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.

1 History
2 Politics
3 Population
4 Transport
5 See also
6 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 racing Stadium on the Aldridge Road has been located here for over 70 years. This has a 500 seat capacity, and was refurbished in 2004. It is the former home of the Birchfield Harriers, whose badge, in art deco style, it still carries. Birchfield Harriers are now based at Alexander Stadium.

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. In early 2007, this library was demolished, due to its dilapidated condition. A new building is to be commissioned. Another library in the area is Tower Hill Library.

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 Democrats.

Prior to 1990, the ward had a strong tendency towards the Conservative Party. However, more recently, the ward has increasingly appeared to be a Liberal Democrat stronghold.

The ward had Labour representation for a period, from 1995 till 2004 following the election of Mike Leddy (1995-2003), along with the defection of Ron Whitehouse from the Liberal Democrats to The Labour Party (2000-2004).

The Liberal Democrats took a clean sweep at the 2004 Council Elections in which all seats were contested.

The ward has adopted a Ward Support Officer, with the title being currently held by Mike Trevor.

[edit] Population

The 2001 Population Census recorded that 22,704 people were living in Perry Barr. 28.2% (6,410) of the ward's population was represented by ethnic minorities, compared with 29.6% for Birmingham in general.

[edit] Transport

Major roads in the ward and constituency include the M6 motorway and the A34. Bus routes operated by Travel West Midlands in the area are the Number 51, Number 52 and the Number 952. The A4040 and A34 roads cross at Perry Barr, the former carrying the Birmingham Outer Circle bus routes.

To the southwest of the ward is the Walsall line which has two railway stations within the boundaries of the ward; Hamstead railway station and Perry Barr railway station.

The Tame Valley Canal bisects the ward.