Burned Birmingham

I can't believe what went on in the UK over the last week. I was well out of it in the wilds of Wales, but am in Birmingham now and have seen the remains of the damage first hand.

Went to a stunningly beautiful 1901 (art deco) pub last night for a wine with my host and idiots had tried to burn it down, smashed stained glass windows, and generally trashed the place.

This pub is only a five minute walk from where I am and clearly visible from the window (the red brick building on the left, and the phone box is just in front of it to the right). Mindless idiots!

It has been tidied up a lot (plywood on the windows etc) and is open for business, but there was only about six of us in there - think other locals were worried it might happen again.

Funnily enough, I pulled into the car park of the pub yesterday to use the public phone and hadn't noticed the exterior damage, thinking that where I stopped was too far out of town to be involved in the riots.

Today caught a bus into town and it drove past many, many stores that had been damaged and looted. Couldn't take a piccie of that as the bus windows were too graffitied ... but here are some piccies of my day in town the following day before I left Birmingham.

This is part of the beautiful canal system in the heart of the city.

And this is a narrow boat that is a cafe, and I had an excellent coffee in there.

Some images are beyond words - providing you can read the slogan on the left of the piccie and notice the creature on top of the garden bit. Funnily enough this is right next to the Art Gallery (home to the Pre-Raphaelites).

Thought this composition was amusing. The dude was setting up on top of a double decker bus for an outdoor radio broadcast. Highlights of the event were a vintage car show; a speech from the mayor; and a welcome to the Manchester United soccer team.