A thousand trades, a thousand tales
Tony Hickling owns a Bean 1926 14 horsepower Tourer.
"The car was in Australia. I brought it back six years ago."
Born in Birmingham, Hickling recalls with a contented smile the liveliness of his hometown when he was a boy.
As a native, perhaps he is in a better position to appreciate the unique flavor of the recreated Black Country village, with its coal-burning vehicles rolling, old buses and aroma of the 1930s-style fish and chips wafting in the air.
Located northwest of the town center, Hockley has been Birmingham's jewelry district since the 18th century. On Vyse Street, the Smith & Pepper jewelry manufacturing workshops are preserved as the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter.
In 1981, the proprietors of Smith & Pepper decided to retire. They locked the door and walked out, leaving everything untouched. The place was sold to the city council and then turned into a museum to showcase the history of jewelry making in Birmingham.
As I looked at the jeweler's bench, tools, stamps and machinery, I could not help but thinking of Charlie Chaplin's 1936 comedy Modern Times.
"A presser operating a metal press eight hours a day did not have much time for thinking. If someone were to ask a non-routine question, he would reply, 'Back to work', putting his finger under the press," our guide explains.
Successful entrepreneurs of Birmingham in those days often worked as hard as their workers.
Cadbury is a Birmingham success story. It began with John Cadbury opening a shop on Bull Street in 1824 for selling tea, coffee and drinking chocolate. John's two sons Richard and George took the business to the next level by developing the Bournville estate on the south side of Birmingham. Bournville was a pioneer model village designed to give the company workers good living conditions.
It's a pleasant surprise to stay at George Cadbury's former residence in Bristol Road Birmingham. George Cadbury offered this property to establish the Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre in 1903. It now also includes a bed and breakfast as well as conference facilities.
Both George and Richard Cadbury were Quakers, a Christian denomination known for strict pacifism.
The 4-hectare organic garden of Woodbrooke is simply beautiful. I could sit it the lounge the whole afternoon, looking at the greens, watching the sun rise and fall. From a cool breeze to a drizzle back to clear skies - the weather here changes in the blink of an eye.
At Cadbury World, the fragrance of chocolate is tempting and visitors have various opportunities to sample the chocolate. If by chance you see General Manager Gerrard Baldwin, try inviting him to surf with you on a chocolate bar for a souvenir photo, just like us. With 37 years in the company and 20 years in the Visitor Centre, he has many good stories to tell.
Ever wonder why the Cadbury brand is purple?
"It was Queen Victoria's favorite color," Baldwin says.
Also, another unexpected feature of the chocolate company is that it has facilities where in-house dentists perform dental surgery.
"That has nothing to do with our chocolate products though," Baldwin says.
The Historical Dudley Zoological Gardens and 11th century Dudley Castle is 10-minutes' walking distance from the Black Country Living Museum. The zoo is very popular in England for schools as well as families who want to get closer to the world's rarest animals.
Here we met Assistant Curator Richard Brown and had a wonderful time seeing tapirs, giraffes, tigers, lemurs and meerkats.
In the tapir's enclosure, Richard demonstrates how to show affection by tapping a 9-year-old tapir named Chico and swinging her nose.
"Tapirs are extremely friendly animals," Brown says.
The friendship between Brown and the Amur tiger Tschuna made a lasting impression on us. Brown has worked with tigers for many years and he loves his job. When we are about to leave the tiger's enclosure, we saw Tschuna jumping up and down, showing her melancholy eyes. It was something you have to see it in order to believe. The tiger's sight captured as an eternity in the fine lens of our Hasselblad camera.
Gone are the days when canals were extremely important for transporting man and goods in and out of Birmingham. Nowadays, people go to "the canal" for drinks, meals or leisure.
After returning to town from Woodbrooke, we stayed in the contemporary Hotel La Tour. Birmingham is literally a walking city but I still easily get lost walking from the hotel to nearby newly developed area of the Mailbox, International Conference Centre. Whenever I do, I look for the Library of Birmingham, my favorite new piece of architecture in Birmingham, which is due to open later this year.
From my personal experience, Birmingham is a city full of adventures. My husband said the city is exceptionally photogenic with his new Hasselblad Lunar.
Related:
