West Midlands (county)
The
County of West Midlands is a
metropolitan county in western central
England, the
United Kingdom with a population of around 2,600,000 people. It was formed in
1974. The county contains three major cities, these being
Birmingham,
Coventry and
Wolverhampton.
It also covers major centres, such as
Sutton Coldfield,
Solihull, and the
Black Country towns of
Dudley,
Walsall and
West Bromwich.
The West Midlands no longer has a
county council, as the former
West Midlands County Council was abolished in
1986. However, the county still exists legally, and is still a
ceremonial county with a
Lord-Lieutenant.
The name "West Midlands" is also used for the much larger
West Midlands region, which sometimes causes confusion.
The county is sometimes described as the "West Midlands
metropolitan area" or the "
West Midlands conurbation", although these have different, and less clearly defined, boundaries.
The West Midlands borders the counties of
Warwickshire to the east,
Worcestershire to the south, and
Staffordshire to the north.
The West Midlands is one of the most heavily urbanised counties in the UK.
Birmingham,
Wolverhampton, the
Black Country and
Solihull together form the largest
conurbation in the UK outside
London, with a combined population of around 2.27 million.
The West Midlands is not entirely urban;
Coventry is separated from the Birmingham urban area, by stretch of
green belt land roughly 15 miles across known as the "
Meriden Gap", which retains a strongly rural character.
A smaller piece of green belt between Birmingham, Walsall and West Bromwich includes
Barr Beacon and the
Sandwell Valley.
Main article: History of West Midlands.
The West Midlands conurbation developed around
Birmingham and the coal fields of the
Black Country. This area straddles the historic border between the counties of
Warwickshire (Birmingham and Coventry),
Staffordshire (the north),
Worcestershire (the south).
1966 saw a substantial reform in the local government of the area as the patchwork of
county boroughs with
municipal boroughs and
urban districts in between was replaced by a core of county boroughs covering a contiguous area, as follows:
*
Birmingham, which remained substantially unaltered;
*
Dudley, which absorbed
Brierley Hill,
Coseley and
Sedgley;
*
Solihull, which remained substantially unaltered;
*
Walsall, which absorbed
Willenhall and
Darlaston;
*
Warley, which was created by amalgamating
Smethwick,
Oldbury and
Rowley Regis;
*
West Bromwich, which absorbed
Wednesbury and
Tipton;
*
Wolverhampton, which absorbed
Bilston,
Wednesfield and
Tettenhall. A single
West Midlands Constabulary was formed for the Black Country county boroughs, whilst Birmingham retained its
Birmingham City Police and Solihull continued being policed by
Warwickshire Constabulary. The
West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority was established in 1968.
In 1974, the
Local Government Act 1972 came into effect, creating the metropolitan county of West Midlands. This area was based on the seven county boroughs and the other non-county boroughs and urban districts around the fringe of the conurbation. The new area consisted of seven new metropolitan boroughs, with
Aldridge-Brownhills added to Walsall;
Halesowen and
Stourbridge to Dudley and
Sutton Coldfield to Birmingham. A new borough of Sandwell was formed by the merger of West Bromwich and Warley, Solihull took in much of the suburban fringe to the east of Birmingham and the gap between Solihull and Coventry, whilst Wolverhampton and Coventry themselves were taken in more-or-less unaltered.
This led to (apart from in the east, with Coventry and the Meriden Gap) quite a tightly defined metropolitan border, excluding such places as
Burntwood,
Bromsgrove,
Cannock,
Kidderminster,
Lichfield and
Wombourne which had been considered for inclusion in the West Midlands metropolitan area by the
Redcliffe-Maud Report.
The 1974 reform created a
West Midlands County Council that covered the entire area and dealt with strategic issues. A new
West Midlands Police force was formed covering the entire area, with the West Midlands Constabulary and Birmingham City Police abolished, and also taking over responsibility from the county forces.
Margaret Thatcher's government abolished the metropolitan county councils with the
Local Government Act 1985, in 1986, causing the seven metropolitan boroughs to become de facto
unitary authorities with most of the
county councils' functions given to the
district councils.
The West Midlands is divided into seven
metropolitan boroughs:
Birmingham,
Coventry,
Dudley,
Sandwell,
Solihull,
Walsall and
Wolverhampton (see map). Three of these boroughs (Birmingham, Coventry and Woverhampton) have
city status. Since the abolition of the county council in
1986 these seven boroughs are de facto
unitary authorities, with responsibility for most local authority functions. When the county council was abolished, some local services continued to be run on a county-wide basis, administered jointly by the seven districts. These are:
*The
West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive, known as
Centro, which is responsible for planning and co-ordinating
public transport across the county.
*The
West Midlands Police, who are overseen by a joint
Police authority.
*The
West Midlands Fire Service, which is administered by a joint "Fire and Rescue Authority".
These are administered by
joint-boards, which are made up of councillors appointed from each of the seven West Midlands councils. In addition to this the
West Midlands Joint Committee exists as a joint body of the seven districts to co-ordinate matters such as roads and planning.
The boroughs jointly own a share in
Birmingham International Airport, which used to be owned by the county council.
*
Aldridge*
Balsall Common,
Bloxwich,
Bilston,
Birmingham.
Blackheath,
Brierley Hill*
Coventry*
Dorridge,
Dudley*
Halesowen,
Hampton-in-Arden*
Little Aston*
Marston Green,
Meriden*
Oldbury*
Rowley Regis*
Sedgley,
Smethwick,
Solihull,
Stourbridge,
Sutton Coldfield,
Streetly*
Tipton*
Walsall,
Wednesfield,
Wednesbury,
West Bromwich,
Wolverhampton*
Aston Hall, Birmingham
*
Birmingham Bullring*
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery*
Birmingham Hippodrome*
Birmingham Railway Museum*Birmingham Wheel
*
Black Country Living Museum*
Blakesley Hall*
Cadbury World,
Bournville, Birmingham
*
Coventry Cathedral*Coventry
SkyDome Arena*
Coventry Transport Museum*
Dudley Castle*
Dudley Zoo*
Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Birmingham
*
ICC, Birmingham
*
Molineux stadium (
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.)
*
National Exhibition Centre*
National Indoor Arena (NIA), Birmingham
*
Netherton tunnel*
Perrott's Folly*
Ricoh Arena (
Coventry City Football Club)
*
Sarehole Mill*Sea Life Centre, Birmingham
*
Birmingham City Football Club, Bordseley
*
The Hawthorns, (
West Bromwich Albion Football Club)
*
Thinktank,
Millennium Point, Birmingham
*
Villa Park, (
Aston Villa Football Club)
*
Walsall Art Gallery*
List of Wikipedia images of the West Midlands*
:Category:Visitor attractions in Birmingham, England*
Photographs of Birmingham and the West Midlands *
Identity in the West Midlands*
West Midlands Joint Commitee
