Brum's night life.
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11TH AN anticipated 50,000 attendance at this ear's International Motor how, there are obviously oing to be problems in nding accommodation rithin the Birmingham area. hose who plan their visit rell in advance should not be isappointed.
The National Exhibition CenHotel Information Bureau is been established to assist thibition visitors and exhibiors attending events at the EC. Located in the piazza ongside the entrance to Hall 4 le bureau has telephone and ilex links with all Midland otels. It also keeps a record of
commodation available uring the busy exhibition Briods. City centre hotels in irmingham and Coventry, the any motorway hotels, guest ouses, country inns and tourist aunts in and around Stratfordpon-Avon are all carefully ionitored.
Advance reservations can be lade by the bureau for all types I accommodation. They can Is° book or provide backround information on special icilites, such as conference and leeting rooms and venues for 3ceptions and other functions. Staff are on duty throughout le day at each exhibition and if isitors have not booked before ttending an exhibition, they are ble to advise which hotels have )oms available.
For visitors arriving at Iirmingham Airport, there is a reephone service direct to the Tformation bureau.
A night service operates /londay to Wednesday each iteek until 10.00pm and every ight during the peak exhibition Imes.
To cope with the extra denand for accommodation luring major events, a register if over 1,000 homes has been ompiled by the bureau. All hese homes are within 15km of he NEC and provide comfortlble and inexpensive bed and weakfast accommodation for ixhibition visitors.
The register is being contantly updated and extended to neet the demands of the larger hows. All homes are inspected before being recommended by the bureau.
Flats and houses convenient to the centre can also be let on short term through the bureau.
With the comprehensive transport arrangements now available from the surrounding cities and towns direct to the NEC during major exhibitions, it is no longer necessary to look for hotel accommodation in the vicinity of the NEC. One can look as far afield as Stoke-on-Trent or Stratford-upon-Avon.
For those who wish to make their own arrangements, several easy-reference hotel guides are available from the City of Birmingham Publicity Depart ment and the NEC information bureau. These give a summary of the facilities available and current rates. The majority of hotels are able to send descriptive colour brochures on request.
Many of the larger hotels are part of a hotel group and a telephone call to the central reservation office will give full information on available accommodation.
This year hoteliers have worked in conjunction with the NEC and are offering evening entertainment for guests and visitors who do not wish to venture far from the hotel.
An excellent fortnightly publication called What's on in and around Birmingham is avail able free from hotels, libraries and information bureaux in the Midlands. This publication gives lots of information on events in the Midlands. Entertainments listed include cinemas, exhibitions, music, night clubs, sport, theatre and restaurants.
Another free publication is the Visitors Guide to Birmingham. It is available from the NEC.
Many visitors to the Midlands fail to appreciate that Birmingham is very much an international business centre with its great post-war develop ment schemes. However, old habits die hard and the new places need finding.
Most of Birmingham's top restaurants and hotel resta ants are in the city centre. For instance the Albany Hotel in the Smallbrook Queensway features two new restaurants. The Four Seasons offers an international menu with specialities for each of the four seasons. The Carvery serves prime roast joints ' of beef, pork and lamb, together with all the trimmings. The meal with starter and sweet courses come at a fixed all-inclusive price.
The Castillane Restaurant at the Midland Hotel is renowned for its good food, with a high standard of English and French cuisines and a good wine list. For a quicker meal, the hotel's Peel's Grille offers quick grills and steaks.
The Cardinal Restaurant of the Grand Hotel offers an extensive a la carte menu and the chef will prepare any European, Eastern or American dish. The Silver Birch and Joint Room are less formal restaurants and offer "competitively priced meals.
The Birmingham Centre Hotel, New Street, and the Imperial Hotel, Temple Street, are also noted for excellent food and drink served in attractive settings.
The Angus Steak House at the Royal Angus Hotel, St Chad's Queensway is very popular for those who go for succulent steaks and fine wines and the Captain's Table of the Holliday Inn, Holliday Street, offers a choice of well-prepared international dishes.
A new restaurant which offers a large and exclusive menu is The Celebrity, 3 King Alfreds Place (off Broad Street). Many of the speciality dishes on the menu are prepared at the table and the atmosphere is complemented by international cabaret attractions.
For those who wish peace and quiet The Pickwick in Needless Alley (off New Street) with its "olde worldesurroundings provides the correct setting for its varied menu of international cuisine with English, French, Belgian, German and Turkish specialities.
The Burlington, Burlington Arcade, New Street, offers good traditional English and Continental food.
If you fancy an Italian meal, then try La Lanterna in Hurst Street and Lorerrzo's, 3 Park Street, as both of these enjoy a wide reputation in the Midlands.
The Belvedere, Birmingham Shopping Centre, specialises in pizzas and pastas and Gino's Restaurant, Bull Ring Centre, is claimed to be the city's earliest Italian restaurant.
The Danish Food Centre, 10 Stephenson Place, offers a wide choice from the a la carte Danish speciality menu or self-service from the Danish Cold Table with its selection of over 30 beautifully garnished hot and cold dishes.
For Chinese meal addicts The Show Boat, 3 St Martin's House Parade (just off the Bull Ring), has a reputation for being one of the best Chinese restaurants in Britain. It specialises in Pekinese and Cantonese dishes.
Also worth a visit is the Shanghai House, 59 Station Street, and the House of Callis tephus, West Court: Birmingham Shopping Centre, The Rajdoot, Albert Street, is one of several Indian restaurants in the city. This one features genuine North Indian cuisine, its speciality being Tandoori — charcoal clay-oven barbecue cooking.
The Salamis Kebab House, 178 Broad Street, and the Romantica Taverna, 115 John Bright Street, are commended Greek restaurants.
Just west of the city is the Hagley Road where there are several top quality restaurants, among them the Plough and Harrow which offers an extensive menu of English and French a la carte dishes with a good assortment of main courses. Further along the road is the Lambert Court Hotel which is known as the "hotel in a garden".
The Hagley Road also has a good selection of restaurants and grills. The Romulus offers good quality food and drinks at a realistic price whilst the Duck Inn has a charcoal grill restaurant in an aide worlde setting.
Travelling out to the suburbs, Sutton Coldfield, some five miles from the city centre, has the Penn's Hall Hotel, Walmley and the Moon Hall, Four Oaks. This has a famous French restaurant and a good value carvery.
Diment's French restaurant, 65 Birmingham Road, has an intimate and informal atmosphere and enjoys a reputation for the best in French cuisine.
La Copper Kettle is a bistro at 151 Milcote Road, Bearwood .(west of the city centre). This had a Provencal cuisine of true gourmet standard and moderate prices.
There are many other sub urban restaurants which cater for all tastes. The Tudor, 1039 Stratford Road, Hall Green, has a reputation for fine quality Italian and English foods whilst Giovanni's, Poplar Road, Kings Heath, is well worth a visit.
For those staying at Stratford-upon-Avon the Dirty Duck (Black Swan Hotel) is a must. It is a waterside pub with an olde worlde atmosphere which is popular with actors and visitors to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.
Visitors to the Theatre may like to dine at the Theatre Restaurant which overlooks the River Avon. Non-theatre patrons are also welcome.
The Welcome Hotel, Warwick Road, is an old manor house, with Jacobean-style gables and chimneys, set in 40 acres of parkland. There is a good selection of mainly French dishes, plus many classic dishes and unusual additions.
Travelling further afield, there is the Beaudesert on the Birmingham Road, near Henley-in-Arden. This is a small family restaurant and recommended for its French cuisine. Also near Henley is the Bull's Head, Wootton Wawen. It is a 14th-century country inn with attractive bars and restaurant offering a range of English, French and Italian dishes.
The Chesford Grange Hotel, Kenilworth, Warwickshire, has an extensive carvery and a la carte restaurant.
Evening entertainment and a cabaret show has been arranged for the Motor Show period.
For the romantics, the Florentine, 15 Kenilworth Road, Knowle, is a small intimate candlelit Italian restaurant with a good wine list.
The Eathorpe Park Hotel, Fosseway, near Leamington Spa, has only been open a few weeks and offers a vast range of five-course gourmet dinners in a very pleasant atmosphere. This hotel is owned by a road haulier and a welcome is extended to all transport men and their ladies.
Classic French and English cuisine is offered at the Belfry Hotel, Wishaw, Sutton Coldfield, and the hotel overlooks the local golf course.
The Brookhouse Inn at Flolleston-on-Dove (near Burton-on-Trent) is a converted 17th-century farmhouse housing a unique gourmet restaurant serving international cuisine.
The City of Birmingham has a variety of late evening clubs where music and bar service is available until the early hours of the morning. Should the club require membership, you can become a temporary member upon arrival, with the exception of casinos, where a 48-hour advance membership applies.
You can also eat in the restaurants and bistros in the club. The NEC information bureau has full details of special admission offers and can make all bookings free of charge.
The Opposite Lock incorporates a variety of differentlystyled night spots situated on the banks of the Gas Sreet canal basin off Broad Street.
The club claims fame as a centre of world-class jazz and superb cuisine. It caters for a variety of mature tastes with music, including a resident trio and disco.
An intimately candlelit bistro serves an international a la carte menu through to 2.00am, whilst Martin's room is claimed to be one of the most luxurious and sumptuous night spots in the whole of the Birmingham club scene. It is dedicated to satisfying the most discerning tastes in music and company.,
King Arthur's Court is a candlelit medieaval banqueting hall offering a seven-course meal and non-stop entertainment. Certainly a challenge for transport men!
From the club a longboat commutes regularly along the canal to the group's countr) club The Engine House, Tarde bigge, Worcestershire, when the cuisine and music are to thE same standards.
The Prohibition Restauran. and Night Spot, 3 Park Street, noted for its superlative wini and food complemented b. music from the resident jazz trio vocalist and visiting jazz stars.
The club has a TwentiestylE decor with framed pictures o film personalities from the erE around the walls, mirrors, E gaily lit bar and plush sof. chairs.
Chaplins, 170 Broad Stree. .(near Five Ways), is a qualit) night club which offers an in timate and friendly atmosphere with excellent waitress service from the Chaplin's Chicks, whc are Birmingham's answer to the Playboy Bunnies and Penthouse Pets.
This is a sophisticated clut recommended for the more "mature" person. It is furnishec to reflect the Chaplin age. Period pictures hang on the walls and there are velvei coverings and curtains in the club's Limelight Restaurant. Entertainment includes groups, bands and a DJ.
La Dolce Vita cabaret, discc and night spot is a popular city night club. It is located at the junction of Hurst Street and Smallbrook Queensway and ideally just three minutes from New Street Station.
It enjoys a reputation for international cabaret and colourful decor. There is ample room to move about and explore for La Dolce Vita caters for all tastes.
The restaurant facilities provide a wide choice of menus — from a three-course meal to a basket meal. Drinks can be served at tables by attractive waitresses, or at one of the many bars. Each night's entertainment includes star cabaret, dancers and a choice of disc jockey.
The Rum Runner, 273 Broad Street, is a famous and wellestablished olde-worlde cellartype nightclub. Giant wine barrels line one wall and there is a fine selection of wines to choose from.
The club has a good reputation for a wide variety of a la carte cuisine and drinks at sensible prices. The New Castaways, Bradford Street, is yet another night spot which attracts internationally known stars. A brightly decorated Captain's Disco caters for disco enthusiasts and the Main Cabaret Room with its long bar and adjacent Ship Bar provides a relaxed, soft-lights atmosphere and seats 400.
This is a friendly night spot for the over-21s, with excellent service and good value for money. The restaurant provides a la carte and budget menus. Away from the city centre is the La Reserve Theatre Restaurant set in the 2,500 acres of Sutton Park — an area of open heathland only 20 minutes from the city centre.
There is no admission charge and children are welcome. A cabaret show lasts 11/2 hours and features resident showgirls and top international stars.
The Cedar Club, Constitutional Hill (just off the city centre), is known as a club for the m6re mature night club visitor. Its atmosphere is sophisticated and yet relaxed. After a busy day at the show this is a place where you can unwind with a drink and enjoy a meal, or dance. There are at least 15 popular top night spots in the city as well as several major and studio theatres, luxury cinemas, regular concerts or rock, jazz, folk and classical music and excellent sports facilities for both participant and spectator. Further details may be found in the publication Visitors' Guide to Birmingham and the local daily press.
Birmingham is surrounded by typically English countryside — quiet meadows and wooland, sleepy olde-worlde villages, impressive castles and ancient churches. Within easy reach are the cathedral cities of Worcester, Lichfield and Coventry, the magnificent castles of Worcester and Kenilworth and interesting historic houses of Coughton Court, Ragley Hall, Packwood House and Compton Wynyates. For those who like wandering, around museums and art galleries there are the Avoncroft Museum of Buildings, Bromsgrove; Royal Shakespeare Theatre Pictuse Gallery, Stratford-upon-Avon; The Doll Museum, Warwick; Dr Johnson's birthplace, Lichfield; Staffordshire County Museum and Mansion• House, Shugborough; Dyson Perrin's Museum of Worcester Porcelain, Worces ter; lronbridge Gorge Museum, lronbridge; Coalbrookdale Museum and Furnace Site, the iron bridge itself and Blist's Hill Open Air Museum. Historic houses are numerous but the most interesting are Ragley Hall, Alcester; Charlecote Park, Warwick; Packwood House, Hockley Heath; Boscobel House, Shifnal, and Shugborough, Great Haywood. Zoos and wildlife parks are always of interest to children and the most popular are W6st Midlands Safari Park near Kidderminster, Dudley Zoo in the grounds of Dudley Castle, Twycross Zoo Park, Atherstone and Drayton Manor Park and Zoo near Tamworth.
Parks and gardens provide a relaxing atmosphere and those worth visiting include Hidcote Manor Gardens, Broadway Tower Country Park and Spetchley Park near Worcester.
The City of Birmingham has interests to suit most tastes. Popular museums and art galleries are Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery, Con greve Street, Museum of Science and Industry, Newhall Street; Cannon Hill Natural History Museum, Pershore Road, Selly Park; Barber Institute of .Fine Arts, The University of Birmingham, and the Birmingham Railway Museum, Warwick Road, Tyseley. St Philip's Cathedral, Col-. more Row, the Metropolitan Cathedral Church of St Chad, Bath Street, and St Martin's Parish Church are always worth a visit.
Those who like looking at historic buildings will find that they are well catered for with Aston Hall, Blakesley Hall, Blakesley Road, Yardley; Sarehole Mill, Cole Bank Road, Hall Green; Birmingham Town Hall, Victoria Square; Hall of Memory, and Weoley Castle, Alwold Road, Selly Oak. Returning to nature and forgetting transport is made easy by visiting the Canon Hill Nature Centre, Pershore Road; the Botanical Gardens, Edgbaston; Canon Hill Park, Edgbaston; Lickey Hill just by the Austin Motor Company (now, of course, British Leyland), Longbridge; Queensway Park, Harborne, and Sutton Park.
The main shopping centres in the city are the Bull Ring and Birmingham Shopping Centres, New Street, Corporation Street, High Street and Bull Street. Most of the centres are traffic free and pedestrianised, with large department stores. There are 20 swimming pools, including an open-air lido at Stechford, eight municipal golf courses, plus 41 private clubs, in the area, tennis and bowls in most parks; Warwickshire County Cricket Club at Edgbaston; football — Aston Villa at Villa Park; Birmingham City at St Andrew's, West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthornes; Moseley Rugby Union Club at The Reddings, ten-pin bowling, squash courts, speed-. way, cycle racing, greyhound racing, ice skating, Edgbaston Reservoire — a 60-acre lake for sailing, racing, canoeing and fishing — and finally the Wyndley Leisure Centre, Clifton Road, Sutton Coldfield where there are facilities for indoor sports.
Useful names and addresses
O Information Bureau, National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham B40 1NT. Telephone: 021-780 4141; 0 City of Birmingham Publicity Department, 110 Colmore Row, Birmingham B3 35H. Telephone: 021-235 2007.
0 Trust Houses Forte, 71 Uxbridge Road, London W5 55L.
Tel: 01-567 3444; Ej Embassy Hotel, Burtonupon-Trent, 'Staffs DE14 1BZ.
Tel. 0283 66587.
0 Thistle Hotels, PO Box IRA, Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE99 1RA.Tel: 0632-21073;' O Falcon Inns, 66 Hammersmith Road, London W14 OPA.
Tel: 01-603 8785; 0 Grand Metropolitan Hotels, Stratford Place, London W1A 4YU.
Tel: 01-6296611.
O British Transport Hotels, PO Box 179, London NW1 2TU.
Tel: 01-278 4211; telex: 27863.
0 Tourist Information Cent-re,
Council House, Victoria Square, Birmingham Ba 1BB.
Tel: 021-235 3411/3412.
O Crest Hotels Tel 01-903 6422.
O De Vere Hotels 7 Queen Street, London W1X 8EP. Tel: 01-493 2114