{"id":201974,"date":"2025-06-21T07:36:23","date_gmt":"2025-06-21T07:36:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/201974\/"},"modified":"2025-06-21T07:36:23","modified_gmt":"2025-06-21T07:36:23","slug":"parts-of-birmingham-brummies-simply-refuse-to-call-by-the-real-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/201974\/","title":{"rendered":"Parts of Birmingham Brummies simply refuse to call by the real name"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here are 10 parts of the city we simply refuse to call by their proper titles.Spitfire Island, or not as it turns out(Image: BPM)<\/p>\n

Birmingham is a quirky old place – and that becomes all the more clear when we open our mouths.<\/p>\n

It is the UK’s second-largest city, which means there is plenty to see and do out there – but when you arrive, you tend to find we have made up a new name for whatever you are gawping at.<\/p>\n

Whether it is shops or roads and particularly public art – we basically always dream up a new name of that – you tend to find yourself confused.<\/p>\n

But fear not, we have your backs – here are 10 parts of the city we simply refuse to call by their proper titles.<\/p>\n

Read more: Eleven more places we call something else<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Floozie in the Jacuzzi\"Victoria<\/p>\n

Prepare yourself to be surprised – the fountain in Victoria Square<\/a> isn’t really called that. It’s real name is The River.<\/p>\n

Of course, you can’t really accurately call it a fountain either these days.<\/p>\n

The River, by Dhruva Mistry was built between 1992 and 1994 when the renovated square was opened by Princess Diana.<\/p>\n

Around it reads the words of T.S.Eliot’s poem Burnt Norwood. It ends: “Then a cloud passed, and the pool was empty.”<\/p>\n

Rackhams<\/p>\n

You probably know this – not called Rackhams at all. It’s House of Fraser.<\/p>\n

The 1960s building, which straddles Corporation Street and Temple Row, has never lost the name of its former owners.<\/p>\n

It was purchased from Rackhams in 1959 and was re-branded as House Of Fraser in 2003.<\/p>\n

Pigeon Park(Image: Nick Wilkinson\/Birmingham Live)<\/p>\n

Yeah, not its real name. Its actually the St Philip’s Cathedral grounds – although nobody told the pigeons.<\/p>\n

Those birds aside though, it has always been a favourite spot among city workers on a sunny day.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the cathedral being one of the smallest in England, there is plenty more of its extensive grounds to go around.<\/p>\n

Spaghetti Junction<\/p>\n

This tangle of slip roads is much better known as its very apt nickname – which we came up with.<\/p>\n

The maze was designed at the centre of the ‘Midland Links project’ to join the M1, M5, M6 motorways and the A38(M) Aston Expressway into Birmingham<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Its more common name was coined by the late Birmingham Mail journalist Roy Smith.<\/a><\/p>\n

After looking at the first plans for the interchange he described them: \u201clike a cross between a plate of spaghetti and an unsuccessful attempt at a Staffordshire<\/a> knot\u201d.<\/p>\n

His article was headlined ‘Spaghetti Junction’ and the rest is history.<\/p>\n

Today, even radio traffic updates call it by its new name and its proper title Gravelly Hill Interchange is used largely in jest.<\/p>\n

The Radisson(Image: Graham Young \/ BirminghamLive)<\/p>\n

This is probably acceptable but the real name is Beetham Tower.<\/p>\n

With 39 floors the structure is only one floor short of a fully-fledged skyscraper.<\/p>\n

It took Liverpool-based property developers Beetham Organisation three years to complete construction between 2003 and 2006.<\/p>\n

Less than half of the tower – 19 floors – are occupied by the Radisson Blu hotel.<\/p>\n

Pagoda Island<\/p>\n

Actually called Holloway Circus.<\/p>\n

However, there has been a pagoda statue at the centre of the island for a very long time.<\/p>\n

As a result it did not take long for the spot to be given its own nickname.<\/p>\n

The Iron Man(Image: Graham Young \/ BirminghamLive)<\/p>\n

Artist Antony Gormley’s 20ft man made out of iron has stood in Victoria Square since March 1993.<\/p>\n

Cast in Willenhall, It was a gift to the city from the Trustee Savings Bank (TSB), who were based at the nearby Post Office building.<\/p>\n

Gormley decided to name his work ‘Untitled’.<\/p>\n

Many Brummies may not have known what to make of the statue at first.<\/p>\n

But after time soon came to affectionately, and rather descriptively, dub it ‘The Iron Man’.<\/p>\n

When its creator heard of the new colloquialism he is said to have requested its name be changed to ‘Iron: Man’<\/strong> .<\/p>\n

Spitfire Island<\/p>\n

We are blowing your minds now, right? It is actually called Sentinel.<\/p>\n

This stylish monument pays tribute to one of the many crucial roles the city played during the Second World War.<\/p>\n

Spitfire fighter planes soar out of the island over the area they were made.<\/p>\n

More than 15,000 spitfires and a similar number of Lancaster bombers were built at the Castle Bromwich Aerodrome Factory (today’s Jaguar Land Rover<\/a> plant) between 1940 and 1945.<\/p>\n

The statue itself was designed by the great nephew of Lord of The Rings author JRR Tolkein.<\/p>\n

The Ramp(Image: Graham Young \/ Birmingham Live)<\/p>\n

This one is a little shocking we know – but apparently The Ramp is not officially called The Ramp.<\/p>\n

The hotel, restaurant and takeaways on the strip all list their address as Stephenson Place, the steep stretch which links Stephenson Street to Corporation Street.<\/p>\n

Since the New Street station and Grand Central redevelopment The Ramp is rarely as packed as it used to get.<\/p>\n

Still, if you are claustrophobic you will know not to head there at rush hour.<\/p>\n

Winson Green prison<\/p>\n

It’s HMP Birmingham.<\/p>\n

Better known inmates include Ozzy Osbourne, who served six weeks for breaking and entering and theft in 1966.<\/p>\n

Former West Bromwich Albion striker Lee Hughes, who spent part of his six year sentence for dangerous driving in 2004.<\/p>\n

And serial killer Fred West, who committed suicide in his cell in 1995 before he could be brought to trial.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Here are 10 parts of the city we simply refuse to call by their proper titles.Spitfire Island, or…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201975,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,748,393,9315,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-201974","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-fun-stuff","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114720210049031671","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201974\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}