Last Sunday, we heard Gary Brooker sing Grand Hotel, as part
of Procol Harum’s 50th anniversary tour. On Thursday, we stayed in
one – the Macdonald Burlington Hotel in Birmingham. This time, we were in
pursuit of another musical experience in the form of Roger Hodgson, formerly of
Supertramp, at the Birmingham Symphony Hall.
The Burlington is the former Midland Hotel, built by the
Horton family in 1871 to cater for visitors arriving in the city by train,
effectively serving as a railway hotel, but under independent ownership
throughout. It is a stone’s throw from New Street station, now in its latest incarnation
as part of the Grand Central complex.
This is where Enoch Powell gave his infamous Rivers of Blood
speech in 1968 about Commonwealth immigrants. There is little evidence of the
hotel’s close historical connection with the railway. This stained-glass window
is a reminder.
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