Solihull is a town in the
West MidlandsThe West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
of
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
with a population of 94,753. It is a part of the
West Midlands conurbationThe West Midlands conurbation is the name given to the large conurbation that includes the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton and the large towns of Dudley, Walsall, West Bromwich, Solihull, Stourbridge, Halesowen in the English West Midlands....
and is located 9 miles (14.5 km) southeast of
BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
city centre. It is the largest town in, and administrative centre of, the larger
Metropolitan Borough of SolihullThe Metropolitan Borough of Solihull is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands, in west-central England. It is named after its largest town, Solihull, from which Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council is based. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary...
, which itself has a population of
200,400.
Historically part of
WarwickshireWarwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
, Solihull is one of the most prosperous towns in the
English MidlandsThe Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
. Residents of Solihull and those born in the town are referred to as
Silhillians The motto of Solihull is
Urbs in Rure (Town in Country)
Toponymy
Solihull is "commonly thought" to have derived its name from the position of St Alphege parish church – on a “soily” hill. The church was built on a hill of stiff red
marlMarl or marlstone is a calcium carbonate or lime-rich mud or mudstone which contains variable amounts of clays and aragonite. Marl was originally an old term loosely applied to a variety of materials, most of which occur as loose, earthy deposits consisting chiefly of an intimate mixture of clay...
, which turned to sticky mud in wet weather.
Early history
The town has existed since medieval times when it was founded as a
market townMarket town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
and it later became an important
coachingA stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
and
mail coachIn Great Britain, the mail coach or post coach was a horse-drawn carriage that carried mail deliveries, from 1784. In Ireland, the first mail coach began service from Dublin in 1789. The coach was drawn by four horses and had seating for four passengers inside. Further passengers were later allowed...
stop. Solihull probably came into being about a thousand years ago, as a clearing in the forest to which people would come to trade. The town is noted for its historic architecture, which includes surviving examples of
timber framedTimber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
Tudor style houses and shops. The historic
Solihull SchoolSolihull School is a British Independent school situated near the centre of Solihull, West Midlands, England.2010 saw Solihull School celebrate its 450th anniversary since its foundation in 1560....
dates from 1560 (although not on its present site). The red
sandstoneSandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
parish churchA parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
of
St. AlphegeÆlfheah , officially remembered by the name Alphege within some churches, and also called Elphege, Alfege, or Godwine, was an Anglo-Saxon Bishop of Winchester, later Archbishop of Canterbury. He became an anchorite before being elected abbot of Bath Abbey...
dates from a similar period and is a large and handsome example of classical British church
architectureArchitecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
, with a traditional
spireA spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, particularly a church tower. Etymologically, the word is derived from the Old English word spir, meaning a sprout, shoot, or stalk of grass....
168 feet (51 metres) high, making it visible from a great distance. It is located at the head of High Street and is a Grade I
listed building. It was founded in about 1220 by Hugh de Oddingsell. A
chantryChantry is the English term for a fund established to pay for a priest to celebrate sung Masses for a specified purpose, generally for the soul of the deceased donor. Chantries were endowed with lands given by donors, the income from which maintained the chantry priest...
chapel was also founded there by Sir William de Oddingsell in 1277 and the upper chapel in St Alphege was built for a chantry. The priest lived and had his sacristy in a crypt chapel underneath, and the fireplace can still be seen there.
20th century
Unlike nearby
BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, the
Industrial RevolutionThe Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
largely passed Solihull by and until the 20th century Solihull remained a small
market townMarket town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
.
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
also nearly passed Solihull by. Neighbouring
CoventryCoventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
and Birmingham were severely damaged by repeated German bombing raids but apart from some attacks on what is now the
Land Rover plantThe Solihull plant is a car manufacturing factory in Lode Lane, Solihull, UK, now owned by Land Rover.The plant currently produces the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Land Rover Discovery and Land Rover Defender vehicles.-History:...
, the airport and the local railway lines, Solihull escaped largely intact.
In 1901, the population of the town was just 7,500. However, by the 1960s, the population had grown to over 100,000. This growth was due to a number of factors including a large slum clearance programme in Birmingham, the development of the
RoverThe Rover Company is a former British car manufacturing company founded as Starley & Sutton Co. of Coventry in 1878. After developing the template for the modern bicycle with its Rover Safety Bicycle of 1885, the company moved into the automotive industry...
car plant, the expansion of what was then Elmdon Airport into Birmingham International Airport and, perhaps most significantly, the release of large tracts of land for housing development attracting inward migration of new residents from across the UK.
Until the early 1960s, the main high street remained much as it would have been in the late 19th century with several streets of
VictorianThe term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
terraced houseIn architecture and city planning, a terrace house, terrace, row house, linked house or townhouse is a style of medium-density housing that originated in Great Britain in the late 17th century, where a row of identical or mirror-image houses share side walls...
s linking High Street with Warwick Road. The construction of the central shopping area known as Mell Square (named after W. Maurice Mell, the town clerk who planned the work) involved the demolition of properties in Mill Lane and Drury Lane, some of which were several hundred years old, together with that of the large Victorian
Congregational ChurchCongregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
that had stood on the corner of Union Street and Warwick Road. On the right along High Street from St Alphege's Church porch is one of the town's oldest landmarks,
the George, which dates from the 16th century. It is now called the Ramada Jarvis Hotel.
Governance
Due to its growth, Solihull was promoted from an
urban districtIn the England, Wales and Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....
to a
municipal boroughMunicipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002...
, the honour being bestowed by Princess Margaret.
In 1964, Solihull became a
county boroughCounty borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales, but continue in use for lieutenancy and shrievalty in...
and on this occasion
the QueenElizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
bestowed the honour. In 1974, the Solihull county borough was merged with the rural district surrounding
Meriden
to form the
Metropolitan Borough of SolihullThe Metropolitan Borough of Solihull is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands, in west-central England. It is named after its largest town, Solihull, from which Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council is based. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary...
. This also includes the districts known as
ShirleyShirley is a district of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the county of West Midlands, England. It is a residential and shopping neighbourhood, and a suburb of Solihull.-History:...
,
KnowleKnowle is a large village a few miles southeast of the town of Solihull, UK. Knowle lies within the historic county boundaries of Warwickshire, and since 1974 it has been part of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull within the West Midlands...
,
DorridgeDorridge is a village in the West Midlands borough of Solihull, England, with a population of 7800.-Location:Dorridge is to the East of the M40 and the South of the M42 which, along with a small but important green belt area, separates Dorridge and its neighbours of Knowle and Bentley Heath from...
,
Balsall CommonBalsall Common is a large village and one of the larger rural settlements in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, situated west of Coventry and to the east of Birmingham, to which it serves as a commuter village in the West Midlands. It is currently undergoing gradual suburbanisation and is...
,
Castle BromwichCastle Bromwich is a suburb situated within the northern part of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the English county of West Midlands. It is bordered by the rest of the borough to the south east, North Warwickshire to the east and north east; also Shard End to the south west, Castle Vale,...
and
Chelmsley WoodChelmsley Wood is a neighbourhood, civil parish and large housing estate in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, England, with a population of 13,010. It is located near Birmingham International Airport and the National Exhibition Centre. It lies adjacent to Birmingham...
. At this time it also moved from the county of
WarwickshireWarwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
to the
West MidlandsThe West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
.
Wards
There are 17 wards in Solihull; Shirley West, Blythe, Shirley South,
Meriden
,
ElmdonElmdon is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the county of West Midlands, England.The name Elmdon means hill of the elms. It is primarily a residential area. It was formerly home to Elmdon Aerodrome, which is now Birmingham Airport...
,
LyndonLyndon is a district within the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the English county of the West Midlands.The ancient monument of Hobs Moat is nearby, as is Hatchford Brook....
,
Smith's WoodSmith's Wood is a residential area in the north of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the West Midlands of England. It is a civil parish with a population of 10,943, according to the 2001 census....
,
Chelmsley WoodChelmsley Wood is a neighbourhood, civil parish and large housing estate in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, England, with a population of 13,010. It is located near Birmingham International Airport and the National Exhibition Centre. It lies adjacent to Birmingham...
,
DorridgeDorridge is a village in the West Midlands borough of Solihull, England, with a population of 7800.-Location:Dorridge is to the East of the M40 and the South of the M42 which, along with a small but important green belt area, separates Dorridge and its neighbours of Knowle and Bentley Heath from...
and
Hockley HeathHockley Heath is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, West Midlands, England. The parish is to the south of the West Midlands conurbation, from Birmingham from Solihull and from Stratford on Avon...
,
OltonOlton is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the West Midlands, England. In the 13th century the Lords of the Manor moved their seat and formed a new settlement, in the junction of two major roads, that village has now grown into a big town called Solihull...
, St. Alphege, Shirley East, Silhill,
KingshurstKingshurst is a post war housing estate and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the West Midlands. It lies about east of Birmingham city centre...
,
FordbridgeFordbridge is a civil parish and suburb between Kingshurst and Chelmsley Wood in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, which is in the West Midlands county, and also part of the West Midlands conurbation. It is east of Birmingham City Centre. It has a town council...
,
Castle BromwichCastle Bromwich is a suburb situated within the northern part of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the English county of West Midlands. It is bordered by the rest of the borough to the south east, North Warwickshire to the east and north east; also Shard End to the south west, Castle Vale,...
,
KnowleKnowle is a large village a few miles southeast of the town of Solihull, UK. Knowle lies within the historic county boundaries of Warwickshire, and since 1974 it has been part of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull within the West Midlands...
and
BickenhillBickenhill is a village, civil parish and ward in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, West Midlands, England, on the fringes of the West Midlands conurbation.-History:...
. Each ward is represented by three councillors at Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, of which there are a total of 51 councillors. The mayor is elected by the Council and is currently (2010) Norman Davies of the
Liberal DemocratsThe Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
, representing Olton.
Geography
Solihull may be considered to be a dormitory town for neighbouring
BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, although many Silhillians now work within the town and many commute daily to towns and cities outside the Birmingham conurbation. Despite the common misconception, Solihull is not part of Birmingham.
Education
Solihull has no universities, but there are five universities within 16 miles of the town; three in Birmingham and two in Coventry. However,
Solihull CollegeSolihull College, formerly known as the 'Solihull College of Technology', is a further education college located in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, which is part of the West Midlands conurbation, in the United Kingdom...
, formerly known as the Solihull College of Technology, offers several foundation degree and full degree courses, particularly in technical subject areas such as computer sciences and engineering.
There is also a
sixth form collegeA sixth form college is an educational institution in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Belize, Hong Kong or Malta where students aged 16 to 18 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as A-levels, or school-level qualifications such as GCSEs. In Singapore and India, this is...
located on the outskirts of the town centre. This is known as the Sixth Form College, Solihull and is where students, mainly between the ages of sixteen and eighteen, complete their
secondary educationSecondary education is the stage of education following primary education. Secondary education includes the final stage of compulsory education and in many countries it is entirely compulsory. The next stage of education is usually college or university...
.
Solihull SchoolSolihull School is a British Independent school situated near the centre of Solihull, West Midlands, England.2010 saw Solihull School celebrate its 450th anniversary since its foundation in 1560....
is an independent school and is located on Warwick Road near the centre of the town. It was founded in 1560 and celebrated its 450th anniversary in 2010.
Saint Martin's, an independent school for girls aged 2¾ to 18, is located in the historic Malvern Hall in Brueton Avenue. St. Martin's obtained the best GCSE and A-Level results in the borough for 2009. St. Martin's young enterprise company 'Smart' was awarded best overall young enterprise company at both the Solihull area awards and the Birmingham & Solihull Strategic Final held in May 2010. Smart will now go onto represent Birmingham & Solihull in the West Midlands Regional Final 2010.
Solihull was the first council in the country to have their 'Wave 1' proposal of the
Building Schools for the FutureBuilding Schools for the Future is the name of the previous UK Government's investment programme in secondary school buildings in England. The program is very ambitious in its costs, timescales and objectives, with politicians from all English political parties supportive of the principle but...
investment programme approved. They were awarded over £80 million to transform six schools in the north of the borough in December 2004. As a result of the funding, there will be six new schools constructed within seven years. The school curriculum will be redesigned as well as a further £6 million investment in managed ICT services. The six schools to be rebuilt are Park Hall, Smith's Wood, Archbishop Grimshaw, Lanchester Special School and Forest Oak and Merstone special schools. Forest Oak and Merstone have been already rebuilt on one site. Lanchester, Park Hall and Smith's Wood have been built by BAM PPP, under '
Private Finance InitiativeThe private finance initiative is a way of creating "public–private partnerships" by funding public infrastructure projects with private capital...
'. Archbishop Grimshaw has been built by BAM PPP under a traditional contract.
Transport
A number of main roads pass through Solihull including the
A41 Birmingham to WarwickThe A41 is a formerly-major trunk road in England that links London and Birkenhead, although it has now largely been superseded by motorways. It passes through or near various towns and cities including Watford, Hemel Hempstead, Aylesbury, Solihull, Birmingham, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton,...
road and the A34 Birmingham to Stratford road. The
M42The M42 motorway is a major road in England. The motorway runs north east from Bromsgrove in Worcestershire to just south west of Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, passing Redditch, Solihull, the National Exhibition Centre and Tamworth on the way. The section between the M40 and M6 road forms...
and the
M40The M40 motorway is a motorway in the British transport network that forms a major part of the connection between London and Birmingham. Part of this road forms a section of the unsigned European route E05...
both pass through Solihull and provide very rapid links to
OxfordThe city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
and
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and to the rest of the motorway network surrounding the
West MidlandsThe West Midlands is an official region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It contains the second most populous British city, Birmingham, and the larger West Midlands conurbation, which includes the city of Wolverhampton and large towns of Dudley,...
.
Birmingham International Airport (BHX) is located in Solihull.
Solihull railway stationSolihull railway station serves the town of Solihull in the West Midlands of England. The station is served by London Midland and Chiltern Railways. CrossCountry serve the station occasionally, when replacing stops at Coventry and Birmingham International during engineering work...
is on the former
Great Western RailwayThe Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
line from Birmingham
Snow Hill stationBirmingham Snow Hill is a railway station and tram stop in the centre of Birmingham, England, on the site of an earlier, much larger station built by the former Great Western Railway . It is the second most important railway station in the city, after Birmingham New Street station...
to London Paddington although trains now run along the
Chiltern Main LineThe Chiltern Main Line is an inter-urban, regional and commuter railway, part of the British railway system. It links London and Birmingham on a 112-mile route via the towns of High Wycombe, Banbury, and Leamington Spa...
terminating at
London MaryleboneMarylebone station , also known as London Marylebone, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex. It stands midway between the mainline stations at Euston and Paddington, about 1 mile from each...
. Solihull railway station was first built on a very grand scale, with 2 island platforms complete with nearly full length canopies, and a large goods yard, boasting space for some 200+ waggons; the yard was equipped with a loading dock, goods shed and large crane. Solihull was also rare in being only one of a handful of stations in the area to have a goods relief line.
When Dr Beeching completed his dossier for
British RailBritish Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...
ways the station, along with many others, had the slow lines and goods yard (plus relief line) closed; the latter's area is now the car park buildings close by, including the
fire stationA fire station is a structure or other area set aside for storage of firefighting apparatus , personal protective equipment, fire hose, fire extinguishers, and other fire extinguishing equipment...
. The platform for the slow lines had the buildings demolished and the stairway bricked up.
Other railway links are provided on the
West Coast Main LineThe West Coast Main Line is the busiest mixed-traffic railway route in Britain, being the country's most important rail backbone in terms of population served. Fast, long-distance inter-city passenger services are provided between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and the...
, as
Birmingham International railway stationBirmingham International railway station is located in the borough of Solihull, just east of the city of Birmingham in England.The station is on the Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line 14 km east of Birmingham New Street and serves both Birmingham International Airport and the National Exhibition...
lies within the borough's boundaries and offers frequent express connections to London. Express train services through Solihull are now run by
Chiltern RailwaysChiltern Railways is a British train operating company. It was set up at the privatisation of British Rail in 1996, and operates local passenger trains from Marylebone station in London to Aylesbury and main-line trains on the Chiltern Main Line to Birmingham Snow Hill with its associated branches...
and local services by
London MidlandLondon Midland is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. Legally named London and Birmingham Railway Ltd, it is a subsidiary of Govia, and has operated the West Midlands franchise since 11 November 2007....
.
The
Grand Union CanalThe Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. Its main line connects London and Birmingham, stretching for 137 miles with 166 locks...
passes across Solihull, coming within a mile of the town centre and linking the town to the
River ThamesThe River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
in
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Local bus services are provided largely by
National Express West MidlandsNational Express West Midlands , formerly known as Travel West Midlands , is the trade name of West Midlands Travel Ltd , a company which operates bus services from depots in the cities of Birmingham, and Wolverhampton, as well as the boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull and Walsall in the West...
from their
Acocks GreenAcocks Green is an area and ward of south Birmingham, England. It is named after the Acock family who built a large house in the area in 1370. Acocks Green is one of the four wards making up Yardley formal district...
depot in southeast Birmingham.
Housing
Residential development in Solihull comprises a variety of housing types, but features a notable preponderance of semi-detached, detached and town houses, with little or no true terraces. Many of the larger developments were constructed between 1950 and 1970. One of the earlier large scale developments centred around Beechwood Park Road and Stonor Park Road with new detached houses selling for £4,000 in 1952.
Chelmsley WoodChelmsley Wood is a neighbourhood, civil parish and large housing estate in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, England, with a population of 13,010. It is located near Birmingham International Airport and the National Exhibition Centre. It lies adjacent to Birmingham...
to the north of Solihull town centre is a large 1960s
overspill estateAn overspill estate is a housing estate planned and built for the rehousing of people from decaying inner city areas usually as part of the process of slum clearance....
for Birmingham, and is currently marketed under the name of "North Solihull". In the early to mid-1980s, the new
MonkspathMonkspath is a housing estate and community in Solihull, England, south-east of Shirley . Monkspath is in the Blythe ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull.-Facilities:...
district constructed east of Shirley (and close to the M42 motorway) was the UK's single largest housing development of that decade.
Economy
Solihull offers a variety of shopping facilities. It has an open-air 1960s-style shopping centre called Mell Square which was constructed following the demolition of several terraces of Victorian houses and the original Solihull
Congregational ChurchCongregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
. In recent years, the town has undergone much development, and High Street has been pedestrianised since 1994. On July 2, 2002, a large new shopping centre,
TouchwoodTouchwood is a shopping centre in Solihull, West Midlands, United Kingdom.-History:Opened in 2001 and costing £110 million to build, the centre was built on the former car parks behind the High Street....
, was opened by
the QueenElizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
.
Solihull is the home of the four-wheel-drive car manufacturer
Land RoverLand Rover is a British car manufacturer with its headquarters in Gaydon, Warwickshire, United Kingdom which specialises in four-wheel-drive vehicles. It is owned by the Indian company Tata Motors, forming part of their Jaguar Land Rover group...
's main
production plantThe Solihull plant is a car manufacturing factory in Lode Lane, Solihull, UK, now owned by Land Rover.The plant currently produces the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Land Rover Discovery and Land Rover Defender vehicles.-History:...
and a range of other major companies. The suburb of
Meriden
was the famous home of the Triumph motorbike factory from 1942-1983. The former home of retail
bakerA baker is someone who bakes and sells bread, Cakes and similar foods may also be produced, as the traditional boundaries between what is produced by a baker as opposed to a pastry chef have blurred in recent decades...
s Three Cooks, after it was brought out of administration in 2006, the new company
Cooks the BakeryCooks the Bakery was a specialist retail bakery chain of hot food, sandwiches and coffee, based in Solihull, in the West Midlands, England. The company went into administration on 21 November 2011, having shrunk to a mere sixteen outlets.-Three Cooks:...
retains its HQ in Solihull.
The
National Exhibition CentreThe National Exhibition Centre is an exhibition centre in Birmingham, England. It is near junction 6 of the M42 motorway, and is adjacent to Birmingham International Airport and Birmingham International railway station. It has 20 interconnected halls, set in grounds of 628 acres making it the...
, commonly thought to be in
BirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, is in fact within the borough of Solihull, as is almost all of
Birmingham AirportBirmingham Airport , formerly Birmingham International Airport is an airport located east southeast of Birmingham city centre, at Bickenhill in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull within the West Midlands, England...
and the ever-expanding
Birmingham Business ParkBirmingham Business Park is a business park operated by Goodman, an Australian property group, situated in the borough of Solihull, West Midlands of England, about 9 miles east of Birmingham city centre....
.
Parks and Local Nature Reserves
Solihull has a number of
parkA park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...
s and
Local Nature ReserveLocal nature reserve or LNR is a designation for nature reserves in the United Kingdom. The designation has its origin in the recommendations of the Wild Life Conservation Special Committee which established the framework for nature conservation in the United Kingdom and suggested a national suite...
s, including for:
- Alcott Wood in Moorend Avenue, Chelmsley Wood; 5.7 hectares (14.1 acre) of semi natural ancient woodland, designated in 2002.
- Babbs Mill
Babbs Mill Lake is a man-made lake located in the Kingfisher Country Park in the Kingshurst area of Solihull, England. The lake was created as a balancing feature in times of flooding from the River Cole which is located nearby....
in Fordbridge Road, Kingshurst; 24 hectares (59.3 acre) of mixed grassland, lake and woodland habitats, designated in 2000.
- Bills Wood
Bills Wood is a Local Nature Reserve and Park located in Shirley, Solihull. It covers an area of approximately and consists of a square parcel of woodland surrounded by residential suburbs. To the east the wood is bounded by the school playing fields of Light Hall School...
, in Bill's Lane, Shirley; 7 hectares (17.3 acre) of semi natural ancient woodland, designated in 1991.
- Dorridge Wood
Dorridge Wood is a Park and Local Nature Reserve in Britain. It is located in Dorridge, Solihull, West Midlands. Established after a land donation in 1969, it incorporates a woodland area first mentioned in 1556. The park is home to many species of flora and fauna: Scots Pine, oak and ash trees,...
, in Arden Road, Dorridge; 7.5 hectares (18.5 acre) of semi natural woodland, designated in 2000.
- Elmdon Park
Elmdon Park is a park and Local Nature Reserve in Britain. It is located in Elmdon, Solihull. It was established in 1944 when the house and grounds of the derelict Elmdon Hall were bought up by the then Solihull Urban District Council...
, at Elmdon Manor, Solihull; 4.6 hectares (11.4 acre) of former walled garden, managed by Warwickshire Wildlife TrustThe Warwickshire Wildlife Trust is a Wildlife Trust and Registered Charity covering the county of Warwickshire and Solihull and Coventry in the county of West Midlands, England. The Trust aims to protect and enhance wildlife, natural habitats and geology throughout Warwickshire, Coventry and...
, designated in 1995.
- Jobs Close in Longdon Road, Knowle; 3.5 hectares (8.6 acre) of grassland and woodland with pond, designated in 2004.
- Palmers Rough
Palmers Rough is a Local Nature Reserve and Park located in Shirley, Solihull. It covers an area of approximately and consists of two separate woodland blocks; Palmers Coppice to the east, and Squires Coppice to the west. They are separated by open grassland and include for two football pitches...
, in Jacey Road, Shirley; 6.5 hectares (16.1 acre) of semi natural woodland, designated in 2000.
- Malvern & Brueton Park
Malvern and Brueton Park is a town park and Local Nature Reserve in Britain. It is located in Solihull, West Midlands. The park is formed from a comparatively narrow strip of land, with the length being approximately ten times the average width, but it is looped forming a roughly U-shaped layout....
in Old Warwick Road, Solihull; 30 hectares (74.1 acre) of mixed grassland, woodland and marsh, designated in 2002.
- Millisons Wood, in Albert Road, Meriden; 11 hectares (27.2 acre) of semi natural ancient woodland, designated in 1993.
- Smiths Wood in Windward Way, Smiths Wood; 4.5 hectares (11.1 acre) of semi natural ancient woodland, designated in 2004.
- Yorks Wood
Yorks Wood is an ancient wood of predominantly oak trees in Kingshurst, Solihull, England. The River Cole is located south of the wood and located within Kingfisher Country Park.-History:...
, in Fordbridge Road, Kingshurst; 10 hectares (24.7 acre) of semi natural ancient woodland, designated in 1991.
Other parks include
Tudor Grange ParkTudor Grange Park is located in Solihull, West Midlands. The Park is located very close to the town centre, within easy walking distance, and is adjacent to the local train station and Leisure Centre, Tudor Grange Leisure Centre...
, Elmdon Park,
Hillfield ParkHillfield Park, Solihull, West Midlands is a community open space and play park in Monkspath, Solihull. It covers an area of over and includes an attractive lake surrounded by formal footpaths, which give walkers the opportunity to explore the open space...
, Cole Bank Park, Knowle Park and
Shirley ParkShirley is a district of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the county of West Midlands, England. It is a residential and shopping neighbourhood, and a suburb of Solihull.-History:...
. The nearest parks to the town centre are Malvern and Brueton Parks. They are interlinked and cover a total area of about 130 acre (0.5260918 km²). Brueton Park used to be part of the grounds of Malvern Hall, which dates back to about 1690. It is home now to St Martin's Independent School for Girls.
The
River BlytheThe Blythe is a river in the English Midlands which runs from Warwickshire, through the borough of Solihull and on to Coleshill. It runs along the Meriden Gap in the Midlands Plateau,...
, a headwater
tributaryA tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
of the
River TrentThe River Trent is one of the major rivers of England. Its source is in Staffordshire on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through the Midlands until it joins the River Ouse at Trent Falls to form the Humber Estuary, which empties into the North Sea below Hull and Immingham.The Trent...
, passes through parts of Solihull including Malvern and Tudor Grange Parks.
Leisure
Solihull has numerous leisure facilities including a public
swimming poolA swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
on the edge of Tudor Grange Park. This pool replaced the old Tudor Grange Sports Centre, which was demolished in 2007, to make way for the brand new leisure centre (A combination of the old Norman Green Athletics Centre and Tudor Grange Sports Centre). These centres stood on the existing site since 1960s when they replaced the old outdoor pool. At present there are two sports centres, the more modern Tudor Grange Sports Centre, and the older North Solihull Sports Centre. There is also an outdoor wooden
skateboardingSkateboarding is an action sport which involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard.Skateboarding can be a recreational activity, an art form, a job, or a method of transportation. Skateboarding has been shaped and influenced by many skateboarders throughout the years. A 2002 report...
and in-line skating facility in Tudor Grange Park. Sailing takes place on
Olton ReservoirOlton Mere, or Olton Reservoir, is a canal feeder reservoir in the Olton district of Solihull, West Midlands, England.The reservoir, constructed in 1799 to supply the Grand Union Canal, was formed from marshland fed by Folly Brook. It was designed to hold 150 locks full of water, but this was not...
.
The borough is well served by numerous youth groups, both from the statutory and voluntary sector. There are several Scout groups including
Knowle Sea Scout Group which is based in the south of Solihull and is sponsored by the
Royal NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
providing a wide programme of activities for young people from all over Solihull aged from 6 to 18. The recently refurbished
ice rinkAn ice rink is a frozen body of water and/or hardened chemicals where people can skate or play winter sports. Besides recreational ice skating, some of its uses include ice hockey, figure skating and curling as well as exhibitions, contests and ice shows...
on Hobs Moat Road is home to Solihull's
ice hockeyIce hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
teams, the
Solihull BaronsSolihull Barons are an English ice hockey team from the town of Solihull who play at Solihull Ice Rink on Hobbs Moat Road. They were formed in 2005, although they are named after the team of the same name who played at the same ice rink between 1972 and 1996...
, Solihull Vikings, a junior ice hockey team, the Mohawks ice racing club, as well as ice dance and figure skating clubs. Above the ice rink is a Riley's snooker club.
Events
Every year since the early 1930's (apart from gaps during world wars),
Solihull Carnival has taken place. This is now fixed to the first weekend after the June half-term and takes place in
Tudor Grange ParkTudor Grange Park is located in Solihull, West Midlands. The Park is located very close to the town centre, within easy walking distance, and is adjacent to the local train station and Leisure Centre, Tudor Grange Leisure Centre...
. As well as the usual stalls and arena events, in recent years, it has replaced the Carnival Queen contest with a Solihull wide talent contest. The event is organised by
Shirley Round Table and raises about £10,000 for charitable causes each year.
Sport
The largest football club in the town is Solihull Moors which is located in Damson Park 2 miles (3.2 km) from the town centre. It is a semi-professional club and currently competes in the
Conference NorthThe Conference North also known as Blue Square Bet North for sponsorship reasons, is a division of the Football Conference in England, taking its place immediately below the Conference National. Along with Conference South it is at Step 2 of the National League System and the sixth overall tier of...
. The club was established in 2007 as a merger between former clubs Solihull Borough and Moor Green. The other sports club of note is
Birmingham & Solihull R.F.C.Birmingham and Solihull Rugby Football Club are a rugby union club representing Birmingham and Solihull. It was formed in 1989 by a merger of the original Birmingham and Solihull rugby clubs, which were both established over 60 years ago....
, known as "the Bees", a professional rugby union team which competes in the
RFU ChampionshipThe RFU Championship replaced National Division One as the second tier in the English rugby union system in September 2009. Unlike National Division One, which is semi-professional, the RFU Championship is a fully professional league.-History:...
. It currently plays at the Moors' Damson Park ground, after leaving its previous
Sharmans Cross RoadSharmans Cross Road was the ground of RFU Championship side Birmingham & Solihull R.F.C. until May 2010. The ground is named after the road it lies off in Solihull, West Midlands.-Capacity:...
home in August 2010.
Solihull also has a number of field hockey clubs, namely [Old Silhillians Hockey Club] (the home of Warwickshire Hockey), Olton & West Warwickshire Hockey Club and Solihull Blossomfield Hockey Club.
Gaelic gamesGaelic games are sports played in Ireland under the auspices of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The two main games are Gaelic football and hurling...
are played by
Warwickshire GAAThe Warwickshire County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association is one of the county boards outside Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in Warwickshire. The county board is also responsible for the Warwickshire inter-county teams-Hurling:In 2005 Warwickshire fielded a hurling team in...
who play their home matches in
Páirc na hÉireann, Birmingham', near Bickenhill, Solihull, England, is the principal Gaelic games sports facility in the West Midlands of England. It is administered by the Warwickshire Gaelic Athletic Association County Board. is located east of Birmingham near Birmingham International Airport...
which is located in Solihull.
The town has an indoor bowling area and club.
Suburbs
For a full list see List of areas in Solihull
Solihull town has several suburbs including Blossomfield, Solihull Lodge, Haslucks Green, Sharmans Cross,
ShirleyShirley is a district of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the county of West Midlands, England. It is a residential and shopping neighbourhood, and a suburb of Solihull.-History:...
(considered a sub-town of Solihull), Shirley Heath, Hillfield,
MonkspathMonkspath is a housing estate and community in Solihull, England, south-east of Shirley . Monkspath is in the Blythe ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull.-Facilities:...
, Widney Manor,
OltonOlton is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the West Midlands, England. In the 13th century the Lords of the Manor moved their seat and formed a new settlement, in the junction of two major roads, that village has now grown into a big town called Solihull...
and Lode Heath.
Solihull Borough includes several satellite towns and villages including
Castle BromwichCastle Bromwich is a suburb situated within the northern part of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the English county of West Midlands. It is bordered by the rest of the borough to the south east, North Warwickshire to the east and north east; also Shard End to the south west, Castle Vale,...
,
Chelmsley WoodChelmsley Wood is a neighbourhood, civil parish and large housing estate in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, England, with a population of 13,010. It is located near Birmingham International Airport and the National Exhibition Centre. It lies adjacent to Birmingham...
,
Cheswick GreenCheswick Green is a village and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the English county of West Midlands. It was previously part of the civil parish of Hockley Heath, and lies approximately south west of Solihull town centre....
,
DorridgeDorridge is a village in the West Midlands borough of Solihull, England, with a population of 7800.-Location:Dorridge is to the East of the M40 and the South of the M42 which, along with a small but important green belt area, separates Dorridge and its neighbours of Knowle and Bentley Heath from...
,
KnowleKnowle is a large village a few miles southeast of the town of Solihull, UK. Knowle lies within the historic county boundaries of Warwickshire, and since 1974 it has been part of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull within the West Midlands...
,
Balsall CommonBalsall Common is a large village and one of the larger rural settlements in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, situated west of Coventry and to the east of Birmingham, to which it serves as a commuter village in the West Midlands. It is currently undergoing gradual suburbanisation and is...
,
Meriden
, Hampton in Arden,
Hockley HeathHockley Heath is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, West Midlands, England. The parish is to the south of the West Midlands conurbation, from Birmingham from Solihull and from Stratford on Avon...
,
EastcoteEastcote is a suburban area established around an old village in Greater London, and is part of the London Borough of Hillingdon.In the Middle Ages, Eastcote was one of the three areas that made up the parish of Ruislip, under the name of Ascot...
,
BarstonBarston is a village and civil parish in Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the West Midlands of England. It is about six km east of Solihull and is located inside a large meander of the River Blythe. The nearest large city is Birmingham. According to the 2001 UK Census, the parish had a...
,
BickenhillBickenhill is a village, civil parish and ward in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, West Midlands, England, on the fringes of the West Midlands conurbation.-History:...
,
Catherine-de-BarnesCatherine-de-Barnes is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the English county of West Midlands...
and
Bentley HeathBentley Heath is a village in the West Midlands borough of Solihull, England.-Location:Bentley Heath is to the East of the M40 and the South of the M42 which, along with a small but important green belt area, separates Bentley Heath and its neighbours of Knowle and Dorridge from the greater urban...
.
Twin towns
Solihull is twinned with:
CholetCholet is a commune of western France in the Maine-et-Loire department. It was the capital of military Vendée.-Geography:Cholet stands on an eminence on the right bank of the Moine, which used to be crossed by a bridge from the fifteenth century...
,
FranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Main-Taunus-KreisMain-Taunus is a Kreis in the middle of Hesse, Germany and is part of the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region as well as the Frankfurt urban area...
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Notable residents
This list includes notable persons who were born or have lived in Solihull.
- Barry Austin
Barry Austin , of Solihull, West Midlands, England is a man widely reputed to be the heaviest man in the United Kingdom.Multiple press reports claim that at his peak weight, he weighed 50 stone ....
, reputedly Britain's heaviest man, who peaked at 65 stone in 2004.
- Sir David Baulcombe, Professor of Botany at the University of Cambridge
The chair of the Professor of Botany at the University of Cambridge was founded by the university in 1724. In 2009 the chair was renamed the Regius Professor of Botany.-Professors of Botany:* Richard Bradley * John Martyn...
- Elizabeth Bower
Elizabeth Bower , is an English actress, best known for starring as Dr Melody Bell in Doctors from 2007 to 2009.-Biography:...
, actress, Doctors
- Karren Brady
Karren Brady is an English sporting executive, television broadcaster, newspaper columnist, author and novelist. She is the former managing director of Birmingham City Football Club and current vice-chairman of West Ham United...
, the managing director of West Ham United F.C.West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
- Michael Buerk
Michael Duncan Buerk is a BBC journalist and newsreader, most famous for his reporting of the Ethiopian famine on 23 October 1984, which inspired the Band Aid charity record.-Early life:...
, BBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
reader, born and brought up in Solihull, attending Solihull SchoolSolihull School is a British Independent school situated near the centre of Solihull, West Midlands, England.2010 saw Solihull School celebrate its 450th anniversary since its foundation in 1560....
- John A. Butt
John A Butt is an orchestral and choral conductor, organist, harpsichordist and scholar who has held the Gardiner Chair of Music at the University of Glasgow since 2001, and has led the Dunedin Consort, a professional vocal ensemble centered in Edinburgh, since 2003.-Biography:John Butt was born...
, conductor, scholar, keyboardist and Gardiner Chair at the University of Glasgow.
- Daniel Caines
Daniel Stephen Caines is an English athlete who mainly competes in the 400 metres.-Early life:He was educated at Solihull School, a British independent school in the affluent West Midlands town of Solihull...
, athlete.
- Stephanie Cole
Stephanie Cole, OBE is an English stage, television, and film actress, best known for playing characters a great deal older than her actual age.-Early life:...
, actress
- Alan Cox
Alan Cox is a British computer programmer who formerly maintained the 2.2 branch of the Linux kernel and continues to be heavily involved in the development of the Linux kernel, an association that dates back to 1991...
, a LinuxLinux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
kernel engineer
- Matthew Croucher
Lance Corporal Matthew Croucher GC is a member of the Royal Marines Reserve and recipient of the George Cross, the highest British medal for gallantry not in the face of the enemy, for his extreme valour in risking his life to safeguard the lives of his comrades...
, Royal Marine George CrossThe George Cross is the highest civil decoration of the United Kingdom, and also holds, or has held, that status in many of the other countries of the Commonwealth of Nations...
holder
- Lucy Davis
Lucy Clare Davis is an English actress. She is best known for playing the character Dawn Tinsley in the BBC comedy The Office and as Dianne in the horror-comedy movie Shaun of the Dead.-Career:...
, actress and daughter of comedian Jasper CarrottJasper Carrott OBE is a British comedian, actor, television presenter and personality.-Early life:...
- Paddy Doyle
Paddy Doyle of the UK is a professional multi-disciplinary athlete. The 2009 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records have recognised him as "The World Fitness Endurance Champion"....
, 'the world's fittest athlete' and multiple record breaker
- Nick Drake
Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
, musician/poet.
- Craig Gardner
Craig Gardner is an English footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Premier League club Sunderland. A versatile midfielder, Gardner can play in many different positions, although central midfield is his preferred position...
, Sunderland A.F.C.Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...
midfielder
- Shane Geraghty
Shane Geraghty is an English rugby union player who plays for CA Brive in the Top 14.Geraghty's position of choice is as a Centre or at Fly-half.-Early life:...
, EnglandThe England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...
rugby unionRugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
player, attended St Alphege Junior School in the 1990s.
- Tommy Godwin, cyclist, twice Olympic medallist in 1948 and President of Solihull Cycling Club.
- Amii Grove
Amii Anne J. Grove is an English glamour model and Page Three Girl. She has appeared in publications such as The Sun, Nuts, Zoo Weekly and FHM.-Life and career:...
, glamour model.
- Richard Hammond
Richard Mark Hammond is an English broadcaster, writer, and journalist most noted for co-hosting car programme Top Gear with Jeremy Clarkson and James May, as well as presenting Brainiac: Science Abuse on Sky 1.-Early life:...
, BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
presenter of Top Gear
- Dave Hill
Dave Hill is an English musician, who is the lead guitarist and backing vocalist in the English glam rock group, Slade. The music journalist, Stuart Maconie, commented "he usually wore a jumpsuit made of the foil that you baste your turkeys in and platforms of oil-rig-derrick height...
, SladeSlade are an English rock band from Wolverhampton, who rose to prominence during the glam rock era of the early 1970s. With 17 consecutive Top 20 hits and six number ones, the British Hit Singles & Albums names them as the most successful British group of the 1970s based on sales of singles...
's guitarist
- Rupert Hill
Rupert Sinclair Hill is an English actor known for several former roles in UK soap operas.Rupert Hill started with small roles on television...
, Jamie Baldwin in Coronation StreetCoronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
was born and brought up in Solihull
- David Jennens
David Michael Jennens was a British rower who competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics. He was a medical doctor....
, Olympic and Cambridge University rower, was born in Solihull
- Martin Johnson, CBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, former EnglandThe England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...
rugby unionRugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
player and captain.
- Zat Knight
Zatyiah "Zat" Knight is an English footballer who plays for Bolton Wanderers in the Premier League. Knight has two caps for England.-Club career:-Fulham:Fulham signed Knight from Rushall Olympic on a free transfer in 1999...
, professional footballer currently playing with Bolton Wanderers
- Stewart Lee
Stewart Lee is an English stand-up comedian, writer and director known for being one half of the 1990s comedy duo Lee and Herring, and for co-writing and directing the critically acclaimed and controversial stage show Jerry Springer - The Opera...
, stand-up comedian attended Solihull SchoolSolihull School is a British Independent school situated near the centre of Solihull, West Midlands, England.2010 saw Solihull School celebrate its 450th anniversary since its foundation in 1560....
.
- Russell Leetch
Russell Jonathan Leetch is the bass guitarist for Birmingham-based indie rock band Editors. He studied music technology at Staffordshire University where he met his fellow Editors band members. He went to secondary school at Arden School, Knowle.He used to work with bandmate Tom Smith in a call...
, bass guitarist for EditorsEditors are a British indie rock band based in Birmingham, who formed in 2002. Previously known as Pilot, The Pride and Snowfield, the band consists of Tom Smith , Chris Urbanowicz , Russell Leetch and Ed Lay .Editors have so far released two platinum studio...
- Don Maclean
Don Maclean is an English actor and comedian, who appeared on the BBC television series Crackerjack with Michael Aspel, Peter Glaze, and Jan Hunt in the 1970s....
, 1970s host of Crackerjack, comedian, broadcaster and personality
- Joanne Malin
Joanne Malin is a British radio and television presenter. She was an anchor on Central News in the West Midlands alongside Bob Warman for many years. She currently presents a show on BBC WM.- Biography :...
, (Central News)
- Simon Mayo
Simon Mayo is an English radio presenter who has worked for BBC Radio since 1981. As of January 2010, Mayo is presenter of Simon Mayo Drivetime on BBC Radio 2 and, with Mark Kermode, presenter of Kermode and Mayo's Film Reviews on BBC Radio 5 Live.In 2008, Mayo was recognised as the "radio...
, broadcaster, attended Solihull SchoolSolihull School is a British Independent school situated near the centre of Solihull, West Midlands, England.2010 saw Solihull School celebrate its 450th anniversary since its foundation in 1560....
.
- James McFadden
James McFadden is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Everton.McFadden started his career with Scottish Premier League club Motherwell. He came to prominence in the 2002–03 season by scoring 19 goals and winning the Scottish PFA Young Player of the Year award....
, Birmingham City F.C.Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...
midfielder/striker
- Kerry Minnear
Kerry Minnear is a classically trained multi-instrumentalist who played in the innovative progressive rock band Gentle Giant during the 1970s....
, keyboard player, composer and member of 1970s progressive rock band Gentle GiantGentle Giant were a British progressive rock band active between 1970 and 1980. The band was known for the complexity and sophistication of its music and for the varied musical skills of its members. All of the band members, except the first two drummers, were multi-instrumentalists...
- Lizo Mzimba
Lizo Mzimba is the Entertainment Correspondent for BBC News.-Early life:He attended the independent Solihull School and The University of Birmingham...
, from CBBC's NewsroundNewsround is a BBC children's news programme, which has run continuously since 4 April 1972, and was one of the world's first television news magazines aimed specifically at children...
attended both Ruckleigh and Solihull SchoolSolihull School is a British Independent school situated near the centre of Solihull, West Midlands, England.2010 saw Solihull School celebrate its 450th anniversary since its foundation in 1560....
- Ritchie Neville from pop band Five
- Jonathan Nott
Jonathan Nott is an English conductor, the son of a priest at Worcester Cathedral. He was a music student and choral scholar at the University of Cambridge, and also studied singing and flute in Manchester at the Royal Northern College of Music. Nott was also a conducting student in London...
, chief conductor of the Bamberg Symphony OrchestraThe Bamberg Symphony is a German orchestra based in Bamberg and well known for its artistic excellence and frequent international touring...
- Gianni Paladini
Gianni Paladini is the former chairman of Queens Park Rangers football club after replacing Bill Power in a boardroom coup...
, ItalianItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
football agent.
- Jim Proudfoot
Jim Proudfoot is an English football commentator, who has worked on national radio and television since the late 1990s.Proudfoot was born in the West Country on 16 December 1972, but moved to the Midlands at a young age...
, TalkSport football commentator.
- Mandy Rice-Davies
Mandy Rice-Davies , is a Welsh former model and showgirl best known for her role in the Profumo affair and her association with Christine Keeler, which discredited the Conservative government of British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in 1963.-Early life:She was born Marilyn Rice-Davies in...
, famed for her role in the ProfumoProfumo may refer to* Alessandro Profumo , Italian banker, the CEO of the Gruppo Unicredito* Francesco Profumo , Dean of the Engineering Faculty of the Politecnico di Torino* Baron Profumo of the Kingdom of Sardinia...
affair, attended Sharman's Cross Junior School in Solihull.
- Malcolm Stent
Malcolm Stent is a British actor, musical performer and playwright, who lives in Solihull. He was in a band called the Timoneers, before he became a regular at The Boggery with Jasper Carrott...
, playwright and entertainer
- Andy Townsend
Andrew "Andy" David Townsend is a former professional footballer, who played in two World Cups for the Republic of Ireland and is now a television and radio pundit....
, broadcaster and TV pundit, and former Aston Villa, ChelseaChelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
and Republic of IrelandIreland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
footballer, lives in Solihull
- Ron A. Webster, songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, silversmithA silversmith is a craftsperson who makes objects from silver or gold. The terms 'silversmith' and 'goldsmith' are not synonyms as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are or were largely the same but the end product varies greatly as does the scale of objects created.Silversmithing is the...
, lyricist of "The Last Farewell"The Last Farewell" is the title of a song from 1971 by the British-Kenyan folk singer Roger Whittaker. Whittaker hosted a radio programme in Great Britain in 1971, backed by a full orchestra with arrangements by Zack Lawrence. Whittaker is quoted as saying that "one of the ideas I had was to...
". http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=9938http://www.rogerwhittaker.com/bio.htm
- Felicity Kendal
Felicity Ann Kendal, CBE is an English actor known for her television and stage work.Born in 1946, Kendal spent much of her childhood in India, where her father managed a touring repertory company. First appearing on stage at the age of nine months, Kendal appeared in her first film, Shakespeare...
- actress and TV star
Musical groups which were formed in or by a member from Solihull include:
- Five
Five were an English boyband put together in 1997 by the same team that managed the Spice Girls before they launched their career. The five members were Scott Robinson, Ritchie Neville, J Brown, Abs Breen and Sean Conlon. Signed by Simon Cowell, they were a manufactured band and held several...
- a 1990s boy band
- Ocean Colour Scene
Ocean Colour Scene are an English Britpop band formed in Moseley, Birmingham in 1989. They have had five Top 10 albums and six Top 10 singles to date.-Early days :...
- a 1990s rock band
- Swell Maps
Swell Maps were an experimental English rock group of the 1970s from Birmingham that foreshadowed the birth of post-punk.Influenced by the disparate likes of T.Rex and the German progressive outfit, Can, they created a new soundscape that would be heavily mined by others in the post-punk era...
- a 1970s alternative rock band
- Spizzenergi - a 1970s alternative rock band.
- The Applejacks - a 1960s pop group
- Gentle Giant
Gentle Giant were a British progressive rock band active between 1970 and 1980. The band was known for the complexity and sophistication of its music and for the varied musical skills of its members. All of the band members, except the first two drummers, were multi-instrumentalists...
- avant-garde 1970s progressive rock band
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