Selly Oak New Road demolition

demolition in advance of a new road
Originally uploaded by Nikki Pugh

They're starting to pull down the rest of the buildings just south of the University campus on Grange Road / Dale Road - including the old gun factory.

The pic on the right is of the buildings opposite - I love the clock tower in the distance partially obscured by rubble smoke. As for the gun factory itself, new_folder has a great picture of the demolition in progress.

It would be nice if developers officially gave people the chance to look around sites and take pictures before they are squished by big yellow machines. They could invite, say, local Flickr groups and/or local historians to preserve some images before everything's a big pile of rubble destined to live under a tarmac road.

65 Oakfield Rd - free tree info

65 Oakfield Rd - free tree info

If you find yourself wandering around B29 and wondering vaguely to yourself "what is that tree?", then the people at 65 Oakfield Road, apparently in conjunction with Bimringham City Council, have encircled a horse chestnut (I recognised it from the conkers :)) with a tree information booth.

Bizarre. But pleasing. Can we have more?

Perhaps an edible plant recognition system? Or a B29 celebs chart? *Are* there any B29 celebs?

Alice in Wonderland style shroom on Selly Wick Road

Alice in Wonderland shroom by pindecIt's worth a look if you're wandering past Selly Wick Road - about half way up the hill on the left (as you head upwards), nestled at the base of a tree belonging to a house on a corner.

It's ENORMOUS.

Although sadly lacking a smoking caterpillar.

B29 street sign hacks

From the people of Herons Way, who don't care for B29 and wish fervently to live in B18, to Cecil Road's nice use of pencil and red pens (and possible postcode correction to B9), we've been noticing a lot of sign hacks.

It's a nice way to gauge local feeling. Wouldn't it be great if every street designed their own street sign, rather than having one thrust upon them by the Council? There's nothing stopping us ...

We've spotted a few different styles from elaborate corrections to a lo-fi white sticker hack by Harrow (formerly Harrow Road) - are there any especially arty ones out there?

Let us know about any more you spy ...