Canal, Stourbridge Canal and Stratford Canal.

The canals were profitable, but costly to maintain.  Thomas Telford was employed in the 1820s to deal with severe maintenance problems, and he suggested overhauling and straightening some of them.

With the advent of the railways and improved road networks, long distance transportation decreased and was stopped in 1980.  Today the canals have been restored by the Canal and River Trust, with vibrant areas, restaurants and pleasure barge activity here in the very centre of Birmingham.







Old Turn Junction (the canal equivalent of the Spaghetti Junction)




Broad Street tunnel - overbridge called Black Sabbath Bridge








The central Marina to the south of Broad Street


The canal ‘roundabout’ sign gives both mileage and the number of locks to be navigated


Now compare some of those pics above to what it was like in March 2018 












Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Travel day

Image
Time to travel up to Birmingham. Meant an early start, with a taxi down to the Coach Station (if that is what you can call the unsuitable set up in Sophia Gardens).  The reason is that at present there is no central Bus and Coach Station - a new one adjacent to Cardiff Central Railway Station is scheduled to open in 2023.  The choice of coach was due to there being another rail strike (this time by drivers). The only benefit of travelling by coach is not having to lug your bags on and off when changing trains.  Plus most people are quiet on a coach - there is not the incessant babble that pervades train coaches (unless one is in the Quiet coach).  In fact today most people fell asleep.  With only one stop in Newport, it took 2 and half hours to reach Birmingham Coach Station (a proper one with waiting area, ticket office, facilities and some shops). The Coach Station in Brum is a short walk from New Street Railway station - but today there are no West Midlands T...
Read more

Final Shift - Day 7

Image
So have reached the day of my last shift.  Last night was a busy night, although we did manage to complete the shift by 2230hrs (as opposed to the 0030hrs indicated on our rota).  As we near the end of the week, the competitions are focused on Gold and Bronze matches.  With medal events, the number of spectators increases, and whenever there is an England player (or more so when a Gold is won), the spectator roar increases significantly. Yesterday was ParaTable Tennis - with two different categories; 3-5 which is for those who have standing problems and need to be wheelchair seated and 6-10 for those who can compete standing (but may have arm/leg problems).  As has been seen with the other para events, the crowd enthusiastically support players, and again it was evident in TTE - when the Mens Singles 3-5 Final was won by England, the noise was deafening. The seating is around 2500 and it was good to see an almost full house. With the England anthem being ‘Jerusalem’,...
Read more

Opening Ceremony - 28 July 2022

Image
Today it was the Opening Ceremony of the 22nd Commonwealth Games - 10 years and a day after the London 2012 Olympics.  Had the pleasure of being at the London Olympic Stadium to see the Opening Ceremony, and then two years later was at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony. So what would Brum have to show off?  Well it was executively produced by the Brummie screenwriter and creator of 'Peaky Blinders' Steven Knight - so that perhaps gave a clue To get to the ceremony, it was a drive to Birmingham, parking in the extremely cheap Park and Ride (£2) which included a free bus transfer across Brum to the newly redeveloped Alexander Stadium, situated in the suburb of Perry Barr.  Arriving early meant that I was one of the first in queue to get through security (standard airport type) - with it being staffed by members of the Armed Forces (a nod to the security arrangements at London 2012) The Alexander Stadium, as redeveloped, has seating for 18,000, but additio...
Read more