Birmingham Dispatch

Introducing a fresh newspaper tailored for Birmingham and the West Midlands, sent directly to your email. Enjoy comprehensive journalism delivered to your inbox three times a week.

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Five students, a remote island, and the sequel to a horror classic

1 week ago | birminghamdispatch.co.uk | Alex Taylor

For film student Hazel, it was the opportunity of a lifetime. She and four of her classmates at the University of Birmingham were being offered work experience on the set of a proper feature film. Better yet, the movie was tied to the legacy of a global cult classic. And filming would take place amidst the rugged beauty of remote Shetland, travel expenses covered.
Woon Wing Yip built an empire. Is it in decline?

2 weeks ago | birminghamdispatch.co.uk | Samuel McIlhagga

On a rainy June morning, a gaggle of Birmingham luminaries gathered under the masses of grey Brutalist concrete that makes up the intersection between Smallbrook Queensway and Bristol Street. The date was 1998, a year into New Labour’s bright-eyed new vision for Britain. It was a time when the country generally felt confident about its multicultural and postcolonial future.
The battle for The Close

2 weeks ago | birminghamdispatch.co.uk | Kate Knowles

Dear readers — today's story is about a clash between two Birmingham heavyweights. One is our most prestigious educational institution. The other? A group of retirees with a deep passion for preserving the city's history. At the centre of the conflict is a cluster of Arts and Crafts cottages and a manor house, set in a peaceful Selly Oak quadrangle. The university owns the buildings, most of which have been sitting empty for the last 20 years — locals say time is running out to save them.
Chicken Quarter: fair or fowl?

2 weeks ago | birminghamdispatch.co.uk | Alex Taylor

Enjoying this edition? You can get two totally free editions of The Dispatch every week by signing up to our regular mailing list. Just click the button below. No cost. Just old school local journalism. It’s 11.30pm on a Friday night on New Street and a young man called Alex is sitting alone outside KFC. He’s drunk and munching on a burger with the content expression of a grazing cow.
Small Heath is drowning in rubbish. So why doesn’t the council’s data say so?

3 weeks ago | birminghamdispatch.co.uk | Samuel McIlhagga

The first thing I spot is a massive, torn, ‘Vote Labour, Yardley’ sign covered in rubbish and fly-tipped chairs as I walk down Coventry Road in Small Heath. To many residents, this scene is fairly representative of a set of problems that have emerged recently. Many local activists and community leaders have told The Dispatch that despite the presence of agency workers, and the ‘’ of the strike so that refuse workers can’t block trucks leaving depots, their rubbish hasn’t been picked up for months.
Old square, new tricks

3 weeks ago | birminghamdispatch.co.uk | Kate Knowles

Dear readers — have you ever found yourself exiting Grand Central Station and wandering past the busy crowds on New Street, up Corporation Street, only to end up at an odd little roundabout? You know the one I mean. It’s next to the Square Peg pub and the Priory Square Shopping centre (RIP) and there are lots of different styles of architecture on the adjoining streets, including some gorgeous Victorian buildings. In the middle of the traffic is a mini public realm — Old Square is its name.
The curious case of the missing Northfield councillor

4 weeks ago | birminghamdispatch.co.uk | Samuel McIlhagga

Plus: who are the movers and shakers shaping Brum — and Britain — in years to come? Welcome to The Dispatch. We're Birmingham's new quality newspaper, delivered via email. Join our free mailing list to get two full editions a week: a Monday briefing, full of things to do and bitesize news, straight from Brum's streets, and a weekend feature, taking you deep inside your city and the West Midlands. To get total access to all four of our weekly editions, you can join up as a paying member.
Last minute dinner parties, Bearwood & Bollywood

1 month ago | birminghamdispatch.co.uk | Kate Knowles

Kate's in the driver's seat today, with her editor's edition. What I did over the bank holiday: On Saturday, a disappointing weather forecast put to bed my plans to host a barbecue in my garden. Instead, I had Sam and a few other pals round for a good old-fashioned dinner party. As usual, work was so busy last week that it took me until Saturday morning to plan the menu, buy the ingredients and throw together the recipes — not the ideal scenario.
The man Birmingham tried to forget

1 month ago | birminghamdispatch.co.uk | Kate Knowles

During the uncommonly cold May of 1903, a crowd of important people gathered in a room at London’s School of Economic and Political Science. They were there to hear from the aging, slightly stooped man at the front of the room. As he began to speak, the bright white and bushy mutton chops that made up for the distinct lack of hair on his head, quivered.
Secretive and rushed: inside the fire sales flogging £1bn of Brum’s public assets

1 month ago | birminghamdispatch.co.uk | Matty Edwards

Your Brum in brief🚒 Another Digbeth warehouse went up in flames this week, just one month after a similar fire on Bradford Street. This time, the blaze was at 12 Rea Street South, and led to a number of evacuations from neighbouring businesses including Islamic Relief and Muther’s Studio. Over 50 firefighters were in attendance and smoke could be seen from miles away.