![]() By the early 20th century Birmingham expanded even more so, it became the “city of a thousand trades” emerging as a place with the ability to craft and manufacture trade goods. By 1938 there were 240 steam engines in Birmingham – they were small and generated power by hammering, rolling and blowing. By this point, Birmingham has a highly skilled workforce and had both imperial and commercial ambitions for the 20th century. In the mid 1830’s Birmingham also became the centre of the Grand Junction Railways linking London and Birmingham, becoming the hub of the national railway. The city flourished and enjoyed vast growth. Birmingham was highly dependant on its canal particularly during the industrial revolution. ![]() Birmingham and Fazeley Canal meets the Coventry Canal.ĭue to the fact Birmingham was an inland location it had to produce quality goods to make it worth the travel costs. Due to these fantastic transport links, Birmingham became an increasingly large part of a global economy – products from Birmingham found their way to Europe, America, Asia and Africa.įazeley Junction. During this period, many factory workers would spend their leisure time in some of Birmingham’s oldest pubs, most of which served beer brewed by the five large breweries based in Birmingham at the time.īirmingham is located near the coalfields of Northern Warwickshire and is at the centre of the UK’s canal system. Industries were also established to provide the chinaware and some metal tongs which wear hallmarks of newly fashionable leisure activities like making tea. However, there were still thousands of small workshops employing a small number of workers – they would use their hands rather that steam technology to operate presses, lathes and stamps. In the early 1800’s Birmingham factories were heavily dependant on workshops and the application of factory based steam power. By the 18th century Birmingham was the greatest industrial city in the world, even today it still reaps the benefits from a long history as the leading centre of trade and market innovation. The first canal to be built in the area was the Birmingham Canal, built from 1768 to 1772. During the English Civil War the principle tradesmen were the blacksmiths, they were called upon to manufacture over 15,000 sword blades for the Parliament forces. ![]() However, in the beginning Birmingham was most famous for playing a central part in a thriving manufacturing industry.įrom as early as sixteenth century onwards our second city was the centre of the UK’s metal working industries with a big population of iron managers. Nowadays Birmingham is both industrial and commercial city and has recently been singled out for being the top city in the UK for producing the highest number of inventions. There are numerous reasons why Birmingham is referred to as the “workshop of the world” it has been producing a wide range of goods from jewellery to cars for hundreds of years.īirmingham has been so successful because it has the ability to transform and adapt to constant change.
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