The
West Midlands is an official region of England
, covering
the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands
.
It
contains the second most populous British
city,
Birmingham
, and the larger West Midlands
conurbation
, which includes the city of Wolverhampton
and large towns of Dudley
, Solihull
, Walsall
and West Bromwich
. The city of Coventry
is also located within the West Midlands county, but is separated
from the conurbation to the west by several miles of green belt.
The region
is geographically diverse, from the urban central areas of the
conurbation to the rural western counties of Shropshire
and Herefordshire
which border Wales
.
The
longest river in the UK, the River
Severn, traverses the region southeastwards, flowing through
the county towns of Shrewsbury
and Worcester
, and the Ironbridge Gorge
, a UNESCO
World Heritage Site, as birthplace of the Industrial Revolution.
Staffordshire is home to the industrialised
Potteries conurbation, including the city
of Stoke-on-Trent
, and the Staffordshire Moorlands area, which
borders the southeastern Peak District National Park
near Leek
. The region also encompasses five
Areas of Outstanding Natural
Beauty.
Warwickshire
is home to the town of Stratford upon
Avon
, the birthplace of poet William Shakespeare.
Geography
The
official region contains the large conurbation
that includes Birmingham
and Wolverhampton
, but also covers the predominantly rural shire counties of Herefordshire
, Shropshire
, Staffordshire,
Warwickshire
and Worcestershire.
Unofficially the West Midlands region also
spreads as far as Gloucestershire
and Oxfordshire, but
these are not part of the official region.
There is some confusion in the use of the term "West Midlands", as
the name is also used for the much smaller
West Midlands county, and is still
used by various organisations within that area such as
West Midlands Police and
West Midlands Fire Service.
The
highest point in the region is Black Mountain
, at 703 metres (2,307 ft) in west Herefordshire on
the border with Powys
, Wales
.
The
region contains five Areas of Outstanding Natural
Beauty (AONBs), including all of the Shropshire
Hills
, Malvern
Hills
and Cannock
Chase
, and parts of the Wye
Valley and Cotswolds
. The Peak District
national park also stretches into the northern
corner of Staffordshire.
Transport
Road
Numerous notable roads pass through the region, with most
converging around the central conurbation.
The M5, which connects South West England to the region, passes
through Worcestershire, near to Worcester
, and through the West Midlands county, past West Bromwich
, with its northern terminus at its junction with
the M6 just south of Walsall
.
The M6,
which has its southern terminus just outside the southeast of the
region at its junction with the M1, and
which connects the region to North
West England, passes Rugby
and Nuneaton
in Warwickshire, Coventry
and Birmingham
, and Stafford
and Stoke-on-Trent
in Staffordshire. The M6 toll provides an alternative route to the M6
between Coleshill
and Cannock
, passing north of Sutton Coldfield
and just south of Lichfield
. The M40 connects
the region through South East
England to London, with its northern terminus at its junction
with the M42; it passes close to
Warwick
and Banbury
. The M42 connects
the M5 at Bromsgrove
, passing around the south and east of Birmingham,
joining the M40 and M6, passing Solihull
and Castle Bromwich
, to Tamworth
, northeast of Birmingham. The M50
connects the M5 from near Tewkesbury
to Ross-on-Wye
in the southwest. The M54 connects Wellington
in the west, passing Telford
, to the M6 near Cannock
. The A5
road traverses the region northwest-southeast, passing through
Shrewsbury
, Cannock
, Tamworth
and Nuneaton
.
Transport policy
As part of the transport planning system the Regional Assembly is
under statutory requirement to produce a
Regional Transport Strategy
to provide long term planning for transport in the region. This
involves region wide transport schemes such as those carried out by
the
Highways Agency and
Network Rail.
Within the region the local transport authorities carry out
transport planning through the use of a
Local Transport Plan which outlines
their strategies, policies and implementation programme. The most
recent LTP is that for the period 2006-11.
In the West Midlands
region the following transport authorities have published their LTP
online: Herefordshire
, Shropshire
U.A., Staffordshire,
Telford and Wrekin U.A.,
Warwickshire
, West Midlands and Worcestershire. The transport authority of Stoke-on-Trent
U.A. publishes a Joint Local Transport Plan in partnership with Staffordshire County Council to cover the North Staffordshire Major Urban Area, which includes Stoke-on-Trent and the more urban parts of Newcastle-under-Lyme
and Staffordshire Moorlands.
Towns and cities
- Bold indicates city
status.
Major towns and cities in the West Midlands region include:
Population > 750,000
Population > 250,000
Population > 100,000
Population > 70,000
Population > 50,000
Other Notable
Regional Assembly
The official representative body of the region is the
West Midlands Regional
Assembly which has limited administrative functions such as
regional planning and economic development. The assembly is not an
elected body, but is made up of members appointed from local
councils across the region, and members from regional interest
groups such as business and environmental groups and trade unions,
known as a
quango.
It is based on
Edward Street in Birmingham, near the National
Indoor Arena
.
Demographics
For top-tier authorities in the West Midlands, Stoke on Trent has
the highest
teenage
pregnancy rate.
For council districts, Nuneaton and
Bedworth
in Warwickshire has the highest rate closely
followed by Tamworth
. For top-tier authorities, Shropshire has
the lowest rate, and for council districts
Malvern Hills has the lowest
rate.
Local government
The official
region consists of
the following subdivisions:
Ceremonial county |
County/ unitary |
Districts |
Herefordshire |
Shropshire |
Shropshire
U.A. |
Telford and
Wrekin U.A. |
Staffordshire |
Staffordshire † |
a.)
Cannock
Chase , b.) East Staffordshire , c.) Lichfield , d.) Newcastle-under-Lyme , e.) South Staffordshire , f.) Stafford,
g.) Staffordshire Moorlands,
h.) Tamworth |
Stoke-on-Trent U.A. |
Warwickshire † |
a.)
North
Warwickshire , b.) Nuneaton and Bedworth , c.) Rugby , d.)
Stratford-on-Avon , e.) Warwick |
West Midlands
* |
a.)
Birmingham , b.) Coventry , c.) Dudley, d.)
Sandwell, e.) Solihull , f.) Walsall , g.) Wolverhampton |
Worcestershire † |
a.)
Bromsgrove , b.) Malvern
Hills, c.) Redditch, d.) Worcester , e.) Wychavon , f.) Wyre Forest |
Key:
shire county = † |
metropolitan county = *
Demography
Ceremonial County |
Population |
Population Density |
Largest local authority |
Largest settlement |
West Midlands (region) |
5,267,337 |
405/km² |
Birmingham (1,006,500) |
Birmingham (970,892) |
West Midlands |
2,600,100 |
2,884/km² |
Birmingham (1,006,500) |
Birmingham (970,892) |
Staffordshire |
1,062,500 |
391/km² |
Stoke-on-Trent (240,636) |
Stoke-on-Trent (259,252) |
Worcestershire |
552,900 |
318/km² |
Wychavon (116,300) |
Worcester (93,400) |
Warwickshire |
522,200 |
264/km² |
Warwick (132,900) |
Nuneaton (70,721) |
Shropshire |
451,100 |
129/km² |
Shropshire (290,900) |
Telford (138,241) |
Herefordshire |
177,800 |
82/km² |
N/A |
Hereford (50,400) |
The West Midlands' population accounts for almost 11% of England's
overall population. 49.36% of the region's population resides in
the West Midlands county, 20.17% in Staffordshire, 10.49% in
Worcestershire, 9.91% in Warwickshire, 8.56% in Shropshire, and
3.37% in Herefordshire.
Economy
Herefordshire
Bulmers Cider is in Hereford.
Cadbury UK make milk chocolate near Marlbrook
(near Leominster
).
Shropshire
Müller Dairy Ltd is based in Market
Drayton
. The PDSA is based in
Telford
along with the MoD have a significant
depot at Donnington
there is high-technology industries Unimation, Nikon, Hitachi Maxell, Ricoh,
Capgemini, Fujitsu
and Electronic Data
Systems. In
Hortonwood,
Denso Manufacturing UK Ltd make
car
air-conditioning system and
GKN Wheels make
car wheels.
Staffordshire
The brewing companies such as
Coors Brewers are in Burton on
Trent, as well as
Marmite,
Marston's,
GNC UK (
health supplement) and
Punch Taverns.
JCB is based in Staffordshire.
Michelin Tyres are made in Sideway
in Stoke-on-Trent, with Royal Doulton and Wedgwood based in Barlaston
. Manor Bakeries make
Mr Kipling slices and
Cherry Bakewell in Springfields in the south
of Stoke.
RoadChef are at
Norton
Canes
, near Cannock
. Armitage
Shanks is in Rugeley
. Areva T&D (formerly
owned by Alstom) is based in Stafford
as well as a factory and UK headquarters of
Bostik. Numark Pharmacy is in Tamworth
(former base of Reliant). Premier Foods
make Bird's Custard, Angel Delight and Marvel powdered
milk in Knighton
, west of Eccleshall
near the Shropshire boundary.
Warwickshire
ConocoPhillips UK, JET
UK (petrol), Bridgestone UK,
National Grid plc, Telent, Calor, Volvo Group UK and a large data centre of IBM are in Warwick
. BMW have their main
European four-cylinder engine plant at
Hams
Hall
near the M42. Codemasters is in Leamington Spa
. Subaru UK is in
Coleshill
. ALDI UK is in Atherstone
. Holland
& Barrett, the health food chain, Triton Showers (the UK's largest shower company), and Adams Childrenswear are based in
Nuneaton
. Aston Martin and
Land Rover have their headquarters in
Gaydon
.
Converteam UK (former Alstom), Morgan Est, and
the european HQ of Gap are
in Rugby
. NFU Mutual is in
Tiddington
near Stratford and the NFU is in
Stoneleigh as is AGCO
Limited UK, who own Massey
Ferguson; the large factory at Coventry closed in 2002.
The
British Horse Society is in
Kenilworth
.
West Midlands conurbation
Nationally famous companies in the West
Midlands include Cadbury's in
Bournville
, Birmingham. Mitchells and Butlers, the
pub chain company,
CrossCountry, and
National Express are in Birmingham.
Small-scale production of MG cars was started again by Nanjing Automobile
Group on part of the former MG Rover
Group site at Longbridge
in 2008. H.
Samuel, the jewellers, is in Hockley
of the Jewellery Quarter
. RoSPA is based
in Edgbaston
; Dollond &
Aitchison and ATS Euromaster are
in Aston
; Goodyear Tyres and Dunlop Tyres are in Erdington
; and Severn Trent
(water) in Sheldon
. AGA Consumer Products
Ltd is in Shirley
. Daihatsu UK is in
West
Bromwich
.
E.ON UK (former Powergen),
Jaguar Cars and
Volvo Cars
UK,
Peugeot UK (head office),
Jewson, the
Learning and Skills Council, and
Thomson Holidays are in Coventry.
The
Whitley
plant
, just south of Coventry, has the main research
centre for Jaguar cars. The main Land
Rover factory, Nationwide
Autocentre, and Enterprise Inns
are in Solihull
. Carillion and
Tarmac are in Wolverhampton, with
Poundland in Willenhall
. Hampson
Industries is in Brierley Hill
.
Worcestershire
Halfords and
GKN are in
Redditch.
Lea &
Perrins is in Worcester
.
Education
Birmingham (8), Walsall (2), Wolverhampton (1), Warwickshire (6),
Stoke on Trent (1), and Telford and Wrekin (2) have selective
schools. The other counties or metropolitan boroughs do not—being
completely comprehensive. Virtually all of the grammar schools are
in the top twenty schools for the West Midlands. Competition for
these schools can be high, with their excellent records. At
GCSE, the best performing area is Solihull,
followed closely by Shropshire. Herefordshire is also above the
England average. The worst performing area is Sandwell, followed by
Stoke-on-Trent. Wolverhampton and Walsall also do not perform well.
For a metropolitan borough, Dudley performs higher than many in
Birmingham. At A level, the best performing area is Herefordshire,
followed by Shropshire. All the other areas of the West Midlands
perform under the UK average. Solihull does not perform as well at
A level as it does at GCSE.
School league tables
Below is a list of the top twenty state schools in the West
Midlands by 2008 A level results:
- 1. King Edward VI Camp Hill School for
Boys
, Kings
Heath
(1189)
- 2. Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for
Girls

- 3. King Edward VI Camp Hill School for
Girls
, Kings Heath
- 4. King
Edward VI School Stratford-upon-Avon

- 5. King Edward VI Five Ways
, Bartley Green
- 6. King Edward VI Handsworth

- 7. Queen Mary's Grammar School
, Walsall
- 8. Stratford-upon-Avon Grammar School for
Girls

- 9. Newport Girls High School

- 10. King
Edward VI College, Stourbridge

- 11. King Edward VI Aston

- 12. Wolverhampton Girls' High
School

- 13. Bishop Vesey's Grammar
School
, Sutton
Coldfield
- 14. Thomas Telford School
, Telford
- 15. Queen Mary's High School
, Walsall
- 16. Adams' Grammar School
, Newport, Shropshire
- 17. Hereford Sixth Form College

- 18. St.
Joseph's College, Stoke-on-Trent

- 19. Rugby High School for Girls

- 20. Moorlands Sixth Form
College
, Cheadle, Staffordshire
(935)
Universities

University of Birmingham

University of Warwick
There are nine
universities in the
region:
- Aston University
, 8,915 students
- Coventry University
, 19,495 students
- Keele University
, 12,720 students
- Staffordshire
University, 15,200 students
- Birmingham City University
, 25,010 students
- University of Warwick
, Coventry
30,380 students
- University of Birmingham
, 30,725 students
- University of
Wolverhampton, 24,020 students
- University of Worcester,
7,655 students
There are also three
university
colleges:
Local media
- The
West Midlands region of the BBC is based at the
Mailbox
in Birmingham. From there, the regional
programme Midlands Today is produced.
ITV Central
broadcasts from Birmingham, with its Central Tonight regional programme.
- BBC Radios WM, Coventry & Warwickshire,
Stoke, Hereford & Worcester and
Shropshire.
- Commercial radio stations: BRMB, Beacon Radio in Wolverhampton, Mercia FM in Coventry, Touch FM in
Tamworth, Touch FM , Touch FM , Kerrang! 105.2
in Birmingham, Galaxy Birmingham,
Smooth Radio 105.7 in Birmingham,
107.1 Rugby FM, The Severn (north Shropshire), 107.2 The Wyre in Kidderminster, 107.7 The Wolf in Wolverhampton, Wyvern FM in Worcester, 100.7 Heart FM in Birmingham, and Signal 1 from Stoke.
- Newspapers - the Birmingham
Post, Birmingham Mail, Express & Star in Wolverhampton,
Burton Mail, Shropshire Star, Worcester News, The Sentinel in Stoke-on-Trent and
Coventry Evening
Telegraph.
- Websites - Channel 4's 4Talent network has a hub in the West
Midlands dealing with rising media talent from the region: [44035]
References
- Office for National Statistics - Key Statistics for
Urban Areas Population data
- County of Hereford
forms single local government unit (Unitary
Authority)
External links