please empty your brain below
What the politicians in West Bromwich failed to spot was that Eastbourne, Hastings and Margate also have this thing called 'the seaside' (plus Londoners discovering they can buy a house there for what they would pay for a flat - closely followed by 'gentrification' and locals being priced out of the area).

Being called 'west' Bromwich doesn't help either, makes it sound as though you have to go to Bromwich, then go out into the suburbs.

| 18.08.16 - 7:21 a.m. | #

We stopped off in Brum one Sunday afternoon whilst changing trains from Shrewsbury (highly recommended by the way - never been before in 50+ years).

I took the opportunity to visit the 'new' library and was shocked to discover that it was closed - what a waste, and I felt for the people. Even Sutton (not Coldfield) library opens from 2pm to 6pm on Sundays.

Ken | 18.08.16 - 7:58 a.m. | #

I was in Birmingham earlier this month and with a spare few hours to kill I took the opportunity of a tram ride to Wolverhampton and back, next time I shall be alighting to search out some of the places highlighted in your article.

Fishislandskin | 18.08.16 - 8:06 a.m. | #

o.k...i'll ask; why did 'they' choose pink? it a nice pink yes. but why pink? in asking i half expect this comment being changed to pink also!

E | 18.08.16 - 8:48 a.m. | #

To @E, why not pink? The branding for Mothercare is blue. Are we supposed to think that is significant too?

B | 18.08.16 - 8:58 a.m. | #

Perhaps next time DG is in the West Midlands he can visit the New Art Gallery in Walsall?

Tony Martin | 18.08.16 - 9:07 a.m. | #

And if you want to make it a real bargain day trip, both Chiltern and London Midland sell single tickets to Birmingham for £6 so you can make it a round trip out from Marylebone and back to Euston.

ap | 18.08.16 - 9:35 a.m. | #

For even more of a bargain, select the PLUSBUS offer when booking your rail ticket online. http://www.plusbus.info/birmingham

This gives unlimited travel on the tram (and all West Midlands buses) for £3.30.

(and this month it's only £2)

diamond geezer | Homepage | 18.08.16 - 9:42 a.m. | #

My friends have accused me of being Diamond Geezer before. I was in Birmingham this weekend and now they are really suspicious.

Mark | 18.08.16 - 11:28 a.m. | #

It's pink to fit in with Network West Midlands' branding introduced in 2006-ish; the overall system uses blue branding, in which trams are represented by pink, trains by green and buses by orange. Don't ask me why they chose this particular palette.

The old trams, dating from when the system opened in 1999, were indigo blue with red and green trim.

Sarah | 18.08.16 - 11:55 a.m. | #

@Ken I think libraries opening on Sundays are very much the exception rather than the rule. I was surprised that Birmingham did it at the start and I'm impressed that Sutton still does. In my 40 years I don't remember the libraries where I live ever opening on a Sunday, which is sad as I'd use them then in preference to other days of the week.

Anders | 18.08.16 - 1:37 p.m. | #

You got two log-ins, Mark?

Alan Burkitt-Gray | 18.08.16 - 1:40 p.m. | #

@ B

I can't answer the why not...because it IS pink. So my original question still stands...why pink? One could have asked why are letter-boxes/pillars red? Why are emergency lights blue? Why do we stop on red? Go on green? Colours are important and mostly have a reasoning behind their use. I just wondered why...pink

p.s thanks to all this talk about pink i have the 'The Pink Panther' theme tune/song playing in my head...just what i need!

E | 18.08.16 - 2:37 p.m. | #

Hmm. When were blue flashing lights introduced for emergency vehicles in the UK, and why?

Andrew (4g) | 18.08.16 - 4:12 p.m. | #

Red is the colour of fire and blood, hence has always been associated with danger.
Originally "all clear" railway signals were indeed "clear" (white) but as artificial street and domestic lighting became more common, they became harder to recognise so the switch was made to green - presumably chosen as the complementary colour to red and therefore the greatest contrast.

Other colours (amber for caution, blue for "get out of the way"!) have been chosen to be distinguishable from those two.

timbo (4g) | 18.08.16 - 6:30 p.m. | #

Timbo,

There is also the fact that if the red lens on a semaphore was smashed, it could be interpreted as off at night.

Not Diamond Geezer (4g) | 18.08.16 - 7:50 p.m. | #

The Museum of the Jewellery Quarter must be thriving, as I note that the entry charge has increased by 40% since your last visit in March 2015.

Frank F | 18.08.16 - 9:16 p.m. | #

The Birmingham Museums Trust has raised its entrance fees lately across the board.

Around five years ago admission was free, and the council was in charge. These days many of the properties have been refreshed and restored, and something's got to pay for that.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 18.08.16 - 9:30 p.m. | #

I went to the Public when it was still open, and was distinctly underwhelmed. It didn't seem to know what it was, part fairly mediocre gallery, part "interactive entertainment", but without any coherent theme or point. Other galleries of similar vintage, which also had a kind of urban regeneration remit (and West Bromwich IS grim) elsewhere - the Hepworth in Wakefield springs immediately to mind, as well as some of those mentioned here - have been much more successful. I'm not at all surprised it closed.

I'll have to try and get to some of the other places mentioned - the Herbert Gallery in Coventry is another West Midlands place that sometimes has interesting exhibitions - I saw a great show of George Shaw - who currently has a room in the National Gallery - and his airfix paintings of housing estates -there a couple of years ago.

The Midland Metro is also a bit odd - maybe too obviously an ex-railway line, largely in cuttings, and with stations that aren't necessarily in the best locations.

I've long promoted the idea of Wolverhampton reinventing itself as an arty city - a bit like Lille kind of has. It has some great architecture, for sure.

Dominic H | 18.08.16 - 11:09 p.m. | #











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