Solihull

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Solihull (IPA: , or , or some combination of the two; occasionally ) is a town in the West Midlands in England with a population of around 120,000. It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is located south-east of Birmingham. It is the largest town in, and headquarters of, the metropolitan borough of Solihull. Residents of Solihull and those born in the town are referred to as Silhillians and past pupils of Solihull School are called Old Silhillians. The motto of Solihull is Urbs in Rure (the town in the country) although the late Headmaster of Tudor Grange Grammar School in Solihull, Mr A. R. Munday argued that it should more accurately be rendered as Urbs Rure - the word in not being required with the ablative case of Rure.

Contents

1 Facilities and commerce 2 History 3 Amenities 4 Transport 5 Administration

Facilities and commerce

Solihull is a popular shopping area. It has a largely concrete 1960s-style shopping square. Recently a new shopping centre, the Touchwood Centre, has opened.

Solihull is the home of the car manufacturer Land Rover. Other products from Solihull include chemicals and tools.

The National Exhibition Centre, popularly thought to be in Birmingham, is in the borough of Solihull, as is almost all of Birmingham International Airport.

History

Solihull comes from the name 'soily hill'. It has existed since medieval times when it was founded as a market centre, and it later became an important coaching stop. The town is notable for its historic architecture, which includes many examples of timber-framed Tudor style houses and shops. The historic Solihull School dates from 1560. The Parish church of St Alphege dates from a similar period and is a large and handsome example of classical British Church architecture, with a traditional spire making the Church visible from a great distance.

Unlike nearby Birmingham, the industrial revolution largely passed Solihull by, and until the 20th century Solihull remained a small market town. In 1901 the population of the town was just 7,500, but by the 1960s the population had grown to over 100,000. This growth was due entirely to overspill population from Birmingham.

Until the early 1960s the main high street remained much as it must have been in the late 19th Century with several streets of Victorian terrace houses linking High Street with the Warwick Road. The construction of the central shopping area involved the demolition of all these streets together with the large Victorian Congregational Church that had stood on the corner of Union Street and Warwick Road.

Solihull is now a dormitory town for Birmingham with which it is adjoined.

Amenities

Solihull has a number of parks including Malvern Park, Brueton Park, Tudor Grange Park and Shirley Park. It has numerous leisure facilities including a public swimming pool on the edge of Tudor Grange Park. This pool replaced an outdoor pool in Tudor Grange Park which was demolished in the 1960's. The current pool is also under threat of demolition. Tudor Grange Park also has two sports centres: the more modern Tudor Grange sports centre, and the older Norman Green sports centre, formerly known as the Norman Green Athletics Centre. There is also an outdoor wooden skateboarding and in-line skating facility in Tudor Grange Park. Sailing takes place on Olton Reservoir.

There is an ice rink on Hobs Moat Road, which is home to the Solihull Barons, Solihull Vikings and Solihull Vixens ice hockey teams, a Junior ice hockey team, the Mohawks ice racing club, as well as ice dance and figure skating clubs.

The River Blythe, a headwater tributary of the River Trent, passes through parts of Solihull including Malvern and Brueton Parks.

Transport

A number of main roads pass through Solihull including the Birmingham to Warwick Road and the Birmingham to Stratford Road. The M42 and the M40 both pass through Solihull and provide very rapid links to Oxford and London and to the rest of the motorway network surrounding the West Midlands.

Solihull's main railway station is on the former Great Western Railway line from Birmingham Snow Hill station to London Marylebone station. In the first half of the 20th century, this railway line carried most of the express trains from the Midlands to the South west and South (Devon and Cornwall) Wales, including the Cornish Riviera Express and the Cambrian Coast Express pulled by the elegant and powerful Great Western Region King Class and Castle Class locomotives.

Express train services to Solihull are now run by Chiltern Railways and local services by Central Trains.

The Grand Union Canal passes diagonally across Solihull within one mile of the town centre. This canal links Birmingham and the Midlands with the River Thames in London

Administration

Due to its growth, Solihull was promoted from an Urban District Council to a Borough Council, the honour being bestowed by Her Majesty Princess Margaret. In 1964 Solihull became a county borough and on this occasion Her Majesty The Queen bestowed the honour. In 1974 the Solihull county borough was merged with the rural district surrounding Meriden to form the metropolitan borough of Solihull. This also includes the districts known as Shirley and Castle Bromwich. At this time it also moved from the county of Warwickshire to West Midlandsde:Solihull eo:Solihull no:Solihull