What comes to mind when you think of Birmingham?

The thing that struck me was ; it was the only city i've ever been to in the UK that felt like a large city in it's own right ; a place big enough not to be a subsidiary or London, which is what your Readings etc feel like.

It's a proper city like London, in that it's a place made up of lots of little villages that have been absorbed as time went on.
As with London the best stuff seems to be out of the centre too.