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I attended the Railway Stations Update meeting last Wednesday, and have summarised the content, with help from the Kings Heath Neighbourhood Forum. Opening timeline The new stations on the Camp Hill Line are expected to open to passengers in 2026.  No exact date has been fixed yet. Based on the meeting, the opening is likely between March 2026 and July 2026.  They emphasize that this uncertainty isn’t due to construction delays: the physical works (platforms, buildings etc.) are still on track to be finished by end of 2025 as previously announced.  The delay in announcing a date is largely due to the time needed for the “Entry into Service” process: testing, training, certification, and transfer of ownership to the operator.  An added complication is that West Midlands Trains’ ownership is changing to public ownership in February 2026, which overlaps with that handover/entry-into-service period.  Station & highway works status Kings Heath  • Most...

Had a look around one of Birmingham’s oldest surviving buildings, The Golden Lion in Cannon Hill Park, before the restoration work begins. Dating back to the late 16th century (c.1570–1590) and originally built in Deritend High Street, it is thought to have served as a guild hall linked to St John’s Chapel, later becoming a clergy house, school, tannery, and by the 18th century, a pub named The Golden Lion. By the early 20th century, road widening threatened its survival. In 1911, the Birmingham Archaeological Society dismantled it piece by piece and rebuilt it in Cannon Hill Park, where it became a refreshment room and cricket pavilion. The following year, in 1912, suffragettes attempted to burn it down during their campaign for votes for women, causing fire damage to the timber frame. The building fell into disuse in the late 20th century and has stood derelict for over 20 years. It is now Grade II-listed, but fenced off and in poor condition. In 2023, a grant of £32,000 funded a det...

Herbert Manzoni isn’t exactly a household name—unless your nan's house was knocked down to make way for a ring road. But there’s no denying the mark he left on the city.  Born in 1899, Manzoni trained as a civil engineer before becoming Birmingham’s City Engineer in 1935 and Planning Officer in 1938. With war damage, traffic chaos, and outdated housing pressing down on the city, he saw a rare opportunity to start over. “ Herbert always had a ruler in one hand and the future in the other.” — Charles Bird, Assistant Engineer, Birmingham City Council (1971) Manzoni believed in mobility, efficiency, and clean modern living. Victorian Birmingham, with its cramped back-to-backs and narrow streets, didn’t meet his brief. During his tenure as Birmingham City Engineer and Surveyor (1935–1963), and with housing a major focus of urban redevelopment, he spearheaded some of the most significant and controversial projects in Birmingham’s modern history. His belief that "The slum cannot be...

Been driving across the land this week. It's apparent that driving standards have lowered, but it needn't be a race to the bottom. Don't get vexed: simply apply the rules of CPAZM ( Craig Pullen Approach to Zen Motoring). Let people through. Watch as the congestion clears around you; it matters not if a person you don't know gets to their destination before you get to yours. Everyone has lapses of concentration, or gets in the wrong lane occasionally, including you. Forgive them. Don't allow others to draw you into their desire for conflict. It's not your duty to regulate someone else's speed. Move over. They'll be waiting at the lights soon enough; Be the lane change you want to see in the world. Give yourself extra time*, and waiting in a queue just becomes sitting down, listening to a podcast/sick beats, in a comfortable place. Put a hobnob in your obsolete tax disc holder. Don't forget: you are not stuck in traffic: you ARE traffic. *T...

The Jaguar Type OO concept. Here it is then. There was always going to be a car. The teaser campaign was just that, a teaser. Somehow, the relaunch of a traditional, and, for most of its history, unsuccessful car company got wrapped up in the culture wars. The new brand's typeface, with its mix of upper and lower case may not be to everyone's taste, resulting in notable commentators decrying it as "woke". Those "woke" slogans? "Copy Nothing" was inspired by Jaguar's founder, Sir William Lyons; a man not known for his progressive politics. Musk tweeting "do you sell cars?", Farage predicting "'Jaguar will now go bust. And you know what? They deserve to". How to square the patriotism of Farage with his will for a company which manufactures and designs cars in the UK to go bust? Those who complain the teaser destroyed Jaguar's heritage seem unaware that ripping up and starting again is an intrinsic part of the company...

Trip to Warwickshire to see, and bring biscuits (Liebniz, Viennese Whirls, Fruit Shortcake) to my friend Robin Fearn, a.k.a Busmeister, a leading light of the VW T3 scene. Amongst the customer vehicles (Robin has just completed a PD 130 conversion to the recently reupholstered Doka on the ramp), we see his Carat which, when his client order book allows, will receive V8 might from a donor S6, and ride on Porsche Sport Design 18's. Also seen here, Robin's Massala Red panel van, recently converted to MK3 GTi 8v propulsion, the 16v's manifold being too large for the bay. Finally, we see a customer's Doka, with bespoke rear panels and a new A8 subframe, waiting in the paint booth, shortly to receive V8 brawn from an S8. More on Robin here: https://busmeister.com/