| Birmingham,
England.
Birmingham in
England is the second largest city in the United Kingdom after
London. England is one of the four countries, along with
Scotland and Wales, making up the island of Great Britain. Add
in Northern Ireland and you have the United Kingdom (UK).
The city of
Birmingham itself is located approximately 120 miles north west
of London in the centrally located West Midlands Region of
England, and is a major European and international city in its
own right. It forms the major part of the wider West Midlands
metropolitan area stretching from Coventry to Wolverhampton.
Birmingham’s
history stretches back at least 800 years, when the first
settlement developed at Digbeth, but it really came to
prominence on the world stage when it became one of the
principal centres of the Industrial Revolution in the 19th
century. It was called the ‘City of 1001 Trades’
and became one of the great Victorian cities by the end of the
1800s. It became a city in 1889 following the grant of its Royal
Charter.
Redevelopment
and reconstruction has changed some of the character of the city
over the past fifty years, but Birmingham today is a highly
multicultural and sophisticated city of around one million
people. Communities are drawn from all parts of England and from
all over the world, as well as from those born locally. It is a
national transport hub (the home of Spaghetti Junction!) and a
major commercial and administrative centre and offers to all who
live, visit and work here the facilities expected of a
world-class city.
Birmingham’s
new confidence is summed up in the new developments,
particularly west of the city centre but now also towards the
east of the city.
Shopping in
the new Bullring or the Mailbox; visiting an exhibition or going
to a concert at the NEC; spectating at a sporting event at the
Alexander Stadium or National Indoor Arena; enjoying the canal
side atmosphere at Brindley Place; or out on the town at along
Broad Street or the new Broadway Plaza; all these things are
possible - and we’ve not even talked about the heart of the
city yet!!
And
Birmingham’s redevelopment continues apace, with the Eastside
of the city being totally redeveloped to provide a new Library
for Birmingham, a learning quarter, more high technology
businesses and modern options for city centre living, shopping
and working.
Birmingham
will also gain its first new major public park for over 100
years when Eastside is completed.
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