The Birmingham Outer Circle is a thing of myth and legend, with the number 11 bus doing a full loop around our fair city in a little over two hours. Songs have been written about it (well, a song, and you can’t make out the lyrics that well) and folk often do the entire round trip for a wheeze.
However, if should be noted that using the number 11 bus to go to and from work, when you live on one side of the city and work on the other, is a fucking pain in the arse, a brain melting slug of a journey that will rob you of any spirit you may have had when you got up at some ungodly hour to catch it.
That said, if you’re able to keep your wits about you there are some intriguing kitch-worthy sights in the Yardly area. Once I’ve got over my 11 aversion I’ll have to return with a camera.
hey, how comes you’ve made no comment on the rioty stuff? You’re normally The Birmingham Local News for the internet and now the brum is all up in the national press you’ve gone quiet.
Firstly it happened in an area I know nothing about (NW and S-SE is my expertise), but also I suspect it’s a very complicated thing and I really don’t have any useful opinions. I don’t think it’s a Birmimgham specific issue – more one of those inter-minority racial things that always take white people by surprise – but I don’t really know.
Birmingham is a very big place, in fact I don’t think I’ve ever been to Lozells.
In our teen-aged years my brother and I WALKED the entire 11C route. I think it was for charity.
“Birmingham is a very big place” yeah? Okay. I don’t know it very well. It allways seems kind of small, but then I’ve never got to the edge of it, so I don’t know why.
You probably pass the bottom of my road. Drop in for a cup of tea or sumfink!
Did you ever do the trip, Pete ?
I was on one of those sponsored walks around the route way back when, and I’ve done the whole trip when visiting friends in Perry Barr (even though I didn’t *have* to stay on the 11C to get back to Northfield, it was worth the ride.
Sod Iain Sinclair’s M25.
To be frank, since I often use the 11 to get to work on the other side of the city the prospect of going all the way round when I don’t need to holds little appeal…
I might cycle the route come the spring though.