Solihull
Situated 7 miles to the south of Birmingham and 13 miles west of Coventry, the borough of Solihull with a population of 205,000 people is in the geographical centre of the country, marked by a stone cross on Meriden village green. Historically, the market town of Solihull is about 1,000 years old and the area as a whole was very much based around agriculture and the development of small rural villages.
In the 1920s the area experienced an accelerated growth in urban development, largely due to it’s close proximity to industrial Birmingham, and during the second world war became home to the Rover Car company. In recent times Solihull has become known as the home of Land Rover, the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham Airport and International Railway Station.
Whilst large parts of the borough remain rural, leafy and suburban; in contrast, northern Solihull also incorporates a large urban area of modern housing estates, including Kingshurst and Chelmsley Wood. Other residential areas of the borough bordering Birmingham, such as Shirley and Olton, remain overspill areas for upwardly mobile Brummies. The challenge for Solihull in the 21st Century is meeting the diverse needs and aspirations of it’s contrasting communities, whilst surviving as one of our region’s smallest boroughs.
Solihull Trivia
