The Custard Factory, Birmingham's revolutionary new arts and media quarter, is 800 paces from the Bull Ring. This 5-acre sprawl of riverside factories was built 100 years ago by Sir Alfred Bird, the inventor of custard.

It's now home to a dynamic bohemian community of 500 artists and small creative enterprises. The affordable studio workshops are complemented by a theatre café, antique shops, meeting rooms, dance studios, holistic therapy rooms, art galleries, the achingly stylish Medicine Bar and the electrifying Code nightclub.