Solihull
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Template:GBmap Solihull (IPA: Template:IPA, or Template:IPA, or some combination of the two; occasionally Template:IPA) is a town in the West Midlands in England with a population of 94,753 [1]. 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 larger Metropolitan Borough of Solihull which has a population of 200,400.
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)
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Facilities and commerce
Image:Solihull High Street.jpg Solihull is a popular shopping area. It has a largely concrete 1960s-style shopping square. In recent years, the town has undergone much development. In 2001, a large new shopping centre, Touchwood, was opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Solihull is the home of the four wheel drive car manufacturer Land Rover.
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 probably derived its name from a 'miry or muddy' or soily hill. The parish church was built on a hill of stiff red marl, which turned to sticky mud in wet weather. The town has existed since medieval times when it was founded as a market centre, and it later became an important coaching stop. Solihull probably came into being about a thousand years ago as a clearing in the forest to which people would come to trade.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 red sandstone 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. It is located at the head of High Street, Solihull. It was founded in about 1220 by Hugh de Oddingsell. A chantry chapel was also founded there by Sir William de Oddingsell in 1277 and the upper chapel in St Alphege was built for a chantry. The priest lived and had his sacristy in a crypt chapel underneath and the fireplace there can still be seen.
Image:St Alphege Church Solihull.jpg 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. On the right along High Street from St Alphege's church porch is one of town's oldest landmarks The George, which dates from the sixteenth century. It is now called the Jarvis International Hotel. On the opposite side of the High Street is the Manor House which dates from about 1495. There is a relatively new Touchwood Retail and Leisure complex in the town centre.
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. The nearest parks to the town centre are Malvern and Brueton parks. They are interlinked and cover about 130 acres. Brueton Park used to be part of the grounds of Malvern Hall, which dates back to about 1690. It is home now to St Martin's School. Solihull 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.
Famous Residents
Many famous people live in Solihull such as Lucy Davis from The Office and Birmingham City F.C. manager Steve Bruce. Mandy Rice-Davies, famed for her role in the Profumo affair, attended Sharman's Cross junior school in Solihull.
Transport
Image:Solihull Manor house.jpg A number of main roads pass through Solihull including the A41 Birmingham to Warwick Road and the A34 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 Railway King Class and Castle Class locomotives. Other rail links are provided on the West Coast Mainline, as Birmingham International railway station lies within the borough's boundaries.
Express train services to Solihull are now run by Chiltern Railways and local services by Central Trains.
The Grand Union Canal passes across Solihull, coming within a mile of the town centre and linking the town to the River Thames in London.
Local bus services are provided largely by Travel West Midlands from their Acocks Green depot in south east Birmingham.
Local people are represented by the Solihull and Leamington Rail Users Association
Administration
Due to its growth, Solihull was promoted from an urban district to a municipal borough, the honour being bestowed by Princess Margaret.
In 1964 Solihull became a county borough and on this occasion 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, Castle Bromwich and Chelmsley Wood (North Solihull). At this time it also moved from the county of Warwickshire to the West Midlands, and is now a unitary authority.de:Solihull eo:Solihull fr:Solihull nl:Solihull no:Solihull