Architecture

Birmingham: Architectural gem

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I recently visited Birmingham – the UK’s second city – on a quest to photograph some of its buildings.

And there’s a rich and varied seam of architecture to be found there. CONTINUE READING BELOW

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The vibrant city centre of Birmingham is a mix of building styles, from concrete leftovers of the 1960s and 70s to innovative recent additions including the Library of Birmingham.

Encased in an elegant gilded cage, this building was my first port of call and was truly impressive. Head upstairs to enjoy an elevated view over Birmingham city centre.

Another innovative must-see is the outlandishly tactile Selfridges building with its many voluptuous curves, while the silver-topped Grand Central complex also grabs the attention.

I took a bus ride to the University of Birmingham campus at Edgbaston, where I studied for a time.

Memories came cascading back, while the library I once inhabited has since been demolished and replaced with a sleek new gold-framed building.

Birmingham may have struggled with its reputation down the years, but my architectural tour showed there is a lot to see. Even if you’re not looking up at buildings like I did, it’s a city that has a lot to offer.

The Selfridges building inspires with its curves and textures

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Lancaster: City of the past

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My home city of Manchester is a heady mix of historical architecture and shiny new skyscrapers.

Travel north by train for an hour and you’ll reach Lancaster, a historic city that owes a great deal to its past… CONTINUE READING BELOW

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From Lancaster train station it’s just a short walk to the city’s imposing castle, which was also a prison until as late as 2011.

Dark walls and deep crenellations give way to charming old houses around Castle Hill, some of them quaintly crooked, others with vine-covered porches.

As I wandered around the city centre on a sunny day, the dark sandstone of historical buildings persisted. There wasn’t a whiff of any new architecture, let alone the lofty glass and steel we have here in Manchester.

Lancaster may have an old shell, but it’s a thriving place filled with coffee shops, food stalls and everything needed by modern city dwellers. There was a pleasant hum of life walking around its historic streets.

Lancaster is also blessed with an old waterway and it’s well worth a diversion to wander along its towpath and under some low-slung bridges – they’ve been there some time too!

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Manchester summer

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July. While southern Europe battled wildfires in intense heat, Manchester and the UK were stuck in a rut of cool temperatures and torrential rain.

Here’s an ode to June, when dry and sunny weather graced this city.

It was an era of warm photography walks in my neighbourhood of Castlefield.

Wearing shorts was the norm, local waterways were still, and the colours on new apartment blocks pinged deep into the long evenings.

What will August bring? Inevitably more worrying signs of climate change which are a huge deal for us all.

How has the weather been with you? It’s less of a banal question these days…

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Manchester’s new arts Factory

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The Manchester International Festival is in full swing, bringing the arts to Manchester’s residents and visitors alike.

It now has a brand new home, a purpose-built £210m building officially named the Aviva Studios, which will be the base for Factory International going forward.

The 2023 festival has spawned a blockbuster exhibition of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s visually arresting immersive sculpures.

But instead of flocking there, I went to see the exterior of the new building at close quarters and tested its pulling power for the photographer.

THE VERDICT? FIND OUT BELOW

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Critics might say that the squat front building, made with corrugated metal, is nothing more than an overblown shed.

But I was immediately immersed in the plethora of textures and angles that radiate from this apparently simple construction and took a wealth of shots.

The tall ribbed concrete of the second section of the building is quite an edifice, with a bank of windows and more corrugated metal at the rear where few of the festival-goers were straying.

The unfinished Factory building seen in winter during the First Breath installation

The unfinished building was on show in winter for the First Breath light installation

They were enjoying the atmosphere of Festival Square, where music was playing and there are plenty of places to sit to have something to eat and drink.

The building may not be to everyone’s taste, but I enjoyed the exterior so much that I barely looked inside, which is a flexible warehouse space for performances and exhibitions.

Have you visited? What do you think of Aviva Studios, which is adding to Manchester’s rapid expansion?

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Cromer: Norfolk’s seaside gem

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Cromer is an English seaside town perched on the edge of the Norfolk coast. It’s traditional, picturesque and holds a lot of personal memories. Enjoy the photographs and read more below

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This was my first visit to Cromer in 25 years. I completed my initial stint as a fledgling newspaper reporter in the town. It was a time of new experiences, including a first significant relationship.

Cromer felt essentially unchanged, with its iconic pier at the centre of things. It was thronged with holidaymakers, relaxing with ice-creams and munching on freshly fried fish and chips.

Back in the late 1990s I wasn’t a habitual photographer, but this time was struck by the beauty of Cromer’s location. The wide stretch of coast that glimmered with gold at dusk, and the rows of candy-striped beach huts.

The town’s architecture is richly-coloured with turreted Victorian houses and full of the detail I maybe didn’t notice the first time around.

Cromer is a long way from Manchester and north-west England’s Irish sea coast but was worth the trip. Nostalgia and fresh eyes can often work hand in hand.

Have you gone back to a memorable place years later? Tell us about it in the comments section below!

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