West Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is landlocked ceremonial county, and metropolitan county in western central England. Since 1986 it has had no county council, but the name is still used as a geographic term for the area it covered. Unfortunately the same name is used for the much larger offical West Midlands Region of England and for the even wider geographic zone of the English West Midlands.
The metroplitan area contains the cities of Birmingham. Wolverhampton and Coventry and also most of the Black Country.
The area has a population of around 2,552,000 and covers 89,941 hectares (222,250 acres). Birmingham, Wolverhampton and the Black country together form one of the largest urban conurbations in England outside London with a combined population of around 2.25 million.
The administrative area was created in 1974. Coventry and Birmingham previously being part of Warwickshire, Dudley part of Worcestershire and Wolverhampton and the rest of the Black Country part of Staffordshire.
The administrative area was originally run by the "West Midlands County Council" but this was broken up in 1986 and most of the powers given to metropolitan district councils. Some functions such as emergency services and public transport are still run on a West Midlands wide basis, and the county still has a Lord-Lieutenant.
Towns and villages
- Aldridge
- Balsall Common
- Bloxwich
- Bilston
- Birmingham
- Blackheath
- Brierley Hill
- Coleshill
- Coventry
- Dorridge
- Dudley
- Halesowen
- Hampton-in-Arden
- Marston Green
- Merriden
- Oldbury
- Sedgley
- Smethwick
- Solihull
- Sutton Coldfield
- Tipton
- Walsall
- Wednesfield
- Wednesbury
- West Bromwich
- Wolverhampton
- Aston Hall, Birmingham
- Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
- Black Country Living Museum
- Coventry Cathedral
- Dudley Castle
- Museum of British Road Transport
- Netherton tunnel
- Perrot's Folly
- Sarehole Mill
