Digbeth is an area of Birmingham, UK to the south of the city centre.
In the 15 years or so of living in the area, it has changed fairly
dramatically and is set to radically change. However, this is nothing
new to Digbeth.
Nowadays, Digbeth and Deritend are considered the same area. However,
they were established as different sides of the river Rea and belonged
to different parishes. These are old areas with Digbeth first being
settled in the 7th century and Deritend being first mentioned in the
1200s. Deritend contains the oldest secular building in Birmingham,
the Old Crown pub which is claimed to date back to 1368. Evidence
points to the building being built in 1492. For the purposes of this
article, Deritend will be considered part of Digbeth. Sacrilege but
the river Rea now runs under the city and so it is hard to work out
which side of the river you are walking on.
Digbeth was the first area of Birmingham to be idustrialised and so
became one of the most heavily industrialised areas. Evidence to this
is through the sheer number of pubs in the area. In the 1700s there
were 20 pubs and some still remain. These are the Old Crown, White
Swan and Anchor. The Adam & Eve sadly succumbed to Covid lockdowns in
2020. The Grand Union canal which links Birmingham to London passes
through the area and links up to the Digbeth branch. The railways came
through on a huge viaduct. There is a second viaduct known as the
Bordesley Viaduct. This has no purpose what so ever as it was never
completed. The viaducts loom over all the buildings, providing some
small business space under the arches and forming a sort of boundary
for various areas.
Alongside all of the industry were homes. These were slums and subject
to significant health investigations by the 1900s. They were close to
on another and known as 'back to backs'. These houses were thankfully
torn down as part of slum clearances. Within Digbeth, there were 2
cultural quarters - the Italian quarter and the Irish Quarter. It is
hard to find mention of the Italian quarter now. The only reference I
am aware of is in an information board located in the Woodsman Pub by
Curzon Street and Millenium Point. The Irish quarter is represented
by a couple of Irish pubs. There was the Irish Cultural Centre but
this had to close reasonably recently.
The most well known businesses to a modern citizen which were located
in Digbeth were Typhoo Tea (left the area in 1978) and Bird's Custard.
The building inhabited by Birds is now known as the Custard Factory.
The building complex is a beautiful affair from 1902 which seems to
follow similar themes to many of the grand municipal buildings such as
swimming baths and police stations of the time. These are all red
brick with grand windows and ornate features. The Custard Factory has
turned into a cultural centre with hipster shops, art studios,
restaurants, venues and what not. It has been a good transition which
keeps a beautiful building part of the area.
The rest of Digbeth is a mix of 1800s and 1900s brick buildings. They
are often ugly, gaunt structures like the Cold Storage building by the
Bull Ring or they are 1950s affairs which had odd stylistic fronts and
uninspiring rears. These factories soon became empty from the 1970s
onwards. A new use was found in the 90s when dance music became a big
thing and raves were targetted by the authorities. Night life soon
became a key feature of the area. When I was first moved to Birmingham
in 2006, Digbeth was known for dodgy streets and EDM clubs. However,
things changed with the Custard Factory. Different and quirky venues
started to appear. The Digbeth Dining Club started in 2010 or 2011
under a railway arch with some street food vendors. Soon a venue
opened inside the viaduct and it became a place to start a night out.
Now, there are streets covered in street art, whimsical lighting,
bunting and businesses trying to offer a quirky night out. Ghetto Golf
is one such venue where it is mini-golf set in odd places such as a
bus and a toilet with lots of black light.
All of this nightlife is ideal in Digbeth. It is an area which
transforms without issue. In the day, businesses can still operate
without issue and at night, people can be noisy without worrying about
disturbing others. This is all at risk now as there is a desire to
demolish large swathes of industrial units to transform them into
flats. Yes, yet more flats towering over us. This means there is a
risk to all of the venues based on noise complaints. Venues have been
crippled by flats being built near by and people who have moved in
complaining about the noise. If you move somewhere next to a
superclub, how can you expect there to be no noise? The flat builders
will not soundproof the flats due to cost and so it is inevitable.
This scheme sadly got planning permission recently and so Digbeth
becomes residential once again. Birmingham seems set to be just empty
blocks of flats which people cannot afford to rent or buy. Built for
speculation without any architectural credibility. The only good thing
is that this is brown field and not green field. There is also the
whole HS2 destroying the area as well. Who would want to buy a swanky
flat when you know the next 10 years involve significant building
projects. There is even the whole destruction of the Oasis market and
weird 60s concrete mess end of the city too. I would prefer that
Digbeth be left to be a noisy area for both industrial use and as a
cultural playground. There are enough flats surrounding the rest of
the city centre. Long life creative nights out!
