Dear readers — welcome back. Our weekend read took us to Tamworth, in a bid to discover how the UK’s most decorated pub is able to retain its iron grip on the CAMRA pub of the year award (already a record three-time winner, the Tamworth Tap is now eyeing an astonishing fourth gong). While most agree it was largely because it’s a great pub, or because owner George Greenaway is an unusually dedicated publican, others (such as one guy in our Instagram comments) hold the view something a little more suspicious is afoot.
Nice try indeed. Ultimately, we wouldn’t like to comment either way, we can only present the facts as they are and allow you, the reader, to interpret them. So if you missed that story, here it is:
Jack Walton
Beyond that, we appear to be cryogenically frozen on 1,889 Dispatch members. Nothing wrong with that, to have those people paying for The Dispatch still relatively early on in our life as a publication is something we’re all very proud of. But still, to save us from going mad refreshing the page all day, every day to see if we’re finally at 1,900, could 11 of you perhaps do the decent thing? We’d be extremely grateful, and in return you can have access to loads of extra editions every month, access to Dispatch events, the power to tell us off in the comments section, and whatever else you fancy (within reason)…
Brum in Brief
🔥 West Midlands Fire Service has said a blaze that gutted the city’s first fully-halal food hall was accidental, “with no foul play”. Art.Quarter on Allison Street in Digbeth went up in flames last Thursday, with owner Jordan Patel telling Birmingham Live he suspected it might be “arson”. Know any more? Get in touch: editor@birminghamdispatch.co.uk (Birmingham Live).
🌲 The countryside surrounding Birmingham has fast become a battleground where the bucolic dreams of residents are rubbing up against the housing crisis. The green belt separating the Worcestershire village of Hagley from bustling Brum is being fiercely defended by locals who object to proposals to build 180 homes there. "We don't need these lovely fields and pastures covered in concrete,” Lee Fowkes, who has lived in Hagley for 26 years and is a member of the Save Hagley Action Group, told the BBC. Similar campaigns have sprung up elsewhere in the country since Labour pledged to build 1.5m new homes two years ago. "We are in the middle of the most acute housing crisis in living memory," said then-Housing minister Angela Rayner. (BBC).
🚆 From next year, Brummies will be able to catch a train that goes from New Street directly to Manchester Airport. The London Northwestern Railway (LNR) service will operate hourly from May 2027. (BBC).
🍎 Welsh veg farmers are picking crops especially for young, disadvantaged brummies. In July, Wite Farm harvesters in Powys began supplying Birmingham city council with fruit and veg boxes especially for children, some of whom have never tried fresh produce before. (The Guardian).
❓ Finally, and with some trepidation, we are working on an upcoming article about one of the more controversial and pressing issues of our time: should the West Midlands rebrand itself and be known forever more as Greater Birmingham? We can already hear Black Country-based readers sharpening your knives, as well as cheers hailing from those of you who are pro-Birmingham supremacy. We want to hear from all of you. Why would a rebrand, a la Greater Manchester, be either the best or worst thing to happen to the region since the soap Crossroads was cancelled? Get in touch: editor@birminghamdispatch.co.uk
A few ways to spend your time this week
💻 Watch this episode of the podcast Wasted Creatives, where Irish actor Lola Pettigrew talks about her upcoming, Brum-based movie I See Buildings Fall Like Lighting. About 25 minutes in she describes visiting Birmingham to “scope the place out” and the challenges of nailing down the “beautiful” accent — not a compliment we are used to receiving, to be sure. You can also catch up on our recent story about I See Buildings author, Keiran Goddard, below:
Rachel Segal Hamilton
🗣️ Head to this reading and interview with local, award-winning poet Liz Berry in Balsall Heath on Sunday. You’ll also see film clips of the neighbourhood from the 1960s-1980s, plus free refreshments — always a perk.
🎼 Listen to Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 conducted by Kazuki Yamada at the CBSO on Thursday. We are told the first movement is the composer’s attempt to answer the questions: ‘Why have you lived? Why have you suffered? Is it all some huge, awful joke?’ So, just some light ponderings for a weekday evening.
If someone forwarded you this newsletter, click here to sign up to get quality local journalism in your inbox.
Comments