| Small Heath | |
|---|---|
  Small Heath Location within theWest Midlands | |
| Population | 36,898 |
| OS grid reference | SP1085 |
| Metropolitan borough | |
| Shire county | |
| Metropolitan county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BIRMINGHAM |
| Postcode district | B9, B10 |
| Dialling code | 0121 |
| Police | West Midlands |
| Fire | West Midlands |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| UK Parliament | |
| |
Small Heath is an inner-city area in south-eastBirmingham,West Midlands,England situated on and around the Coventry Road about 2 miles (3 km) from the city centre.
Small Heath, which has been settled and used since Roman times, sits on top of a small hill. The slightly elevated site offers poor agricultural land, lying on aglacial drift of sand, gravel, and clay, resulting in aheathland that provides adequate grazing for livestock.[1]
The land, therefore, seems to have developed as a pasture or common land, on which locals could graze their animals. However, the site lies directly on the route between Birmingham andCoventry, and so was probably used by drovers transporting animals to and from the two cities, and the livestock markets within each.[1]
The Coventry Road itself was first recorded in 1226, leading from theDigbeth crossing of theRiver Rea. At this time Birmingham was a medievalmarket town whilst Coventry was a major city of national importance. In 1745, the Coventry Turnpike was created with tollgates at Watery Lane (Middleway), Green Lane, and theRiver Cole. At Holder Road amilestone showed 105 miles (169 km) toLondon.[1]
The first recording of Small Heath was noted in 1461, which term applied to a narrowheath between Green Lane and the Coventry Road, where the baths and library were built later.[1] The 1799 opening of theWarwick and Birmingham Canal (now theGrand Union Canal), from Digbeth toWarwick, defined the southern edge of this scattered rural community.[1] In 1852, this definition was enforced with the opening of theIsambard Kingdom Brunel designedBirmingham and Oxford Junction Railway, which follows the same route.[1]
As Birmingham developed, the wealthy began to look for space outside the crowded inner city. Small Heath, a green site close to and within a fast developing city, began to be developed from 1834 when large houses first appeared east of the Small Heath between Green Lane and Grange Road. The next developments were mainlyterraced housing estates laid out for the working classes as far as Charles Road.[1]
The development of properties in the area was made much easier and cheaper through the extraction of the local clay, which was then locally turned into bricks. The largest local clay pit was on Cattell Road.[1]
Members of Holy Trinity Cricket Club,Bordesley had formed the Small Heath Alliance Football Club in 1875 as a way of keeping fit over the winter. After playing inBordesley Green andSparkbrook, in 1877 they moved to what became called theMuntz Street stadium, which rented for an initial £5 a year from the family of Sam Jessey, a Small Heath player.[2] The field had a capacity of 10,000 spectators and was bordered on two sides by developed streets, Muntz Street on the western side, Wright Street to the south; the other two sides of the enclosure adjoined farmland.[A]
Also serving as the headquarters of the Small Heath Athletic Club, the initial capacity was raised by the addition of a wooden stand and the terracing raised to expand the capacity to around 30,000. In 1895, the football club bought thelease to the ground, which had 11 years remaining, for a sum of £275.[3]
Small Heath Athletic Club (later called Small Heath Harriers) established its headquarters at the Muntz Street ground from the club's foundation in 1891. Though primarily across-country androad-racing club, they also participated intrack and field athletics, and during the summer months the athletes were allowed to train on the football pitch.[4] Birmingham received its city charter in 1889, the club was renamed Birmingham City Football Club in 1943.[5]
Eventually the ground proved too small for the football club's needs, and rising rents forced the development of a new stadium. The club built a new stadium nearer the city centre,St Andrew's. The last game at Muntz Street was played on 22 December 1906, when Birmingham beatBury 3–1 in the First Division in front of some 10,000 spectators.[6] St. Andrews hosted its first game in December 1906. Within months the Muntz Street had been demolished, the land cleared and housing built in what became Swanage Road;[7] noplaque commemorates the site, but the street of the same name remains.[2][8]
By the outbreak ofWorld War II,BSA Guns Ltd at Small Heath was the only factory producing rifles in the UK. TheRoyal Ordnance Factories would not begin production until 1941. BSA Guns Ltd was also producing.303 Browning machine guns for theAir Ministry at the rate of 600 guns per week in March 1939 and Browning production was to peak at 16,390 per month by March 1942. The armed forces had chosen the 500 cc side-valveBSA M20 motorcycle as their preferred machine. On the outbreak of war, the Government requisitioned the 690 machines BSA had in stock as well as placing an order for another 8,000 machines. South Africa, Ireland, India, Sweden, and the Netherlands also wanted machines.
The Government passed theEmergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939 on 24 August allowing the drafting of defence regulations affecting food, travel, requisitioning of land and supplies, manpower and agricultural production. A second Emergency Powers (Defence) Act was passed on 22 May 1940 allowing the conscription of labour. The fall of France had not been anticipated in Government planning and the encirclement of a large part of theBritish Expeditionary Force into theDunkirk pocket resulted in a hastyevacuation of that part of the B.E.F following the abandonment of their equipment. The parlous state of affairs "no arms, no transport, no equipment" in the face of the threat of imminent invasion of Britain byNazi forces was recorded by theChief of the Imperial General Staff Field Marshal SirAlan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke in his diary entries of the 1/2 July 1940.[9]
The creation of theHome Guard (initially as the Local Defence Volunteers) followingAnthony Eden's broadcast appeal to the Nation on Tuesday 14 May 1940 also created further demand for arms production to equip this new force. BSA, as the only rifle producer in Britain, had to step up to the mark and the workforce voluntarily went onto a seven-day week.[10] Motorcycle production was also stepped up from 500 to 1,000 machines per week which meant a finished machine coming off the production line every 5 minutes. The motorcycle department workforce had been left intact in 1939 due to demand which was doubled following Dunkirk. At the same time BSA staff were providing lectures and demonstrations on motorcycle riding and maintenance to 250,000 officers and men in all parts of the UK.
The BSA factory at Small Heath wasbombed by theLuftwaffe on 26 August 1940 resulting in one H.E.bomb and a shower of incendiaries hitting the main barrel mill, the only one operating on service rifles in the country, thereby causing the unaffordable loss of 750machine tools but no loss of life.[11] Two furtherair raids took place on 19 and 22 November 1940.[12] The air raid of 19 November did the most damage, causing loss of production and trapping hundreds of workers. Two BSA night-shift electricians, Alf Stevens and Alf Goodwin helped rescue their fellow workers. Alf Stevens was awarded theGeorge Medal for his selfless acts of bravery in the rescue and Alf Goodwin was awarded theBritish Empire Medal. Workers involved in the worksCivil Defence were brought in to help search for and clear bodies to get the plant back into production. The net effect of the November raids was to destroy machine shops in the four-storey 1915 building, the original 1863 gunsmiths' building and nearby buildings, 1,600 machine tools, kill 53 employees and another 50+ local residents, injured 89 (30 of them seriously), and halted rifle production for three months. The GovernmentMinistry of Supply and BSA immediately began a process of production dispersal throughout Britain, through theshadow factory scheme.
Small Heath was severely impacted by a strongtornado on 14 June 1931, severely damaging several buildings, and uprooting all trees in Small Heath Park.[13]
The area was affected again by the2005 Birmingham Tornado. The area suffered severe damage along Coventry Road near Morrison’s, before passing just east of St Andrews.
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There are two largesupermarkets,Asda andMorrisons and the outdoor pursuits centreAckers Trust. There is also abusiness park that is home to the former Birmingham Cable Company (nowVirgin Media), the internationalCADCAM companyDelcam and kitchen appliance repair specialistsRepaircare. In recent years, the Coventry Road has attracted a growing increasing number of ethnicfast food restaurants.[citation needed]
Until 1973, Small Heath was the home of the massiveBirmingham Small Arms factory on Golden Hillock Road and Armoury Road, manufacturing amongst other things, bicycles, motorcycles, guns and cars including taxi cabs, dominating the local and national economy. The factory was briefly acquired byNorton Villiers Triumph following their takeover of BSA but closed down, much of it being demolished following the collapse of the British motorcycle industry. A business park now occupies the site whilst the remaining buildings are still used for manufacturing.
On Coventry Road, manyMiddle Eastern andSouth Asian restaurants have opened, serving traditionalLebanese,Syrian,Yemeni andPakistani dishes.Arabian cafes and supermarkets have also opened up in the area.
Many mostly terraced houses were built around Small Heath towards the end of the 19th century, and over the next few decades these buildings became the residence of numerousIrish immigrants. In the 20 or so years that followed the end ofWorld War II, the area attracted more immigrants – mostly from theIndian sub-continent. Immigrants from theWest Indies also settled in Small Heath, butPakistani immigrants, including a large majority fromAzad Kashmir, were by far the most significant people to settle in the area. House prices have been steadily increasing on a par with other areas within Birmingham.
The total population of the area is approximately 36,898, based on2007 estimates.[14] The majority of residents are of South Asian origin, mainlyPakistani (51%) while people ofWhite British ethnicity form 22% of the population. There are also many East African residents fromSomalia,Sudan andEritrea who live in Small Heath.[15] The majority[16] of residents are alsoMuslim; and there are manymosques in the area, the largest in Small Heath being theGhamkol Shariff Masjid which is also one of the largest in the UK.
The district is well known for its extremely diverse Muslim community and shopping centres within one of the busiest streets in the city of Birmingham, Coventry Road, home to large mosques, within a proximity to each other and restaurants serving halal food and goods mainly more busy during Ramadan. The road, in recent decades, has built a hugeEast African presence (mostlySomali andSudanese) with chains likeDahabshill as well as Yemeni restaurants and Pakistani shops and restaurants.
There are several parks and green spaces in the suburb, of which the largest (Small Heath Park – formerly known as Victoria Park) occasionally hosts festivals. An episode ofCharlie's Garden Army featured a permanent installation in Small Heath Park. NeighbouringBordesley is home toBirmingham City Football Club'sSt Andrews stadium, just on the boundary between Bordesley and Small Heath.
The section of Coventry Road running through Small Heath formed part of the mainA45 route from Birmingham toCoventry, until bypassed to the south by a dual carriageway opened in January 1985.
It is served bySmall Heath railway station on theNorth Warwickshire Line. TheGrand Union Canal also passes through the area. Local transport connections are very good, with a mainline railway station and many bus routes to other parts of the city. The 60 bus (operated by National Express West Midlands) serves Small Heath and runs from the city centre of Birmingham along Coventry Road, heading towards Cranes Park. Furthermore, the 8C Inner Circle also travels through the area, along with the 27 that passes the Birmingham City stadium, before heading towards Bordesley Green along Green Lane.
In the early years, horse-drawnbuses ran along the Coventry Road, linking Small Heath with the city centre and with other nearby districts. In 1882, the building of a tramline along the Coventry Road to Small Heath Park was authorised, and four years later, the Coventry Road steam tramway route was opened to a terminus near Dora Road. In the early years of the 20th century, this line was converted for use by electric trams.[17]
Small Heath is part of theBirmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North constituency (formerlyBirmingham Hodge Hill, until 2024), which is held byLabourMPLiam Byrne. The constituency has a high proportion of people ofSouth Asian andMiddle Eastern origin,[18] and this section of the community has historically supported the Labour Party. In recent years, however, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have increased in votes as residents have shown their frustration with Labour for not listening to residents' concerns.[19][20] Saqib Khan and Shabina Bano are the current councillors for the ward. They were elected in 2022.
In theBBC One seriesPeaky Blinders, Small Heath is the home base of the Shelbys and core members of their gang, thePeaky Blinders.[22][23]
TheBBC Three seriesMan Like Mobeen is set in Small Heath, with references toSmethwick.
