On a bitterly cold day in 2012 we took a train from our nearby town of Wolverhampton to the city of Birmingham. Having lived close to Birmingham for the duration of our home exchange, we felt the city warranted a day trip at the very least.That year it was the Diamond Jubilee of the Queen's reign.

We revisited this city with friends in 2014 on a slightly brighter day and saw the canal area for the first time. We also visited a National Trust site, a reconstructed set of "Back to back" homes on their original site - crowded housing displayed as they were in 1830, 1870 and 1930.

Birmingham has architectural features which bring to mind other cities I know - Melbourne, Glasgow and Edinburgh's New Town. We began in the Jewellery Quarter, a unique area dating back over 250 years and still home to over 400 jewellery-related businesses - goldsmiths, silversmiths, dealers in gold bullion and outlets for bespoke jewellery of high quality. The streetscape is Georgian with the attractive St Paul's Square a pleasant public space and the rambling old tree-filled Keyhill Cemetery another feature of the area.

Birmingham became a hub of specialized trades during the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century. We visited the Pen Museum. "Birmingham was the centre of the world pen trade for more than a century, employing thousands of people and the availability of cheap pens enabled the develpoment of education and literacy throughout the world." - guide

The Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, well known for its collection of pre-Raphaelites and a significant collection of old masters, is a beautiful building both inside and out and was staging a special exhibition "Children's Lives". Birmingham is a recognised city of the arts and culture, being home to several more worthy art galleries, plus the Birmingham Repetory Theatre, the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Opera Company and the Royal Ballet Company.