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Birmingham

Birmingham is the second biggest city after London with a population of just over 1 million in 2008. If you add in the West Midlands conurbation which includes closely tied surrounding towns you have a population of around 3.6 million. It is geographically in the centre of England as opposed to London which is clearly in the South East.

Birmingham grew with the Industrial revolution and became known as the “Workshop of the world”. In the Domesday Book of 1086, it was recorded as just a small village. By 1166 it was a market town as Peter de Birmingham was granted a royal charter to hold a market in his castle. This area became known as the Bull Ring.

By the 16th century the metalworking industries had become established and it had a reputation for producing small arms. However, it wasn’t until the mid 18th, century that the area grew rapidly into a major industrial centre. This was assisted by the canals in the 1820’s and then the railways in 1837 with the arrival of the Grand Junction Railway. It was granted city status in 1889 by Queen Victoria and established its own University in 1900. Today it has three universities.

The area suffered heavy bombing in World War 2 which led to the redevelopment of much of the city in the 1950’s and 1960’s. After the war the ethnic makeup of Birmingham changed, as people arrived from the Commonwealth counties. In 2007 it was estimated that 66.7% of the population was white. 57% of primary school children are from non white British families. The population density is 9,451 per square mile which is around 10 times the average for England at 976 per square mile.

The city is home to the Barber Institute of fine arts which is located within the University and is both an art gallery and concert hall. It is a grade 2 listed art deco building. The collection is full of famous works by artists such as Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, Auguste Rodin, Pablo Picasso and Rembrandt.

www.barber.org.uk

Other places of interest include the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery which is the main art gallery for the city. http://www.bmag.org.uk/ Cadbury World is also well worth a visit which demonstrates the stages of chocolate production. There are also numerous parks, the largest being Sutton Park in Sutton Coldfield near Birmingham. This is one of the largest urban parks in Europe.

See also http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/ for up to date information about the area.

Other useful websites:

Allbrum: allbrum.co.uk
Big City Plan: www.bigcityplan.org.uk
Created in Birmingham: www.createdinbirmingham.com
Visit Birmingham: www.visitbirmingham.com

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