Moseley
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Moseley is a suburb of Birmingham, England, located 2 miles to the south of the city centre. It has a reputation as a lively and cosmopolitan area, much favoured by young professionals because of its bars, restaurants, boutiques and other independent retailers of the kind no longer found in the city centre. Moseley's relative affluence is not enjoyed by all. Street-drinking and begging are significant problems, though somewhat reduced in recent years.
Moseley has developed around a Victorian shopping area known as Moseley Village. Moseley has recently received a great deal of national, and international, interest as J. R. R. Tolkien spent many of his early years there, living close to Sarehole Mill, which many people believe was the inspiration for The Shire in The Lord of the Rings.
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One of the success stories of Moseley is Ocean Colour Scene, a band which flourished in the mid ninties British Britpop/indie scene. The band achieved cult status through songs such as The Riverboat Song inspired by locations within the suburb of Moseley. Their most successful album Moseley Shoals is named after the suburb.
The suburb is also home to the relatively successful Moseley Rugby Football Club, formally housed at the Reddings Road ground, but moved to a site within the Birmingham University campus in 2000.
The area suffered a serious decline in the last part of the 20th century, but is now improving. Moseley Village is home to a range of shops, and a monthly farmers' market organised by the Moseley Neighbourhood Forum.
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Moseley has a well-defined and established community spirit and ethos [1] (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/moseley_free/). The Moseley Society exists to protect the heritage of the area; meetings of the Society discuss and debate a wide range of issues relating to the area and the interests of its citizens.
The Moseley Community Development Trust (CDT) is looking to invest in the social and physical capital of the area. Established with funding from charitable trust funds and with the support of the Moseley Ward Committee, the CDT is now managing a series of initiatives to improve the environment of Moseley.
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Moseley is rapidly becoming a leisure-focused suburb, home to many pubs, restaurants and cafés. Examples include:
- The Prince of Wales, a traditional English pub, which has survived without modernisation.
- The Cross wine bar and pavement café is a meeting place for Moseley's cosmopolitan community.
- The Bull's Head, which attracts a mixed crowd from reggae fans to hipsters. It has an affiliation with The Medicine Bar in The Custard Factory.
- "mac" (formerly the Midlands Arts Centre), is set in Cannon Hill Park just outside Moseley. Perched on the side of the park's main lake, mac features a theatre, cinema, arts education workshops and classes, gallery space, a bar and a café. (Home page (http://www.macarts.co.uk/?page=home))
- The local private park (http://www.moseleypark.co.uk/) is a secluded haven for wildlife.
Other external links
- The Moseley Society (http://www.moseley-society.org.uk)
- Tolkien Trail (http://www.virtualbrum.co.uk/tolkien.htm)
- Moseley Directory (http://www.b13.net)