Hi everyone,

Welcome to the shiney new Birmingham metblog! I first heard about Metroblogging shortly after I moved to Birmingham, a little less than a year ago. I knew very little about the city, so I went diggging around on the Internet to find out more. Around the same time, one of my friends in Houston was starting out on their metblog; unfortunately there was not yet one for Brum (Brum, btw, is local slang for “Birmingham” ;-)). Now that we’ve got one started I hope we can provide some unique points of view of this city’s diverse culture and heritage.

With a population of almost 1,000,000 (according to the 2001 census) Birmingham is the UK’s second largest city and it’s history can be traced back almost 2000 years. Located in the heart of the midlands of England, the city experienced rapid growth during the industrial revolution of the 18th century. The many canals threading through the region were the lifeline of industry, allowing the transportation of coal, iron, merchandise and anything else that could be transported by barge to and from anywhere in the country. Traces of this history are still scattered around the city, including many of the original buildings.

Over the last decade or so the city has started to throw off its image as a smokey, outdated relic of the past, particularly in the city centre area. New hotels, bars, restaurants and new places of business are popping up all over the place. Entertainment is never more than a stones throw away with gigs and events to cater for all tastes and interests.

Over the next few months we, the Birmingham Metblog team, will bring all this and more to light and hopefully inspire you to make your own trip here to visit this wonderful city, or if you’re already in the city then please drop us a line! We’re always looking for more writers, too.

So that’s the history of Brum, in a very small nutshell. Stay tuned over the coming weeks to find out what we’ve got in store!