Off-Topic: Legoland Birmingham

Today I paid my first visit to the Legoland Discovery Centre in Birmingham. Most people call it Legoland Birmingham, or simply Legoland, so I'll stick to those simplified names. It opened last year in June, and I was overwhelmed. I was accompanied by my grandson Oliver, but even though it's set out for children, I probably enjoyed it more than he did.

What won me over was that the main exhibition is Birmingham-specific. All of Birmingham's main landmarks, easily recognisable by anyone who knows the city, have been faithfully recreated. Okay, they've all been pushed together, so they're not in the correct relation to one another, but each individual building is remarkably accurate. The lighting in the room switches from daytime to nighttime every few minutes, and it's spectacular how the exhibits remain beautiful in any lighting.

For instance, this is the Electric cinema by day...

and this is the Electric by night. Note that it's standing in front of Grand Central Station.

And who doesn't recognise this architectural monstrosity?

There's an amazing replica of a Black Sabbath concert. It's the original 1970's line up. What else? Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward formed the greatest heavy metal group that has ever existed.

However, my greatest pleasure was a conversation with the Master Builder Michelle Thompson, who I saw working in her office. I only knocked on her window to ask if she minded me taking a few photos of her, but this led to a long and fascinating conversation. She isn't responsible for the Birmingham landmarks, because they were built by a team of nine women before the centre opened. She was hired as the Master Builder (or rather Mistress Builder) shortly before the opening, and she's been creating everything since, in particular the seasonal exhibits. She's currently working on creations for the Chinese New Year, which will be put on display in mid January. I'm sad that I shan't be there to see them.

What a fantastic job! Sitting and building with Lego all day! She was picked out of 2000 job applicants, so she must have outstanding ability. She told me that she creates smaller pieces ad hoc, but she designs larger buildings on paper. I'm sure that it's hard work and she often has to meet tight deadlines, but when your work involves creating pieces of art, there must be a wonderful feeling of satisfaction when you go home at the end of the day.

Everything is awesome!