Spirit of place: West Bromwich

Chelsea Girl, there's a blast from the past

Following a rather drunken conversation in the pub last night slagging the place off, to West Brom today, chiefly to go to the Nike factory shop.
I like West Brom, myself. And not just because it's full of gorgeous bits of rough in tracksuits with status dogs! It's one of those places that has alternated between extremes of poverty & the occasional flash of paternalistic do-gooding. At one end of the high street are the Town Hall & Library, both magnificent examples of early 20th century municipal architecture. The Town Hall is looking rather run down, although I've never been inside. The library has been done out inside & now the outside is covered in scaffolding. It is evident that while things have been initiated there, there has never been the money to maintain things. Sandwell is something like the sixth poorest area in the country.
The flip side of this coin is that there is a great diversity including LGBTQ presence in West Brom. I remember once being on a bus & two lesbians got on to go home after their civil partnership ceremony. Of course this also includes the various immigrant groups that have come over the years, & means it doesn't feel as insular as places which are predominantly or only white working class.
The pictures are of the Queen's Square shopping centre, opened in 1971. Now that West Brom is getting a face lift I hope they leave it alone, because it is relatively untouched. Looking at it today it must have been expensive in its day, lots of internal tilework that would have been labour-intensive. And it has been left alone since then, thus constituting a relic of the shopping centres I remember from my 70s childhood. Others have been altered beyond recognition, but this remains. It was designed by the - now - controversial architect John Madin, who was single-handedly responsible for most of the architectural disasters in the midlands over 30 years, including the doomed Birmingham Central Library. Queen's Square is one of his better efforts.
Nike shop & Tesco later, I wend my way home to cook a curry. I've also risked some press-ups after being on hold due to what turns out to be tennis elbow. No rude remarks now, I've heard enough recently, especially as my poor old knees have gone as well!
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