William Cook

Second city blues

Birmingham has always suffered from patronising put-downs, but, says <em>William Cook</em>, this hugely artistic city is firmly on the up

issue 01 September 2012

Why are clever-clever people so rude about Birmingham? Bruce Chatwin dismissed his hometown as absolutely hideous, Kenneth Tynan called his birthplace a cemetery without walls. Britain’s second city has always been belittled, not least by those who’ve left it, and now the old slights have been revived in the current debate about HS2. Never mind the pros and cons of that controversial high-speed railway — it’s the destination which really gets London’s goat. If HS2 went to Liverpool we’d be sure to mind our p’s and q’s, but Brum has always been an easy target. As Londoners never tire of telling one another, ‘Fancy forking out all that cash, just to make it a bit easier to get to Birmingham.’

To be fair, not so long ago these patronising put-downs had some substance. Birmingham’s city centre was uniquely awful — a sociologist’s paradise of high-rise flats and flyovers. Yet when I returned here last year, for the first time in ten years, I was amazed to find this unloved metropolis had had a dramatic facelift.

Comments

Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.

Already a subscriber? Log in