The United Kingdom government announced on December 18 2000 that Wolverhampton would be granted city status, making it one of a few "Millennium Cities" [1].
| Table of contents |
|
2 Music & arts 3 Sport 4 History 5 Trivia 6 External links |
Geography
Wolverhampton lies northwest of its larger, neighbouring city Birmingham, and forms the second largest part of the West Midlands conurbation. However, it also borders the Staffordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire countryside, making the countryside less than five miles away.
Music & arts
The rock group Slade and the one hit wonder Babylon Zoo came from Wolverhampton, as do soul/ R&B singer Beverley Knight and Drum n Bass guru Goldie. Wolverhampton has a number of live music venues: the biggest is technically the football ground, the Molineux stadium, but the biggest indoor venue is the Wolverhampton Civic Hall, with a capacity of 3,000. Second to that is the Wulfrun Hall which has a capacity of just over 1,100 and which sits on the same block as the Civic. There are also a number of smaller venues with capacities between 100 and 250: the Little Civic and the Wolverhampton Varsity being the most longstanding of these. The city is also home to Regent Records, a choral and organ music recording company.
The Grand Theatre and the Arena Theatre are located in the city centre.
Sport
Wolverhampton is represented in the English Premier League by Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C
History
The area around the city is also known as the Black Country because for a short period during Victorian times the output of the coal mines in the area was greater than that of the rest of the world combined. In 1866, a statue was erected in memory of Prince Albert, the unveiling of which brought Queen Victoria to Wolverhampton.[1] The statue stands in Queen Square, previously known as Market Square, and is referred to by many locals as simply "the Man on the Horse".
The world's first automatic traffic lights could be seen in Wolverhampton in 1927.
Wolverhampton was represented politically in Victorian times by the Liberal MP Charles Pelham Villiers, a noted free trade supporter, who was also the longest serving MP in parliamentary history. He was followed in more recent times by Conservative mavericks Enoch Powell and Nicholas Budgen.
Trivia
External links