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Birmingham Leasing

Did You Know?

Birmingham, located in the heart of England, is the UK’s second largest city after the capital, London.

With a vast water network stretching 35 miles, Birmingham actually has more canals than Venice, Italy. Not only that, but there are more cubic metres of water passing through Birmingham’s canals than in any other city on earth!

Not many people know this but the city’s landscape and surrounding countryside provided J. R. R. Tolkien with some of the inspiration that resulted in the iconic sagas The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. The author grew up in Moseley from the age of four, with the books being based on places and people in this area.

Birmingham is officially the youngest city in Europe, with nearly 40 per cent of the population being under the age of 25.

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, situated next to the Town Hall, is home to the world’s largest collection of Pre-Raphaelite paintings, with over 3,000 paintings, drawings, prints and other examples of the 19th century decorative art and design.

Birmingham is home to Europe’s largest urban park outside of a capital city. And with over 8,000 acres of parks and green space, its one of the greenest cities in the UK.

Famous Brummie musicians and bands include: The Streets, UB40, The Moody Blues, Jamelia, Slade, Ocean Colour Scene, Toyah Willcox, Laura Mvula, Dexys Midnight Runners, Duran Duran, and Ozzy Osbourne.

It is both a city and a metropolitan borough in West Midlands county, one of the country’s 83 counties.

The world-famous ship, the Titanic, had its anchor made in Black Country northwest of Birmingham. The world’s first steam engine was also constructed there.

Opened in 2013, the Library of Birmingham is actually the largest public library in Europe. Designed to reflect the many canals and tunnels of the city and spread out over ten levels, this library has more than one million books. Many significant collections, such as an impressive Shakespeare collection of over 43,000 books, also call this library home.

Birmingham inventors Lewis Paul and John Wyatt invented the roller spinning machine in 1732. By 1738, this concept was considered the first cornerstone in the mechanization of the cotton industry.

In 2012, The New York Times magazine listed Birmingham as one of the world’s top 20 places to visit.

Located in the north of the city, the Gun Quarter was once one of the world’s prime gun manufacturing hubs. The first gun manufacturer in the Birmingham opened in 1630, and by 1865 almost 10,000 people were being employed in the industry. While production has long since decreased, a few manufacturers still remain in the area.

Birmingham first became a metropolitan district in 1974. Following a reshuffling of district borders in 2004 the city limits expanded to become much larger. Today with over one million people in 69 wards being represented by 101 councillors, Birmingham City Council is the most populated local council in the UK. Not only this, it is actually Europe’s largest local authority.