Birmingham travel guide — Birmingham tourism and travel information

Birmingham travel guide

about Birmingham

Birmingham is a city in the West Midlands of England. Being the country's second largest city, it is generally considered Britain's "second city", after London. The City of Birmingham has a population of 992,100 (2003 estimate); the Birmingham metropolitan area (the West Midlands county) has a population of 2,575,768. Around five million people live within a 50 mile (80km) radius of the city.

Birmingham history

The Birmingham area was occupied in Roman times, with several millitary roads and a large fort. Birmingham started life as a small Saxon hamlet in the dark ages. And was first recorded in written documents by the Domesday Book of 1086 as a small village.

Birmingham developed into a market centre in medieval times. And by the 17th century had become an important manufacturing town with a reputation for producing small arms. Birmingham manufacturers supplied Oliver Cromwell's forces with much of their weaponry during the English Civil War.

During the Industrial Revolution from the mid 18th century onwards, because of abundant nearby sources of coal and iron ore and a skilled workforce, Birmingham grew into a major industrial centre. Birmingham became a centre of the British canal and later railway networks in the early 19th century.

In Victorian times, the population of the city grew rapidly to well over half a million and Birmingham became the second largest population centre in Britain, it became known as the "City of a thousand trades" due to the wide variety of manufacturing industries located there. Birmingham gained city status in 1889.

Birmingham was heavilly bombed during World War II which caused severe damage. The city was extensively re-developed during the 1950s and 1960s with many concrete office buildings, ringroads, and now much-derided pedestrian subways, as a result Birmingham gained a reputation for ugliness, frequently being described as a "concrete jungle".

However, in recent years the city centre has been extensively renovated and restored with the construction of new squares, the restoration of old streets, buildings and canals, and the removal of much-derided pedestrian subways.

Near cities to Birmingham

• Lichfield travel guide 22 km
• Wolverhampton travel guide 23 km
• Coventry travel guide 24 km
• Worcester travel guide 44 km
• Derby travel guide 52 km
• Derby travel guide 52 km
• Leicester travel guide 53 km
• Stoke travel guide 60 km
• Nottingham travel guide 69 km
• Gloucester travel guide 74 km

Near webcams to Birmingham

• Birmingham - Pebble Mill webcam 5.8 km
• Birmingham - Bull Ring 1 webcam 5.8 km
• Birmingham - Bull Ring 2 webcam 5.8 km
• Birmingham - Bull Ring 3 webcam 5.8 km
• Leicester webcam 50 km
• Nottingham - London Road webcam 67 km
• Nottingham - East Midlands webcam 71 km
• Oxford - High Street webcam 92 km
• Cheshire webcam 96 km
• Ashton-under-Lyne webcam 110 km

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Birmingham travel services

cheap flights to Birmingham

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Birmingham real estate

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City Travel Guide comes with Birmingham real estate guide with several tips on home valuation, realtors comparison, secrets on finding the "right" home, loans guide and other helpful real estate advices. Our partners also maintain Birmingham property for sale and rental listings, real estate laws and reviews. We will try to help you with buying property in United Kingdom, choosing real estate agents, property finders, relocation help, and information for English speakers wanting to buy real estate in Birmingham.

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Birmingham travel books

Birmingham travel guide books

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Birmingham maps and atlases

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