Even though it was every bit as cold and windy as this looks!
Next, it was off to Birmingham for a visit, a city of which I am very fond and, of course, the centre of the jewellery industry in the UK - despite what London would claim! I always love going there as it is not only still industrial and people actually make things there, but it is also genuinely multi-cultural and seems much more integrated than most of the rest of the UK. Add to the fact that it has some of the finest industrial landscapes and architecture within the city itself and it all becomes most appealing:
Although I was there for business reasons - which will be disclosed very soon - there was time to take in one of my favourite pursuits and to visit an abandoned factory. I noticed this when I was walking to the meeting in the morning, a hole in the wall off the canal footpath:
I knew that I was going to go back!
There are some phenomenal Victorian buildings in the city which has only really recently started to suffer from the "high-rise" syndrome of most other large cities in the UK, consequently the history of the place is still visible:
Unfortunately, all too many of these properties are in this sad condition.
After the meeting, I returned to the factory for more explorations -
I discovered from discarded paperwork that this place used to be a foundry and rolling mill for processing metal and that it shut down in 2006. It was also good to stock up on the nuts that I use for rings!
I then met up with an old friend, James, and we went off to explore one of the architectural oddities of the city, Pugin's positively Hanseatic St Chad's Cathedral:
This is a remarkable building for many reasons, for me largely to do with the disconnect between the expectation generated by the exterior structure and the unexpected Catholic opulence within:
I then spent some time catching up on the jewellery gossip with Norman Cherry - whom I have not seen in ages - before heading back to the hotel and Brighton.
For ages, I've been wanting to visit The Magic Circle in London for one of their tours and to see the museum and finally this happened. I had wanted to see it before preparing the work for the ACJ show, "Sleight of Hand", but lining up my own availability with the limited visiting was rather difficult. I didn't get a chance to take many photographs, but the tour is well worth taking as it comprises not only a visit to the premises and the museum but also two small magic shows, one close-up and one in the theatre at the top of the building.
The museum is brilliant and had an exhibit which would have been good to see before making the piece for the "Sleight of Hand" show, the cufflinks of Chung Lin Soo:
A few more shots from the museum:
Not much else to report except that the Brighton garden now has peanuts growing in it!
I just planted some unsalted, unroasted red-skin peanuts and they grew.