• Homeward Ground - A Life Before Villa Park & St Andrew's

    Aston Villa and Birmingham City are synonymous with Villa Park and St Andrew's. But, they haven't always called those grounds home.

  • From the Newton Road to Capitol Hill Washington DC

    The story how of a man with humble beginnings in Hampstead went on to earn worldwide acclaim, and a statue on Washington's Capitol Hill.

  • Roots of the Royal Oak pub

    There are nearly 500 Royal Oak pubs in the UK (surprisingly less than I’d thought), and all trace their name to an old hunting lodge just outside Wolverhampton.

Discover the History of the West Midlands

The history (& folklore) of the West Midlands is less hum-drum than you'd first have thought. From Iron Age forts to Roman Legions & Saxon Kings to Viking battlefields. The West Midlands was also a key battleground in the English Civil Wars. With skirmishes across the region, from Lichfield to Birmingham.

In the 18th Century, the West Midlands and the Black Country was the driver of the Industrial Revolution (the Silicon Valley of it's day?), using science and economics to drive technological advancements used across the world.

Some of histories most notorious people have also visited the region including Boudica (allegedly), King Charles I, Benjamin Franklin and more recently Malcolm X.

The West Midlands has also inspired some of Britain's great minds. Tolkein was inspired by scenes around the Midlands, including Perrott's Folly and Moseley Bog.

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