X-Nico

33 unusual facts about West Midlands


1906–07 Birmingham F.C. season

Construction of the St Andrew's Ground, in the Bordesley district some three-quarters of a mile (1 km) closer to the city centre, had taken less than a year from leasing the land to official opening on Boxing Day 1906.

Alfonso Toft

Alfonso Toft (1866, Handsworth, Birmingham, - 1964), was a landscape artist.

Babbs Mill Lake

The lake was created as a balancing feature in times of flooding from the River Cole which is located nearby.

Break In The Seal

The images of New York are taken by Pogus Caesar in the tough areas of Bronx, Brooklyn, Harlem and Queens, Vanley Burke's photographs are of Handsworth, an inner city area of Birmingham.

Cradley Heath Baptist Church

Cradley Heath Baptist Church began as an off-shoot of Cradley Baptist Church in 1833.

Desmond Douglas

Desmond Douglas MBE (born 1955 in Jamaica) is a British table tennis player, He lived and was brought up in the area of Handsworth, Birmingham, West Midlands.

Fred Wheldon

Born in Langley Green (then in Worcestershire), Wheldon made his debut in Worcestershire's maiden first-class game, against Yorkshire in May 1899.

Gerard Tracey

An adopted child, he was educated at Handsworth (by the Sisters of Mercy) and later attended St Philip's Grammar School, followed by University College, Oxford, where he studied history.

Gornal

Gornal, West Midlands, encompassing Upper Gornal, Lower Gornal and Gornal Wood; in Dudley, England

Handsworth

Handsworth, West Midlands, a suburb of Birmingham in the West Midlands, United Kingdom

Handsworth Riots – Twenty Summers On

In September 1985, yhe days were warm and sunny, thousands of dancing revellers, many in brightly coloured costumes were pouring into the streets of Handsworth, an area of Birmingham, Great Britain well known for its rich and vibrant cultural mix.

J. H. Parry

John Horace Parry CMG, MBE (born in Handsworth, Birmingham, England, on 26 April 1914 - died in Cambridge, Massachusetts on 25 August 1982) was a distinguished maritime historian, who served as Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History and Affairs at Harvard University.

Jensen Motors

Jensen Motors Ltd was a British manufacturer of sports cars and commercial vehicles, based in the LyngWest Bromwich (in the West Midlands, west of Birmingham).

Lawley Street railway station

This gave problems from the start and although it had been planned to run direct through a junction near Stechford this was not proceeded with and permission was sought for a new line via the Tame valley to a new station nearby.

LMS Jubilee Class 5552 Silver Jubilee

45552 was withdrawn in September 1964, and scrapped at Cashmores, Great Bridge.

Louis Holmes

He was born in Rushall, England, United Kingdom, but grew up in Edmonton, Alberta.

Mick Stallard

After retiring from racing, Stallard had his own bike shop in Bradmore and later also took over his father's shop.

Moseley Bog

Nearby Sarehole Mill and the surrounding area on the River Cole is said to have been inspiration for Tolkien's writings.

Nowell Parr

Parr was born in Handsworth, Staffordshire (now Birmingham) in 1864, the eldest child of Thomas Parr and Frances "Fanny" Nowell.

Richard Tangye

This resulted in the 1862 purchase and demolition of Soho-located Smethwick Hall, on the site of which was built the Cornwall Works.

River Cole

The River Cole, West Midlands, England, which flows directly through Birmingham

Robert McCracken

McCracken worked as a wood machinist at Hoskins Cabinet Works, Bordesley, Birmingham before turning to boxing.

Shire Country Park

It consists of Millstream Way following the course of the River Cole from Yardley Wood to Small Heath and includes the following sites: Scribers Lane SINC, Trittiford Mill Pool, The Dingles, Chinn Brook Recreation Ground, Sarehole Mill Recreation Ground, Moseley Bog LNR, Burbury Brickworks, The John Morris Jones Walkway, Cocksmoor BMX.

St Cyprian's Church, Hay Mills

He moved to Hay Mill, a disused blade and sword factory at a water mill on the River Cole, rebuilding it as a steam-driven mill.

St Peter's Church, Elford

The church is situated on the eastern edge of the village on the north bank of the River Tame.

Stourbridge News

It is also circulated to the homes of readers living in the surrounding communities of Wordsley, Hagley, Amblecote, Pedmore and Lye.

Stourbridge Railway

The OWWR had come under the control of the GWR by this time, and so the GWR constructed a link from Smethwick to Handsworth, which was opened at the same time, to connect it to the GWR's Birmingham Snow Hill to Wolverhampton Low Level Line.

The Asian Today

Most recently, the newspaper featured the threat of violent protests from prominent UK Sikh leader, Sewa Singh Mandla, after the Sikh community was angered by the a Bollywood film, Jo Bole So Nihaal, which they believed committed sacrilege and also exposed the case of a Blackheath imam who was suing a lottery-funded mosque.

Tippler

Another famous type is the "Boden" bred by Jack Boden in Handsworth with a flying record of 20:40 in 1975, and are old birds.

Titanium Metals

Its overseas operations are primarily based in the United Kingdom (at Waunarlwydd, Swansea and Witton, West Midlands) and France.

Walton Hill

The car park is most easily accessed from A456 road via Hagley Wood Lane (leaving it between Hagley and Hayley Green) or Uffmoor Lane (leaving it just east of Hayley Green).

West Midlands

West Midlands conurbation, the large conurbation in the West Midlands region

William Hodgkinson

William Oswald Hodgkinson was born on 21 March 1835 in Handsworth, Warwick, England.


Ardens Grafton

It is included in the West Midlands electoral region of the European Parliament and the six members are; Mike Nattrass (UK Independence), Liz Lynne,(Liberal Democrat), Malcolm Harbour (Conservative), Michael Cashman (Labour), Philip Bradbourn OBE (Conservative) and Nicole Sinclaire (UK Independence).

Axel Welin

The Welin Davit Company continues today as Welin Lambie, based at Brierley Hill in the West Midlands, UK.

Baggeridge Colliery

Baggeridge Colliery was a colliery located in Sedgley, Staffordshire (was West Midlands), England.

Barmouth

Barmouth is (geographically) one of the closest seaside resorts to the English West Midlands and a large proportion of its tourist visitors, as well as its permanent residents, are from Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Dudley and other parts of the Black Country, and Telford, Shropshire.

Bearley

It is included in the West Midlands electoral region of the European Parliament and the six members are; Mike Nattrass (UK Independence), Liz Lynne (Liberal Democrat), Malcolm Harbour (Conservative), Michael Cashman (Labour), Philip Bradbourn OBE (Conservative) and Nicole Sinclaire (UK Independence).

Birmingham City Police

Birmingham City Police was a police force responsible for policing the city of Birmingham in the West Midlands of England until 1974, when on 1 April it was amalgamated under the Local Government Act 1972 with West Midlands Constabulary and parts of other forces to form the West Midlands Police.

Black Country Communion

The name Black Country Communion is derived from the term Black Country, which refers to the West Midlands area of England where Hughes and Bonham grew up.

Camp Hill Line

The Camp Hill line is a railway line in the West Midlands which lies between Kings Norton on the Cross-City Line and Birmingham New Street via Proof House junction.

Cooper Perry

He was born at Castle Bromwich, West Midlands (then Warwickshire), England on 10 September 1856, the only son of Edwin Cresswell Perry who became vicar of Seighford, Staffordshire, in 1861 and where Perry spent his early years.

Cradley Heath Baptist Church

Cradley Heath Baptist Church, also known as Four-ways Baptist Church, was the first Church of any denomination to build a chapel in Cradley Heath, West Midlands.

Cradley Town F.C.

Cradley Town Football Club is a football club based in Cradley, near Halesowen in the West Midlands.

Defunct schools in Sandwell

Britannia High School was a secondary school located in Rowley Regis, West Midlands, England.

Enid Bibby

Dame Enid Bibby, DBE (born 8 February 1951, Sheffield, Yorkshire) is a British educator who garnered notability for her role as headteacher in improving Wood Green High School in Wednesbury, West Midlands, England.

Geoff Hampton

Sir Leslie Geoffrey Hampton (born 1952), best known as Sir Geoff Hampton, is a British head teacher who gained notability in March 1998 when he received a knighthood in recognition for his achievements as head teacher of Northicote School in Wolverhampton, West Midlands.

Jonathan D. C. Turner

Turner was born on 13 May 1958 in Stourbridge in the West Midlands of England, and educated at Rugby School, Cambridge University (1979 BA, 1982 MA), the Université libre de Bruxelles (1981 Licence Spéciale en Droit Européen) and Queen Mary College, London (1982).

Justin Tomlinson

Tomlinson was educated at the Harry Cheshire High School (since renamed Baxter College), a state comprehensive school in Kidderminster, Worcestershire in the West Midlands England, followed by Oxford Brookes University in the city of Oxford in Oxfordshire, where he became Chairman of its Conservative Student Branch from 1995-99.

Lisa Potts

Lisa Potts GM (married name Webb) is a former nursery teacher noted for saving her school children's lives from a machete attack by a man with severe paranoid schizophrenia on July 8, 1996 at the St Luke's Primary School in Blakenhall, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England.

Lynx gang

The gang was founded in the Small Heath area of the city, but later spread to the Birmingham boroughs Lozells, Handsworth Birmingham, Sparkbrook, and Aston.

National Transmission System

For distribution to houses, National Grid plc (this division is based in Northampton) owns the network in North West England, the West Midlands, the East Midlands, the East of England and North London.

Oldberrow

It is included in the West Midlands electoral region of the European Parliament and the 6 Members are; Mike Nattrass (UK Independence), Liz Lynne (Liberal Democrat), Malcolm Harbour (Conservative), Michael Cashman (Labour), Philip Bradbourn OBE (Conservative) and Nicole Sinclaire (UK Independence).

Pony Turf Club

In 1947 after a lapse of nearly seven years PTC racing re-started at the former National Hunt racecourses at Hawthorn Hill, Maidenhead, Berkshire and Shirley in the West Midlands.

Quinton, Birmingham

Quinton became, with the rest of Birmingham, part of the metropolitan county of the West Midlands on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972.

Radio Enoch

Radio Enoch was a pirate radio station in the United Kingdom, operating out of the West Midlands, homeland of its namesake, Enoch Powell.

Sandwell and Dudley railway station

Sandwell and Dudley railway station is on the Stour Valley Section of the West Coast Main Line, on the outskirts of Oldbury town centre on Bromford Lane (the main route towards West Bromwich, West Midlands), England.

Staffordshire

Under the Local Government Act 1972, on 1 April 1974 the county boroughs of the Black Country and the Aldridge-Brownhills Urban District of Staffordshire became, along with Birmingham, Solihull, and Coventry and other districts, a new metropolitan county of West Midlands.

Straits Estate

Straits Estate is a housing estate located near Sedgley, West Midlands, England, to the north-west of Gornal Ward, and was built for homeowners during the late 1950s and early 1960s.

War Memorial Athletic Ground

The War Memorial Athletic Ground, often referred to as simply the War Memorial Ground, is a sports ground in the Amblecote region of Stourbridge, West Midlands, England.

Warley, West Midlands

Warley is now in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell in the West Midlands of the United Kingdom.

What Was Lost

She found ideas for her book from her job in the Merry Hill Shopping Centre near Dudley in the West Midlands.

William Henry James Blakemore

William Henry James Blakemore * in 1871 in the West Midlands Birmingham, England is an English engraver, and medallist at the Royal Mint London.