Issue 059 - Reflect Magazine

20 Advertise With Us
Days Out 21
Be seen by 15,000 people throughout
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reflect
the bi-weekly lifestyle magazine
Take A Step
Back In Time
Opens from 7 th February 2012
A National Trust property that first opened its doors to visitors in July
2004, Birmingham Back to Backs are the last surviving court of back-to-back
houses (built literally back-to-back around a communal courtyard) in the
whole of the West Midlands.
Situated in the heart of Birmingham, Birmingham Back to Backs give visitors
a glimpse of Birmingham during four time periods, thanks to four unique
properties from the 1840s, 1870s, 1930s and 1970s.
housing and community ass
Southampton
Boat Show
Pull-out
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reflect
Spend quality time
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Days Out
Issue 050
If you’re searching for the perfect place
to spend your retirement years,
Enterprise House
in Chingford offers retirement flats for
single and married couples surrounded
by the peace and tranquillity of Epping
Forest. For more info, turn to page 3 or
visit www.retirementflatse4.org.uk
Find out
what’s happening
this month with
What’s On
anna k
Discover more about
Coping With
Bereavement
Autism campaigner
Anna Kennedy
has produced the DVD ‘Step in the Right
Direction’, in association with Pineapple
Performing Arts Schools, to encourage
autistic youngsters to find out how much
fun expressing themselves through music
and dance can be.
For more info turn to page 03 or visit
www.annakennedyonline.com
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Issue 052
Experience life
on water with
Boating For
Pleasure
Graham Minatures
Get in the
festive spirit with
Alternative
Christmas
Take a break with
Island
Hopping
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Issue 054
As the smallest breed of sheep
in the world, the Ouessant sheep
makes an excellent addition to any
farm and James Graham breeds
some of the UK’s best stock. For
more information on these curious
creatures, turn to page 21or visit
www.grahamsminiatures.co.uk
Start planning
your big day with
Norfolk
Bride
Try some gruesome
food ideas this
Halloween
On a fascinating guided tour, visitors can
discover the lives of some of the former
residents who crammed into these small
houses to live and work; there were often
whole families, with six children or more,
living in just three rooms. There’s also the
opportunity to discover how the lives of these
residents shaped the city that Birmingham is
today.
Manager, Simon Hall, told Reflect: “As a living
museum, Birmingham Back to Backs allows
visitors to experience the sights, sounds and smells
of life in 19th and 20th Century Birmingham. Our
four properties, dedicated to four different periods,
enable visitors to discover the lives of some of the
former residents who crammed into these small
houses to live and work; there were often whole
families, with six children or more, living in just
three rooms. All the properties reflect the period
in which they’re set, so some have no electricity or
running water and are heated solely by coal fire.
The properties are a real trip back in time.”
Birmingham Back to Backs is open Tuesday,
Wednesday and Thursday afternoons from
1pm during school term time and Friday,
Saturday and Sunday from 10am until 5pm,
except in January when the property is closed.
Booking a guided tour is highly recommended,
especially during busy periods. Bookings can
be made by calling 0121 6667671.
Standard admission: £6.30 for adults, £3.20 for
children and £14.80 for a family (two adults
and up to three children). Gift Aid admission,
which includes a 10% donation: £6.95 for
adults, £3.60 for children and £16.30 for a
family ticket.
If you’d like to visit Birmingham Back to Backs
but would also like to enjoy a self-catering
break in the heart of Birmingham, you can
now stay in one of two back-to-back holiday
cottages, located at 52 and 54 Inge Street.
Each three-storey property sleeps two; one
cottage has a double bed whilst the other has
twin beds. The kitchens are on the ground
floor whilst the living rooms are on the top
floor, making the most of the views over the
city. For more information on booking either
of these cottages, please call 0844 8002070 or
email cottages@nationaltrust.org.uk quoting
reference 018003/4.
For more information on Birmingham Back to
Backs, please visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/
main/w-birmingham_backtobacks
Elaine Visits
Reflect Editor, Elaine Ellis, recently visited Birmingham Back to
Backs for a guided tour…
"In the midst of a busy Birmingham city lies a hidden gem known as
Birmingham Back to Backs, owned by the National Trust. Our tour
began outside an old-fashioned sweet shop, which was already a
winner. Our tour guide, Paul Gardner started by telling us about the
history of Birmingham, as well as the history of Back to Backs, ideal if
you’re not from the Birmingham area.
"Back to Backs is teeming with history; how people worked, lived and
loved across the eras. Standing in the third floor bedroom of one of
the houses, looking over a beautiful courtyard, I could almost hear the
children playing, mothers cleaning and the general everyday goingson
that define the Victorian era.
"The rooms in the four properties that make up Birmingham Back to
Backs are all original apart from the staircases, which, Paul explained,
have been replaced due to the sheer amount of traffic the homes
have seen since they were first built. The original stairs would have
been dangerous. Each property offers an insight to Victorian life: the
dining table is laden with cutlery and crockery, as if awaiting visitors
to pop in for a bowl of hot stew and warm, freshly baked bread.
"Back to Backs offers an educational insight into a very important
part of our history and heritage; it’s well worth a visit and my
husband and I will definitely be returning."
To advertise your company in
Reflect, call Elaine Ellis on
0116 262 8096
www.reflect-magazine.co.uk
Elaine outside the sweet shop