It all started in the 1980s

The Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower, or Old Joe as it is more affectionately known.

It is the tallest freestanding clock tower in the world and has overlooked the University of Birmingham since 1908.

It was the decade of big hair and shoulder pads, Duran Duran, Culture Club, Adam and the Ants, Maggie Thatcher was in and then out of Number 10, the Falklands War, the miners’ strike, Charles and Diana tied the knot and I started visiting Birmingham. I had not long started secondary school. My best friend and I used to catch the X31 from Cannock and travel down the M6 to spend a Saturday shopping in Brum. We’d spend hours trailing around the Bullring markets buying bags of sweets, material and haberdashery for dressmaking, browsing the records in Reddington’s, go to the Japanese shop in the Pallisades Shopping Centre (now Grand Central) and go home at the end of the day with sore feet and full bags. That was when my relationship with this great city started. I loved it so much that I chose the University of Birmingham to study Geology, spending three fabulous years living in Northfield and Selly Oak and catching the 61, 62 or 63 into town at the weekend.

I returned to live in the city 18 years ago when hubby and I got married at St. Peter’s church in Harborne. Both children were born at the Women’s Hospital and we’ve spent the last 17 years exploring this place we call home. I never cease to be amazed at how interesting this city is. There are the remains of a Roman fort, a Medieval Castle, Tudor houses, nature reserves, reservoirs, the incredible Jewellery Quarter, the best concert hall in the country, every kind of place of worship and food from around the globe.

I know nowehere is perfect and Birmingham has it’s fair share of problems, but I’m of the opinion that you have to make the best of what you’ve got and look for the good in things. I sincerely hope that by sharing the joys Birmingham has to offer with you, I’ll keep on discovering more great things about this place we call home.