To ask her the 'skinny', love it. The only problem I have with
narrowsboating is called concussion. It's a kinda standing joke.I went
around Brummagem with a seasoned inhabitant the other day and was quite
shocked at some things: one area had lost almost all facilities: every pub,
every shop gone, just a doctor's and a police station left, the area I grew
up in one the other hand is almost completely Islamicized: the primary
school I went to is now a mosque with madrassa, the local library is now the
Islamic Community Centre, the parish church demolished (after spending a
period as a warehouse, it was only a Grade II listed building). They now
call the whole East of the City 'Heartlands' and plan to knock down most of
several districts to make them an extension to the city centre called
'Eastside'.
I still like the place though: it was a psychological relief to hear
everyone speaking normal :). Perhaps it can be best summed up in this
anecdote: we walking down Solihull High Street. In the 60s this would have
been hell on ears as Solihull was populated almost exclusively by people
who'd attempted to take elocution lessons and sounded like Margaret Thatcher
being strangled as a result. Now though they speak like the Brummies they
insist they're not. We were looking for a tea stop and I noticed what I
thought was a mock tudor tacky pub that advertised teas. We went for that.
The rub was that it really was an old building (dated 1495) and was an arts
and crafts centre with a tea room. It is the genius of Brummagem to (for
once) preserve such a place but make it look like a fake.
2009/7/19 Judy Prince <[log in to unmask]>
> ;-) Not in the Domesday Book, then, Dave? Ah well, as a Scot might say,
> "I'm sure yoo're a parfectly good parson nivvertheless."
> Narrowboating [yes!] a coupla days ago, I met a woman who'd previously
> taught English at a posh B'Ham girls' grammar school. Soooo tempted to ask
> her the skinny about such an environment, but I behaved Britishly and
> forebore.
>
> All best,
>
> Judy
>
> 2009/7/18 David Bircumshaw <[log in to unmask]>
>
> > Why thank you Judy. It has a very vivid cover.
> >
> > Also to my delight was to discover that the Council flats I grew up in
> > inner-city Birmingham were noticed and listed (a wee paragraph in fact)
> by
> > Pevsner in The Buildings of England. (Warwickshire volume, as in 1966
> > Birmingham was still officially warwicks.)
> >
> > I'm sure you're well enough aware of the English (british) class system
> to
> > realise the mischief that plays with it: 'well I grew up in in
> > Warwickshire,
> > you know, yes, the old pile's in Pevsner, don't you know'
> >
> > 2009/7/17 Judy Prince <[log in to unmask]>
> >
> > > All congratulations, David and Sheila!
> > > Best,
> > >
> > > Judy
> > >
> > > 2009/7/16 David Bircumshaw <[log in to unmask]>
> > >
> > > > Troubles Swapped for Something fresh
> > > >
> > > > http://www.saltpublishing.com/books/anth/9781844714711.htm
> > > > <http://www.saltpublishing.com/books/anth/9781844714711.htm>now out
> > from
> > > > Salt, edited by Rupert Loydell, an anthology of 'Manifestos and
> > > > Unmanifestos', including the likes of Peter Finch, Jackson MacLow,
> > Sheila
> > > E
> > > > Murphy, Scott Thurston, Nick Piombino, Alan Halsey, Gavin Selerie,
> > Mario
> > > > Petrucci and even me. Plus my late friend Brian Fewster who died
> > without
> > > > knowing of his inclusion.
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > David Bircumshaw
> > > > "A window./Big enough to hold screams/
> > > > You say are poems" - DMeltzer
> > > > Website and A Chide's Alphabet
> > > > http://www.staplednapkin.org.uk
> > > > The Animal Subsides
> http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html
> > > > Leicester Poetry Society: http://www.poetryleicester.co.uk
> > > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > David Bircumshaw
> > "A window./Big enough to hold screams/
> > You say are poems" - DMeltzer
> > Website and A Chide's Alphabet
> > http://www.staplednapkin.org.uk
> > The Animal Subsides http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html
> > Leicester Poetry Society: http://www.poetryleicester.co.uk
> >
>
--
David Bircumshaw
"A window./Big enough to hold screams/
You say are poems" - DMeltzer
Website and A Chide's Alphabet
http://www.staplednapkin.org.uk
The Animal Subsides http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html
Leicester Poetry Society: http://www.poetryleicester.co.uk
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