This is my first opinion in quite a while now, and I have had to take a break recently due to me having an on-going battle with my computer's floppy drive. Despite my best efforts involving changing cables, disks and even nicking parts from my brother's computer, the damn thing still refuses to work. Craig is not a happy bunny. However I intend to solve the problem soon and will no doubt be at it again tomorrow with renewed vigour - even if the process includes a large hammer and a magnet, the thing will work eventually.
But anyway, enough of my random ramblings, let's start to talk about something more relevant. I've often read these city guide opinions, and so thought "Right, I'll add my own review of my humble town to the list." I was quite surprised to see that Walsall was included on the list - because let's face it, it might not be small, but it isn't the biggest town in the world.
I discovered, especially after spending 2 years at university, that there seems to be a lot of confusion over where abouts Walsall actually is. I've had people claim proudly to know where my abode is, only then to be asked: "Oh, are you Welsh then?!", "Oh cool, what part of Manchester is that in then?" or, "Oh yeah I know Walsall - I'm from London too." Hmmm …. To clear up any misunderstanding, Walsall sits right in the middle of England, nestled between Wolverhampton and Birmingham in the sunny West Midlands :).
-- What is Walsall famous for? --
Unfortunately, Walsall isn't really famous for a great deal I'm afraid. Our most well known exports are the insane 70s rocker Noddy Holder of Slade and the somewhat controversial Princess Diana statue (more on that later). However, whilst we can't boast such prodigies as Shaun Ryder or Jimmy Saville, Walsall has always had a bit of local history to interest the tourists. Walsall has always been
at the centre of some of the West Midlands' history, and even today, is still a leading producer of leather goods - indeed, even the Queen is known to get her horse's saddles made right here, in the centre of Walsall. As well as this, although admittedly much more prevalently in pre-world war 2 times, Walsall produced quite a lot of aircraft parts that were sent to the factories of Spitfires and Lancaster bombers and the like. As far as I know, this industry is all but dead now in our town, although there still exists a leather museum where exhibits from our past can be seen (I will point out, at this moment, that I've never been to the museum, I just know that it exists - just one of those things I think lol).
The final thing that us Walsallers can boast about are our illuminations. You see, if you want to see some light shows and comedic cartoon characters in pretty lights, you don't necessarily have to go all the way to Blackpool - why go to the cold north west when you can come to Walsall and see much of the same without sitting on a coach in a traffic jam for 3 hours? ;) The Arburetum is probably Walsall's largest park and is situated 5-10 minutes walk outside the town centre. Every year between September and November - it hosts a large collection of lights and laser shows - with admission being around £3 (or at least it was a few years ago when I last went). There's also a large boating lake and the standard park features to explore. Blackpoolers will tell you that our illuminations are their cast-offs from last year; now I don't know how much truth there is in this but we can still be proud can't we? :)
Being quite small, Walsall is, if not awkward, a little more difficult to get to than our larger neighbouring cities. It ix relatively easy to reach the town on the train, as it sits on the Stafford to Birmingham line - and as you can get to and from virtually anywhere via Birmingham New Street, its guaranteed only to be a 20 minute train journey from the country's 2nd city; (it is also possible to get to Walsall from Wolverhampton on the train, although this line is rarely used as the Birmingham one proves more popular). We've just had a new bus station built in the last year or so, and so this means new and improved bus facilities that can get you to a variety of places in the West Midlands. Services vary, and although many of the routes concentrate on the Walsall district and the surrounding boroughs, it is, to my knowledge possible to go further a field on the bus - i.e. to Birmingham International airport and to places such as Coventry.
One thing that does let Walsall down in the transport sector is the parking facilities available. It seems to me that a car park is shutting down every year in Walsall, making it more and more difficult to find a space on a Saturday afternoon - this is no major bother for locals as the bus services are generally extremely regular and efficient, but the efforts of local government to try and push the car out of the town centre have only made the roads more crowded and the drivers more irate.
-- Shopping and site seeing --
So by now, you should have made it into Walsall town centre - that's assuming that you actually want to get there, or I haven't put you off by now lol, but saying that, I do like Walsall centre a lot and much prefer it to neighbouring Wolverhampton and Willenhall. The great thing about Walsall town centre is that it is extremely compact, and everything is within easy reach - meaning that you won't be walking round loads of side streets and main roads to get to the shops you want. The main street, Park street, has now been pedestrianised, and this is where you are likely to find all your familiar big name shops - WH Smith's, Next, Itam etc … you get the picture. Only a few hundred metres away and you turn onto our other main shopping zone, Bradford Street - where you'll find yet more retailers; and although there are far more independent name shops here, you'll still find your MVCs and Virgins, so to speak. Oh! And if you still fancy More shopping, as I'm sure many women would anyway, there's the Saddler Centre which houses yet more shopping delights including the Huge Argos (possibly biggest in the West Midlands) and a few rather nice sandwich places too.
Then, if you're quite fed up of retail therapy, there's the art gallery. This is one of the prominent parts of Walsall's Warf, that is finally approaching completion. The big disappointment about the art gallery is the appalling way that it looks - a large grey concrete block that really spoils the effect that the local land designers were trying to create. Ok, it ain't the picturesque canal side scene that is Brinley Place in Birmingham, but they could have made a bit more of an effort surely! Mind you, step inside and your initial disappointment should be quelled - people come from all over the Midlands to see the artwork and exhibitions on show here …. Oh and even to laugh at the talking lift whose voice is rumoured to be …. Yes you guessed it, Noddy Holder!. Apart from this, there's little left to do apart from to indulge in a little …..
-- Food and drink --
Walsall has had a big face lift over the last 5 years or so - shops are opening each week and in an attempt to clear up Walsall's somewhat dubious nocturnal image, security cameras have been fitted and a whole variety of new bars and restaurants opened. All the obvious fast food names such as Burger King and MacDonald's are present - with KFC sitting a little further out of town. If you fancy something cheap and cheerful though, there's the ubiquitous Weatherspoon's pub, The Imperial to be found on Darwall Street (within easy staggering distance of the bus station). Or, If you fancy something a little more stylish in terms of your scran, try the Italian restaurant, Sofia's or the café bar Milligan's (the latter to be found up near Walsall Central Library).There's a good handful of decent bars for us young 'ens to frequent such as Bar Sport and Two Toes, although no club's in the centre - it's a taxi ride to the nearest, Dream, I'm afraid.
-- Other issues of note --
Even those who aren't from Walsall can't have failed to notice news items that may have even featured on national television - remember I mentioned the statue of Diana, Princess of Wales? Well this was actually given as a gift to Walsall, mainly because nobody else was interested in receiving it ;) and was the work of Midlands sculptor/craftsman, Andrew Walsh. This statue, originally described as "Demonic" and "Bizarre" caused a huge uproar because it was "The wrong colour" - it was made from black marble. My family, friends and I have all been to see the statue, and none of us have problems with it - it looks quite nice in fact, but on account of all the complaints (mainly from pensioners as far as I am aware) the statue was removed from it's place in the bus station and now sits in the art gallery - where it appears to be causing less offence.
Top places to visit:
While in Walsall, there are definitely a few places that I just have to visit - so if you've got similar interests to me, and are in the area, you should certainly give these a try:
For all your music needs? Sundown Records - Bradford Street For all your musical instrument needs and maintenance? George's Instruments - Stafford Street For random cheap stuff? Pound Zone - Saddler Centre For some class and culture? The Art gallery - The Warf For local sport? Take a 5 minute train out to Bescot Stadium and watch Walsall FC's suspect defensive work For a good local style feed? Andy's Fish Bar - Lichfield Street
-- The verdict? --
Like any town, Walsall has it's problems. It's improving all the time and is being cleared up from the state it was in 10 or so years ago. You can expect to find the random skateboarding youths wielding baseball caps and cigarettes, they're everywhere after all - and some have been known to moan about the litter around town - its not brilliant, but they obviously ain't been to Wolverhampton! The whole new face of Walsall (The Warf in particular) hasn't actually been completed yet, so there's still some work going on around town - occasionally making it awkward, especially for me, to get around. On the positive side however, it is a town of some potential - and is generally quite a friendly place to be in (as long as you can understand the local accent of course ;)).
SO, if you have to travel hundreds of miles to get to Walsall - I wouldn't advise coming for a day out obviously, but if you're localish and fancy a change - why not pay us a visit …. I'll be waiting in The Imperial for my pint ;).
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