Digbeth sees a light in gloom – Dr Chris Upton, writing in the Birmingham Post, sees a silver linig in the credit crunch cloud for Digbeth, which is no longer in danger of being wiped out by apartments. However:
All this cannot have come at a worse time for Bradford Street. About 18 months ago – I’m hazy on the date – much of this street and its hinterland came crashing down in a cloud of dust. There was, even on the top deck of the No. 50, a sense of excitement about what was about to happen.
The answer, as it turned out, was that nothing was about to happen. The rubble still lies deep and in the same place. They could even rebuild it, since the bricks are still there.
I’m only miffed over Bradford Street because one or two interesting buildings were clobbered and nothing has risen up to erase my memory of them….One day, the demolition men moved in, began to take them down and then disappeared, leaving the walls to hang precariously in the air. This seemed particularly pointless…
I have no doubt that one day there will be a renaissance around Bradford Street. It’s worth remembering that the Renaissance was preceded by the Black Death. And that seems to be where we are at the moment.
