Perry Barr

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Perry Barr constituency shown within Birmingham

Perry Barr is an area in north Birmingham, England. It is also a ward and formal district, managed by its own district committee.

Birmingham Perry Barr is a constituency; its member of Parliament is Khalid Mahmood.

"Perry" means "pear" and "Barr" means "hill".

The University of Central England's main campus is in Perry Barr.

The A4040 and A34 roads cross at Perry Barr, the former carrying the Birmingham Outer Circle bus routes.

1 History
2 Politics
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] History

Perry Barr was an urban district in Staffordshire from 1894 until 1928 when it was incorporated into Birmingham, and therefore become associated with Warwickshire.

Perry Barr railway station, opened in 1837, is on the old Grand Junction Railway line, and is one of the oldest stations in the country to remain on its original site.

In the 1920s, Oscar Deutsch opened his first ever Odeon cinema here. The original cinema is now a conference venue, having also been a bingo hall.

The site of the former Perry Hall is now Perry Hall Park.

There is a large shopping centre in the district known as "One Stop" Shopping Centre.

Perry Barr Greyhound Stadium has been located here for over 70 years. This has a 500 seat capacity, and was refurbished in 2004. The race track on the Aldridge Road is the home of the Birchfield Harriers, whose badge, in art deco style, it still carries.

The River Tame passes through the area and is crossed by several bridges, including the Zig Zag bridge of 1711 and its 1932, art deco, replacement, carrying the Aldridge Road. The Zig Zag bridge appears on the badge of nearby Handsworth Grammar School.

Birchfield Community Library was opened in 1874 as the Perry Barr Institute. It converted to a Carnegie-funded library in September 1897. As of 2006, the library is moving to a new building due to the dilapidated condition of the old property.

Alexander Stadium is in Perry Barr. Birchfield Harriers are based at Alexander Stadium.

Birmingham carnival was held in Perry Park in 2005.

[edit] Politics

As of 2004, the three councillors representing Perry Barr on Birmingham City Council are Ray Hassall, Karen Hamilton and Jon Hunt, all of the Liberal Democrat Party.

The ward has historically had a strong tendendency towards the Conservative Party however recent boundary/demograhic changes and solid campagining means the Ward looks increasing like a Liberal Democrats stronghold.

The ward only had Labour representation for a brief period in the late 1990s/early 2000's following defections and the election of Mike Leddy. The Liberal Democrats took a clean sweep at the 2004 Council Elections in which all seats were contested.