If you're in Birmingham, and you've done all the stuff you can find within the city centre, it can be tempting to write it off. Don't do that, though, until you've taken the time to travel half an hour or so outside Birmingham, and seen some of what the rest of the West Midlands have to offer. There's more than just the National Indoor Arena and the National Exhibition Centre around, no matter what the Brummies might tell you.
If you go out to Dudley – the heart of the Black Country – then you'll find that there's quite a lot to do there as well. The Black Country Living Museum there is a massive area that has been set aside for historical re-enactment. You don't just look at the old steam engines and trams; you get to ride them too. Staff run a preserved 20th century street in an authentic style, with an old sweet shop, a pub and even a fish and chip shop still all working exactly as they did in those days.
Just up the hill from the living museum is Dudley Castle, the town's great landmark, which dates back as far as the 12th century. Within the castle grounds is Dudley Zoo, another fun attraction, which manages to be a very good zoo despite not being very large.
Head east to Coventry and you'll find plenty of places of interest there too. One of the most notable of them is Coventry Cathedral, which you can't escape if you go to Coventry – you can see it from almost everywhere in the town. It is an imposing, beautiful building, and it's well worth taking a look inside. As Coventry was such a centre of car manufacturing for many decades, it also boasts a great collection of vintage British cars in its Transport Museum.
John Gibb is the owner of
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