West Midlands (county)
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The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a population of 2,591,300. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. The county consists of seven metropolitan boroughs: the City of Birmingham, the City of Coventry and the City of Wolverhampton, plus Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull and Walsall.
The West Midlands County Council was abolished on 31 March 1986, and so its districts (the metropolitan boroughs) are now effectively unitary authorities. However, the metropolitan county continues to exist in law and as a geographic frame of reference.[1][2][3]
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 conurbation, or urban area, does not include Coventry for example.
The seven metropolitan boroughs, along with the nearby unitary authority of Telford and Wrekin are starting to collaborate as a non-statutory city region under the name "Birmingham, Coventry and the Black Country".[4] The name "West Midlands" is also used for the much larger West Midlands region, which sometimes causes confusion.
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[edit] Geography
The West Midlands is a landlocked county that 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 most populated conurbation in the UK outside London, with a combined population of around 2.27 million. However, 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.
There are numerous rivers that pass through the county, including the River Tame. The river basin is the most urbanised basin in the United Kingdom with approximately 42% of the basin being urbanised.[5] The River Tame is fed by the River Rea, River Anker, and the River Blythe, which in turn is fed by the River Cole. The River Sowe and River Sherbourne both flow through Coventry. The River Stour flows through the west of the West Midlands county.
[edit] Settlements
- See also: List of places in West Midlands
- Aldridge
- Balsall Common, Bloxwich, Bilston, Birmingham, Blackheath, Brierley Hill, Brownhills
- Coventry
- Dorridge, Dudley
- Halesowen, Hampton-in-Arden
- Little Aston
- Marston Green, Meriden
- Oldbury
- Rowley Regis
- Sedgley, Smethwick, Solihull, Stourbridge, Sutton Coldfield, Streetly
- Tipton
- Walsall, Willenhall, New Invention, Wednesfield, Wednesbury, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton
[edit] History
Although the modern county has only existed since 1974, the settlements of the West Midlands have long been important centres of commerce and industry. Coventry was one of England's most important cities during the Middle Ages, with its prosperity built upon wool and cloth manufacture. Birmingham and Wolverhampton have a tradition of industry dating back to the 16th century, when small metal-working industries developed. Birmingham was known for its manufacture of small arms, whereas Wolverhampton became a centre of lock manufacture and brass working. The coal and iron ore deposits of the Black Country area provided a ready source of raw materials. The area grew rapidly during the Industrial Revolution, and by the 20th century had grown into one large conurbation. Coventry was slower to develop, but by the early 20th century, it had became an important centre of bicycle and car manufacture.
The 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, roughly 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.
Around the periphery of this area, three other towns remained separate (Halesowen, Stourbridge and Sutton Coldfield), while Aldridge and Brownhills joined to form a single unit, called Aldridge-Brownhills.
In the same year, 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 the 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 (the actual designation of Warley itself was abolished and the three towns of Smethwick, Oldbury and Rowley Regis reinstated as component parts of Sandwell). Solihull took in much of the suburban fringe to the east of Birmingham, including the former villages of Chelmsley Wood and Castle Bromwich, also Birmingham Airport, and the area of countryside between Solihull and Coventry, whilst Coventry itself and Wolverhampton were 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 the West Midlands County Council that covered the entire area and dealt with strategic issues. A new West Midlands Police service 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 March 1986, causing the seven metropolitan boroughs to become de facto unitary authorities with most of the county councils' functions given to the district councils.
[edit] Local government
[edit] Metropolitan boroughs
The West Midlands is divided into seven districts called metropolitan boroughs, these are: Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton (see map). Three of these boroughs (Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton) have city status.
Between 1974 and 1986 the county had a two-tier system of local government, and the seven districts shared power with the county council. However, when the county council was abolished in 1986, most of its functions were devolved to the districts which effectively became unitary authorities, with responsibility for most local authority functions.
[edit] County-wide services
Although the county council was abolished, some local services continue to be run on a county-wide basis, administered by joint-boards, of the seven districts. These are:
- The West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive; also 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 joint-boards are made up of councillors appointed from each of the seven West Midlands district 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 seven West Midlands councils jointly produce a county-wide Local Transport Plan [1]
The boroughs jointly own a share in Birmingham International Airport, which used to be owned by the county council.
[edit] Boundary changes
- circa 1994: The western/southern shores of Chasewater, plus the adjacent Jeffreys Swag, were 'moved' from the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall to the District of Lichfield, Staffordshire.
- 1995: Part of the Worcestershire parish of Frankley (including the south-west part of Bartley Reservoir) was transferred to Birmingham and became part of the county.
[edit] Places of interest
[edit] Education
The West Midlands contains six universities. Aston University, the University of Birmingham and Birmingham City University are all located in Birmingham. Coventry University and the University of Warwick are located in Coventry whilst Wolverhampton University is located in Wolverhampton with campuses in Telford and Walsall. It also had a campus in Dudley.
[edit] Civil Society
The West Midlands has many important voluntary organisations that enable its citizens to make a positive contribution to society. These include:
- Birmingham Council for Voluntary Societies
- The Black Country Geological Society
- Lunar Society
- Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country
- Walsall Civic Society
[edit] References
- ^ Office of National Statistics - Gazetteer of the old and new geographies of the United Kingdom, p48. URL accessed March 10, 2007.
- ^ Metropolitan Counties and Districts, Beginners' Guide to UK Geography, Office for National Statistics, September 17, 2004. URL accessed March 10, 2007.
- ^ West Midlands Counties, The Boundary Commission for England. URL accessed March 10, 2007.
- ^ Region’s Black Country title www.expressandstar.co.uk, September 1, 2006. URL accessed March 10, 2007.
- ^ John S. Rowan; R. W. Duck, A. Werritty (2006). Sediment Dynamics and the Hydromorphology of Fluvial Systems. IAHS, 98. ISBN 1901502686.
[edit] External links
- Photographs of Birmingham and the West Midlands
- Identity in the West Midlands
- West Midlands Joint Committee
- West Midlands NO! Campaign
- West Midlands Groups Communities
Districts of the West Midlands Region |
|---|
Birmingham • Bridgnorth • Bromsgrove • Cannock Chase • Coventry • Dudley • East Staffordshire • Herefordshire • Lichfield • Malvern Hills • Newcastle-under-Lyme • North Shropshire • North Warwickshire • Nuneaton and Bedworth • Oswestry • Redditch • Rugby • Sandwell • Shrewsbury and Atcham • Solihull • South Shropshire • South Staffordshire • Stafford • Staffordshire Moorlands • Stoke-on-Trent • Stratford-on-Avon • Tamworth • Telford and Wrekin • Walsall • Warwick • Wolverhampton • Worcester • Wychavon • Wyre Forest |
| Counties with multiple districts: Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Worcestershire |
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