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BACCN >> Regions >> West Midlands Region News baccn.org.uk | Multiple Sclerosis Society - West Midlands Region Coventry & District mssociety.org.uk |
Not to be confused with West Midlands (county) or West Midlands conurbation.
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.
[edit] 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. [edit] Transport[edit] 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. [edit] Transport policyAs part of the transport planning system the Regional Assembly is under statutory requirement to produce a Regional Transport Strategy (RTS) 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.[1] Within the region the local transport authorities carry out transport planning through the use of a Local Transport Plan (LTP) which outlines their strategies, policies and implementation programme.[2] 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,[3] Shropshire U.A.,[4] Staffordshire,[5] Telford and Wrekin U.A.,[6] Warwickshire,[7] West Midlands (county)[8] and Worcestershire.[9] 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.[10] [edit] Towns and cities
Major towns and cities in the West Midlands region include:[11]
[edit] Regional AssemblyThe 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. [edit] DemographicsFor 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. [edit] Local governmentThe official region consists of the following subdivisions:
Key: shire county = † | metropolitan county = * [edit] Demography
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. [edit] Economy[edit] HerefordshireBulmers Cider is in Hereford. Cadbury UK make milk chocolate near Marlbrook (near Leominster). [edit] ShropshireMüller 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 systems and GKN Wheels make car wheels. [edit] Staffordshire The brewing companies such as Coors Brewers are in Burton on Trent, as well as Marmite, Marston's, GNC UK (health supplements) 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 Bakewells in Springfields in the south of Stoke. RoadChef are at Norton Canes, near Cannock. Armitage Shanks is in Rugeley. Areva T&D (UK) (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. [edit] WarwickshireConocoPhillips 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. [edit] 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. [edit] WorcestershireHalfords and GKN are in Redditch. Lea & Perrins is in Worcester. [edit] 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. [edit] School league tablesBelow is a list of the top twenty state schools in the West Midlands by 2008 A level results:
[edit] Universities  There are nine universities in the region:
There are also three university colleges:
[edit] Local media
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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