Once the most industrious city in the world

The Bullring Shopping Centre
with the Rotunda in the background

Birmingham is my home town, I was born and raised around here. My Grandfathers side of the family have resided here for generations, and it just seems to be a part of me. My favourite parts of Birmingham are the landmarks; the Bullring and its Selfridge's building, the Rotunda, the Alpha Tower and St Philips's Cathedral in the park on Colmore Row, these are some of the sights that I hold closest to my heart. Yet its the industrious side of the city that I find most fascinating. When you are at school around here, you are taught how Birmingham 'led the way' during the industrial revolution, and everybody is aware that Jaguar Land Rover is close by, its very obvious that the area had industrious roots. With this as my inspiration, I have decided to write a blog about                                                          my home town, and its links to Technology, Business and Engineering.

Birmingham in the West Midlands

Birmingham is the second city of the United Kingdom, twinned with Chicago (USA), Frankfurt am main (GER), Lyon (FRA) and Milan (ITA). The population is estimated at around 1,085,400, and is categorised by the Globalisation and World Cities Research Network as a Beta+ city - meaning it is a city that links moderate economic regions into the world economy. It has the second largest economy in the UK with a GDP (Gross Domestic Produce -  meaning the market value of all recognised final goods produced, in a country or city, in a year) of $114.3bn.  Birmingham, being located in the West Midlands region of England, has the convenience of road travel links with the majority of Great Britain through the M5, M6, M40 and M42 motorways. The city is also home to the most famous motorway junction in Britain, The Spaghetti Junction.

James Watt (1736-1819)

Matthew Boulton (1728-1809)

Boulton & Watt beam blowing engine
On the Dartmouth Circus.

During the Industrial Revolution, Birmingham had a large metal working industry, due to the city's accessibility to iron ore and coal. The economy here grew faster than the rest of England's as it was built on highly skilled, well paid workers rather than, for example, the low paid cotton trade in the North. The residents of Birmingham submitted over 3 times the patents of any other town or city in the country. During the years of 1760-1850 (or 'The Industrial Revolution' as its commonly known,) Birmingham was at the forefront of new technology, and generated some of the biggest, most influential names and designs in engineering to date, these include the invention of the Steam Engine. An example of a Boulton & Watt Steam engine,  used by W M Grazebrook iron works in Netherton, has been re-erected, and stands in the centre of Dartmouth Circus Island on the Aston Expressway. Other events and discoveries from the area during this era include; Abraham Darby building the first blast furnace to produce cast iron of better quality (1709),  Lewis Paul and John Wyatt invented roller spinning (1732) and opened the worlds first cotton mill (1741), John Roebuck invented the lead chamber process, used to produce sulphuric acid (1746), Matthew Boulton opened the Soho Manufactory and Lloyd's bank was established (1765), James Watt and  Matthew Boulton invented the steam engine (1776) and James Kier discovered a way to produce Alkali (1780.) Matthew Boulton's Soho Manufactory was the largest factory unit in Europe at the time, and signified the introduction of the factory system. This time also saw the uniting of the Lunar Society. The Lunar Society was a collective of 'thinkers' including philosophers and industrialists, who met regularly in Birmingham. Known associates of the Lunar Society, formerly the Lunar Circle, included Erasmus Darwin, James Kier, Matthew Boulton, James Watt, William Small and others.

In 1936 there was a plan was introduced to increase the UK's production of aircraft, as a precaution, incase the war escalated. Herbert Austin led the project to create nine new factories on the site of Morris Motors Ltd, Castle Bromwich plant. Morris were briefed on starting the production of Supermarine Spitfires, and later, Lancaster Bombers. The intention, was to use the area's expertise in the automotive industry to benefit the aircraft trade in Britain. Spitfire Island, in Castle Bromwich, now stands as a memorial and reminder of the areas contribution and influence during the second world war. Also during WW2 Longbridge postponed the production of cars to concentrate on the war effort, producing ammunition for QF 2, 6 and 17 pounder anti-tank guns aswell as helmets, mines and steel containers.

Spitfire Island

The Birmingham Small Arms Company, founded in 1861, was formed by a team of fourteen gunsmiths in the gun quarter area of Birmingham. However in 1879 the company had to shut due to no work, opening a year later manufacturing bicycle frames, and later, motorcycles. Things were going well by 1910 and they acquired Daimler, eventually becoming the largest motorcycle producer in the world. The company ran into financial difficulty in 1973, prompting a government organised bail out by Manganese Bronze Holdings.

Cadbury Factory Bourneville

Cadbury's was established by John Cadbury in 1824, selling tea, coffee and drinking chocolate. In 1831 John moved into the production of cocoa and drinking chocolate, before teaming up with brother Benjamin in 1847 to become known as 'Cadbury Brothers'. Johns sons Richard and George took over the business in 1861, building a new premises in 1878, which began the process of producing chocolate confectionery in the 1880's. In 1893 George started the construction of a 'model village' buying 120 acres of land and creating Bourneville Village. Bourneville was created to provide a pure and secluded home for the workers of the factory, the village did not include a single pub because of the Cadbury's quaker beliefs. Cadbury (as it is now known after it was re-named in 2003), was bought by Kraft foods in 2010 for £11.5bn. Today Cadbury is the second biggest confectionery company in the world.

Longbridge factory production line

British Leyland was established in 1968 by the merging of British Motor Holding and Leyland Motor Corporation. British Leyland produced a large number of cars, buses and trucks (and with all other subsidiaries  consisted of over 100 companies) and was partly nationalised in 1975. Re-branded Rover Group in 1986 and then re-privatised by British Aerospace in 1988 for £150m. In the 1960's the groups Longbridge plant was the world largest car-producing factory in the world. The Rover Group held names such as; Range Rover, Jaguar, Mini and MG, before the Range Rover brand was sold to Ford in 2000. BMW bought the group in 1994 for £800m but the company ended up being liquidised in 2000 due to a loss in profit, costing BMW and estimated 15 billion marks of investment. Currently, the MG Rover Group as it is now called, is owned by Chinese based SAIC, (Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation) who also own the Longbridge site. BMW own the Mini brand, and TATA own Jaguar Land Rover.  

Castle Bromwich assembly plant

Founded 'The Swallow Sidercar Company' in Coventry 1922, before a re-name to Jaguar after the second world war to avoid the S.S initial. The company started life producing Motorcycle side cars before moving into automotive vehicles. In 1966 the organisation was bought by the British motor company and remained part of BMC until being acquired by Ford in 1990. Both Jaguar, and owned brand Range Rover, were sold to TATA steel in 2008 for £1.7bn. Although Jaguar was founded in Coventry, it has owned the Castle Bromwich assembly plant since 1977, and has very strong links with the area and is a sign of a Birmingham's manufacturing presence today.

Fort Dunlop before and after restoration

Dunlop Rubber was set up in 1889 by the inventor of the pneumatic tyre - John Boyd Dunlop. The company became one of the first multinational companies, and also one of the biggest industrial companies in the UK. However suffered financial issues in the 1970's due to excessive debt, and was bought by BTR plc in 1985. From 1985 Sumitomo sold tyres under the 'Dunlop Tyres' brand until 1999 when it teamed up with American tyre company Goodyear. Prior to the purchase of Dunlop Tyres in 1999, Dunlop started the construction of its new headquarters in the 1920's, the construction would be known as Fort Dunlop. When the factory at Fort Dunlop employed 3,200 workers it became the largest factory in the world, by 1954 it employed around 10,000 workers. Fort Dunlop is now a Grade A listed building, and stopped the mass production of tyres in the 1980's, only producing specialist motorcycle tyres at the plant, although this will be moved to Germany and France in September 2014. Today the building has undergone development by the company Urban Splash, and is home to a Travelodge hotel, office and retail space. The building runs adjacent to junctions 5 and 6 of the M6 providing the perfect vantage point to capture the beauty of the stunning complex.

Birmingham Metropolitan College's
Matthew Boulton Campus

Today Birmingham does not have the dominance in manufacturing that it once had 200+ years ago. All that remains is the current industrial presence of the City, Statues and Memorials. But, in my opinion, the memories and heritage will always be in the minds and thoughts of the people of Birmingham, and that can never be taken away.