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By:COBALT_Blue

THE BLACK COUNTRY

Where is the Black Country? You couldn't find it on the map could you?. The Black Country is the West Midlands region of industrial heartlands. Originally coal mining and the working of iron the Black Country region covers the areas of Dudley and Wolverhampton and stretches round West Bromwich to Wednesbury and Walsall. The name is derived from the mid 1900's when literally thousands of furnaces and chimneys filled the air with smoke. This was mining country. A smoking wasteland caused by underground burning coal and derelict and depleted coal faces.

The Industrial might of this region was known the world over. The worlds first successful steam engine for pumping water out of the mines was made in Dudley by Thomas Newcomen. The Black Country region produced vast quantities of metal goods. The American Consul in Birmingham in 1868 wrote "The Black Country, black by day and red by night, cannot be matched for vast and varied production, by any other space of equal radius on the surface of the globe". Furnaces and foundries worked round the clock, the thundering of machinery and the coal merchants fuelling the demand guaranteed that the Black Country played a prominent role in the Industrial Revolution. It was not without it's toll in human life. A visit to the Black Country Living Museum demonstrates what life was like in these times, so hard for us to imagine today.

Today, the Black Country benefits from traditional industries as well as more modern newcomers and is a growing tourist attraction in its own right.

SECOND CITY

Just what is wrong with the Mankies? For years now they have been trying to say that Manchester is Britain’s Second City. Now we have Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott pandering to the city of Manchester by agreeing with them. Well stuff him if he wants us to vote Labour then. Words fail me. The man is a fool.

To make things even more comical, a Manchester MP Graham Stinger has said that Birmingham was never really in the competition and that this was the most sensible thing that John Prescott has said in years. I am not quite sure who is the biggest plonker out of the two. The Manchester MP is clearly ‘out of his tree’. Whilst John Prescott at least has the excuse that he was expressing gratitude to Manchester – what excuse does MP Graham Stinger have – other than the fact he is seriously lacking in UK geography and knowledge.

Lets face it, anyone who wants to do a little research can quickly establish the real truth. Whilst you might be informed on several Manchester websites that Manchester is the UK’s second city that really is a myth and quite comical when put into perspective. In reality, Britain’s third largest city is Leeds. Manchester doesn’t even come close to Birmingham. Birmingham city is over twice the size in population as that of Manchester and has a much larger economy.

A well known Manchester website has this to say:

Manchester is one of Britain's largest metropolitan conurbations, with 2.6 million people living within the central boundaries and over 7 million in Manchester's surrounding areas. As you would expect of Britain's second city, Manchester is the throbbing urban centre of the North West boasting a number of leading business organisations, leading retailers and entertainment venues.

In actual fact this is how it should be worded;

Manchester is a city in North West England. In 2002 the central district had a population of 422,302. This district is the heart of a large conurbation called the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, which has a population of 2,513,468. People from Manchester are called Mancunians.

So lets chuck in the whole of the West Midlands County rather than just Birmingham shall we? We could include Wolverhampton, Dudley, Walsall, Sandwell, Solihull and Coventry. Applying this same technique the West Midlands could claim this represented the population of Birmingham which is just what Manchester is attempting to do by claiming figures for Greater Manchester which includes Manchester, Stockport, Tameside, Oldham, Rochdale, Bury, Bolton, Wigan, Salford and Trafford.

Comments & Continuation

Well known landmarks around Birmingham

Daily Photos by UK Images Birmingham

There are many landmarks in and around the West Midlands. Not all of them are attractions. Some just catch your eye in passing and others are part of our regions history..

	Alpha Tower One of the tallest buildings in Birmingham the Alpha Tower has 28 floors and stands at 328 feet.
	Arcadian At the heart of the Chinese Quarter the Arcadian features a host of bars, restaurants and Chinese retail outlets
	Argent Centre This is one of the most impressive and attractive buildings in the Jewellery Quarter. With its colourful Italian style
	Baskerville House This used to be the home of Birmingham City Council. It was destined to become the Radisson Edwardian Hotel.
	Beetham Tower Beetham Organization acquired one of the most prominent sites in the UK's second city, Birmingham
	Big House Oldbury The Big House at 44 Church Street, is the oldest building left in Oldbury. The date over the door did read AD 1705
	BT Tower 498 feet high and a prominent landmark. Long distance communications tower. The tower supports are built over the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal.
	Bull Ring The New Birmingham Bull Ring Shopping Centre is a world apart from the old Bull Ring. It was built at a cost of £800 million
	Centenary Square Centenary Square is one of Birmingham's newest public squares. It is a popular meeting place and walkway between Broad Street and the canal area
	Central Library One of Europe's biggest libraries. Housed on several floors you could spend a week here and still have missed some of the information that the library contains.
	Council House The foundation stone for the Council House was laid by Joseph Chamberlain in 1874. Work was completed in 1879 at a cost of £163,000.
	Curzon Street Station This was the main railway terminus into Birmingham before New Street Station was built
	Custard Factory The original home of the infamous Bird's Custard who have since moved their headquarters to Gloucester.
	Edgbaston Reservoir Edgbaston Reservoir was never really built specifically as a reservoir. It was built as a feeder for the canals
	Electric Cinema The Electric has an interesting past, it was once reputedly a haunt of George Bernard Shaw. Originally called the Electric Theatre
	Floozie in the Jacuzzi Victoria Square in front of the Council House with its impressive water fountains and the River Godess by Dhruva Mistry
	Fort Dunlop Fort Dunlop, the site of the former tyre factory which was built in 1916 was left derelict for years until money became available through Advantage West Midlands
	Hall of Memory The Hall of Memory, a war memorial, is situated just in front of Baskerville House in Centenary Square.
	James Watt Statue Standing in front of the Library at Chamberlain Square, the James Watt Statue
	Lord Nelson Statue This was the first public statue in Birmingham. A bronze figure of Horatio Nelson erected in 1809 and made by Richard Westmacott
	Mailbox The Mailbox is also the regional home to some of the UK's leading businesses, including Railtrack, Cable & Wireless and as of Autumn, BBC in the Midlands.
	Millenium Point Close to the city centre, covering the size of six international football pitches, Birmingham brings you Millennium Point.
	Museum & Art Gallery The Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery situated in Chamberlain Square is an appropriate setting for some of the world's finest examples of Pre-Raphaelite art.
	National Indoor Arena The gladiators used this centre for their popular television show. Situated by the canal with it's relaxed atmosphere and a host of pubs and restaurants
	Peace Garden The Peace Garden at Bath Row features the St Thomas Church which was badly damaged in the war
	Peace Pagoda The pagoda in Edgbaston is provided so that western people are able to learn about Buddhism.
	Perrots Folly The tower or folly is not actually one hundred feet tall. It is in fact 94 feet high and offers panoramic views of leafy Edgbaston and the surrounding area from its top.
	Queen Victoria Statue Standing as she has done for decades looking over the city square. The Queen Victoria Statue
	Rotunda When built, in 1964, as an office block, during the post- war rebuilding of the Bull Ring it was initially much- derided
	Selfridges Birmingham store is covered in 15,000 spun aluminium discs and was designed by architects Future Systems.
	Spaghetti Junction That sprawling concrete mass of spaghetti at Gravelley Hill. A famous landmark of the 20th Century.
	Spitfire Island Situated near the Jaguar Factory at Castle Bromwich is the Sentinel Spitfire sculpture which was designed by Tim Tolkien
	St Chads Cathedral Chad's Cathedral a gothic brick built structure near the city centre just up from Snow Hill Station.
	St Philips Cathedral St Philip's Cathedral was originally a church for the more well to do who did not wish to negotiate their way through the busy market area to get to church.
	Stourbridge Viaduct The old Stourbridge Town station, when demolished, was recovered and materials used for buildings at Birmingham Railway Museum.
	University Campus Joseph Chamberlain is responsible for Birmingham University as we know it today. This was a civic achievement on a grand scale.
	Winson Green Prison Winson Green prison is a Victorian prison built in 1849. It is a prison for male prisoners.