Exploring Birmingham

After a lazy start we ambled over to the Jewellery Quarter of Birmingham where every street is lined with shops selling all kinds of watches, rings, necklaces and every other type of jewellery you would want. It was a good place to for Keith to pick up a good quality watch strap.
Matthew Boulton moved from Sheffield to Birmingham when the steel industry collapsed after the end of the Napoleonic war. In Birmingham there were no trade Guilds so artisans had the freedom to develop their business skills. The Jewellery Quarter was gradually established using whole families many of whom were relocated from Digbeth. The area is unique as there is no other historic townscape like it in the world.
From there we visited The Pen Room that is the home of the Birmingham Pen Trade Heritage Museum. We were shown how pen nibs were made using hand operated fly presses. The museum houses literally thousands of different designs of pen nibs some quite ornate. The trade placed Birmingham at the centre of pen making during the 19th Century establishing over 100 companies and kept it there until it's decline after the 2nd World War.
Truly Birmingham has a lot to offer the tourist and there will be ample for us to see during our next visit.