Bull Ring Humphrey Spender/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
2. Edgbaston Cricket Ground
July 1963 West Indies supporters outside Edgbaston Cricket Ground before the third test match against England. The sports ground was built in the early 19th century after the Calthorpe Estate donated the land to Warwickshire County Cricket Club. The first test match was played in 1886 with the first Ashes test match played in 1902. It became the first English ground outside Lord’s to host one of world cricket’s biggest tournaments in 2013 – the ICC Champions Trophy final. Edgbaston Cricket GroundCentral Press/Getty Images
3. Muhammad Ali, Bull Street
June 1979 Muhammad Ali, arguably the world’s greatest boxer, had close ties to the city and visited it several times. The 1979 visit was to be his last appearance in the UK in the ring, when he did a boxing exhibition with American Jimmy Ellis. According to reports in the Birmingham Mail, one fight fan was given Ali’s shorts with the message: “To Leslie Ward from Muhammad Ali, three times champion of the world. Enjoy life, it’s slower than you think.” Bull Street in BirminghamMirrorpix/Getty Images
4. Victoria Law Courts, Birmingham
November 1974 Crowds outside Victoria Courts during the trial of the Birmingham Six, where six Irish immigrants were tried for the Birmingham pub bombings. The explosions on 21 November 1974 killed 21 people, making it the deadliest attack on English soil during the unrest. The men were convicted in August 1975 and sentenced to life in prison. However, after a long campaign, an appeals court overturned all six convictions in 1991. Victoria Law Courts, BirminghamR Viner/Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
5. Primark in Bull Ring, Birmingham
August 1969 Around 3,000 men, women and children marched for civil rights in Northern Ireland, including 13-year-old Robert Daly, his 10-year-old sister Rita and Bernadette Barnett, 11. The three youngsters were all cousins of 15-year-old Gerald McAuley, who had been shot dead in Belfast a week earlier. Protesters sat down in Colmore Row to observe two minutes’ silence in memory of the teenager. Primark in the Bull Ring, BirminghamMirrorpix/Getty Images
6. Baskerville House, Centenary Square
1953 The Dagenham Girl Pipers perform on the green in front of the town’s prominent landmark. Baskerville House, now somewhat overshadowed by the new Library of Birmingham, was once occupied by businessman John Baskerville, who is buried nearby. Today it remains an office building. Baskerville House and the Hall of Memory in Centenary Square, BirminghamHanley/Popperfoto/Getty Images
7. Rookery Road, Handsworth
June 1977 Cyclists lead the African Liberation Day march. The photo was taken by Vanley Burke, 71 today, who has spent most of his life documenting black life in the city. Burke, who moved to the West Midlands from a farm at the foot of Jamaica’s Blue Mountains in 1965, received his first camera – a Brownie box – when he was 10. Speaking of photographing the black experience, Burke once told Guardian that such events were not covered in the press. “The only way black people got into the news,” he said, “was if they committed a crime.” African Liberation Day rally in Handsworth in 1977, Vanley Burke
8. Alexander Stadium
2002 and 2021 Two athletes competing at the international athletics stadium at Perry Barr – triple jumper Ashia Hansen in 2001 and heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson in 2021. The arena is one of the main venues for the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Long jump, Alexander StadiumLaurence Griffiths/Getty Images and Ian Stephen/ProSports/Shutterstock
9. New street
May 1931 New Street is at the heart of one of the city’s main shopping and entertainment areas and connects Victoria Square with the Bullring shopping centre. It is believed to have existed since medieval times and one of the earliest references to it, as Novus Vicus, can be found in the Borough Rental records of 1296. New Street in Birmingham, May 1931 Hulton Archive/Getty Images
10. City Hall
October 1940 Crowds gather to hear a military band play in front of the town hall in Chamberlain Square as part of Arms Week during the Second World War. The war bond campaign had already raised £8 million. Today the hall is draped in Commonwealth Games banners. War Weapons Week in Birmingham, October 1940 Haywood Magee/Popperfoto/Getty Images
11. Bomb damage, Sparkbrook
1940 Birmingham was the second most heavily bombed city in the country during World War II. This photo shows the Stratford Road area. In the background is the Piccadilly Banqueting Suite, now a wedding venue, in the Balti Triangle. Bomb damage in Sparkbrook, BirminghamMirrorpix/Getty Images
12. Hall of Memory, Centenary Square
1957 Smaller but standing proudly next to Baskerville House is the Grade I-listed Hall of Memory. It commemorates the men and women of Birmingham who gave their lives in conflict, including the two world wars. Just above peeks out the restored library and, inside the hall, a First World War roll of honor bears the words: “There was no one who spoke ill of them, for they feared God very much… So they passed and all their trumpets sounded from the other side”. The Hall of Memory in Centenary Square, BirminghamSimon Webster/Alamy
13. Chamberlain Clock, Jewelery Quarter
1946 A Birmingham Corporation tram crosses Warstone Lane, with Chamberlain’s clock in the background. The clock unveiled in 1903 commemorates Joseph Chamberlain’s visit to South Africa after the Boer War. Chamberlain was responsible for modernizing the city while he was mayor, between 1873 and 1876. A new project examines his role in the colonial legacy of the British Empire. The Chamberlain Clock in the Jewelery Quarter of BirminghamDave Bagnall Collection/Alamy
14. Gas Street Canal, Birmingham
July 1953 Colorful boats launch along the Gas Street Basin, at the heart of Birmingham’s canal network. The waterways were an integral part of Victorian Birmingham and during the Industrial Revolution they played a key role in the development of the city and the Black Country, transporting coal, iron and other heavy goods. Gas Street Canal, BirminghamPhyllis Nicklin/University of Birmingham Contemporary photo: Andy Hall. Image editing and research: Jim Powell. Lyrics: Nazia Parveen
