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- The Royal Connection
- West Midlands Eats
- West Midlands VIPs
- Richard Remembers
- Owlbut's Birdwatch
During the English Civil War, Birmingham
was most definitely on the side of Parliament, the Puritans and Oliver Cromwell. Already a manufacturing area, it is said that the town's main mill had
manufactured 15,000 swords all for the sole use of Parliamentarian forces. What is more the local townsfolk ambushed some royalist troops as they marched to
join up with Charles I near Shrewsbury prior to the Battle of Edgehill. In return for these ambushes, Prince Rupert, Charles' nephew, returned with some 1,200
cavalry, 700 infantry and 4 guns and overran the town burning 80 houses and killing 15 townspeople.
John Fox, a parliamentarian colonel recruited a group of 220 men and carried out some daring raids during the latter stages of the war. Fox had a
background as a tinker. A tinker was in those days a person who made a living by travelling from place to place mending pans and other metal utensils. He became
known as John "Tinker" Fox, seems normal, but although Parliament's leaders appreciated his victories, he was seen as a bit of a loose cannon over whom they had
little control. It was said that his troops would not only fight but also rob and pillage.
However he became so notorious that some people thought he was the man who swung the axe which executed Charles I. Most historians agree he wasn't
but............the executioner wore a false wig and beard so no one actually knows who it was.
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Godcakes were sold in Coventry from the
Middle Ages. They were traditionally handed out by godparents to their godchildren at christenings and also at New Year when the godchild would ask the godparent
for a blessing and, alongside that blessing, be given a cake.
The cake is a crispy puff pastry filled with sweet mincemeat, not unlike a mince pie, but triangular in shape and with three slits across the top.
Both the three sided isosceles triangle shape and the three slits are said to represent the Holy Trinity. The finished cake is then dusted with sugar. Some people
add a sweeter filling of currants, orange peel, spices and maybe a drop of rum.
In 2008 the bakery which had been producing the cakes closed down but in 2012 the Coventry God Cake was officially re-launched at a celebration event
at Coventry Transport Museum, attended by the Lord Mayor and guests.
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Seven random people who were born in the West Midlands in the last 100 years:-
Lenny Henry (Comedian), Cat Deeley (TV Presenter), the late Duncan Edwards (Manchester United footballer killed at Munich 1958), Felicity Kendall (Actor),
Julie Walters (Comedian), Denise Lewis (Athlete and Olympic Gold Medalist) and Noddy Holder (Musician).
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I'm rapidly learning that I don't
remember much, if anything, about the non-coastal counties of England. My three trips around our country have all been coastal ones and so these inland counties
are just ones I have driven through on the way to someone else. There again I could fill a book with my memories of England's coast and maybe I should; one day.
Sometime in the nineteen nineties I spent a day in Birmingham while working with the NHS on a book of some sort. I drove up to a hospital in the
Midlands, spoke to some staff, took notes and came away with material for the book I had been asked to work on. At the time, Birmingham just seemed like another
big city, I'd lived and worked in London for many years. I lived and went to school in the centre of Leeds for three years. Wait till we get to West Yorkshire for
an interesting revelation about my school; unless I forget.
I have to say that whatever some people may think about the hardship of living out of a suitcase for a year, only seeing family and friends every six
weeks or so and having to work every day whatever the weather, seeing the places I've not yet seen far outweighs all of those. I really can't wait, although
it is unlikely I will have this view of Birmingham from the air.
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The House Sparrow is a noisy little bird. They will eat almost anything and can be seen around rubbish and on farmland. They have been
declining in England but there are still over 5 million breeding pairs around. They prefer lowland areas and can be found in towns and villages all year round.
They are 14 cm in length, have a wingspan between 21 and 25 cms and can weigh from 24 to 38 grams. There is a slight difference in feather colour between males
and females with the males having more black and white while both sexes have brown, grey and cream feathers. The beak is black and brown, short and chunky.
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Two extra sections, "It Happened Here" and "Now That's Weird", will appear on 7 April 2025
