Seat of Learning
After the horror of Handsworth, the AZ guide book rewards with a far more tranquil walk. University station is 2 stops from New Street and you alight into the red-brick university campus.
A number of Adventure Lab Caches show me the sights - the brutalism of Muirhead Tower and the largest free standing clock tower in the world, Old Joe. Another plays on ghost stories and urban myths, suggesting that if you walk between tower arches when the bell chimes, you will fail your degree.
Should I come again, I won't bring sandwiches. Refreshment trucks peddling lunch options from around the world. Who wouldn't want a gyros? Who says students are poor? It's the recently retired who carry squashed beef and mustard sandwiches and their own coffee.
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| ALCs asking what Darwin (9th) holds in his left hand |
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| Old Joe - Inspired by Siena’s Torre del Mangia |
What else did I learn? At this location, and the equally impressive QEII Hospital, there was a Roman Fort.
Metchley Roman Fort was established around AD 48–50 during the early Roman conquest of Britain and served as a timber-built auxiliary fort housing approximately 500 soldiers. Located in what is now Edgbaston, Birmingham, it was strategically positioned near the Roman road Icknield Street to support the Roman advance into the Midlands. The fort featured wooden ramparts, ditches, barracks, a granary, and a headquarters building, with later annexes for supply and industrial activity. It was occupied intermittently before being permanently abandoned around AD 120, playing a key role in maintaining Roman military control during the region’s early occupation.
Who would have thought it, in Birmingham, of all places.
Once the grounds had been investigated, it was north along Edgbaston Park Road to pick up the Birmingham to Worcester Canal to Selly Oak.
Nearly ten years since I gave a rather over enthusiastic 10/10 review to the Bristol Pear. It seems the world of craft beer bars was new to me, and I was impressed by the collection of cask and keg on offer.
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| Under the bridge |
Today, it's a cask-less Stonegate Pub, where the most interesting thing on offer was Asahi at £6 a pint.
The quickly back on the train to town to see if Jaipur is still on at the Briar Rose.
Walk Details
Distance - 5 Miles
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