{"id":332218,"date":"2025-08-10T04:09:20","date_gmt":"2025-08-10T04:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/332218\/"},"modified":"2025-08-10T04:09:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-10T04:09:20","slug":"8-birmingham-places-we-refuse-to-call-by-their-proper-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/332218\/","title":{"rendered":"8 Birmingham places we refuse to call by their ‘proper’ name"},"content":{"rendered":"

We love our nicknames in Birmingham, don’t we bab?\"ViewView from near the top of Victoria Square and the Floozie in the Jacuzzi.(Image: Nick Wilkinson\/Birmingham Live)<\/p>\n

We love our nicknames in Birmingham, to the point where famous areas are best known by their unofficial title.<\/p>\n

With so many to choose from, we’ve picked out eight in particular which are iconic in the city, ranging from nightclubs to artwork.<\/p>\n

Plenty of these you will know, but you might discover a new nickname for the first time in Brum.<\/p>\n

Read More:<\/strong> Inside operation to save Ozzy Osbourne Birmingham shrine as family given keepsakes<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

And if you are wondering, yes, Maccies on the Ramp has made the list.<\/p>\n

Here is a list of eight Birmingham places we refuse to call by their proper names.<\/p>\n

1. Spaghetti Junction<\/p>\n

The official name of the Spaghetti Junction is the Gravelly Hill Interchange… but who calls it that?<\/p>\n

It sounds a lot more dull and a lot less appetising.<\/p>\n

\"SpaghettiHow many of you know the name of the Spaghetti Junction?(Image: Jason Hawkes )<\/p>\n

With five different levels resembling spaghetti from above, the Spaghetti Junction is one of the most popular nicknames in the city.<\/p>\n

Whether you’re behind the wheel or a passenger princess, driving through the junction is admittedly less fun.<\/p>\n

2. Floozie in the Jacuzzi<\/p>\n

When Princess Diana opened the artwork in 1994, it’s unlikely the Princess of Wales would guess the future nickname.<\/p>\n

Over 30 years later, the Floozie in the Jacuzzi sits with pride in Victoria Square<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Designed by Dhruva Mistry, the official name is The River. Sadly, that doesn’t rhyme.<\/p>\n

3. New Snobs<\/p>\n

The iconic nightclub Snobs is divided into two groups of people.<\/p>\n

Those old enough to visit the original in Paradise Circus – and those young enough to visit New Snobs when it was on Smallbrook Queensway.<\/p>\n

With the original being an historic part of the Birmingham<\/a> nightlife scene, the new location was dubbed ‘New Snobs’ by clubbers.<\/p>\n

After Snobs moved to Broad Street<\/a> last year, should we start calling it New New Snobs?<\/p>\n

4. Pigeon Park\"ChristmasChristmas markets on the grounds of Birmingham Cathedral \/ Pigeon Park.(Image: Nick Wilkinson\/Birmingham Live)<\/p>\n

Despite the name, Pigeon Park is one of the best places to visit in Birmingham city centre<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Home to the gorgeous Cathedral Church of Saint Philip, pigeons seem to love the area too.<\/p>\n

Outside of dodging a pigeon or nine, it’s one of the most popular parks in the city with a number of fantastic bars and restaurants over the road.<\/p>\n

5. NEC<\/p>\n

The current name of the NEC arena is bp pulse LIVE.<\/p>\n

It just doesn’t roll off the tongue as well, does it? You can just say three letters instead and people know exactly where it is.<\/p>\n

For decades, the National Exhibition Centre has entertained Brummies and people around the world with international performances.<\/p>\n

The arena only changed its name to bp pulse LIVE in October, and was Resorts World Arena before that, but it will take some time to lose the NEC nickname.<\/p>\n

6. Gatecrasher<\/p>\n

Last month, the news broke that Pure Gym was in talks to purchase <\/a>the former Pryzm nightclub.<\/p>\n

Having gone under a number of names in the past, Birmingham’s biggest nightclub is still affectionally known as Gatecrasher to fans.<\/p>\n

If you had a night out with friends and said you were going Gatecrasher, Brummies would know exactly where you’d meant on Broad Street.<\/p>\n

7. NIA\"LukeLuke Littler in action during night thirteen of the BetMGM Premier League at Utilita Arena Birmingham(Image: \u00a9 2025 PA Media, All Rights Reserved)<\/p>\n

Just like bp pulse LIVE, Utilita Arena Birmingham is best known by another name.<\/p>\n

The venue space is located inside the former National Indoor Arena, better known to Brummies as the NIA.<\/p>\n

There’s four Utilita Arena’s across the United Kingdom – but there’s only one NIA.<\/p>\n

8. The Ramp<\/p>\n

The gateway between Grand Central and New Street, the correct name of The Ramp is actually Stephenson Place.<\/p>\n

But whether you’re walking up or down, it’s Maccies on the Ramp to Brummies.<\/p>\n

Whether it’s to pass by on your commute or an excuse for a double cheeseburger, The Ramp’s an iconic nickname which will never change.<\/p>\n

What other nicknames do you know use in Brum? Let us know in the comments!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We love our nicknames in Birmingham, don’t we bab?View from near the top of Victoria Square and the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332219,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,983,8157,748,82514,393,4884,8158,2671,16,15,111695],"class_list":{"0":"post-332218","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-birmingham-city-centre","10":"tag-bp-pulse-live","11":"tag-britain","12":"tag-broad-street-birmingham","13":"tag-england","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-nec-birmingham","16":"tag-solihull","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom","19":"tag-victoria-square"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115002511692208451","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332218","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=332218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}