Doors of Digbeth

On my travels, when I do a regular commute, I often take a number of different routes, just to break up the monotony of the journey.

My current trip is from home > my local station > New Street > Work (Millennium Point). Depending on my departure time (if I need to get washing up liquid, etc.), the route to work may vary. Betty is good like that – she’ll go where I go.

The usual route from NS to MP is: out the front entrance; turn left to go through Swan Passage; past Moor Street Station; down Moor Street Queensway; Past Hotel La Tour (crossing Park Street between Fazeley Street and Masshouse Lane); past the bus stops; down through Eastside Park and; into Millennium Point.

It’s a straightforward enough journey that get me to work in a reasonable amount of time.

This route might change if I go via Corporation Street; so that I can get some shopping from Poundland.

As the weather picks up, and the teaching load diminishes (or if I get up extra early because of the lighter mornings – does anyone else get that?), I might treat myself to alighting at University, riding along the canal, through to the Mailbox, past New Street Station and back en route. This is quite a nice way to cycle to work as a) it’s by the canal and b) it gives me more exercise.

In the summer months, I like to get away from the desk at lunchtimes. Previous years have seen all sorts of activities. My favourite so far (after they built the grassy knoll outside Millennium Point – I think this is Eastside Park), bar one, is a French game. We played Pétanque.

For the uninitiated, Pétanque is a French game where steel balls are tossed onto a semi hard surface (usually sand or fine grit, or in this case, grass). It’s sort of a cross between cricket and flat green bowling. A wooden cochonnet (piglet) is tossed onto the grass at the opposite side of the playing area (this changes as the game progresses), then the starting team toss their steel balls as close as they can to the cochonnet. The opposing team then have to try  and knock the balls out of the way in order to get as close as they can to the cochonnet. This keeps going until all player have had a turn and then the closest wins (or at least that’s how we play it).

Sometimes I’ll go for a walk.

However, this year I have a project. A photography project. Some will know that I’m a keen photographer (and occasional film-maker). And for a long time, I’ve been wanting to photograph some of the feature doors you find in Digbeth. The good thing about having Betty is that I can bring my camera to work and in the lunch breaks cycle to Digbeth and take some piccies. This all realy started with my Discarded 365 photoblog (where I tasked myself to upload, every day, an iPhotograph of found discarded items as I travelled around), and it was during this period that I stumbled upon some great door features in Digbeth.

So watch this space for more details.