Back in September, Michael Grimes (aka Citizensheep) kick-started a lively online discussion about small but significant changes the Custard Factory could make as ‘It’s looking run-down, and suggests no-one really cares anymore about promoting it as a vibrant space, and no-one really goes there (except for loud music at weekends).’
A couple of months on and it’s looking even more under the weather – the boardwalk is more patchwork chipboard than flooring and going to the toilet is still a cold and uncomfortable ordeal. The website isn’t regularly updated, which can make it hard to find out what’s in store there. Far worse, a few tenants have suffered break-ins recently (I’m aware of three over recent months – two studios and one ground floor shop unit).
I’m not just saying this for a pointless moan – the Custard Factory is a vital piece of Digbeth’s vibrant make-up and is home to some of the most exciting elements of local life – Capsule, Rhubarb Radio and 7 Inch Cinema to name but a few (let’s face it, I could never name them all). As a regular visitor, seeing it fall short of its brilliant potential for a long period can be really frustrating, especially with its sister development Fazeley Studios serving as an example of how good things can be.
I’m hearing great rumors about the forthcoming opening of Devonshire House on Digbeth High Street. I really hope its restoration rubs off onto the original Custard Factory complex, and we can see it return to its former glory.
The last post about my uber-busy Digbeth weekend. I started Sunday off in the Rhubarb Radio studio presenting Sunday Local with Michael Grimes. It’s a weekly show we do at 12-2pm every Sunday about all things local, be it news, events, music or whatever takes our fancy. John Mostyn popped by to fill us in on the imminent Digbeth O’Lympics, which cartoonist Alex Hughes, who likes to come in and document the proceedings, captured nicely.
Digbeth O'Lympics by Alex Hughes
Karen Strunks and Shona McQuillan also joined us in the studio. After the show we filled up on a nice big dinner at The Big Bulls Head before facing the games. The slideshow of Pete Ashton’s photos above documents our day, which was gloriously anarchic.
We missed the Opening Ceremony, so joined the fun at the Cardboard Coracle Race in the Custard Factory pool. Unfortunately, paint had been spilled into the water the day before so it looked like chemical waste, but at least it hid the fag butts, beer bottles and Christ knows what else was floating around in there.
From there we moved onto The Old Crown, where John Tighe was placed in the stocks for Noise Crimes, and pelted with water balloons.
We moved onto the Spotted Dog, where rumour reached us that someone had thrown an egg 60 feet in The Anchor’s Egg-a-thon and caught it without it breaking. In other news, children were seen running around in custard-filled wellies outside The Wagon and Horses. The Tug-of-War at The Fountain was sadly cancelled due to lack of rope.
Next came the Soapbox Race, which seriously surpassed itself this year for having the sheer gall to take place on Bradford Street, traffic be damned (to listen to their beeping, you’d have thought they were). There were some brilliant creations, such as the Penguin Carrier and a weird Grandad Armchair-Trike hybrid.
After that the children went off to enjoy a Snail Race at The Spotted Dog, whilst the more rebellious amongst us headed to The Rainbow for the Rock ‘n’ Roll triathlon of Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll. I couldn’t resist taking part in this one, which included necking sambucca, blowing up a sex doll and snorting a (legal) line before downing a pint. Unsurprisingly, I was crap. But the humiliation was worth it for the sheer satisfaction that is chucking a telly out of the window.
'Nicky Getgood Housekeeping' says Katchooo
It must of been even more satisfying for those who hit the bullseye target that was Martin Mullaney’s face.
The games ended back at The Spotted Dog with a bizarre Awards Ceremony (I haven’t a clue who won, or why John Tighe drunkenly beat up a penguin) and an extra-special announcement from John Mostyn:
The Free State of Digbeth has no constitution. It has no geographical boundaries. It is the most powerful of all states – a stare of mind.
Oh yes. The Free State of Digbeth is born. We are independent. These streets are ours. We are free. Free to use our roads to race sopaboxes down and throw tellies upon. Free to use our paint-filled pools to sail in boats that sink like lead balloons. Free to wang wellies. Free to lob eggs.
The Custard Factory in Birmingham has become a bit of a joke. It’s looking run-down, and suggests no-one really cares anymore about promoting it as a vibrant space, and no-one really goes there (except for loud music at weekends).
To tackle this Michael is compiling a list of ‘little but important changes that could be made, and then lobby for them to happen’. So go and comment, and let’s see if we can help the Custard Factory fulfill its potential.
I’m answering Shona McQuillan’s question here. Regular readers will know I’m no stranger to these. I was a tad ill after my Digbeth Week of Breakfasts, done with local historian Richard Trengrouse to bring to you the world of Digbeth’s cafe’s.
Now in Belfast they have something a little different to the Full English. They have the Ulster Fry:
According to Wikipedia ‘A traditional Ulster Fry consists of bacon, eggs, sausages, soda bread and potato bread…Other common components include mushrooms or wheaten bread. All this is traditionally fried.’ Oof.
However, even that is not as likely to bring on a coronary as this gargantuan number:
Michael Grimes was served this in Birmingham’s wholesale markets after doing the 4am project outing on 4th April. What he managed to eat was a full platter of 4 fried eggs, 4 plum tomatoes, 4 sausages, 4 bacon rashers and mushrooms all floating on an unseen bed of beans. With toast and tea. I can’t imagine anywhere else on the planet that would see fit to serve that for breakfast at 5 o’clock in the morning. Birmingham wins the Stroke Inducing Breakfasts round for the most ridiculous portion size I’ve ever seen.
Once upon a time, not so long ago, there was a little girl and her name was Nicky. And she had a shop. Here it is.
It was rather an unsual shop because it didn’t sell anything. You see, everything in that shop window was a thing that somebody had once lost and Nicky had found.
Yes, the random crap I keep finding and photographing on the Digbeth streets can now be seen through the window panes of my very own DiGpuss shop. Please go and take a look. If you hover over the window panes and click on the image within it will take you to the Flickr photo page.
The above image is my favorite find so far – a discarded photo of a biker girl. In my head it was thrown away by the owner of the second helmet, an embittered ex-lover. The truth of how it ended up on Bradford Street is probably a lot more boring than that. Does anyone know who this girl is, and how her photo came to be there? Are you she? Please comment if so.
Many thanks to Shona McQuillan for a grand idea and Michael Grimes for making the magic happen. There are a few browser issues with DiGpuss (it’s a big fan of FireFox and Safari, but doesn’t seem to like Opera very much). But as poor Michael, who put a lot of hard work into it says, ‘please appreciate that all the work here is voluntary and time is scarce; and head-scratching hurts.’
You may notice Digbeth is Good is looking a little different, I hope you like the funky new theme. Many thanks to Michael Grimes for sweating and swearing over it for hours to make it work.
Here’s Richard Trengrouse’s account of the last day of our Week of Breakfasts on Friday:
Day Five: Sbragia’s Cafe and Sandwich Bar: Fazeley Street
As I had to wear a suit today, came in by train. If I get it right I can be in town from home in fifteen minutes. It’s always an enjoyable journey and views from the train as it passes over the Rea Valley Viaduct are fantastic, it gives you an almost ariel view of Digbeth looking down on amazing variety of roofs and still a lot of chimneys.
Alighted at Moor Street Birmingham’s Edwardian Gem, it’s hard to believe that only ten years ago the abysmal Rail Track were talking of knocking it down and set off down Fazeley Street.
To be quite honest Sbragia’s was a bit of a flyer, I didn’t even know what the cafe was called until yesterday and only had noticed a door with sign outside when I was cycling down that way a couple of weeks ago. To be quite honest I had been for an excellent curry the last night and had been rather dreading the fifth breakfast of the week.
Sbragia’s opens at about 8.00 am so there was an extra half hours lie in, and Nicky, Pat and Michelle were all there right on time accompanied by a admirable fellow from the Citizenship Foundation, whose name I have forgotten, sorry put it down to approaching senility.
Sbragia’s is a gem. We were made feel welcome from the moment we stepped inside the door, customer service, attentive without being over the top. We were able to effectively design our own breakfasts. Pat asked for poached eggs with tomatoes and mushrooms and I followed suit, Nicky had the egg and bacon bun and the bloke from the Citizenship Foundation had the full breakfast. Help I cannot remember what Michelle had but she liked it. There was a choice of breads, brown, granary and white all of which were of very good quality.
Pat and my poached eggs were done to a turn and served on very hot plates, the mushrooms and tomatoes were also piping hot. Perhaps one of the criticisms of the week is that very often the plates were not hot enough and the food goes cold before you finish eating, particularly if you are like me and like the sound of your own voice!!
Nicky’s bacon and egg bap was awesome; the bap was huge and wonderfully fresh with lashings of bacon freshly cooked. While daunted, true to form she did manage to eat it all.
The bloke from the Citizenship Foundation’s full English contained all the usual ingredients that we have grown to expect from the Digbeth breakfast and was well presented benefiting from the very hot plate.
Most of Sbragia’s trade is take away, but their eating area, called ‘The Lounge’ is wonderfully idiosyncratic, there is some very interesting ‘Sex Pistols’ memorabilia on the walls. Including a print of a certain Mr Rotten, now better known for selling butter, and a huge sofa, which will be great to sink into while drinking tea and eating toast next week.
Thanks to Becky, Emma and Noleen for making us so welcome and the offer of the free cup of tea, which we had to refuse as we had already been so well fed and watered! We all agreed that we would be back
Are there any conclusions to draw from our week of breakfasts, certainly that great English institution is alive and exceptionally well in Digbeth. All are good solid transport cafes which give great value for money in a friendly homely atmosphere. Eastside Cafe is very much a crossover between the traditional transport cafe and the environmentally conscious local sourced food movement and in doing that is unique in Birmingham and I expect in the Midlands.
Would I do it again? I think once or twice a week will suffice in future, although with all the cycling I have actually lost weight over the week!!!
Hmmm…would I do a Week of Breakfasts again? I’m really not sure. I loved it, I met some great people and the breakfasts were gorgeous – I’ll never be stuck for a hangover cure around here. But I’m not exactly a morning person and eating such a full meal at the start of each day is a bit of a shock to the system. So what’s next? Week of Pubs? Week of Art Galleries? Week of Empty Building Sites? Comment if you think of one, and I’ll see what I can do!
A little while back a group of us bloggers worked on translating the jargonistic Big City Plan document into plain English to be posted on the Big City Talk site, which displayed comments and could therefore generate some meaningful discussion. Michael Grimes has talked about exactly why it needed doing:
we found it incomprehensible, jargonistic and alienating…And then there are the acronyms that weren’t explained, and the inconsistent numbering of sections in different documents…
The crazy thing is that it’s not hard. Producing a consultation document that the average member of the public can understand is easy, if you really care….It seems that it’s just the will that isn’t there.
Part 4 makes all those long, arduous evenings seem worthwhile – Big City Talk collected 274 comments:
There was also clear evidence of commenters building on the work of others, and better ideas forming. It is also very possible (and I’ve seen from anecdotal evidence) that people were using the plain English version of the site to inform their comments put though the “official channels”.
This makes me very glad I was able to help out with translating the Digbeth, Highgate and Eastside sections but I must admit to finding it hard, slow, horrible work. I sincerely hope it’s not an exercise I’ll ever have to repeat, principally because it shouldn’t need to be but also because it drove me a little nuts. My lasting memory will be of trying to translate this sentance:
The area would become the focus for international business connected with Birmingham’s diverse working population…
It took a good while, a lot of groaning and a phone call to Jon Bounds for me and Michael to get to this:
Foreign businesses could be attracted to the area by Birmingham’s diverse workforce.
Step aboard the Big City Plan Bus today – Birmingham: It’s Not Shit – BiNS picks up on the “Beyond Midnight” bus, which has more info about the Big City Plan (that will decide what happens in Birmingham over the next 20 years). It’s in Highgate tomorrow, which is only down the road so I’m seconding Jon Bounds’ call to ‘Please go along if you can, in great numbers, to find out more about the Big City Plan, have your say and show the council that we really care about our city.’
12 noon – 3pm, Joseph Chamberlain College
3pm -5pm, Gooch Street shops
5pm – 7pm, Stanhope St Youth and Community Centre
7pm – 9pm, St Martins Youth Centre Gooch Street, Highgate, Birmingham B12
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I went to the Victoria Square stop today. It was quite an interesting consultation asking people what they love about Birmingham and how they’d like to see it evolve, which sounds like the kind of consultation that should of happened before the Big City Plan was actually written.
