Birmingham tourist information

Birmingham has a recorded history going back 1,000 years. In this time, it has grown from a tiny Anglo-Saxon farming village into a major industrial and commercial city.

The Birmingham area was occupied in Roman times, with several military roads and a large fort. Birmingham started life as a small Anglo-Saxon hamlet in the Early Middle Ages. It was first recorded in written documents by the Domesday Book of 1086 as a small village, worth only 20 shillings.

In the 12th century, Birmingham was granted a charter to hold a market, which in time became known as the Bull Ring. As a convenient location for trade, Birmingham soon developed into a small but thriving market town.

By the 16th century, Birmingham's access to supplies of iron ore and coal meant that metalworking industries became established. In the 17th century Birmingham became 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. Arms manufacture in Birmingham became a staple trade and was concentrated in the area known as the Gun Quarter.

During the Industrial Revolution (from the mid 18th century onwards), Birmingham grew rapidly into a major industrial centre. Unlike many other English industrial cities such as Manchester, industry in Birmingham was based upon small workshops rather than large factories or mills.

From the 1760s onwards, a large network of canals were built across Birmingham and the Black Country, to transport raw materials and finished goods. By the 1820s an extensive canal system had been constructed; Birmingham is often described as having more miles of canals than Venice.

Railways arrived in Birmingham in 1837, with the opening of the Grand Junction Railway and later the London and Birmingham Railway the railways soon linked Birmingham to every corner of Britain. New Street Station was opened as a joint station in 1854. And this was soon followed by the Great Western Railway's Snow Hill station.

In the early 20th Century the city had a tramway network which was the largest in the country to be constructed to the narrow gauge of 3'6" rather than the more usual 4'8½". Over 800 tramcars served this network until its abandonment in 1953. It was linked with the tramways in Walsall, Wolverhampton and the Black Country.

During the Victorian era, the population of Birmingham 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 array of industries located there. Birmingham's importance led to it being granted city status in 1889 by Queen Victoria.

The city built its own university in 1900, The University of Birmingham, which became the first of Britain's Redbrick universities.

Birmingham was originally part of Warwickshire, however the city expanded in the late 19th and early 20th century, absorbing parts of Worcestershire to the south and Staffordshire to the west. The city absorbed Sutton Coldfield in 1974, and at the same time became part of the new West Midlands county.

Birmingham suffered heavy bomb damage during World War II during the Birmingham Blitz, and partly as a result of this the city centre was extensively re-developed during the 1950s and 1960s, with many concrete office buildings, ring-roads, and now much-derided pedestrian subways. As a result, Birmingham gained a reputation for ugliness and was frequently described as a "concrete jungle".

In recent years however, Birmingham has been transformed, the city centre has been extensively renovated and restored with the construction of new squares, the restoration of old streets, buildings and canals, the removal of the pedestrian subways, and the demolition and subsequent redevelopment of the Bull Ring shopping centre, which now includes the architecturally unique Selfridges building.

In the decades following World War II, the face of Birmingham changed dramatically, with large scale immigration from the Commonwealth of Nations and beyond.

There is a large number of clubs and bars in the city centre, mainly along Broad Street and into Brindleyplace which has now become the city's centre for nighttime entertainment.

Preclub bars are common in varying themes and music tastes as well as clubs of varying themes which are located in the area including a sports cafe, comedy club and lapdancing club. The smaller of the clubs are located in older buildings such as the former Second Church of Christ the Scientist which now is home of the 1970s themed Flares. Larger premises resulted in a large club called The Works being set up which sometimes performs a light display.

There are many stylish clubs and bars outside the Broad Street area. The Medicine Bar in the Custard Factory, The Sanctuary, Rainbow Pub and Air in Digbeth are very popular. Many bars and club nights exist in areas such as the Arcadian and Hurst street by China Town, Summer Row, The Mailbox, and St Philips/Colmore Row and Jewellery Quarter. There are number of late night pubs in the Irish Quarter.

Birmingham based Breweries included Ansells, Davenports and Mitchells & Butlers. Aston Manor Brewery is currently the only brewery of any significant size.

Many fine Victorian pubs and bars can still be found across the city. The oldest inn in Birmingham is the Old Crown in Deritend (circa 1450). The Anchor Inn (1797), is also nearby in Digbeth. For a more contemporary night out the city has a plethora of nightclubs and bars. Perhaps Birmingham's most famous street for nights out is Broad Street which also has a cinema and many restaurants on it.

Famous food brands from Birmingham include Typhoo tea, Birds custard, Blue Bird Toffee, Bournville cocoa, Cadbury chocolate, and HP Sauce which is based within Aston.

Alum Rock, Saltley contains the largest concentration of take-away businesses in Birmingham.

Ladypool Road, Sparkhill contains the largest concentration of restaurants in Birmingham and possibly the UK.

The Wing Yip food empire first began in the city and now has its headquarters in the Chinese Quarter.

In 1945, Abdul Aziz opened a cafe shop selling curry and rice in Steelhouse Lane. This later became The Darjeeling, the first Indian restaurant in Birmingham. The Balti was invented in the city and has since received much gastronomic acclaim for the 'Balti Belt' of restaurants in the Sparkbrook, Balsall Heath and Ladypool areas. The Balti Belt is also known as the Balti Triangle among locals.