Edward tells us about Birmingham's gangs. Photo / Fiona Whitty
By order of the Peaky Blinders, visit the UK’s second biggest city, Birmingham. With the new Netflix film The Immortal Man now streaming, here’s how to enjoy it for real, writes Fiona Whitty.
“Okay gang. Caps on – and no fighting.” Edward Shelby is about to provide a glimpse into the real lives of the Peaky Blinders, the gang of rogues who’ve made street brawls and violent betting syndicates seem like endearing hobbies – on screen at least.
Once one of the most feared mobs around, they stalked Birmingham’s streets for power and money, exacting thuggish retribution along the way.
And, if the TV series which has become a worldwide hit is to be believed, they were also hell-bent on slashing the faces of foes with razor blades hidden in the peaks of their natty caps.
Fans know and love them as tough nuts headed by the intense yet charismatic Thomas Shelby – played by Cillian Murphy.
But his namesake Edward, who’s now standing in front of me kitted out in their regimental dapper suit and flat cap, insists that they were actually unpolished amateurs mainly in their mid-teens.
Their name arose from the flat caps they pulled low over their eyes to disguise their identities – not because it made them look cool, like on TV.
Rather than with razor blades they filled those trademark caps with stones and used them like maces. And the Shelbys themselves didn’t exist.
Edward, an American from Boston who came over to Birmingham to study, runs a Slogging Gangs Walking Tour, named after the generic term for the city’s mobs.
He’ll lead you around former hangouts, like The Bull pub – where priests rather than police used to break up fights – and original custody cells.
Nowadays, the gangs are history and Birmingham is a lively and good-looking city, with grand architecture, fun places to gather and warm locals – nicknamed Brummies.
It lies in the Midlands, an easy train ride from London Euston with three per hour services on train operator Avanti West Coast taking from 76 minutes.
A great place to start is at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, an eye-wateringly beautiful Grade II*-listed building that details its rise from Anglo-Saxon hamlet to major industrial hub dubbed the City of a Thousand Trades.
In the Round Room, you’ll find a Where’s Wally-style photo collage of famous Brummies like Duran Duran, Peaky Blinders’ screenwriter Steven Knight and actor Julie Walters.
Elsewhere, there’s a celebration of local lad Ozzy Osbourne, who died last July. Included are a handful of the 50,000 condolence messages left for the Black Sabbath frontman.
At Birmingham Back To Backs, you’ll explore the last surviving set of terraced homes common between 1800 and 1964, with shared rear walls.
On a tour, our guide, Betty, who grew up in one, tells us how up to 69 people lived in the 11 houses at a time with just three outdoor toilets between them.
Poorer families would put babies to sleep in the open drawer of a chest while one resident, a locksmith, proved popular by prying open the wives’ locked savings boxes for husbands desperate for a drink or flutter.
An apt place for Kiwis to bed down is The Briar Rose – part of the Wetherspoon pub chain founded by Sir Tim Martin, a Brit who spent part of his childhood in Auckland.
Known affectionately as ‘Spoons, they’re synonymous with wallet-friendly food and drinks – pints start at $4 – and their 50+ hotels are cost-wise too.
This centrally located boozer and hotel is just two minutes’ walk from the main New Street train station, with large rooms and friendly staff.
For another British stalwart, you can train it to Bournville for Cadbury World, home of the iconic chocolate brand.
Through interactive exhibitions, shows, theme park-style rides, demonstrations, have-a-go sessions and tastings, you’ll find out how grocer John Cadbury and his two sons unleashed the sweet stuff 200 years ago.
Back on the Peaky Blinders trail, you can see where Cillian Murphy and co filmed some scenes at the fascinating Black Country Living Museum, another train hop away in Dudley.
The museum brings to life past eras with original or painstakingly reconstructed buildings. Buy fish and beef-dripping-coated chips from a proper 1950s chip shop or sup a pint in a 1920s pub while you’re there.
The boat dock may feel familiar – it’s used throughout as Charlie Strong’s yard, while the old schoolhouse was the backdrop for Michael Shelby’s murder of Father Hughes.
Back in the city, it’s not hard to find more pubs with nostalgic charm. Try a cask ale at the 200-year-old canalside Tap & Spile (Birmingham has more miles of canals than Venice), rescued from closure by local boaters.
Or stroll to the Jewellery Quarter – where 400 businesses once made half of the UK’s whole jewellery output – to Temper and Brown, housed in an ornate redbrick building that’s been a pub since the 1850s.
On the food front, don’t miss Birmingham’s famous curry. Pushkar is fabulous for upmarket Indian – think sesame king prawns and slow-cooked spiced lamb – in a sassy setting.
Even Tommy Shelby would approve, I’m sure.
The writer was hosted by WetherspoonHotels,Cadbury World, Birmingham Back to Backs and Black Country Living Museum.