Random Stuff!

[Brummiegem]

‘Brutalist’ is the term used for the architecture that Birmingham and other provincial cities used during the 60’s and 70’s.Predominantly concrete and not particularly pretty.I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.I remember using the central library while studying for exams in the mid 80’s.I never really took much notice of what it looked like at the time.Looking back it was an ugly building,but if it is practical then what does it matter.You can’t please everybody all of the time.
Jennyjet you mention the smoky buses,I remember my bus rides into the city on the old’Midland Red’ bus route from Chelmsley Wood into the bus station.Now that was an unhealthy atmosphere,if anyone remembers when we had a proper bus station in the city centre.The diesel fumes were horrible.It was a dark and dinghy place,that just about summed up parts of the city.It appears some things never change.

 

[JENNYJET]

Oh yes, the Midland Red bus station. I used it regularly to avoid using the WMPTE no.9 to Quinton. I much preferred to use the red Kinswinford service using the fabulous Leyland National vehicles. I agree that in the station the fumes were a bit much at times but it was easy to nip into the Bull Ring indoor market to escape until departure time.

As for the late library I found it to be modern and inviting with carpeting throughout and an excellent place to study.

Does that bus station still exist?

 

[Brummiegem]

The building that housed the bus station is still there.Not sure what it is used for now though.There are shop units along that part of the Bull Ring area,but the Bus Station itself,I don’t know.

 

[richard winterbourn]

It is a frightening thought but in almost the same time that has elapsed between the Brexit referendum and today, in that same timescale Brum will get preparing to host the Commonwealth Games....

I know we are not ready now, but do any posters know what work is in hand, planned or yet to be planned: the Alexander Stadium; the Sandwell Aquatics Centre and other venues; athletes village; transport links, meeters and greeters and the thousand-and-one things that will need to be done.

Brum is going to be on the world stage on July 27, the clock is ticking and i want to be sure and proud that our great city is ready, willing and able.

 

[Brummiegem]

Richard,I can’t tell you everything that is happening right now without actually looking for it on the internet,but one thing I do know that is happening is actually causing some controversy.
The route in/out of the city A51 covering Newtown,Birchfield and Perry Barr is supposedly being upgraded.The Games village will be in this area as well.
One of the road flyovers is due to be demolished and the road widened and junctions improved.The plan is to allow the route to be used by a new bus system called ‘Sprint’.It would appear that this route may now not be ready in time.
Not a good start to the preparations but plenty of time to go,so hopefully all will be sorted in time.

 

[Ianbutty]

You're pretty good compared with us. You have to come to the West Country to understand the meaning of being rubbish at football. That's the only football-related subject in which we are champions. Nowhere is worse than us - going all the way back to the late 19th Century.

I went to Uni in Bristol. You were no better then. However at Rugby.....

Only sport Greater Brum has ever excelled in was, for a time in the 1980s, Speedway.

 

[Kevin Farnell]

Only sport Greater Brum has ever excelled in was, for a time in the 1980s, Speedway.

Wasn't that the Cradley Heathens? Pure Black Country!

Kevin

 

[Kevin Farnell]

You have to come to the West Country to understand the meaning of being rubbish at football. That's the only football-related subject in which we are champions. Nowhere is worse than us - going all the way back to the late 19th Century.

Nah, you want to try being a Saddlers (Walsall) fan!
OK, we had a 'giant killing' against Arsenal (beating them 2-0 in the FA cup in 1933 - not the Final, I hasten to add). Further success came in 1975, with a replay win (after extra time) at Fellows Park of 3-2 against Man U (again in the FA cup following a 0-0 draw at Old Trafford).
And the year I started Uni, Walsall beat Blackpool, Barnsley, Shrewsbury, Rotherham and Arsenal en route to the last four of the League (Milk) Cup, to play Liverpool in the Semi-Final.
The Merseyside giants were regarded as the best in Europe – and actually went on to win an historic treble that season (League, League Cup and European Cup). But the giant-killing Saddlers gave the European power-house an almighty scare in the first leg at Anfield.
Ronnie Whelan slotted Liverpool ahead but a Phil Neal own goal – in front of the Kop – drew Walsall level before half-time.
Whelan restored the Reds’ lead after the break but the Saddlers fought back again, with super-sub Kevin Summerfield equalising with his first touch.
The match ended 2-2 – to the delight of over 10,000 travelling Walsall supporters.
And although Liverpool ultimately prevailed on aggregate after winning 2-0 at Fellows Park in the second leg, our 1983/84 Milk Cup adventure will never be forgotten.
As I said, I was in my first year at Uni and to start with when asked where I came from everyone said 'Walsall, where's that?' later I got 'you're from Walsall - awesome!'.
The last 'big' result I remember was the 2001 Second Division (now League 1) play off final against Reading. Walsall winning 3-2. That was a really emotional day. We'd been out for lunch, for my Mother's Birhtday knowing she was dying of cancer. When we got back, we listened to the match on the radio. To say that me and my Dad leapt five foot off the sofa (and yelling as loud as our lungs would permit) on the final whistle is an understatement. My Gran (my Mom's Mom) who was also with us aksed 'have we won?'.
Some great times, but supporting Walsall (or War'sll if yome a local), is usually disappointing!
I'd never change my team though!

Kevin

 

[rollo]

To be fair Warwickshire County Cricket Club based in Edgbaston have more than held their own over the years winning many compititions and of course Edgbaston is one of the major test grounds. Outside that its a pretty barren area in terms of sporting success as I well know being a Blues fan, mind you we are the only team to win a major trophy this century but as its the Blues we managed to even things out by getting relegated in the same season.

As Kevin says your team is always your team.
As the saying goes you can change your politics, your religion, your job or your wife but never your team.

 

[JENNYJET]

As Kevin has described, Walsall Football Club is a nice place to see a game of football.

My last visit was to see a friendly game against Manchester City when Mick Channon made an appearance, I was following Dudley Town FC at the time since going to OLD TRAFFORD was dangerous owing to the dire reputation for fan violence after their infamous relegation from Division One.

I also went to Villa Park to see a friendly with Bayern Munich and to be honest, Fellows Park was the better experience. Real Black Country hospitality won me over. I was also working in Blackheath at the time. Wonderful days!

 

[Ianbutty]

Wasn't that the Cradley Heathens? Pure Black Country!

Kevin

I did say Greater Brum....but I was stretching it and bow to those from Doooodley.

I saw Penhall win the World Champs at Wembley in 1981. Great night for the region. Kendall and Gunderson (Heathens) v Olsson and Knudsen (both Coventry riders). I was with the Heathens fans sitting next to the Bees fans. We all celebrated together and all three riders rode on our shoulders after we invade the track. A great night when all that mattered was the sport.

Taught me to respect all sports fans irrespective of who they follow*







* even Villa

 

[Ray Finkle]

Hoorrayyy. The BBC has run a good and well balanced piece on the great city today:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-47310204

The headline at first looks like an "oh here we go again" piece, but actually it highlights the need for all to benefit from prosperity and the efforts rightly being made to do so.

Love the financial sector boom who's who section.

Kick in teeth right at the end for the Blues, Baggies and Villians fans though. Cant just helping pointing out how rubbish we are at football.....we know!

The BBC ran a positive article about Birmingham?

Are we sure it wasn't meant for April 1st rather than March 1st?

 

[wolfheze]

‘Brutalist’ is the term used for the architecture that Birmingham and other provincial cities used during the 60’s and 70’s.Predominantly concrete and not particularly pretty.I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.I remember using the central library while studying for exams in the mid 80’s.I never really took much notice of what it looked like at the time.Looking back it was an ugly building,but if it is practical then what does it matter.You can’t please everybody all of the time.
Jennyjet you mention the smoky buses,I remember my bus rides into the city on the old’Midland Red’ bus route from Chelmsley Wood into the bus station.Now that was an unhealthy atmosphere,if anyone remembers when we had a proper bus station in the city centre.The diesel fumes were horrible.It was a dark and dinghy place,that just about summed up parts of the city.It appears some things never change.

I loved the smell of that bus station. Diesel mixed with fish from the market. Strange cos I hate fish!

 

[Brummiegem]

Yes it was a strange mix of odours. I remember looking round the market on arrival at the Bus station and also before getting the bus to go home.If I remember right, there was a very large woolworths in that market,and a couple of nice bakery units.We usually had a doughnut or something similar before moving on from there.It was a highlight of the week when I was very young.

 

[JENNYJET]

I believe there was a Woolworths, entry via St. Martin's market and through the Bull Ring indoor bit near where the dinosaur was outside.

 

[wolfheze]

Went to search out the Bull street subway where my mum used to take me in the late 60s to get lunch at the cafe. Used to have a hot dog, hamburger and coke which I had never had before. Found the subway which I think was quite large and ran under Corporation street has now been largely filled in.

 

[wolfheze]

 

[Brummiegem]

With the refurbished WHSmith store now open at BHX just before you go through the duty free store,I have to say I am concerned with the increasing number of self service tills appearing at the airport as well as high streets.
First of all at the airport I think WHS has scored an own goal here as they rely on staff buying from them as much as passengers.
The issue is, in order to use the self service till you have to scan a boarding pass to start or finish the transaction.Staff do not have a boarding pass,therefore have to find a member of staff to scan an I’d card to complete the transaction.Sometimes a member of staff is often busy or serving passengers at the till.I went to the main airside unit a couple of weeks ago to buy a newspaper while on my break.As someone was on the till I went to pay for my paper at the till.The assistant told me I had to use the self service till as they were only using the till for tobacco purchases and phone top ups etc.I then had to wait for the assistant to finish serving on the till before she scanned my transaction through on a self service till.Not customer friendly for staff.Therefore I will no longer use WHS at the airport.
My other issue is of a wider problem.Just how many jobs are being lost because retailers are using more and more self service tills.The U.K is predominantly a service industry country.Manufacturing is no longer the main job provider,therefore you need people to provide service.By introducing self service not only reduce the need for people, i believe it also increases the risk of shoplifting.There are people out there who will see this as an opportunity to possibly pay for selected items only,bagging up items they do not want to pay for.Not all items in stores are security protected and people that way inclined will make use of this situation.
Also people are needed to pay tax,and keep the system ticking over.Reducing staffing levels either in retail or manufacturing reduces tax being payed and therefore creating problems further along the line.It is all relative.
Anyone else concerned about this,would love to hear other people’s thoughts on this.

 

[Coathanger16]

With the refurbished WHSmith store now open at BHX just before you go through the duty free store,I have to say I am concerned with the increasing number of self service tills appearing at the airport as well as high streets.
First of all at the airport I think WHS has scored an own goal here as they rely on staff buying from them as much as passengers.
The issue is, in order to use the self service till you have to scan a boarding pass to start or finish the transaction.Staff do not have a boarding pass,therefore have to find a member of staff to scan an I’d card to complete the transaction.Sometimes a member of staff is often busy or serving passengers at the till.I went to the main airside unit a couple of weeks ago to buy a newspaper while on my break.As someone was on the till I went to pay for my paper at the till.The assistant told me I had to use the self service till as they were only using the till for tobacco purchases and phone top ups etc.I then had to wait for the assistant to finish serving on the till before she scanned my transaction through on a self service till.Not customer friendly for staff.Therefore I will no longer use WHS at the airport.
My other issue is of a wider problem.Just how many jobs are being lost because retailers are using more and more self service tills.The U.K is predominantly a service industry country.Manufacturing is no longer the main job provider,therefore you need people to provide service.By introducing self service not only reduce the need for people, i believe it also increases the risk of shoplifting.There are people out there who will see this as an opportunity to possibly pay for selected items only,bagging up items they do not want to pay for.Not all items in stores are security protected and people that way inclined will make use of this situation.
Also people are needed to pay tax,and keep the system ticking over.Reducing staffing levels either in retail or manufacturing reduces tax being payed and therefore creating problems further along the line.It is all relative.
Anyone else concerned about this,would love to hear other people’s thoughts on this.

In terms of self service tills at the airport and having to scan boarding passes, they've clearly programmed the machines differently so that you can scan you're boarding pass, so why can't they do the same for staff ID cards I wonder?

For me it makes sense to have self service tills in airports, as there are often periods of high and low footfall in the terminal, so having a large selection of self service tills avoids having staff in to serve the busy periods then sat twiddling their thumbs during the quiet period, but I would always keep one person on the manned till in case they're needed.

As for their wider use on the high street as well, I personally prefer to use the self service tills as often they are quicker and it avoids having to speak to someone face to face (awful I know!).

As for loss of jobs from using self service tills, I think that depends on the store itself and whether they lay off the staff or reassign them elsewhere. In my local Sainsbury's there's nearly always someone restocking the fruit & veg, and a staff in at least a third of the other aisles restocking shelves. Much more so than the local Tesco which has a lower proportion of self service tills to manned tills. There's been a growing trend in automation across all sectors of the economy for decades now and that will continue well into the future. The important thing is that jobs are created elsewhere.

Finally with regards to shoplifting, the amount of times I've heard "unidentified item in bagging area" (basically somethings on the scales that wasn't scanned) you'd think that everyone was trying to shoplift. The scales on the self service tills mean you can't not scan something and put it in your bag, so to shoplift you'd have to take an item out of your basket and put it in your pocket - probably quite tricky to do considering that 99% of the times there's a member of staff monitoring self service tills (for ID checks, etc).

 

[JENNYJET]

Some of you already know that I have significant disabilities and medical issues thus this matter relates to self service.

As you may expect, I love shopping but not anymore. My local supermarkets are now heavily engaged with self checkouts and trolleys with technology attachments. These devices require dexterity of hands which I have largely lost. Staffing levels have become pitiful and competence mostly absent, hence all my shopping is done online. This employs one driver, one loader and an army of robots in an automated warehouse.

The consequences for the treasury and employment levels have already been covered but I am grateful and dependent on technology that was but a fanciful thought a few years ago.

I would find going through an airport a troubling experience today as procedures have changed so much from the days of paper tickets and a human at checking in . I am wondering if passport and immigration control is automated!