Birmingham, again

Sunday 24^th August; Birmingham

We didn’t wake up till after 8, after a quiet night with no idiots banging on boats as they went home.  Neither of us is on top form at the moment, we think we may have a virus, so we didn’t do much.  I went to the Tesco Metro in the Mailbox for a few bits and pieces but they didn’t have our paper of choice, so I came back via the Spar near the Sealife Centre, which did.  I was astonished to see so many security staff out and about in Brindley Place already – what do they think is going to happen at 10 in the morning as people are sitting blearily over their coffee or brunch?

Boaty Bull in Brindley Place

We walked to the Art Gallery which has re-opened after extensive refurbishment.  Sadly most of the actual pictures are still in store, as the gallery where they will be exhibited is still being restored.  There was an Ozzy Gallery of memorabilia, which was crowded with the curious as well as fans of the late singer, another of Birmingham history which we thought looked rather familiar, and an interesting gallery called the Elephant Room.  Each exhibit had an explanation of what it was and where it was made in Birmingham or the Black Country, and then what was the elephant in the room – uncomfortable facts that have been glossed over or ignored in the general telling of the history.  An example would be an old rifle; guns made in Birmingham were sold, then traded for slaves in Africa.  After slavery in the UK was abolished, the guns continued to be sold for uprisings and wars.  Or a curved sword, a copy of an original style made in India – which was produced cheaply in bulk and then sold in India, undercutting the local makers.  But most exhibits seemed to be aimed at children and young people, so we were rather disappointed.

This lovely ironwork was the best bit …

It was almost lunchtime and we needed energy to get back to the boat (and the dog), so we had tea and cake in the lovely quiet restaurant before strolling back to the boat through Centenary Square.

I had to do a double-take on this one

We first saw the tiger bull from the other side of Centenary Square, and it was weird seeing realistic tiger-stripes on the wrong-shaped beast.

Apart from when Dave took Jess for a play in the park, we did very little for the rest of the afternoon, apart from read the paper, watch passing boats and visit NB Goliath, the ice-cream boat.

He was having a very successful afternoon

I asked if he had any empty ice-cream tubs, expecting to pay a bit for them, but he was happy to give them away – I got two.  They make excellent containers for food waste, and if the bag becomes full you can just tie the top, put the lid back on the box and put it out in the well deck till you find boaters’ facilities with a food waste bin.  You press your second tub into service for the next lot.  So far it’s working very well.

There was much more boat movement today, and the blue-green algae has diminished considerably.  There was only one party boat which passed as our roast chicken was cooking, then it was a quiet evening.