Birmingham City Skyline : 1980's to 2014

This post is going to break all of the rules I imposed on myself at the start of this project...but I don't care!

Firstly it isn't about a pub and, secondly I'll be using someone else's photo!

This photo appeared a few days ago on the excellent This is Birmingham Facebook page.

Birmingham Skyline 1980's - Courtesy This is Birmingham

This is Birmingham is a wonderful place for those of us who like to see scenes of this great city from bygone days and I've spent many hours marvelling at the lost wonders of Birmingham. However it is very rare to find a picture that corresponds to one of my contemporary shots of the city.

That was until local photographer Pete Ashton posted on Twitter about how Moat Lane car park was now open again (and renamed the Markets Car Park). I'd been looking for somewhere to take a picture of the Birmingham Skyline for ages and here was the perfect location.

Birmingham Skyline 2014 - © Photo Digital Art

It is quite remarkable how different the city feels today, yet there is still much that remains of the city as it was then.

#058 Spotted Dog, Digbeth (RIP) : 1998 to 2011

This is the other Spotted Dog in Digbeth that is on the corner of Meriden Street and Bordesley Street. When I took this photo in 1998 I'd not set foot inside the pub.

In 2002, on the evening of Thursday 19th September, we were in Birmingham on one of our canal trips and took a stroll into Digbeth. Among the pubs we came across was the Spotted Dog and ventured inside.

Not my best photo, but this was taken with my old Fuji SLR camera that dates back to the mid 70's so I was always 'guessing' the settings for night time photography. This time I was also 'challenged' as to why I was taking the picture. This is a fairly common occurrence, mostly with slightly out-of-the-way pubs that don't expect photographers. Once I explain that we're on a canal holiday and I take a picture of every pub we go in, they are always fine about it.

The only things I remember about it is that it was fairly quiet, typical back street pub. It was run by a black manager/landlord and the clientele were exclusively black, which you don't see very often.

A few years later I revisited the Spotted Dog on a Saturday night and it had transformed into a lively music venue seemingly specialising in up and coming bands.

So, when I came to take this photo in 2011 I was somewhat surprised to see that it was closed.

It had also changed its name to TJ's.

On Sunday I took part in the enjoyable Digbeth Photo Walk, organised by Pete Ashton & Matt Murtagh, that took us past the Spotted Dog which is still unchanged from when I took this picture. 

This is the twenty-seventh in my 'Birmingham Eastside' series.