Our streets are overrun with criminality linked to these properties, and the housing benefit team descends further into chaos ...

A dispatch from the UK’s capital of decline ...

That means for just £5 more than a regular ticket, you get entry to our event and a whole month of our independent Birmingham ...

Lawrence Barton's era of the Gay Village is ending. How successful was it? February, 2012. German disco group Boney M dance on the stage, head to toe in matching metallic outfits. A sweaty crowd jumps ...

A gathering at OIKOS cafe. Photo courtesy of OIKOS. The Telegraph slammed the area and one local said it was on the ‘verge of civil war’. What's it actually like? Dear readers — you asked, The ...

In Jane Austen’s 1815 novel Emma, the character Mrs Elton is scathing about some recent acquaintances. “They came from Birmingham, which is not a place to promise much, you know, Mr Weston. One has no ...

One of my earliest memories is from the old Birmingham Science Museum on Newhall Street. I don’t remember much about the exhibits or the building, except for one thing: the Smethwick Engine. I used to ...

The Midwich Cuckoos (1957) is perhaps the easiest of sci-fi author John Wyndham’s novels to love. You might ascribe this to its neat elevator pitch of a plot: one day, every woman in a village becomes ...

Birmingham deserves great journalism. You can help make it happen. You're halfway there, the rest of the story is behind this paywall. Join the Dispatch for full access to local news that matters, ...

Thousands of people grew up in the shadow of ‘the tall, skinny Courtaulds chimney’. Now they can’t help wondering about its legacy. My mum is on end of life care, visited regularly by nurses from a ...

Now a walking route, the city's first dedicated commuter line has a huge legacy It's one of the first sunny days of the year. Birmingham is in the news: the bin strike has just started and images of ...

Police have launched hot-spot Operation Fearless in Handsworth - some people aren't happy. Photo: Martin Pope. Hot-spot policing has arrived in Handsworth – and not everyone’s happy about it Dear ...