St Paul's Church, Birmingham, Spring 2023

St Paul’s church is situated in the Jewellery quarter and is a picturesque escape from the busy city centre which is only a stone’s throw away.  The square has so much character and is always a delight to visit.  I was dropping off my picture with the RBSA gallery and happened to have half an hour to spare.  I wandered around the perimeter of the square.  Immediately I saw that there were some early displays of daffodils on the east side of the square.  The picture of the daffodils with the church in the background is one that I have tried before.  This time the picture caught the imagination of social media.  The image was featured in England’s Big Picture and Independent Birmingham Instagram and Twitter pages.  

St Paul's Church, Birmingham, Spring 2023
The church interior with the central picture of the Conversion of Saint Paul.

As I walked around to the church entrance, I noticed that it was open and so I ventured inside.  I have been inside a few times before but never with my camera.  The sun was streaming in through the windows making a lovely scene of shadows and light.  The pictures of the church, which is a grade I listed building, show the features.  The East window has a enamelled stained glass window depicting the Conversion of Saint Paul.  The organ has a long history including when it was built and a list of organists over the years.  The pews have doors to them and there is a sign indicating that Mathew Boulton had a pew in the Church as the photograph shows.  

St Paul's Church, Birmingham, Spring 2023
Mathew Boulton worshipped at Saint Paul’s Church
St Paul's Church, Birmingham, Spring 2023
The organ has a long history.

The Millennium window caught my eye. This was sponsored by the Birmingham Assay Office. There was a competition and the winner was Rachel Thomas with her stained glass window ‘The Angel’s Crucible’ based on Job 28.  

St Paul's Church, Birmingham, Spring 2023
The Millennium stained glass window is worth a visit in its own right.
St Paul's Church, Birmingham, Spring 2023
The splendid eagle lecture.
St Paul's Church, Birmingham, Spring 2023
Beautiful light inside the church.

There is much much more including the Eagle pulpit, the organ with its history and the balcony surrounding the inside view. There is so much to write about and once you have looked at the photographs then be sure to visit the webpages of the church and more about the history. I will leave you with a few photographs of the outside of the church including the resident pigeons.

St Paul's Church, Birmingham, Spring 2023
This couple is walking past the church towards the Jam House onto the skyscrapers of Snowhill
St Paul's Church, Birmingham, Spring 2023
The residents of St Paul’s Church and Square.
St Paul's Church, Birmingham, Spring 2023
A view of the church in-between the trees.

Sunrise at the BullRing

Thursday 5th November was the start of Lockdown #2. As I pass via town on my way to work, I took the opportunity of getting my camera out to record events on this particular day. I was near to the Bull Ring and as luck would have it the sunrise was spectacular with a pinky orange tint to the clouds. I was never in Birmingham for the last lockdown so I wanted to capture the atmosphere of this event. First there were people around, not many but I suspect more that there were in March/April. There were more pigeons than people and i am not sure if it was my imagination but there was a feeling of acceptance to the new restrictions. It was quiet and people moved briskly through the area.

Sunrise over Selfridges
Sunrise over Selfridges
People going to work oblivious of the sunrise.
People going to work oblivious of the sunrise.
The Bull is still there
The Bull is still there
Single Figures move through the empty passageways
Single Figures move through the empty passageways

My pictures were around the Christmas tree outside St Martin’s Church, up to Selfridges and then past the Bull and down onto New Street. I myself did not linger very much as I was very conspicuous with my Canon D5 camera. Whilst I love my IPhone camera, the time is coming to invest in a new compact camera that does not draw attention.

Empty platforms at New Street
Empty platforms at New Street
Reflections in the passageways
Reflections in the passageways
Catching the tram
Catching the tram
On their way to work
On their way to work

On my way back I saw two young people by Selfridges. The pictures show some form of tension between them and the surroundings, especially the picture that is looking upwards towards them. Finally I also saw that the scaffolding is going up around Selfridges and there will be some new photographic opportunities of the specially designed covering going up.

Waiting and watching
Waiting and watching (buy a copy)
Waiting and watching
Waiting and watching
Last word from the pigeons
Last word from the pigeons LOL