During the Summer 09 UK Blogging Tour I spent an afternoon in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham. The Jewellery Quarter still produces around 40% of UK jewellery output, with a flow of fresh talent from Europe’s largest School of Jewellery.

I started my visit at the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter, named by TripAdvisor as the third best free tourist attraction in Europe in 2008. The museum used to be a family run factory producing jewellery, which was abandoned when the elderly owners retired in the early 1980s. The factory has now been carefully restored to it’s former state giving you a really good feel for what it would have been like to work in such a factory during the earlier decades of the 20th century.

The factory floor, Museum of the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham

It must have been very noisy and hot working there with all the machinery operational. Gold dust would be flying around everywhere meaning that the daily floor sweepings and sandwich wrappings of the employees would be burnt to retrieve the gold.

Workbench at the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham

The Museum also tells the history of Jewellery Quarter with many displays and information boards. In the lobby there are showcases of locally produced jewellery available to purchase. There’s a cafe with some outdoor seating in the courtyard.

Showcase at the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham

The Jewellery Quarter is brimming with small independent retailers and workshops where you can commission a piece of jewellery from under £100, so you don’t have to be in the millionaire bracket to have a piece custom made.

I had a quick look around Artfull Expression, where part of the floorspace is devoted to showcasing the work of recent graduates of the School of Jewellery. Upstairs in the same building is the David Loius design studio whose popular products include The Godfather Spaghetti Measuring Device and a magnetic slot egg cup.

You can easily spend a couple of days exploring the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, so it makes a great UK short break destination as you can reach Birmingham with a few hours from most parts of the UK by train, plane, coach or car.

There is a choice of accommodation in the area, such as the Newhall Travelodge or Hatters Hostel. You don’t even have to leave the Jewellery Quarter to eat and drink, as there are 25 bars and restaurants in the area.

You can enjoy an urban picnic in the Georgian St Paul’s Square and visit St Paul’s Church, where you can admire Francis Eginton’s East Window depicting the Conversion of St Paul.

St Paul’s Square, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham

St Paul’s Gallery has one of the biggest collections of signed limited edition record album artwork for sale in the world. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to look around the gallery, a shame as you never know who you might bump into. However, Gallery Director Symon Bland kindly emailed me the photo below.

St Paul’s Gallery, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham

The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists’ base, the oldest private gallery in Birmingham, hosts various exhibitions; it was watercolours and ceramics when I was there.

All in all, the Jewellery Quarter makes for a great day out or short break destination. I wish I’d had more time to explore the area in more depth.

Europe a la Carte Summer 09 UK Blogging Tour sponsored by