The changing face of Birmingham

It may be somewhat difficult to think of Birmingham as a tourist place. Almost automatically, the name takes you back in time to the industrial revolution, and what usually comes to mind first would be drab scenes of factories belching out thick black smoke from their chimneys, and huge warehouses in decay, rather than what one would expect in a tourist location. Well, those times are long gone and although deriding Birmingham and its people's Brummie accent still seem to be a national sport in the rest of the country, the city appears to be dead set on changing its image and make tourism and conference business strong money spinners.

The inner city centre already sports new, stylish buildings, and greatly renovated open spaces and squares now spell for good the end of the traditional dull landscape that was once part and parcel of the city. Those piloting drives to project this new image speak of exciting times ahead as billions of pounds are pumped into plans to rejuvenate the city and to keep up and provide new tourist attractions. Quite understandably, one leading player in all this effort is Birmingham International Airport, whose business development director is Maltese, Peter Vella.

Mr Vella, who still talks of Malta with a kind of enthusiasm that makes you think he is still living here, epitomises the new entrepreneurial spirit that is firing the Birmingham born-again adventure. Birmingham's airport is the second largest in the UK, with no fewer than 50 scheduled and charter airlines running services to 140 destinations. Last year, it handled over nine millions passengers.

The biggest plan they have in hand right now is an extension of the runway, to be able to reach destinations farther afield, but they have a problem. They are facing stiff opposition from the environmentalists. Sooner or later, though, the city would have to decide on this: in its defence, another top airport official, John Morris, argues that stopping the extension would wrench the region away from the emerging world economy, and create an economic backwater.

With services taking over manufacturing as the new economic motor, there appears to be a new sense of urgency in promoting tourism. The guides will not fail to tell you that Birmingham, the regional capital of the West Midlands, has more kilometres of canals than Venice. Past "motorways" of the early industrial revolution, and killed by the railway, the canals have been given a new lease of life and turned into attractions on their own, with narrow boats, as they are called, taking tourists on trips or serving as small, floating restaurants. The scenes along the canal routes may not be as attractive as those in Venice, but some places, such as the Gas Street basin, have a charm of their own, as do the back-to-back houses that the National Trust is preserving so enthusiastically along with other parts of the city's industrial heritage.

The back-to-back houses, dating from the 19th century, transport you to the early industrial revolution and show how the workers would have lived in those times. It's a marvel how they could have lived in such tiny rooms, with so few facilities, if any, and practically no personal possessions. They were hard times indeed. A visit to these houses is instructive in more ways than one; if anything, they show how pampered we are today. A new public space in the city centre is Centenary Square, in front of the International Convention Centre and the Symphony Hall and the Repertory Theatre on Broad Street.

One major attraction in Birmingham is, of course, Cadbury World in Bournville, one of the largest paid indoor attractions in the UK.

It tells you all there is to know, in an interactive manner, about Cadbury, its history from its humble beginning, how it developed into one of the world's largest confectionery business and how well the Cadbury people looked after their workers over time. The Cadbury Experience celebrates the founding of the Cadbury factory and the Bournville village by George and Richard Cadbury. It is a magnate to those who love chocolate.

Most interesting is the Pen Room, a very small museum of the pen trade memorabilia, showing how the nib revolutionised writing and made writing "accessible", as it were, to all. Bullring, another magnate to tourists, is ranked as Europe's largest city centre retail regeneration scheme.

With good reason, Birmingham is also being promoted as an ideal place from where to visit other interesting places, particularly Stratford-Upon-Avon with all its associations and history of William Shakespeare and the enchanting Cotswold hills. Period houses decorate the area but the most visited literary landmark is of course Shakespeare's birthplace, today heavily commercialised. Only some 45 minutes away by coach from Birmingham, the house is said to have originally belonged to Shakespeare's father, John, a successful Stratford businessman.

Though often very crowded by visitors, it is a lovely place, made more appealing with impromptu performances of scenes from Shakespearean plays in an open space next to the house. The moments spent here can be most delightful, especially if it's sunny. As one would naturally expect, the house has an exhibition about the Bard's life, and the garden, which is very well kept, has trees, flowers and herbs mentioned in the playwright's works.

However, more charming perhaps is Anne Hathaway's Cottage, the pre-marital home of Shakespeare's wife, only about a mile west of Stratford. It has a low thatched roof, timbered walls and lattice windows and is said to have changed very little since Anne Hathaway's time. The house, actually a 12-roomed Elizabethan farmhouse, gives a real feel of the time as you go from one room to another. In fact, according to published information about the place, the cottage belonged to the Hathaway family until 1892. It was known as Newlands Farm in Shakespeare's time and had over 90 acres of land attached to it. The locality is far more peaceful than Shakespeare's birthplace, one reason perhaps for being so appealing.

Back in Birmingham, you would be amazed at how many times people showing you the place bring up the name of Joseph Chamberlain, for the work he had done to the city in his time. They simply love the man. Chamberlain has a Malta link, for the order in council he had issued when he was colonial secretary to substitute English for Italian in courts of law after a period of 15 years. The order had stirred a great deal of controversy and was eventually withdrawn in 1902 in deference to Italy.

Getting there

Air Malta runs three weekly direct flights to Birmingham, on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Birmingham International Airport is eight miles from the city centre and has transfer connections by train, bus and road. Trains to Euston leave every 30 minutes, with a travel time of 85 minutes.

More information may be obtained online at www.airmalta.com, www.bhx.co.uk or www.visitbirmingham.com