The West Midlands Region

The West Midlands Region is the hub of the UK's road and rail network. Situated in the heart of England, 112 miles north west of London, it is among the most accessible locations in Britain.

The region, as distinct from the County of West Midlands, covers 5 025 square miles and includes Staffordshire, Shropshire, Hereford and Worcester and Warwickshire. The metropolitan boroughs of the region are Birmingham, Dudley, Coventry, Walsall, Solihull, Sandwell and Wolverhampton.

Manufacturing industry has always been strong in what is the birthplace of global industrialisation, and remains vitally important to the region, employing 28% of the workforce, compared to the national average of 20%

The region's 9% share - 5.3 million - of the United Kingdom's population generates £51.2 billion (8.6%) of the country's GDP.

Other Regional Notables of the Kingdom of Mercia and the West Midlands Region

• The Magna Carta
• The Industrial Revolution
• Parliamentary democracy
• Shakespeare
• Darwin
• Telford
• Newton
• Spaghetti Junction
• Mass Production of Iron first took place at Coalbrookdale furnace in Ironbridge in 1709.
• Duran Duran
• The Moody Blues
• UB40
• er, Noddy Holder!
• And, of course, the heart of Britain's motor industry

Vital Statistics of the County of West Midlands

• Population: 5.3 million, 9.1% of UK total.
• 561,250 employed in manufacturing in 1994.
• Unemployment: 6.8%.
• GDP: 8.4% of UK total.
• 8.5% of UK value added VAT registrations.
• 12% of UK production industry VAT registration.
• 10% of manufacturing capital investment.
• 7% of business research and development.
• 12% of manufacturing gross value added.
• 84% of 16 year olds in full time education or  Government supported training.

The City of Birmingham at the heart of the region

UK's largest professional and financial centre outside London

Recent musical contributions ...

• The Moody Blues were originally called M&B Five and seeking sponsorship from Mitchells and Butlers Brewery.
• Steve Winwood
• Spencer Davis Group
• Black Sabbath
• Led Zeppelin
• UB40
• Duran Duran
• The Specials
• Fine Young Cannibals?

• Steam Engine, the motor of industrialisation, patented by James Watt in 1782.
• Gas Lighting, the first major building to be illuminated (Soho Works) in 1802.
• X-ray Photography, first used for medical purposes by Dr John Hall-Edwards in 1896.
• Milk Chocolate! First introduced to the UK by locals Cadbury in 1897.
• First British Motor Car, the Lanchester, developed in 1898.
• The Mini, the world's first production front-wheel drive car, launched in 1959.
• Heart Valves and Pacemakers were developed at the University of Birmingham in the 1960s.

The West Midlands Region

Other Regional Notables of the Kingdom of Mercia and the West Midlands Region

Vital Statistics of the County of West Midlands

The City of Birmingham at the heart of the region The City's major contributions to the patrimony - our collective inheritance

Intro to the City of Birmingham according to Birmingham University

The Met Office Midlands Forecast

Knowhere - random scribblings by the public at large about Birmingham