Birmingham is a city and
metropolitan borough located in the west midlands of England. The city is England’s second most populated city after London and has over a
million residents.
Birmingham has been known as
‘the city of 1,000 trades’, and is renowned for the manufacture of, among other
things, weapons, jewellery and pens. Birmingham
has a famous canals network, with the first canal opened in 1769, creating a
link to Wednesbury.
Birmingham is also known as the
original home of Cadbury’s chocolate. Brothers George and Richard Cadbury
opened their successful chocolate business in 1879. Birmingham
also has one of the largest fountains in Europe
in Victoria Square,
this is known as ‘The River’ as the flow rate is 3,000 gallons of water every
minute. Also notable in Birmingham
is The Bull Ring, a historic market site that is now home to an extensive
shopping centre complex. With over 800 years of history and now home to the
latest shops and brands, the Bull Ring attracts over 30 million customers from
all over the world every year.
Birmingham has been the
spawning ground of many successful bands including Ocean Colour Scene, Duran
Duran, ELO, Dodgy, and Black Sabbath. It is also home to Formula One champion
Nigel Mansell.
