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This article is about Birmingham in England; see also Birmingham, Alabama and other towns called Birmingham

Birmingham (pronounced BIRming'm) is a city in the West Midlands of England with a population of 985,900 (2001 estimate). Due to Birmingham being the second largest and second most culturally diverse city in the UK it is generally considered England's "second city", after London.

File:Birmingham Skyline 410.jpg
The city's Skyline, with the Rotunda in the centre

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Introduction

The city is situated in the West Midlands conurbation, of which it forms the largest part. Along with the city of Wolverhampton, the Black Country, and a number of surrounding towns, this conurbation consists of around 2.25 million people, around four million people live in the surrounding commuter belt. The term 'Birmingham' is often used in reference to the entire conurbation rather than the city proper.


City of Birmingham
Demographics
Population:985,900 (2001)
Ethnicity:70% white, 16% Asian, 5% black
Geography
Region:West Midlands
County:West Midlands
Neighbours:Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Solihull, Worcestershire, Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall
Stations:New Street, Snow Hill, Birmingham International, Moor Street

The city is commonly known as Brum (from the old name Brummagem) and its inhabitants as Brummies. Birmingham residents speak with a distinctive Brummie accent which is often confused with the Black Country accent. The people are generally regarded as hard working, and having a sense of humour that is quite unique.

File:Birmingham canals 700.jpg
Canals in central Birmingham
File:New Street Birmingham 700.jpg
New Street in central Birmingham

Birmingham is one of the most culturally diverse cities in the UK, with a large population from the Caribbean, Indian sub-continent and from Ireland: according to the 2001 census 29.7% of the population of Birmingham is non-white. The city has one of the largest populations of Rastafarians outside Jamaica and the city hosts the third largest St. Patrick's Day parade in the world, after Dublin and New York. Birmingham's balti restaurants produce some of the finest Indian cuisine in the U.K.

About 22 million people visit Birmingham every year and the city was voted second best place to shop in England 2004 after the West End of London. Its top attractions include the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, Millennium Point Science Museum, Bull Ring, Future Systems Selfridges Building, Cadbury World, Tolkien Trail [1], Birmingham Royal Ballet, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the National Sea Life Centre and 35 miles (60 km) of canals within the city boundaries, of which most are navigable. Although Birmingham covers a far greater area than Venice a commonly quoted (and true) fact is that Birmingham has more canals than Venice, click here to find out why

The city centre has been transformed in recent years, with the construction of new city squares, the restoration of old streets, buildings and canals, and the removal of much-derided subways.

Birmingham is located at 52°30" North, 1°50" West.

The Birmingham Coat of Arms was Granted to the City in April 1889 and shows two figures, representing Industry and The Arts.

History

From a Saxon market village to a major city, the History of Birmingham is too much to cover on this page.

Economy

The Industrial Revolution began in Birmingham and the surrounding Midlands towns, this allowed many great factories, foundries and businesses to prosper such as The Midland Bank (now HSBC) which, opened for business in Union Street, Birmingham, in August 1836.

Sword, Gun and Pistol Manufacturers, jewellers, Goldsmiths, Attorneys, Physicians, Surgeons, Apothecaries and Chemists all prospered in the city. Also came the design and construction of Railway carriages, steam engines, and even -- unusually for somewhere so far from the sea -- ships (which were made as pre-fabricated sections, assembled at the coast).

Until 2003, coins were manufactured at the Birmingham Mint, the oldest independent mint in the world. Other famous brands from the "City of a thousand trades" include Bird's Custard, Chad Valley Toys, BSA, Bakelite and the Birmingham wire gauge which was a main provider of musical instrument Wire in Britain for many years.

Breweries including Ansells, Davenports and Mitchells & Butlers had their origins in Birmingham and many smaller micro breweries still exist in the city today as well as brands Cadburys chocolate, HP Sauce, L.D.V. vans, and MG Rover Group.

In the First and Second World War, Longbridge Car Plant built everything imaginable from Ammunition to Churchill Tank suspensions, Steel Helmets, Jerricans, Hawker Hurricanes, Fairey Battle fighters, Horsa Gliders, mines and depth charges with the mamoth Avro Lancaster Bomber coming into production towards the end of War which continued service worldwide. The Spitfire fighter aircraft was mass produced for the RAF during the Battle of Britain at Castle Bromwich.

Birmingham's history as a motor manufacturer is extensive with firms like BSA, Norton, Ariel, and Velocette Motorbikes, LDV vans, Wolseley Police Cars, Morris, the Mini, Austin, MG Rover Group, Lucas Aerospace, Tyseley Locomotive Works, The Dunlop Tyre Company, Tractors Truck's Aeroplane's, the Midland Red Bus Company and a UK Branch of Alstom trains. The Sunday Times Motor Show Live is the largest motor show in Britain and takes place anually at The National Exhibition Centre.

See links for more information on Birmingham's Motor Transport history:

While manufacturing is still important to the city, and to its future, the local economy is rapidly diversifying; in particular, professional and financial services and tourism are growing quickly. More details about the Birmingham economy can be found here

Culture

Music

Birmingham is without doubt one of the most influential cities in the world when it comes to modern music. In the late 1960s Heavy metal music first evolved in the city and its neighbouring districts with bands such as Black Sabbath, The Fortunes, The Move and Robert Plant's Led Zeppelin.

Birmingham-based tape recorder company, Bradmatic Ltd helped develop and manufacture the mellotron. Over the next 15 years, the mellotron had a major impact on rock music and is a trademark sound of the era's progressive bands.

Early progressive Rock and Blues bands to evolve from the Brum Beat era include: Wizzard, TheSpencer Davis Group, Idle Race, The Moody Blues, Judas Priest, Traffic, and The Electric Light Orchestra.

Other Brummie singer/songwriters and musicians that have enjoyed world wide musical acclaim are Mike Kellie (of Spooky Tooth), Carl Palmer (of Emerson Lake and Palmer), Phil Lynott (who formed Thin Lizzy), Joan Armatrading, Steve Winwood, Steve Gibbons, Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne. Highly acclaimed musician Nick Drake was born and raised on the outskirts of southern Birmingham.

Mothers rock venue ran in Erdington from 1968 - 1971 and The list of bands who played there reads like a roll call of rock legends: Pink Floyd recorded Ummagumma, The Who performed Tommy and Traffic staged their debut gig. The club was voted number one rock venue in the world by America's Billboard magazine.

During the 70s Birmingham's large West Indian population spawned what is arguably one of the earliest Roots reggae bands in the UK, Steel Pulse, with their ground breaking 1970s album Handsworth Revolution they proved that English Reggae music could offer something more than just sound system. Soon to follow were the first truly mixed race UK dub reggae band UB40 with the alternative signing off album. Other 70s Reggae orientated groups were 2 tone band The Beat and Musical Youth who (along with UB40, Pablo Falconer and Pato Banton) were part responsible for bringing UK reggae into the homes of everyday 1980s Britain.

The second city also plays host to one of oldest Community Radio stations(sometimes known as pirate radio) in the U.K.) in the form of P.C.R.L. which began existance in the early 80s and is mainly reggae based.

The early 80s brought New Romantic music fans the Birmingham super group Duran Duran, who worked in the famous Rum Runner nightspot in 1970s Birmingham, the band have recently reformed to begin a 2004 tour. Napalm Death, GBH, Stephen "Tintin" Duffy, Toyah Wilcox and Ruby Turner also emanated from the industrial sprawl of late 70s/early 80s Birmingham as were rough and ready Dexy's Midnight Runners, (who created their own scene and found fame in tracks such as Come on Eileen).

Hip Hop, Electro, Breakdance and Graffiti art culture spread rapidly in early 1980s West Midland youth, and when Hip Hop legend Afrika Bambaata visited the UK around the time of the Handsworth riots he inspired a wealth of Rappers and Hip Hop DJs such as Kash Da Masta, Elements, Roc1, Mad Flow, Creative Habits, Lord Laing and DJ Sparra (twice winner of the DMC mixing championships). The Medicine Bar which is situated in the old Bird's Custard Factory is home to two of the longest running Funk and Hip Hop nights in the UK which are called Substance and Leftfoot, both have featured on BBC Radio 1 and fuse together major Acid Jazz, Hip Hop and Funk artists from across the Globe.

The 90s Indie music scene saw a resurgence of local talent in bands such as The Charlatans who formed in the City suburbs and first gigged in Walsall. Other late 1980s/1990s Indie bands of substantial merit were Dodgy, WonderStuff, Pop Will Eat Itself and Ned's Atomic Dustbin.

Bhangra Rap evolved in Handsworth in the early 90s with Apache Indian who later went on to host his own radio show on BBC Radio 1, many other Bhangra bands are based in the city.

Birmingham has embraced house music since the late 1980s and has lead to some of the UK's most influential Dance nights. Gods Kitchen, Chuff Chuff, Wobble, Miss Moneypenny's, Gatecrasher, Sundissential, Atomic Jam and the original C.R.E.A.M all have their roots in the city and have been supported by some of the finest local talent such as the late Tony De Vit, Steve Lawler and Steve Kelley. (Most of the above have hosted major events across the world mainly Ibiza).

More recent artists of sound repute are Electro Dub creators Rockers Hi-Fi, Big Beat musicians Bently Rythm Ace, Garage/House band The Streets, Electronica craftsmen Broadcast, R&B Soulstress Jamelia, Kelli Dayton of The Sneaker Pimps, saxophonist/rapper Soweto Kinch and the rock band Ocean Colour Scene.

For fans of classical music, the internationally renown City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, is located in Symphony Hall. The world- renowned Birmingham Royal Ballet also resides in the city as will the world's oldest vocational dance school, Elmhurst. The Birmingham Triennial Music Festival took place from 1784 - 1912 and was considered the grandest of its kind throughout Britain. Music was written for the festival by Mendelssohn, Gounod, Sullivan, Dvorak, Bantock and most notably Elgar, who wrote four of his most famous choral pieces for Birmingham.

Birmingham music venues include: The National Indoor Arena (NIA) the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) and the International Convention Centre which are located in (or near) Birmingham, and host a huge variety of concerts, exhibitions and other shows. Some of Birmingham's smaller dedicated music venues include the Birmingham Carling Academy, Academy 2, Scruffy Murphy's, The Custard Factory and Edward's No. 8.

Carnival

Birmingham is home to many national, religeous and spiritual festivals. The city also hosts the third largest St. Patrick's Day parade in the world after New York and Dublin. The Birmingham Tattoo is one of the largest milltary parades in the UK. Caribbean style carnivals have been held in Handsworth Park since 1984. In 1994, the carnival was held in Handsworth Park for the last time. The following year it was moved from the park out onto the streets of Handsworth, since which time it has been known as the Birmingham Carnival. In 1999, it was again held in a park, but this time in Perry Barr Park. Birmingham has been host to major gay parades and is home to Party in the Park at Cannon Hill Park which caters for pop fans of all ages.

Literature

Many famous literary figures have been associated with Birmingham these include:

  • The Lord of the Rings author J. R. R. Tolkien who spent most of his childhood in the Birmingham area, and his work is believed to have been influenced by his time there [2] his parents also came from Birmingham.
  • Barbara Cartland or "The Lady in Pink" was born in Edgbaston July 9th 1901. The family home was on Cartland Road, Kings Heath.
  • Arthur Conan Doyle [4] lived in Aston from about Spring 1879 - early 1882 and many of his works include references to people or places he knew there.

Judith Cutler's crime novels are set in present-day Birmingham. The city also has literary workshops such as Tindal Street Press.

The actors in the long-running Radio 4 serial The Archers live in and around Birmingham, where the programme is in fact made.

Comedy

Birmingham has generated some very famous comedians including:

Sid Field, Tony Hancock, Jasper Carrott, Shazia Mirza and Rick Mayall.

The Glee Club (Birmingham) is the city's main comedy venue.

Media

Local newspapers include The Birmingham Post, Sunday Mercury and Evening Mail.

The BBC have a regional headquarters which produces many radio and T.V. shows including BBC Midlands Today news programme, the studios have recently re-located from Pebble Mill to The Mailbox in central Birmingham.

Theatre

There are many theatres in Birmingham. The three largest professional theatres are the Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham Repertory Theatre and the Birmingham Hippodrome.

Arts

Birmingham houses one one of the largest collections of Pre-Raphaelite art in the world at The Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. Edward Burne-Jones was born in Birmingham.

David Cox was a famous Birmingham watercolour artist and President of the Associated Artists in Water Colour in 1810.

The Barber Institute of Fine Arts is housed in south Birmingham, although only a small gallery it is well renown throughout the world for fantastic exhibitions of all kinds.

Number 9 The Gallery situated in Brindley Place and centres on art, glass, ceramics and sculpture. Close by is The Ikon Gallery (which is housed in a neo-gothic former school) and displays many modern art exhibitions.

Graffiti, or Spray Can Art, culture spread rapidly in early 1980s West Midland Youth, with the area featuring heavily in Channel 4 documentary Bombing, Birmingham also hosted the largest community Spray Can Art competition in Britain which brought together the world's finest artists of the era such as local talent Goldie, Bronx Graffiti Supremo Brim, London artist Mode and Bristol visionary 3D (born Robert Del Naja) who later went on to found Massive Attack. The city still holds Graffiti events in the Custard Factory and Selly Oak ball park [5].

Places of interest

Sport

Football is the most frequently played sport in Birmingham. The city is home to two of the UK's oldest professional Premier League football teams: Aston Villa (1874) and Birmingham City (1875, formerly Small Heath) nearby West Bromwich Albion's ground The Hawthorns used to be divided by the Birmingham/ Smethwick border, but was moved completely into the latter by a minor rationalisation of local government borders in the 1960s and is now in Sandwell).

The first football league was invented, by William McGregor on 22 March 1885, in Aston, Birmingham.

Athletics takes place at the Alexander Stadium on a national and international level. The Stadium is also home to Birchfield Harriers who have contributed towards Britain's National and International Athletics for many years.

Golf is played at the Belfry (just outside Sutton Coldfield, and thus outside the city) which sometimes hosts The Ryder Cup.

Rugby Union is also played in Birmingham with Moseley and the more recent Birmingham & Solihull Pertemp Bee's chasing for a place in Rugby League.

Basketball is played by the Birmingham Bullets who are in the top UK basketball league and attract a vociferous crowd.

Boxing is a popular sport in the City with many clubs and famous Professional Boxers such as Pat Cowdell and Robert McKracken who have continued to support Boxing in the UK by turning their skills to coaching new up and coming Boxer's.

Cricket is played at the City's Edgbaston Ground which is also home to National team Warwickshire County Cricket Club, this is due to the change in Boundaries, many parts of Birmingham were once classed as Staffordshire and Warwickshire.

Hockey is also a popular sport with Harborne and Bournville competing at professional level.

The National Indoor Arena and International Convention Centre also host many sporting events from the World Indoor Badminton Championships to the World Indoor Athletics Championships and are often praised for sell out crowds and fantastic local support.

Learning

Birmingham has three universities: The University of Birmingham, Aston University and The University of Central England (UCE, formerly Birmingham Polytechnic). The UCE has asked Aston to consider a merger. The Birmingham Conservatoire, now part of the UCE, was established over 100 years ago and is recognised as one of the major national colleges of music which centers on the performance and of composition.

Government

Birmingham


shown within West Midlands

Local Government

Most of Birmingham was traditionally a part of Warwickshire. The city became a county borough in 1889. It became a part of the West Midlands metropolitan county upon its creation in 1974. Since the West Midlands county council was abolished in 1986, it has been a unitary authority area.

The city is governed by Birmingham City Council.

MPs

Birmingham is represented in the House of Commons by 11 MPs.

ConstituencyMPParty
Birmingham, EdgbastonGisela StuartLabour
Birmingham, ErdingtonSiôn SimonLabour
Birmingham, Hall GreenStephen James McCabeLabour
Birmingham, Hodge HillTerry DavisLabour
Birmingham, LadywoodClare ShortLabour
Birmingham, NorthfieldRichard BurdenLabour
Birmingham, Perry BarrKhalid MahmoodLabour
Birmingham, Selly OakDr Lynne JonesLabour
Birmingham, Sparkbrook and Small HeathRoger GodsiffLabour
Birmingham, YardleyEstelle MorrisLabour
Sutton ColdfieldAndrew MitchellConservative

Transport

Due in part to its central location, Birmingham is a major transport hub.

  • Roads: The M6 motorway connects Birmingham to London and the south, and the north-east of England and Scotland. Junction 6 of the M6 is also one of Birmingham's most famous landmarks, and probably the most famous motorway junction in the UK: Spaghetti Junction, officially called the Gravelly Hill Interchange. Other local motorways include:
    • The M40, which connects Birmingham to London and Oxford;
    • The M5, connecting Birmingham to the south-west of England; and
    • The M42 motorway connects Birmingham to the East Midlands.
    • The M6 Toll, which enables through traffic on the M6 to bypass Birmingham.

Canals

Although it has no major river (the Rea, on which the City was founded, is now little more than a culverted stream, and the Tame, which only passes through the northern suburbs, is not navigable), Birmingham is at the hub of the country's canal network.

There are 35 miles (60 km) of canals within the Birmingham city boundaries, of which most are navigable. Although Birmingham covers a far greater area than Venice a commonly quoted (and true) fact is that Birmingham has more canals than Venice, Find out why

Extensive regeneration of the city's canals has taken place over recent years from dredging the water ways to enable the busy stream of canal barges to the massive investment and construction of high quality city living accommodation, there are also many new wine bars and eateries that thrive along the central canal network like the Mailbox Development and Brindley Place.

Canals in Birmingham include:

Famous residents

Districts/towns

Between 1889 and 1974 the city boundaries were expanded to include many places which were once towns in their own right, many of which still retain a distinctive character. Amongst these are Aston, Edgbaston and Sutton Coldfield.

Nearby places

Cities

Towns

Twin towns or partner cities

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