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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. 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 of Birmingham has a population of 985,900 (2001 estimate) the Birmingham meropolitan area which includes the cities of Wolverhampton, Coventry the Black Country, and a number of surrounding towns, has a population of 2,575,768. Around four million people live within a 40 mile (65 km) radius of the city. The term 'Birmingham' is sometimes erroneously used in reference to the entire built up area around the city 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, 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.

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, watchmakers, 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, Typhoo Tea, Brylcreem, 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 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 WWII. The Spitfire fighter aircraft was mass produced for the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain at Castle Bromwich.

Birmingham's history as a transport 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, the Midland Red Bus Company and a UK branch of Alstom trains, formerly the Midland Railway Carriage and Wagon Company.

The Motor Show Live is the largest motor show in Britain and takes place every other year, 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 Modern

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 (singer of 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 Birmingham singer/songwriters and musicians that have enjoyed world wide musical acclaim are Joan Armatrading, Steve Gibbons, Mike Kellie (of Spooky Tooth), Jeff Lynne, Phil Lynott (who formed Thin Lizzy), Carl Palmer (of Emerson Lake and Palmer), Ruby Turner, Toyah Willcox, Steve Winwood and Roy Wood. 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 part of 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 1970s 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 existence in the early 80s and is mainly reggae based.

The early 1980s brought New Romantic music fans the Birmingham super group Duran Duran, who worked in the famous Rum Runner nightclub in 1970s Birmingham. They have recently reformed to begin a 2004 tour.

Napalm Death and Stephen "Tintin" Duffy, also emanated from late 70s/early 80s Birmingham, as did Dexy's Midnight Runners.

Hip Hop, Electro, Breakdance and Graffiti art culture spread rapidly in early 1980s West Midland youth. A rap crew called Jump released two records as early as 1985 'We come to jam' and 'feel it'. One of their vocalists 'Sure Shot' rapped on a morning breakfast show as early as 1980 and later went on to form 'The Audio Kings' and then 'The Black Prophetz'. The Medicine Bar (situated in the old Bird's Custard Factory) continues the city's Hip Hop connection and is home to two of the longest running Funk and Hip Hop nights in the UK, Substance and Leftfoot, both having featured on BBC Radio 1 they fuse together major Acid Jazz, hip hop and funk artists from across the Globe.

The 1990s 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 1990s 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. Acid House nights such as Spectrum took place at the Institute (now the Sanctuary) and the Hummingbird (now the Carling Birmingham Academy). Some of the UK's most influential dance nights including Gods Kitchen, Chuff Chuff, Wobble, Miss Moneypenny's, Gatecrasher, Sundissential, Atomic Jam and the original C.R.E.A.M have their roots in the city and have been supported by 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 including Ibiza).

More recent artists include 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.

Some of Birmingham's music venues include the Carling Birmingham Academy, Academy 2, Birmingham National Exhibition Centre, Scruffy Murphy's, The Custard Factory and Edward's No. 8.

Music Classical

For fans of classical music, the internationally renown City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, is located in Symphony Hall and hosts regular performances.

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, Bartok and most notably Elgar, who wrote four of his most famous choral pieces for Birmingham.

Birmingham's music venues include: The National Indoor Arena (NIA) and Symphony Hall, and which are located in the city centre.

Birmingham Town Hall is a grade I listed building and has played host to many classical and popular music performances since the late 1800s. After closing its doors to the public in 1996, on safety grounds, the City council have initiated a £31 million refurbishment which will see the Town Hall brought back to its original glory with the record-breaking 6,000-pipe organ still in place.

Festivals

Birmingham is home to many national, religious and spiritual festivals including a St. George's Day party in Centenary Square.

The city also hosts the third largest St. Patrick's Day parade in the world after New York and Dublin. The Birmingham Tattoo is a milltary parade that has taken place in the city for several years. The Caribbean style Birmingham Carnival has been held in Handsworth Park since 1984. The carnival now takes place in Perry Barr Park. Birmingham Pride takes place in Birminghams gay village and attracts up to a 100,000 visitors each year. Party in the Park is Birminghams largest music festival at Cannon Hill Park, up to 30,000 revellers enjoy pop music for of all ages. The critically acclaimed Fierce Festival has teamed up with REP to present an series of quirky, jaw dropping performances from local and national companies. The Birmingham Film Festival also takes place anually across various venues in the city. It highlights local talent as well as a wide spectrum of international productions.

Literature

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

  • The Lord of the Rings author J. R. R. Tolkien 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 and it was declared 'Gallery of the Year' by the Good Britain Guide 2004. .

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.

The Halcyon Gallery is housed inside the International Convention Centre, with major exhibitions by artists such as Birminghams own Govinder Nazran who was nominated for the Fine Art Trade Guild's 'Best Selling Artist 2004'.

Graffiti, or Spraycan Art, culture spread rapidly in early 1980s West Midlands, with the area featuring heavily in Channel 4 documentary Bombing, Birmingham also hosted the largest community Spraycan 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].

The Old Bird's Custard Factory is now one of the largets thriving Media and Arts villages in Europe, with exhibitions from Graffiti to Modern Art with an array of exciting modern sculpture and water features as a fiting backdrop.

Places of interest

Architecture

Birmingham grew out of dozens of small vilages, towns and farmsteads during the Industrial Revolution. The need for 'a quick fix' to house the many industrial workers that flocked to the city from other areas lead to many fine victorian streets and back- to-backs, some of which were later to become inner city slums. Many of the older black and white timber buildings can still be seen today like 'The Old Crown' public house in Digbeth, the 'Stone' public house in Northfield and Stratford House in Sparkbrook.

Many Georgian buildings still survive dotted around the city, for instance Bournbrook Hall, Bournville, and in areas such as Edgbaston. The Victorian era saw an extensive building programme right across the city and nearby towns, the fine examples of victorian housing can still be seen in Harborne, Handsworth, Moseley and Bournville, with many red brick churches and public buildings like the Birmingham Law Courts, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, Birmingham Botanical Gardens and The Barber Institute of Fine Arts. New Street and Corporation Street in the city centre have retained many of their fine victorian buildings which provides an insight into how the city would have once looked.

Birmingham's industrial importance in World War Two lead to some of the heaviest bombing raids during the Battle of Britain, this claimed many lives and many beautiful buildings too, however the destruction that took place in post war Birmingham was also extensive, dozens of fine victorian buildings like the intricate glass rooved Birmingham New Street station, and the old Central Library were destroyed in the 1950s and 1960s. These planning decisions were to have a profound effect on the image of Birmingham in subsequent decades, with the mix of concrete ring roads, shopping malls and tower blocks often refered to as a 'concrete jungle' or a city with no soul. The largest high-rise estate in Britain was constructed at Castle Vale with over 30 huge tower blocks in one small estate. Birmingham has since learnt from its mistakes and with one of the largest demolition and renovation programmes of tower blocks anywhere in Europe, new commitees have been set up to guide planning and constuction of new buildings, squares and parks.

Like Birmingham Town Hall, which is a grade I listed building, many grade II listed buildings also remain in the city, for instance the empty, recently- listed Grand Hotel on Colmore Row and the popular 200ft-high Rotunda, a circular tower block at the South end of New Street. St. Philip's Cathedral, built as a parish church, is in the heart of the city, and has glass by Edward Burne-Jones. More modern architecture is represented in the city by the award winning Future Systems' Selfridges building which is a wave like structure covered in hundreds of reflective discs. Brindley Place and Millennium Point are also examples of how fine modern architecture is replacing the much derided concrete of days gone by. Many new projects are planned for the city, incuding a new Library of Birmingham in the developing Eastside, and Arena Cental on Broad Street.

Sport

The city is home to two of the UK's oldest professional Premier League football teams: Aston Villa (1874) and Birmingham City (1875) . 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 open-air 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. The National Indoor Arena is Britains Premier Indoor Athletics stadium and in 2003 The NIA successfully hosted the 9th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics, and the city has been chosen to host the European Athletic Association's European Indoor Championships in 2007.

Golf is played at the Belfry (4km outside Birmingham) 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.

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

The National Indoor Arena also host many other sporting events, such as the World Indoor Badminton Championships.

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.

Birmingham is nearly entirely unparished. Its only parish, New Frankley, was established in 2000 in an area transferrred from Bromsgrove in 1995 - it had previously been part of the Frankley parish.

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.

Public transport

A plethora of railway lines from all over Britain connects with Birmingham New Street station, the central hub of the UK rail network, with regular train services to all the major cities in the UK including London. Trains to London can currently also be caught at Birmingham Snow Hill station, though Snow Hill's London services are due to be diverted into Moor Street station in 2009.

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
  • The M42 motorway connects Birmingham to the East Midlands
  • The M6 Toll, which enables through traffic on the M6 to bypass Birmingham.

Air

Birmingham is served by Birmingham International Airport, which has flights to all over Europe and to New York. The airport is served by the railway network at Birmingham International station

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 [6]

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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