A woman’s place is . . . representing Harborne

In a guest post for the Harborne Mile, Prospective parliamentary candidate for the Conservative Party Deirdre Alden (pictured)  predicts the General Election will bring national attention to the village for her fight for the Edgbaston seat with incumbent Labour MP Gisela Stuart.

Welcome to Harborne’s latest community blog! I’ve lived in the area for over 35 years – so I know what a great community atmosphere Harborne has. Harborne residents really care about

GiselaWatch – Jan 7

Gisela Stuart MP’s latest parliamentary intervention, as reported on the excellent They Work For You site. We’ll bring you occasional updates about what Gisela’s up to. She is our MP, after all. Look out also for DeidreWatch and MikeWatch.

On Tuesday, Gisela contributed this to the debate on the Yemeni situation:

• The Foreign Secretary mentioned radicalisation; will he undertake also to have close talks with the Saudi Government? They have some programmes that may seem unorthodox to some western eyes, but that nevertheless seem to be working in the Saudi and Arab context. I think that we should learn from that.

See the Foreign Secretary’s reply and the debate in full here

Buonissimo Lives up to its Name

I can remember when the choice in eating in Harborne was Jennings Fish and Chip shop in the High Street or – well there wasn’t really any other choice and you could forget about getting anything other than a bag of crisps or nuts in a pub.

Now thankfully, following somewhat of a foodie revolution in Brum, Harborne has its fair share of places to eat. I’ve tried a few but there’s one I keep going back too – Buonissimo the Italian restaurant in Albany Road.

It’s pretty well known, I’ve even said hello to Dalziel and Pascoe actor Colin Buchanan in there, but despite its popularity it has kept the things that make me and others want to go back.

Logging On

I’m Brian Homer and I was brought up in Harborne and lived there for 21 years – I now live on the BVT Estate in Weoley and work in the Jewellery Quarter  but still visit Harborne regularly to eat out, visit friends and shop.

I was at school at Emerson Road before it merged with Station Road, High Street before it closed and became the Clock Tower and Five Ways from just before it moved to Bartley Green. But none of these events were due in any way to me…

So my roots in Harborne run deep. My family rented a house on

Charity, churches and pubs, oh my!

Ok, turn to the person left of you and ask them what they know about Harbone. Chances are they’ll point out the generous number of local pubs – known affectionately as the Harborne Run by students and ale fans – the string of charity shops that punctuate the high street or the numerous village churches.  Am I right? This isn’t a bad way to see the place, it’s actually quite endearing, but it does make me wonder what else defines it. Surely there’s a bit more to Harborne? Right?

As a theatre worker and general arts enthusiast, I’m always keen to engage in the cultural life of the area I live in. Trouble is, where on

Run Harborne, Run

I was first introduced to the Harborne Run as a student at Birmingham Uni.  A legendary pub crawl of almost mythical proportions, I’m sure that back in those days there were close to 20 pubs to visit, but that could just be the beer goggles.

Today – by my counting – there are 11 pubs along Harborne high street and within walking distance. So rather than just post a few reviews of my favourites I thought it could be fun to invite a few interested folk to join me in the Harborne Run, and we can do some live reviewing

Hello from me

Hi, I’m Ruth and I’m looking forward to being one of the regular contributors to this blog. Harborne has always held a special place for me – my Grandparents lived here for many years, so it’s connected with very fond family memories. When I came to Birmingham for university, Harborne became a regular feature of my social life and over the past ten years I’ve moved in and out of Harborne three times.

I’m looking forward to sharing some of my favourite things about the place, as well as hopefully hearing about a few new ones!

A picture’s worth . . .

Many people have – quite rightly – commented that the picture at the top of this blog is not Harborne, and of course it should be. (actually as of tonight it is, since I braved the blizzards to go to the Harborne Tandoori armed only with an I-Phone and a woolly hat)

Absolutely agree, but I simply haven’t had time to go out with my box brownie and get some great new pictures.

Which is where you come in – if you want to help.

We’ve set up a new group on Flickr called The Harborne Mile, and if you’d like any of your pictures to be considered for the ‘masthead’ image at the top of the blog – or to be showcased elsewhere in the site, please join the group ad submit your pictures there.

Happy snapping!

Harborne Wives

I couldn’t resist posting this two-year-old clip by Steve Donovan. I recall it was to raise money for charity, but the link to his website is broken, so I don’t know how well it did. Get in touch, Steve.

Pub wars

Recession . . . MPs’ expenses . . . the war on terror. The Harborne Mile tackles the big issues.

This week: