West Midlands (county)

The West Midlands metropolitan area is a county in the West Midlands region. The West Midlands County is one of the most heavily urbanised counties in the UK. Birmingham, Wolverhampton, the Black Country and Solihull together form the third most populous conurbation in the United Kingdom with a combined population of around 2.44 million.

Cities and towns
West Midlands administrative county comprises seven metropolitan boroughs.


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Understand
The West Midlands county, covering, is primarily urban. Nonetheless, there is countryside, the 'Meriden Gap', between Coventry and the rest, and Sutton Park, the largest urban park in Europe. The West Midlands county should not be confused with the wider West Midlands region, at whose heart it sits.

The county borders and is surrounded by the three counties from which it was created in 1974 (clockwise from the West): Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire. Since that creation, its boundary changes have been minor.

The whole of the West Midlands have a lengthy industrial history. Birmingham was known as the "city of 1000 trades" and considered to be the first industrialised town in the world, and the conurbation of today is made up of many smaller towns and villages which contributed to the Industrial Revolution. Birmingham was pivotal in the production of arms in tte world wars. Much of the area to the north and west of Birmingham city centre is known as the Black Country due to its association with coal and industry. Many of these were known for particular trades and the association continues to this day: for example, in the Jewellery Quarter of Birmingham, or with the glass industry in Stourbridge. The area is also notable for its vast network of canals: today over 100 miles of canal is navigable within the West Midlands, and at its peak in the early 19th century this was around 160 miles. It is popular in the area to state that the area has more miles of canal than Venice. As such, it is a popular destination for narrowboat holidays.

Talk
The local accent is the butt of many jokes in the UK. To most visitors, the "Brummie" accent can be heard all over the region - the local will be able to distinguish between a Birmingham accent and a Black Country one, and there are variations in the latter between various parts of the region.

By air
Birmingham Airport is the region's only major airport, though Manchester, Liverpool and East Midlands airports are all less than 2 hours from West Midlands. Liverpool airport has a direct train to Birmingham New Street station; from the other two travelling by rail requires changes on the way, but there are direct coach connections.

When arriving at one of the London airports, one needs to travel via London and change there to get to the West Midlands. One exception is the London Luton Airport, which has hourly direct trains to Leicester and Nottingham that do not pass through London, from both of which you can then take a train to West Midlands. It takes about 2.5 hours to get from Luton Airport to West Midlands this way.

By car
Many of the UK's major roads converge on Birmingham. From the West Midlands: the M5 runs south west to Bristol and beyond; the M6 runs north via Manchester to Scotland; the southern part of the M6 heads into the East Midlands and connects with the M1 to provide access to London, which is also connected directly to Birmingham by the M40.

By train
Birmingham New Street sends out trains to all parts of the country and many major intercity lines pass through the region. London, Bristol, Liverpool, Nottingham and Manchester are each approximately 90 minurts by train from New Street. Shrewsbury provides access to far-flung parts of South and Mid Wales via the "Heart of Wales Line" which runs south west to Llanelli near Swansea and the scenic "Cambrian Line" which runs west to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli. Holyhead's ferry port ensures that the north of Wales is well connected with the whole West Midlands.

Get around
The county has an extensive public transport system run by Network West Midlands, and it is possible to buy daily or weekly travel passes to cover travel in the county via bus, train and tram (the Metro runs from Birmingham Snow Hill station to Wolverhampton).

Stay safe
As with the rest of the UK, in any emergency call 999 or 112 (from a land-line if you can) and ask for Ambulance, Fire or Police when connected.