Everything about Birmingham totally explained
Birmingham (; /ˈbɜːmɪŋˌəm/;
Burr-ming-um) is a
city and
metropolitan borough in the
West Midlands county of
England. Birmingham is the largest of England's
core cities, and is often considered to be the
second city of the United Kingdom. The City of Birmingham has a
population of 1,006,500
(2006 estimate). It forms part of the larger
West Midlands conurbation, which has a population of 2,284,093 (2001 census) and includes several neighbouring towns and cities, such as
Solihull,
Wolverhampton and the towns of the
Black Country.
The city's reputation was forged as a powerhouse of the
Industrial Revolution in
Britain, a fact which led to Birmingham being known as "the workshop of the world" or the "city of a thousand trades". Although Birmingham's industrial importance has declined, it has developed into a national commercial centre, being named as the third best place in the
United Kingdom to locate a business, and the 21st best in Europe by
Cushman & Wakefield in 2007. It is also the fourth most visited city by foreign visitors in the UK. In 1998, Birmingham hosted the
G8 summit at the
International Convention Centre,
the birthplace of exhibitions in 1850 and remains a popular location for conventions today.
People from Birmingham are known as '
Brummies', a term derived from the city's nickname of
Brum. This comes in turn from the city's dialect name,
Brummagem, which is derived from one of the city's earlier names, 'Bromwicham'. There is a distinctive Brummie
dialect (distinct vocabulary and syntax) and
accent, both of which differ from the adjacent
Black Country.
History
Birmingham started life in the 6th century as an
Anglo-Saxon farming
hamlet on the banks of the
River Rea. The name 'Birmingham' comes from "Beorma ingas ham", meaning "home of the people of Beorma." Birmingham was first recorded in written documents by the
Domesday Book of 1086 as a small
village, worth only 20
shillings.
By the time of the
English Civil War in the 17th century Birmingham had become an important manufacturing town with a reputation for producing
small arms. Arms manufacture in Birmingham became a staple trade and was concentrated in the area known as the
Gun Quarter. During the
Industrial Revolution (from the mid-18th century onwards), Birmingham grew rapidly into a major industrial centre and the town prospered. During the 18th century, Birmingham was home to the
Lunar Society, an important gathering of local thinkers and industrialists.
By the 1820s an extensive
canal system had been constructed, giving greater access to natural resources to fuel to industries.
Railways arrived in Birmingham in 1837 with the arrival of the
Grand Junction Railway, and a year later, the
London and Birmingham Railway. During the
Victorian era, the population of Birmingham grew rapidly to well over half a million and Birmingham became the second largest population centre in England. Birmingham was granted
city status in 1889 by
Queen Victoria. The city established
its own university in 1900.
Birmingham was originally part of
Warwickshire, but expanded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, absorbing parts of
Worcestershire to the south and
Staffordshire to the north and west. The city absorbed
Sutton Coldfield in 1974. The people of Sutton Coldfield still consider themselves separate from Birmingham. At the same time Birmingham became a metropolitan borough in the new
West Midlands county. Up until 1986, the
West Midlands County Council was based in
Birmingham City Centre.
Birmingham suffered heavy
bomb damage during
World War II's "
Birmingham Blitz", and the city was extensively redeveloped during the 1950s and 1960s. This included the construction of large tower block estates, such as
Castle Vale in
Erdington. The
Bull Ring reconstructed and
New Street station was redeveloped. In recent years, Birmingham has been transformed, with the construction of new squares like Centenary Square and Millennium Place. Old streets, buildings and canals have been restored, the pedestrian subways have been removed, and the
Bull Ring shopping centre has been redeveloped further.
In the decades following
The Second World War, the population of Birmingham changed dramatically, with immigration from the
Commonwealth of Nations and beyond. The population peaked in 1951 at 1,113,000 residents.
Clent Hills and
Walton Hill, which reach 1,033 feet (315 m) and have extensive views over the city. Birmingham is located in the centre of the
West Midlands region of England.
Geology
Geologically, Birmingham is dominated by the
Birmingham Fault which runs diagonally through the city from the Lickey Hills in the south west, passing through
Edgbaston, the
Bull Ring and
Erdington, to
Sutton Coldfield in the north east. Much of this would have been laid down during the
Permian and
Triassic eras. To the north and west of the fault, varying from 150 to 600 feet (45-180 m) higher than the surrounding area and underlying much of the city centre, lies a long ridge of harder
Keuper Sandstone.
Much of the area now occupied by the city was originally a northern reach of the ancient
Forest of Arden, whose former presence can still be felt in the city's dense
oak tree-cover and in the large number of districts such as
Moseley,
Saltley and
Hockley with names ending in "-ley": an
Anglo-Saxon word meaning "woodland clearing".
Climate
The climate in Birmingham is classified as a
temperate maritime climate, like much of the
British Isles, with average maximum
temperatures in summer (July) being around 20°C (68°F); and in winter (January) is around 4.5°C (40°F). Extreme weather is rare but the city has been known to experience
tornados - the most recent being in
July 2005 in the south of the city, damaging homes and businesses in the area.
Occasional summer heatwaves, such as the one experienced in July 2006 have become more common in recent years, and winters have become milder since the 1990s with snow becoming much less frequent. Similar to most other large cities, Birmingham has a considerable '
urban heat island' effect. During the coldest night recorded in Birmingham (14 January, 1982), for example, the temperature fell to -20.8°C (-5.4°F) at
Birmingham International Airport on the city's eastern edge, but just -12.9°C (8.8°F) at Edgbaston, near the city centre. Relative to other large UK conurbations, Birmingham is a snowy city, due to its inland location and comparatively high elevation. 57% of primary and 52% of secondary pupils are from non-white British families. 16.5% of the population was born outside the United Kingdom.
The population density is 9,451 inhabitants per square mile (3,649/km²) compared to the 976.9 inhabitants per square mile (377.2/km²) for England. Females represented 51.6% of the population whilst men represented 48.4%. More women were 70 or over. 60.4% of the population was aged between 16 and 74, compared to 66.7% in England as a whole.
60.4% of households were found to be owner occupied and 27.7% were rented from either the city council, housing association or other registered social landlord. The remaining 11.8% of households were rented privately or lived
rent free.
The
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery is the main art gallery and museum in Birmingham. It has renowned displays of artwork that include a leading collection of work by the
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the world's largest collection of works by
Edward Burne-Jones. The group also owns other museums in the city such as
Aston Hall,
Blakesley Hall, the
Museum of the Jewellery Quarter and
Sarehole Mill, a popular attraction for fans of
J. R. R. Tolkien.
Thinktank in the Eastside is one of the newest museums in the city. The
Birmingham Back to Backs are the last surviving court of back-to-back houses in the city.
The
Barber Institute of Fine Arts is both an art gallery and concert hall. It also has one of the world's most detailed and largest coin collections.
Cadbury World is a museum showing visitors the stages and steps of chocolate production and the history of chocolate and
the company.
There are over 8,000 acres (3,200
ha) of parkland open spaces in Birmingham. The largest of the parks is
Sutton Park covering 2,400 acres (970 ha) making it the largest urban nature reserve in Europe.
Birmingham Botanical Gardens are a
Victorian creation, with a conservatory and bandstand, close to the city centre. The
Winterbourne Botanic Garden, maintained by the
University of Birmingham, is also located close to the city centre.
Woodgate Valley Country Park is in Bartley Green and Quinton.
The city centre consists of numerous
public squares including
Centenary Square,
Chamberlain Square and
Victoria Square. The historic
Old Square is located on
Corporation Street. Rotunda Square and St Martin's Square are two of the newest squares in Birmingham, being located within the Bullring Shopping Centre.
Brindleyplace also consists of three squares.
Due to Birmingham's diverse population, there's a diverse variety of religious buildings in the city.
St Philip's was upgraded from church to cathedral status in 1905. Another cathedral in the city is
St Chad's, which is the seat of the
Roman Catholic Province of Birmingham.
St Martin in the Bull Ring is a
Grade II* listed church. There is also a variety of non-Christian religions in the city. In the 1960s,
Birmingham Central Mosque, one of the largest
mosques in Europe, was constructed for the
Muslim community of the city. However, during the late 1990s a mosque in the Sparkhill area close to the city centre was re-developed in partnership with the Birmingham City Council to supersede the Birmingham Central Mosque as the largest Mosque in the city. It holds a larger capacity and a fully functional segregated women's section. As its centrepiece is a dome. The new mosque is generally home to the Kashmiri-Pakistani population which made Birmingham its home during the late 1960s.
See also:
Religion in Birmingham.
Economy
Although Birmingham grew to prominence as a
manufacturing and
engineering centre, its economy today is dominated by the
service sector, which in 2003 accounted for 78% of the city's economic output and 97% of its economic growth.
Two of Britain's "
big four" banks were founded in Birmingham -
Lloyds Bank (now
Lloyds TSB) in 1765 and the
Midland Bank (now
HSBC Bank plc) in 1836 - and today the city employs 108,000 in banking, finance and insurance. In 2007,
Cushman & Wakefield stated that Birmingham was the third best place in the United Kingdom to locate a business, and the 21st best in Europe. with the country's busiest
shopping centre - the
Bullring - and the largest
department store outside
London -
House of Fraser on
Corporation Street. The City also has one of only four
Selfridges department stores, and the second largest branch of
Debenhams in the country. the benefits have been uneven, with
commuters from the surrounding area obtaining many of the more skilled jobs. The two parliamentary constituencies with the highest unemployment rates in the UK -
Ladywood and
Sparkbrook and Small Heath - are both in inner-city Birmingham. Growth has also added to stresses on the city's transport. Many major roads and the central
New Street railway station operate over capacity at peak times.
Politics
Birmingham City Council is the largest local authority in the
UK and the largest council in
Europe. It has 120
councillors representing 40
wards. No single party is in overall control and the council is run by a Conservative/ Liberal Democrat coalition. Birmingham's eleven
parliamentary constituencies are represented in the
House of Commons by one
Conservative, one
Liberal Democrat, one
Independent Labour and eight
Labour MPs.
Birmingham City Council operates all aspects of the city's workings through it planning and leisure services. The council deals with all planning applications as well as adding designations for
locally listed buildings.
Law enforcement in Birmingham is carried out by
West Midlands Police, fire and rescue by
West Midlands Fire Service and emergency medical care by
West Midlands Ambulance Service. Birmingham is also the seat of the
Government Office for the
West Midlands region.
Transport
motorway,
rail, and
canal networks. The city is served by a number of major motorways and probably the most famous motorway junction in the UK:
Spaghetti Junction.
Over the coming months,
National Express will be moving their UK headquarters to the city, alongside the newly developed
Digbeth Coach Station, which forms the national hub of the company's coach network.
Birmingham International Airport, located in the
Borough of Solihull to the east of Birmingham, is the UK's sixth largest airport, third largest for charter traffic and has the second highest proportion of business traffic, behind London Heathrow.
Local public transport is by
bus, local train and
tram. The number 11A and 11C
outer circle bus routes are the longest urban bus routes in Europe. Bus routes are mainly operated by
National Express West Midlands, which accounts for over 80% of all bus journeys in Birmingham, however, there are around 50 other, smaller registered bus companies. The extensive bus network allows passengers to travel to and from various districts of the city, while there are longer bus routes which take passengers to areas further afield such as
Wolverhampton,
Dudley,
Walsall,
West Bromwich,
Halesowen,
Stourbridge and the
Merry Hill Shopping Centre. The only towns in the
West Midlands conurbation that currently lack a direct public transport link with Birmingham are
Tipton,
Sedgley,
Kingswinford,
Wednesfield and
Willenhall.
The city's main railway station,
Birmingham New Street, is at the centre of the national railway network.
Birmingham Snow Hill station, another major railway station in the city centre, is also a terminus for the
Midland Metro which operates between the station and
Wolverhampton, also serving the nearby towns of
Bilston,
Wednesbury and
West Bromwich. There are plans to extend the Midland Metro route further into Birmingham city centre. Birmingham has a large rail-based park and ride network that feeds the city centre.
Birmingham is also notable for its expansive
canal system which fed the industry in the city during the Industrial Revolution. Canalside regeneration schemes such as
Brindleyplace have turned the canals into tourist attractions.
Education
local education authority, directly or indirectly responsible for 25
nursery schools, 328
primary schools, 77
secondary schools and 29
special schools. It also runs the
library service, with 4 million visitors annually, and provides around 4,000
adult education courses throughout the year. The main library is
Central Library and there are 41 local libraries in Birmingham, plus a regular mobile library service.
Most of Birmingham's
state schools are
community schools run directly by
Birmingham City Council in its role as
local education authority (LEA). However, there are a large number of
voluntary aided schools within the state system.
King Edward's School is perhaps the most prestigious
independent school in the city. The seven schools of The King Edward VI Foundation are known nationally for setting very high academic standards and all the schools consistently achieve top positions in national league tables. Furthermore,
Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls is also a well known and high achieving
grammar school.
Sutton Coldfield College merged with North Birmingham College in 2003 and Josiah Mason College in 2006 to form one of the largest further education colleges in the country.
Matthew Boulton College is also located in the city and in 2005, the
Eastside branch of the college was completed and opened. Joseph Chamberlain College is the only
sixth form college in Birmingham and Solihull to have been awarded both
Beacon Status and an overall
OFSTED grade 1 (Outstanding).
Birmingham is home to three
universities and two
university colleges:
Aston University, the
University of Birmingham,
Birmingham City University,
Newman University College and
University College Birmingham. The
Birmingham Conservatoire and
Birmingham School of Acting, both now part of Birmingham City University, offer higher education in specific arts subjects. BCU opened the
New Technology Institute facility in the
Eastside area in 2006.
Crime and policing
West Midlands Police serves Birmingham and the West Midlands county. The headquarters are located at Lloyd House in the city centre of Birmingham. Birmingham has been the location for many high profile incidents such as the
31 January 2007 Birmingham raid,
New Year Murders and more historically, the
Birmingham pub bombings.
Crime figures for 2006/ 2007 showed that Birmingham was above the English average in all fields. Of the eight major cities in the country (Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, Nottingham, Birmingham and Bristol), Birmingham has the lowest crime rate.
In an attempt to reduce crime in the city, a Crime and Disorder Partnership has been established in the city, the largest of its kind in the country. The partnerships work in developing five neighbourhood based community safety projects in Birmingham was recognised when it was awarded first prize at the European Community Safety Awards in December 2004. It is home to two of the country's oldest professional
football teams:
Aston Villa (1874) and
Birmingham City (1875). Aston Villa won club football's most coveted prize, the
European Cup, in 1982. The
Birmingham derby is an event in which the two football clubs play against each other. Aston Villa have won 50 matches as opposed to Birmingham City's 38 match wins.
Birmingham was the host for the first ever Cricket World Cup of either gender, a
Women's Cricket World Cup in 1973. England beat Australia in the finals.
Birmingham is home to
Warwickshire County Cricket Club, whose
Edgbaston ground also hosts
test matches. The venue was the scene of the highest ever score by a batsman, when
Brian Lara scored 501 not out for Warwickshire. International
track and field meetings take place at
Alexander Stadium, the home of
Birchfield Harriers which has many international athletes amongst its members. The
National Indoor Arena (NIA), opened in 1991, is a major indoor athletics venue, hosting the
2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships and
2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships as well as many
WWE wrestling events.
The first ever game of
lawn tennis was played by Major
Harry Gem and his friend
Augurio Perera in Edgbaston between 1859 and 1865 and
ATP international tennis is still played at Edgbaston's Priory Club. Birmingham also has a professional
Rugby Union side,
Moseley RFC, who play at
Billesley Common, and there's professional
basketball team,
Birmingham Panthers, as well as professional
boxing,
hockey,
skateboarding,
stock-car racing,
greyhound racing and
speedway in the city.
Food & drink
breweries included
Ansells,
Davenports and
Mitchells & Butlers.
Aston Manor Brewery is currently the only brewery of any significant size. Many fine Victorian pubs and bars can still be found across the city. The oldest inn in Birmingham is the
Old Crown in
Deritend (circa 1450). The city has a plethora of nightclubs and bars, notably along Broad Street.
The
Wing Yip food empire first began in the city and now has its headquarters in the
Chinese Quarter. The
Balti was invented in the city, which has received much acclaim for the 'Balti Belt' or '
Balti Triangle'. The city boasts two
Michelin starred restaurants:
Simpson's and
Jessica's, both in
Edgbaston.
Culture and arts
Arts
Birmingham has had a vibrant and varied musical history over the last century. In the 1960s, the "
Brum Beat" era featured
blues and early
progressive rock bands. And in the 1980s the reggae boy band
Musical youth lived in the nechells part of Birmingham. The city is often described as the birthplace of
heavy metal music, with
Judas Priest,
Black Sabbath and most of
Led Zeppelin being local. Then later on during the 80's bands such as
Napalm Death, joined the Birmingham heavy metal scene. In the 1970s members of
The Move and The
Idle Race formed the
Electric Light Orchestra and
Wizzard. The 1970s also saw the rise of
reggae and
ska in the city with such bands as
UB40. Seminal 1980s pop band
Duran Duran are also from Birmingham. Birmingham was also home to the music family Woodroffe. Most bands in Birmingham shopped at Woodroffe´s Musical Instruments, and Jezz Woodroffe played keyboards for Black Sabbath. Jon Woodroffe then started in 1997 Fat Man Studios, which soon became the No1 recording studio in Birmingham.
Jazz is popular in the city, and the annual Birmingham International Jazz Festival is the largest of its kind in the UK. Venues for the festival are also located out of Birmingham in
Solihull. It was first held in 1984.
The internationally-renowned
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra's home venue is
Symphony Hall. There is a City Organist; since 1834 only seven men have held this position. The current holder,
Thomas Trotter, has been in post since 1983. Weekly recitals have been given since the organ in
Birmingham Town Hall was opened but are now held in St. Philip's Cathedral, until the Town Hall organ opens in October 2007, following restoration. The
Birmingham Royal Ballet resides in the city as does the world's oldest vocational dance school,
Elmhurst School for Dance.
The
Birmingham Triennial Music Festivals took place from 1784 to 1912. Music was specially composed, conducted or performed by
Mendelssohn,
Gounod,
Sullivan,
Dvořák,
Bantock and
Edward Elgar, who wrote four of his most famous choral pieces for Birmingham. Elgar's
The Dream of Gerontius had its début performance there in 1900. Composers born in the city include
Albert William Ketèlbey and
Andrew Glover.
Birmingham's other city-centre music venues include The
National Indoor Arena, which was opened in 1991, the
CBSO Centre, opened in 1997, and the
Adrian Boult Hall, which was built along with
Paradise Forum and
Birmingham Central Library, at
Birmingham Conservatoire.
Among the many theatres in Birmingham, the largest are the
Alexandra ("the Alex"),
The Rep, the
Hippodrome and the
Old Rep. The
Crescent Theatre and
Old Joint Stock Theatre are other city centre theatres. Outside of the city centre are the
Drum Arts Centre (on the site of the former
Aston Hippodrome) and
mac. The
Fierce! festival collaborates with The Rep to present an annual series of performances from local and national companies.
Literary figures associated with Birmingham include
Samuel Johnson who stayed in Birmingham for a short period with Birmingham Central Library holding two thousand volumes of his work. Author
Arthur Conan Doyle worked in the Aston area of Birmingham whilst poet
Louis MacNeice lived in Birmingham for six years.
Washington Irving produced several of his most famous literary works whilst staying in Birmingham such as
Bracebridge Hall and
The Humorists, A Medley which are based on Aston Hall. Other authors who were born in or have resided in Birmingham include
David Lodge,
Jonathan Coe and
J. R. R. Tolkien, who is said to have been inspired by areas and buildings in the city. Influential poets associated with Birmingham include
Roi Kwabena, who was the city's sixth poet laureate, and
Benjamin Zephaniah, who was born in the city.
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery has one of the largest collections of
Pre-Raphaelite art in the world.
Edward Burne-Jones was born in Birmingham, spent his first twenty years in the city, later becoming president of the
Royal Birmingham Society of Artists. The
Barber Institute of Fine Arts was declared 'Gallery of the Year' by the 2004
Good Britain Guide. The
Ikon Gallery hosts displays of contemporary art. Notable local artists include
David Cox,
David Bomberg,
Martin John Callanan,
Pogus Caesar,
Keith Piper and
Donald Rodney.
Birmingham's role as a manufacturing and printing centre has supported strong local traditions of
graphic design and
product design. Iconic works by Birmingham designers include the
Baskerville font,
Ruskin Pottery, the
Acme Thunderer whistle, the art deco branding of the
Odeon Cinemas and the
Mini.
Festivals and shows
Birmingham is home to many national, religious and spiritual festivals including a
St. George's Day party. The
Birmingham Tattoo is a long-standing military show. The
Caribbean-style
Birmingham International Carnival takes place in odd numbered years.
Birmingham Pride takes place in the gay village and attracts up to 100,000 visitors each year. Since 1997, the city has hosted an annual arts festival
ArtsFest, the largest free arts festival in the UK. In December 2006, the City Council announced that it would no longer hold Artsfest. The city's largest single-day event is its
St. Patrick's Day parade (Europe's second largest, after the one in
Dublin). Other multicultural events include the Bangla Mela and the Vaisakhi Mela. The Birmingham Heritage Festival is a
Mardi Gras style event in August.
Caribbean and
African culture are celebrated with
parades and street performances by
buskers.
Other festivals in the city include Moseley Folk Festival (since 2006), which takes place in Moseley private park and mixes new with established folk acts, the Birmingham Jazz Festival, and the Birmingham Comedy Festival (since 2001), which has been headlined by such acts as Peter Kay, The Fast Show, Jimmy Carr, Lee Evans and Lenny Henry.
Media
Birmingham has two local daily newspapers - the
Birmingham Post and the
Birmingham Mail - as well as the
Sunday Mercury, all owned by the
Trinity Mirror who also own What's On magazine, a fortnightly listings title which has been running for 30 years.
Forward (formerly
Birmingham Voice) is a
freesheet produced by
Birmingham City Council, which is distributed to homes in the city. Birmingham is also the hub for various national
ethnic media and the base for two regional Metro editions (east Midlands and West Midlands).
Birmingham has a long cinematic history. The
Electric Cinema on Station Street is the oldest working
cinema in the UK, and
Oscar Deutsch opened his first
Odeon cinema in
Perry Barr during the 1920s. Birmingham-born architect
Harry Weedon collaborated with Oscar Deutsch to design over 300 cinemas across the country, most in the distinctive
Art-Deco style.
Star City is said to be Europe's largest leisure and cinema complex and isn't far from the Britain's only permanent drive-in cinema; both are in
Nechells. An
IMAX cinema is located at
Millennium Point in the
Eastside. Birmingham has also been the location for
films including
Felicia's Journey of 1999, which used locations in Birmingham that were used in
Take Me High of 1973 to contrast the changes in the city.
As well as being the location for television dramas, Birmingham is also a national hub for television broadcasting. The
BBC has two facilities in the city.
The Mailbox, in the city centre, is the location for the national headquarters of
BBC English Regions, the headquarters of
BBC West Midlands and the
BBC Birmingham network production centre, which were previously located at the
Pebble Mill Studios in
Edgbaston. The
BBC Drama Village, based in
Selly Oak, is a production facility specialising in
television drama. It was announced in October 2007 that BBC Birmingham was to lose 43 out of 2,500 jobs nationwide. It is also to receive the long-running emergency medical drama
Casualty, which is currently produced in
Bristol.
Birmingham was also the main hub for many programmes on
ITV. Central/ATV studios in Birmingham filmed many programmes including
Tiswas and
Crossroads until the studio was closed. When Central TV moved to its current Gas Street studios, it was also the main hub for
CITV when Stephen Mullhern and Danielle Nicholas were filming until CITV was moved to Manchester. All ITV Central film now is its regional news programme
Central Tonight and its regional football programme
Central Soccer Night.
The city is served by numerous national and regional radio stations, as well as local radio stations. These include
96.4 BRMB,
Galaxy,
Heart FM,
Kerrang! 105.2,
New Style Radio 98.7FM,
Smooth Radio 105.7FM and
BBC WM.
The Archers, the world's longest running radio soap, is recorded in Birmingham for
BBC Radio 4.
Leisure
Two major developments have regenerated two parts of the city in recent years.
Brindleyplace is a major canalside development with restaurants and office buildings along with the
National Sea Life Centre. The other development was the
Bullring Shopping Centre, which replaced a previous shopping centre.
The Mailbox, a canalside development, features designer stores as well as offices and apartments.
The Cube, designed by
MAKE Architects is a 17 storey mixed-use development which is under construction as part of the Mailbox masterplan. The
National Indoor Arena is one of the busiest large scale sporting and entertainment venues in Europe. Outside of the city centre is
Star City entertainment complex on the former site of
Nechells Power Station.
The nightlife in Birmingham is concentrated mainly along
Broad Street and into
Brindleyplace. However, in recent years, stylish clubs and bars have started to establish themselves outside the Broad Street area. The
Medicine Bar in the
Custard Factory,
The Sanctuary, Rainbow Pub and Air are large clubs and bars in
Digbeth. Near Digbeth, there are bars and club nights in areas such as the Arcadian and
Hurst Street Gay Village by the
Chinese Quarter. Summer Row,
The Mailbox, and St Philips/Colmore Row - where once a month there's a party night held for Polish residents in Birmingham - and
Jewellery Quarter also feature clubs. There are number of late night pubs in the
Irish Quarter.
Architecture
|
|-
|
|}
Today's Birmingham is chiefly a product of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, as its real growth began with the
Industrial Revolution. Consequently, relatively few buildings survive from its earlier history, and those that do are protected. There are 1,946
listed buildings in Birmingham and thirteen
scheduled ancient monuments. Birmingham City Council also operate a locally listing scheme for buildings that don't fully meet the criteria for statutorily listed status.
Traces of
medieval Birmingham can be seen in the oldest churches, notably the original
parish church,
St Martin in the Bull Ring. A few other buildings from the medieval and
Tudor periods survive, among them
The Lad In The Lane and
The Old Crown, the 15th century
Saracen's Head public house and Old Grammar School in
Kings Norton and
Blakesley Hall.
A number of
Georgian buildings survive, including
St Philip's Cathedral,
Soho House,
Perrott's Folly, the
Town Hall and much of
St Paul's Square. The
Victorian era saw extensive building across the city. Major civic buildings such as the
Victoria Law Courts (in characteristic
red brick and terracotta), the
Council House and the
Museum & Art Gallery were constructed.
St Chad's Cathedral was the first
Roman Catholic cathedral to be built in the UK since the
Reformation. Across the city, the need to house the industrial workers gave rise to miles of redbrick streets and terraces, many of
back-to-back houses, some of which were later to become inner-city
slums.
Postwar redevelopment and anti-Victorianism resulted in the loss of dozens Victorian buildings like
Birmingham New Street Station, and the old Central Library. In inner-city areas too, much Victorian housing was
redeveloped and existing communities were relocated to
tower block estates like
Castle Vale. Birmingham City Council now has an extensive tower block demolition and renovation programme. There has been a lot of construction in the city centre in recent years, including the award-winning
Future Systems'
Selfridges building in the
Bullring Shopping Centre, the
Brindleyplace regeneration project and the
Millennium Point science and technology centre. The regeneration of Birmingham has been prompted by the
Birmingham Redevelopment Scheme.
Highrise development has slowed since the 1970s and mainly in recent years due to enforcements imposed by the
Civil Aviation Authority on the heights of buildings as they could affect aircraft from the International Airport, (for example
Beetham Tower).
Second City
Birmingham has traditionally been regarded by many as the
Second city of the United Kingdom. It is the most populous English city and has an important cultural and industrial impact on British life for centuries.
A 2007 poll by the
BBC placed
Manchester ahead of Birmingham in the category of second city of England, but also ahead in the category of
third city. Neither categories are officially sanctioned, and criteria for determining what 'second city' means are ill-defined.
Notable residents
Joseph Chamberlain, who was once mayor of Birmingham and later became an MP, and his son
Neville Chamberlain, who was lord mayor Birmingham and later the British Prime Minister, are two of the most well-known political figures who have lived in Birmingham. Author
J. R. R. Tolkien was brought up in Birmingham with many locations in the city such as Moseley bog, Sarehole Mill and
Perrott's Folly supposedly being the inspiration for various scenes in
The Lord of the Rings. Writer
W. H. Auden grew up in the Harborne area of the city. Entertainers who were born or who have lived in Birmingham include comedians
Tony Hancock and
Jasper Carrott and the actors
Trevor Eve and
Martin Shaw. In more recent times,
Cat Deeley became a popular television presenter in the UK and USA. Birmingham has also produced a number of popular bands and musicians.
The Streets,
UB40, Editors, The Twang,
Ocean Colour Scene,
Judas Priest,
Black Sabbath,
Led Zeppelin,
Wizzard and
Duran Duran were all popular bands, whilst musicians
Jeff Lynne,
Ozzy Osbourne,
John Lodge,
Nick Mason,
Christine McVie,
Roy Wood,
Jamelia, and
Steve Winwood all were very successful. Other famous residents include Birmingham-historian
Carl Chinn famous for his passionate love for the city; Tony award winning political playwright
David Edgar; and Booker Prize winning novelist
David Lodge.
The '
Walk of Stars', similar to the
Hollywood Walk of Fame, was unveiled in July 2007 to honour the famous residents of Birmingham. The first star to be placed on the walk, which is located on
Broad Street, was by
Ozzy Osbourne. The second star, honouring
Jasper Carrott, was placed in the walk in September 2007 during
ArtsFest.
See also:
Blue Plaques erected by the Birmingham Civic Society
.
Science and invention
gas lighting,
custard powder, the
magnetron, the first ever use of
radiography in an
operation,
Lewis Paul and
John Wyatt's first
cotton Roller Spinning machine and the UK's first ever
hole-in-the-heart operation, at
Birmingham Children's Hospital.
Among the city's notable scientists and inventors are
Matthew Boulton, proprietor of the
Soho engineering works,
Sir Francis Galton, originator of
eugenics and important techniques in
statistics,
Joseph Priestley, chemist and radical and
James Watt, engineer and inventor who is associated with the
steam engine. Many of these scientists were members of the
Lunar Society, which was based in the city.
Twin cities
Birmingham's
town twins are:
| Chicago, Illinois, United States
Frankfurt, Germany
Guangzhou, China
Johannesburg, South Africa
Leipzig, Germany
Nanjing, China
Lyon, France
Milan, Italy
Mirpur, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan - Friendship agreement
|
Birmingham,
Alabama, USA is named after the city and shares an industrial kinship.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Birmingham'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://birmingham.totallyexplained.com">Birmingham Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
