Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin. (And go on a bit. Last updated 18th April 2003 by a scar faery in a phone box!)

One upon a time our good friends AnBolb and Lady_Day decided to organise a Birmingham nodermeet, since the poor little neglected city hadn't had a proper one1 yet. It was a good plan, and yea, it was slightly planned. Then, suddenly and inexplicably, the task of deciding what to do with the myriad noders who were attracted by the delights of our delightful city was transferred to a scar faery and, through her frantic cries of 'what shall I do with the nooooderrrrs, Naomeeee?', to me.

Oh dear, thought we. What are we going to do with all the people who have suddenly elected to descend upon us? How may they best sample our richly-coloured and fragrant2 metropolis? The following itinerarerary has been tentatively decided upon, although it's by no means definite and the offered exciting activities can be shuffled around or away, or replaced by equally exciting suggestions if anybody has any.


Friday the 18th of April: The Day of Few Noders So Far

  1. From early afternoon, weather permitting, we shall be pseduo-picnicking on the lawn of Birmingham (St. Philip's) Cathedral. a scar faery will gladly collect noders from New St. Station as they arrive. However:
  2. If it rains, we'll be found in the Briar Rose. Escort service provided with umbrella at no extra charge.
  3. At 5:30 (on the dot, of course) we shall make our way toward the legendary curry. Directions can be provided, but since buses are involved, it's better to meet us in the city centre first, if you can.
  4. What? Beer? Never.

Since, obviously, nothing can go wrong with this plan, here are some directions:

St. Philip's

From New Street station, come out of the Pallasades down the big ramp opposite Tie Rack. Walk straight on down Corporation Street (the one with a Waterstones and Tower records on it) on the right-hand side until you come to the end of Rackhams. Turn Right. The big cathedral in front of you is St. Philip's.

From Moor Street station, come out and cross the dual carriageway covered in bus stops and people. Go up the little road on the left with a car park on the right-hand side and continue walking in an approximately straight line across High Street (pedestrian) and Corporation Street (cars) until you see a big cathedral.

The Briar Rose

From New Street, come out of the Pallasades the same way, then turn left down New Street. Walk most of the way up until you see an amusement arcade on your right (the one without the odd china in the window) and turn up the side street it's on the corner of. The Briar Rose is a little way up, on the left of the Factotum and Firkin.

From Moor Street, follow same directions as for St. Philip's until you reach High Street, but this time go left a bit on the hight street and down New Street, which has a KFC on the end. Walk up it, past the Pallasades, then same as above.

Since, obviously, nothing can go wrong if you follow these directions, a scar faery's phone number is 07881 883996.


Saturday the 19th of April: The Day of Culture

Birmingham is trying to gain the status of European City of Culture 2008, along with Newcastle, Cardiff and a few other places. Generally, people snigger at its mention. In order to try and redeem it somewhat, we present our very own "cultural" mini-experience. As if the curry wasn't enough.

Possible events, with varying degrees of possibility:

  1. An open-top bus tour of the city centre, if they run;
  2. The Jewellery Quarter museum, in which Tiefling has expressed particular interest;
  3. The Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, home of the largest collection of pre-Raphaelites in something, possibly Britain;
  4. A Tolkien trail. Yea, Mister T. did come from Birmingham, and moreover based the Old Forest largely on Moseley Bog. That, Sarehole Mill (the significance of which we can't quite remember), the original Two Towers and a small plaque which says 'Tolkien was born here but we knocked down the building and built this one which is much better because yay for concrete offices', comprise a Hobbit-centric tour of Birmingham.

All this will, naturally, be interspersed with the feeding and watering of noders, because we wouldn't want the poor things to waste away, and those who feel like being philistines will, I'm sure, find company in beer.


Sunday the Day After That: The Day of Leftover Noder Soup

No real plans as yet. Brummies (at least some of 'em) will be available for further noder-feeding and entertainment if necessary.

Edit: Plans! Plans have happened! Tiefling says On the Sunday at the BrumMeet, I at least am keen to attend communion at Birmingham Cathedral (the Anglican one). If anyone else wants to come, great. .

Looking at this, it does rather seem to be a bit crowded into the Saturday, but doubtless some reshuffling can be done. Possibly some culture should take place on Friday and curry on Saturday, or something. But anyway. The meet liveth!


Transportation

Getting around the city will largely be done by bus, since none of us poor sods have a car3 (of course, other people might, but for now...). Birmingham buses, while fairly reliable, do have the minor flaw of not giving change, so bring lots. Fares go up to £1.20 peaktime or £1.00 off-peak; alternatively, for £2.50 you can purchase a 'Daysaver', which will allow you to use most of the city's buses for a day.


Accommmmmmodation

http://www.hotels-of-birmingham.com is the best resource we've found. For those with a reasonable amounts of money to spare, the easiest choice is the Briar Rose itself—their number is 0121 634 8100. The organisers would like to add that they cannot offer the luxury of their floors, due to living in houses owned by other people. If you don't have a bed by this point, it's probably best not to stay in Birmingham at all.

 

THE BRUMMIE SCUM


THE NOBLE TRAVELLERS

/msg us to confirm attendance, and be blessed with your name in bold.

THE UNFORGIVABLE DESERTERS

  • stupot & shimmer - stupot says unfortunately, we'll be flossing the cat that weekend, and can't make it.
  • wertperch says I still deeply regret my extreme lack of foresight, in arranging to be elsewhere this weekend, but evil plans don't just make themselves...
  • Just_Tom, who is scared of rail-replacement bus services. And rightly so.
  • CamTarn, who does not offer an excuse. Tut.

spare aardvark says Sights: you could see the President Saddam Hussein Mosque before it gets bombed or renamed.

 


the scarf notes:

1 Discounting stupot & shimmer's wonderful mini-Birmingham-meet which was a long time ago and had no node. But still happened. :$
2 Hoi, you. We don't want to encourage their natural fears of this city. (For the confused: pipelinks!)
3 /me takes this oppurtunity to point out that the prospect of owning a car and actually driving it makes her squeak and mutter about not having anything to do with automobiles.

And to whoever softlinked Demonyms of the United Kingdom, I can see you...