Before we get into the actual blog topic, a friend of mine is doing a 10km run to raise money for Mind, the Mental Health Charity. That's pretty cool. I couldn't run that far, even if I was being chased by the Spice Girls. But the charity in question is one that matters to me. As someone who is clearly fucked in the head, I can tell you now, it's hard to find help for mental health issues. Currently in the UK, suicide is the biggest killer of men under 45, what with them not allowed to have emotions without being called sissies. But suicide is awful no matter what you got between your legs. What annoys me is that everyone on the internet says things like "We need to talk more about mental health and help people" but, as soon as someone says "I need help," 90% of those people suddenly have other things to do, and that's why Mind is important. They provide genuine help. If you want to donate money to my friends fundraiser, click here. Shes smashed her target, but go smash it some more.
Anyway, on with the blog! Long time readers will know that my love for forbidden tourism originates from taking to the rooftops to photograph the view. I've done this in Shrewsbury for almost a decade, and taken my addiction to other towns such as Oswestry and Crewe, but I've never done it in a busy city, until now. The buildings are a lot higher than the ones I usually climb. Sure, I climbed St Chads and I've been right to the tip of Shrewsburys market clocktower, but those were one-offs. Standard rooftopping in Shrewsbury gets me maybe four floors up. In Birmingham, everything's bigger.
The city is perpetually busy so stealth is really out of the question. Nevertheless I was determined to do it. And just because I haven't been crazy enough lately, I decided to do it during the whole Storm Freya thing. The media says that the winds are at something like 80mph, which sounds pretty brutal. But then last blog post, the media said in their "police-aren't-doing-enough" article that the nearest police custody suite to Walsall Police Station was ten miles away, when someone who actually lives in the area corrected me, saying that theres one just two or three miles away in Bloxwich. It's my fault really, for not double checking, and simply regurgitating information. I should know better. Either way, it tends to be the case that the mainstream media will exagerate certain things to push their fear-mongering narrative.
So fuck you, mainstream media. I'm going to climb in Storm Freya.
This is only actually the third time in my life that I've willingly been to Birmingham. Sure, I've been here more times than that, but usually on my way to somewhere else, changing at the station. It's very rare that I'll go to Birmingham out of a desire to see Birmingham. But when I heard that Birmingham was good for rooftopping I decided to check it out.
Underneath where it says "Centre City" there's a bit of faded lettering. Clearly the original lettering was in all capitals but someone thought "That looks like we're shouting at everyone. Let's make it look more welcoming."
Ironically nobody on ground level noticed.
I actually feel very at home in the cities, and I wish I had more reasons to spend time here.
By the time I headed back to ground level, the sun was beginning to set. It made for some interesting shots, but with the weather so eratic in the midst of Storm Freya, I was beginning to freeze.
I am addicted though, and I wasn't about to call it a day just yet.
To be honest, Birminghams not a bad city. I can fart freely here, and nobody minds. They just think "Oh, Birmingham smells especially Birminghammy today!"
It's not as pretty as Manchester, but it has a certain charm to it. Of course, I find anything pretty when I'm viewing it from the rooftops. I think people get so hung up on clockwatching and money making that they forget what's really worth looking at.
Rooftopping is fun, and relaxing. For me it's also an addiction, and coping mechanism for my previously mentioned messed-up head. It's not that I'm unhappy. I love being me. I'm having the time of my life being me.
I just struggle to feel comfortable with the humans on ground level, that's all. I have friends, obviously, but I'm as socially graceful as a diarrhea on white bedsheets. I very rarely socialise, finding it easier to avoid humans entirely when I can. My inability to achieve a sense of belonging is something I should probably get help for, but as mentioned, I am pretty happy with what I have. It's not a bad thing to be different.
Anyway, as Storm Freya continued, and the sun set, I decided to climb an even higher building and cling to life pathetically. Its a miracle any of these pictures came out remotely in focus given that photos were taken swiftly in between long periods of trying not to die.
If I ever do fall and die, can someone get Jess to carry on the blog? I know she's from Telford, but she's not completely illiterate.
Well, as you probably guessed from the fact that I've done a blog on it, I did survive Storm Freya, and I have absolutely no regrets.
To conclude, Birmingham is a fun city to go rooftopping in, although had I been caught I expect the punishment would have been pretty brutal. However, Birminghams not done with its secrets just yet, so no doubt I'll be back at some point. But next blog I'm actually meandering around the West Midlands some more to a little derelict place that I call the Bat Castle. Because it looks like a castle, and it has bats in it. After that, I'm looking at a derelict church. In the meantime, share this blog, Like my Facebook, Follow my Instagram, Subscribe to Jess's Youtube to see me in video format, and follow my Twitter to see if I ever update it.
Thanks for reading!
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