Caterham wrote:

so travelled a mere 16 miles (return trip) to Birmingham today and feel I ought to try and help improve the City which I'm happy to self fund if at all possible.

can anyone tell me if any of the ageing Trident submarines are up for grabs - it would obviously need to be fully equipped along with crew and if so at what cost?

a- stupid woman this morning ignores right turn only signs and white chevrons, then proceeds to squeeze between me and curb and clips my bumper,

b- stupid mothers leaving school in B'ham probably couldn't see where they were going so ignored x2 lollipop men and just walk out in front of me almost getting mowed down

c- further 500 yrds up road school has two lane entrance (1 in, 1 out), has large auto sliding gate opening from right to left if you're leaving school. moron waiting to leave thinks it's a good idea to overtake cars waiting for gate to fully open by going down the in lane only to almost go head on into bus entering school. he was clearly so kind of joker as he was wearing a hat similar to that of Tommy Cooper,

d- driving past my daughters school with numerous children around another moron on the phone (not hands free) is going the other way in his Porsche,

e- newly painted double yellows outside the office have I presume been repainted so the locals can see more clearly that they're parking illegally?

like I say B'ham is in need of some serious improvements

I was raised in Brum in the 1970s. I hear the city centre has undergone somewhat of a transformation. It needed it ! I used to go to Villa park for their home games and Blues when Villa were away. The area around both Camphill and Aston was as grim as it gets. I can't think of a more depressing cityscape than 1970s Birmingham - especially where I lived in Sparkhill. I hear the regeneration of the city has been pretty awesome though