‘Hippest spot in town’ gets Sunday Times seal of approval – but is Stirchley changing for the better?
Plus: Andy Street's policing power grab is blocked by the high court
Good afternoon Patchers — welcome to your Monday briefing.
Stirchley is all the rage this week after The Sunday Times crowned the suburb the best place to live in the Midlands. With indie bars and restaurants aplenty, and an unmistakable community feel, it’s unsurprising the area is getting praise — but is everyone included in the uplift? We aren’t so sure.
Anyone planning to move to Stirchley on the Times’ recommendation ought to be aware though: just around the corner is Kings Heath, the home to a long-running community war of epic proportions. Our weekend read delved into the Kings Heath Low Traffic Neighbourhood and the enormous divisions the scheme has stoked among residents.
There was some healthy debate on this one, with Jim Hawkins saying it was “a hell of a read” on X/Twitter. Meanwhile Anneliese Cherrington was “happy that certain people have finally been held accountable for their absolutely disgusting and perverted online behaviour”. To read more about the mad saga (and about “disgusting and perverted online behaviour”, of course), click below:
Now on with the week ahead! In our photo of the week, we look back on yesterday’s St Patrick’s Day parade, the first in five years and the 50th ever. Top of your Brum in brief is the big news that will have Andy Street feeling glum (let’s hope it didn’t ruin his St Paddy’s Day too much): his bid to incorporate police commissioner into his role has suffered a major setback. Meanwhile, our home of the week is a characterful flat in the heart of the Jewellery Quarter and your weekly to-do list features everything from a talk on the nature of space and time with Professor Brian Cox to a burlesque cabaret fundraiser for Pride. Hands up who's going to both…
As for the stories you can expect from The Dispatch this week: our mid-week article will catch up with the Bournville “poo park” saga and dig into the data behind the nationwide sewage crisis. And Jack Walton has been busy finding out as much as he can about the rumours that much of Station Street, home to the newly Grade II listed Crown Pub, will be demolished to make way for a shiny block of flats. Keep an eye on your inboxes for those.
Finally, we are soaring towards our target of 100 new paying members this month. We are 38 new subscribers away, at a grand total of 529 (plus a very healthy 13,127 free readers). It’s hugely exciting to see just how many people like what we are doing. If you want access to all that we publish, including our mid-week stories like this up-close look at the impact of the Oracle disaster on the city’s bankruptcy, subscribe today:
Weather
🌥️Tuesday: Sunny times as spring begins to, well, spring. Max 15°.
🌧️Wednesday: That didn’t last long. Back to the usual all-day showers. Max 13°.
🌬️Thursday: Exactly the same as Wednesday but with stronger breezes. Max 13°.
🌧️Friday: No change for Brummies. Rain, cloud, breeze. All day. Max 12°.
🌦️Weekend: Things improve as the weekend goes on: from a rainy start to sunny intervals by Sunday. Max 10°.
We get our weather from the Met Office and the BBC.
Big story: ‘Hippest spot in town’ gets Sunday Times seal of approval – but is Stirchley changing for the better?
Top line: Stirchley has been given the Sunday Times’ stamp of approval, earning the crown of the best place to live in the Midlands in 2024. For some, this is a sign of the area on the up. Others fear being priced out.
What’s to love? Staunch Stirchleyans will be familiar with the listed highlights: Victorian houses, good schools, great parks, and easy access to the city centre by train. With the new Pineapple Road Station set to provide 15 minute rail journeys into town this year, Stirchley will soon be one of the best connected suburbs in the city.
Hype street: Basics aside, the jewel in Stirchley’s crown is its high street. Pershore Road “may not look like much” says the paper, but it is home to indie businesses like Hedge florist, Loaf bakery, and bike repair shop the Birmingham Bike Foundry. Katie Rouse, co-owner of award-winning cocktail bar Couch, told The Sunday Times: “The best thing is that it’s a real community. Each and every business here works together.”
But it’s not all fun and games. A rise in popularity has precipitated the inevitable: a rise in house prices. Some are concerned the area is becoming unaffordable. The BBC quoted Pete Ashton, the director of Loaf, who said that the people that work in all the Times-approved businesses that are “creating this buzz”, are mostly on living and minimum wages. "They will not be able to afford to live in Stirchley,” he said. “That's already happening, which is horrifying really."
Data check: According to a RightMove market trends report on house prices in the B30 postcode, the average price of a home in October 2013 was £164,164. In October 2023, that number had risen to £243,590 — though still below the UK average of £287,782 and the West Midlands average of £253,000. In the last year, house prices have fallen slightly, in line with national trends.
What price comes with living in the hippest spot in town? The Dispatch’s Dan Cave grew up in Stirchley and moved back there three years ago after living away from Birmingham. He says it has “changed a lot since I was a kid”. Family members of his have had their rents hiked and they fear further rises now that the professional classes see Stirchley as the place to be. Over the dinner table, “posh accents and the changing demographics” come up a lot in discussions:
“At a recent family get-together, it’s telling that we talked about the Sunday Times article as a death knell for the area’s liveability for those who have lived in and around it for a long time.”
Fight back: Some people are pushing back. The Stirchley Cooperative Development (SCD) will bring 39 flats of between one and four bedrooms on the corner of Hunts and Pershore Road (next to the British Oak pub) for prices affordable to those living on minimum wage. Several local co-op businesses will also have premises on the ground floor. The development was due to finish in Autumn 2024 but experienced a setback after the construction company went into liquidation last month.
The Dispatch understands a new construction company has been found but the original schedule may be delayed — not that the SCD is too concerned. In a statement they said: “It took us nearly eight years to reach the point where spades were in the ground for our development. In that time we faced many challenges which we were able to overcome.” The latest challenge, the tyranny of overly praiseworthy broadsheet hacks, will surely prove no match.
Do you live in Stirchley? Do you welcome — or fear — the Sunday Times endorsement? Members, let us know in the comments below.
Photo of the week
With the St.Patrick’s day parade returning to Birmingham after a pandemic pause, Brummies took to the streets to celebrate — many with Guinness in hand. This photo, taken by Mac McCreery, captures the colour of the occasion.
Brum in brief
‘Hostile takeover’ halted: Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Simon Foster has won his legal challenge against the Home Office, blocking Andy Street’s attempt to abolish the PCC role and bring the powers under the mayoral remit. Foster won on the grounds that the government’s consultation failed to provide sufficient information. He said, “it defies belief that they had farcically, inexplicably and incompetently failed to read and understand their own legislation”. Street said he was “naturally very disappointed”.
Successful St. Patrick's return: Digbeth welcomed huge crowds to the Birmingham St. Patrick parade back after a five-year hiatus. Walking groups, floats and dancers entertained those who braved the changeable weather. Parade organiser Maurice Malone, from Birmingham Irish Association, said: "I’m over the moon, absolutely delighted that it's back.” As Birmingham We Are wrote on X: “No-one does a parade quite like Birmingham St Patrick’s Parade.”
Cadbury’s archive revamped: It’s 200 years since John Cadbury opened a drinking chocolate store in central Birmingham; a business that would then move south to Bournville, becoming the world-beloved Cadbury brand. Among bicentenary celebrations, the chocolatiers have spent £350,000 revamping their on-site archive with plans to allow public access later in the year. "We're proud of the rich history the company has,” said archivist Sarah Foden, noting that now 50,000 documents and artefacts are better displayed and protected as a result of the revamp.
Ramadan crackdown: One person has been arrested and 295 people have been fined for parking offences as police target markets where large numbers of Ramadan observers are gathering during the holy month. It follows policing promises to ensure that Ramadan was observed safely after clashes occurred last year. Dedicated patrols will focus on Small Heath to forestall illegal trading, resident concerns and parking problems. Details here.
Home of the week
The large windows, exposed brickwork and location in the heart of the Jewellery Quarter make this one-bedroom flat hugely appealing. It’s just been added for £185,000.
Media picks
🎧 Birmingham GP and musician Amal Lad is a man of unique interests. His special subject is the intersection of music and well-being and on this episode of the Creative Health Stories podcast, he delves into the field-straddling topic. It’s a conversation that ranges from self-medicating to the struggles facing the NHS. Well worth a listen.
💻 Who is football for? Ultra-rich owners or communities of fans who have sustained it for generations? Investigative journalist Adrien Goldberg explores the murky world of footy finance in his upcoming book Where’s The Money Gone? A Football Finance Odyssey. He has published a draft introduction on his Substack. Check it out to get a taste of what’s to come.
Things to do
Tuesday
🎻For fans of folky, indie pop Marika Hackman is playing a gig at the Castle & Falcon on Tuesday evening. The venue itself is worth checking out. A pub that feels like a living room snakes through into an edgy, underground live space. Tickets here.
🎭At 7.30PM (and then for every evening this week) Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie is on at The Belgrade in Coventry. A tale of ambition, family, change and loyalty, it’s considered a classic for a reason. The Guardian and Independent have given it four stars. Book here.
Wednesday
🧑🏫 BBC favourite Professor Brian Cox is back in the Midlands, taking his record-breaking show to Dudley Town Hall on 20th March. He’ll take attendees through a journey across the cosmos using state-of-the-art technology. To travel the universe with Professor Cox, click here.
🎟️ Burlesque drag group House of Allure are raising funds so the group can take part in Birmingham Pride. They’re hosting a variety show and raffle at Missing Bar this Wednesday. Get involved at a click.
Thursday
🎤 Head over to the Best Place in the Midlands™ (Stirchley, obviously), for Stir Stores comedy night Take me to Stirch. It’s on from 8pm onwards and tickets are free. Details this way.
🗣️ Get to grips with alternative poetry at the Speak Volumes Festival’s Blackout Poetry event. It’s all about making poems by erasing words. Tickets for the Worcester event are here.
An earlier version of this article suggested the Electric cinema had been Grade II listed. This was a typo. The Crown has in fact been listed.
Thanks for the roundup. Unlike the last five or so times Stirchley has been singled out by some property supplement this one seems to have burst out of the hashtag bubbles. One small correction, and this is an error on the BBC's part not yours - I'm not "the director of Loaf". Everyone who works at Loaf is a director because we're a co-op. I just happened to not be on a shift that day so could come in and talk to camera. It's funny how hard it is to get across that no-one actually owns Loaf and no one person is in charge of it.
I live in Stirchley (well, in the Cotteridge/Stirchley Borderlands, and although the Boundary Commission put us in Stirchley I suspect The Community would have us in Cotteridge) (and well right now I’m temporarily living in Bournville, but that’s an whole other story!) — whilst I recognise some of what has been said about the sense of community here and have my regret at not having a lifestyle which enables me to take full part in it, it think the description of the high street of Pershore Road through it is perhaps…
…overstated.
True caneat I’m happy to say is a damn fine café / restaurant which the first time I ate there a few weeks ago I was practically Jay Rayner blubbing I enjoyed my dinner so much, and some of the other businesses on the street are run by some of my actual friends or by people I kind of consider to be ‘shopkeeper friends’ (if you see what I mean).
But Loaf and the nice bars and cafés aside, if you want bathroom supplies, carpets, or kitchen units then you’re absolutely in your seventh heaven. If you want much else then it’s a disappointment — there’s an absence of the quirky interesting shops selling quirky interesting things which would be necessary for the title of ‘hippest place in [x]’ to be appropriate; there isn’t that delightful little antique shop where you got that vintage Tiffany lamp you’ve always been after, there isn’t the record shop where the shopkeeper will be able to source you a first pressing of Nova’s seminal German progressive jazz-rock album Vimana, and there isn’t a greengrocer where you can reliably get Romanesco, a selection of fresh chillis, and star fruit and physalis whenever they’re in season. There are many dilapidated long-abandoned units and many of the occupied units look dilapidated and long-abandoned.
This isn’t to criticise the area, not remotely — when we moved house from where we were living in the city centre we made the active choice that Stirchley was where we wanted to live, and we’ll probably stay in Stirchley for the rest of the time we live in Birmingham.
But I don’t think it helps any area to look at it through rose tinted glasses.