09/12/13 - Peaky Blinder

Distance - 5.94 Miles
Geocaches - 6
Start - Small Heath Station
Finish - Snow Hill Station

Peaky Blinders

2013 was a fine year for TV dramas.  And there was none better than Peaky Blinders on BBC2 - the tale of criminal gangs in 1919 Birmingham.  I have been wanting to investigate the area for a while and Sonia having a day at work in town provided the perfect opportunity.

There is a slight disappointment to proceedings.  I have been banned from wearing my Peaky Blinder hat as Sonia was meeting a work colleague on the train at Cradley Heath.

I've got a hat like that

Sonia (and colleague) hop off the train at Snow Hill and I progress onto Small Heath. 

The first place that I look for is the old Birmingham Small Arms (BSA) factory.  Famous for weapons and motorbikes, although looking at the way teenagers ride them around our town, you would be hard pressed to tell the difference. 

I have done my research and I know that there is little left, with the exception of the road name that they provided when the factory was built.

Little is now left

What remains is their old motorbike test track.  This is an area of wild land that fell into disuse in the 1970s.  It has been reclaimed at the Ackers Adventure Centre. 

There is a also a bit of a cache trail to add some excitement to the walk.

What I wasn't expecting was a full on ski slope.  In Sparkhill.

This is Birmingham, not Val D'isere

The caches prove a touch challenging.  Some are missing.  Some are in the vicinity of the skiers.  One is on a bridge under a zip wire that I manage to knock off and then have to enter the debris to recover.

Still, I get four Smileys and move back onto my reason for being here.

I cross the canal, railway line and Small Heath Highway to reach Small Heath Park.  This was where the Peaky Blinders were based and the houses here were built in the early 1900's, so of the correct vintage.

Who lived in a house like this?

I head up past the park and into the bowels of Small Heath, walking up the Coventry Road to our next stop.

In the programme, the gang head off to St Andrews and Grace, the Irish Barmaid, comments that she didn't realise they were so religious.

To think, the poor chaps had survived the trenches to be rewarded with this

As a Baggie, I have never been this close to the ground.  Very impressed with the views over the City. 

I work my way around the ground and am taken by a piece of classic Brummie humour attached to a lamppost outside the Blues ground.

Plenty of effort for a practical joke

I am heading downhill to find the gang's headquarters.  This is the Garrison Pub on Garrison Lane.  Still standing but no longer open.  It is for sale for £175,000 but does require around £500,000 worth of improvements.  They are hoping that the popularity of the series mean that it is not another piece of lost heritage.

Peaky Blinders HQ

I get a text saying that Sonia will be delayed at work.  No problem, I wanted to investigate Digbeth and find the oldest building left in Birmingham.  The fact that it was an operational pub had nothing to do with it.

From 1919 to 1638 in the blink of an eye

Its only 11:54, so I have to wait for it to open for a bit.  Eventually get settled in front of a roaring fire and look at he patrons past and present.

Mappiman does his bit for history and tradition

In the shadow of some notable former regulars

I then get my second text of the day, saying that Lunch is being served at work and I should cancel our original plans and get my own.  I overhear the bar lady explaining that the special of the day is chicken wings, with blue cheese sauce, home made coleslaw and chips.

Sounds good, so I order and text Sonia about my good fortune.

I get a text back asking why I want that as "it's just a bunch of bones". 

I am less enthusiastic by the time it arrives.

Once done with my bones, I head off into the City to meet the worker.  A couple of caches along the way keep me busy.

Take me to the City

To meet at my new favourite - The Old Joint Stock

Series 2 of Peaky Blinders has been commissioned for 2014.