Solihull in the context of "West Midlands (county)"

The West Midlands conurbation is the large conurbation in the West Midlands region of England. The area consists of two cities and numerous towns: to the east, the city of Birmingham, along with adjacent towns of Solihull and Sutton Coldfield; and to the west, the city of Wolverhampton and the area called the Black Country, containing the towns of Dudley, Walsall, West Bromwich, Oldbury, Willenhall, Bilston, Darlaston, Tipton, Smethwick, Wednesbury, Rowley Regis, Stourbridge and Halesowen.

It is broken down into multiple Travel to Work Areas: Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Dudley & Sandwell, Walsall & Cannock, Hagley is within the Kidderminster area and the extreme south-east corner is within the Warwick & Stratford upon Avon area. The conurbation is mainly in the West Midlands county, including parts of the surrounding counties of Staffordshire (e.g. Little Aston, Perton and Essington) and Worcestershire (such as Hagley and Hollywood), with Coventry a separate area in the county.

Birmingham (/ˈbɜːrmɪŋəm/ BUR-ming-əm) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands region, in England. It is the largest local authority district in England by population and the second-largest city in Britain – commonly referred to as the second city of the United Kingdom – with a population of 1.2 million people in the city proper in 2024. Birmingham borders the Black Country to its west and, together with the city of Wolverhampton and towns including Dudley and Solihull, forms the West Midlands conurbation. The royal town of Sutton Coldfield is incorporated within the city limits to the northeast. Birmingham's urban area has a population of 2.7 million and its wider metropolitan area has a population of 4.3 million.

Located in the West Midlands region of England, Birmingham is considered to be the social, cultural, financial and commercial centre of the Midlands. It is just west of the traditional centre point of England at Meriden, and is the most inland major city in the country, lying north of the Cotswolds and east of the Shropshire Hills. Distinctively, Birmingham only has small rivers flowing through it, mainly the River Tame and its tributaries River Rea and River Cole – one of the closest main rivers is the Severn, approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of the city centre. The city does however have numerous canals, collectively named the Birmingham Canal Navigations.

Hollywood is a large village predominantly located in the Bromsgrove district of Worcestershire, England, almost contiguous with and to the south of the city of Birmingham. Hollywood was formerly part of Kings Norton, but when Birmingham expanded in 1911, Hollywood remained in Worcestershire. The village now lies across the wards of Hollywood, most of Drakes Cross, the Trueman's Heath polling district area of Trueman's Heath parish ward and, following a 1966 border change, the southern portion of the Birmingham Highter's Heath ward, with all but the latter being located within the civil parish of Wythall. The southern part of the village is also known as Drakes Cross, whilst the eastern part is sometimes referred to as Trueman's Heath. Hollywood is situated in the extreme northeastern corner of Worcestershire, 8.5mi/13km south of Birmingham city centre, 6mi/9.5km west of Solihull and 8mi/12.5km northeast of Redditch.

Warwickshire (/ˈwɒrɪkʃər, -ʃɪər/ ; abbreviated Warks) is a ceremonial county in the West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire to the south, and Worcestershire and the West Midlands county to the west. The largest settlement is Nuneaton.

The county is largely rural, with an area of 763 sq mi (1,980 km) and an estimated population of 632,207 in 2024. It contains a number of towns, including Nuneaton and Bedworth in the north-east, Rugby in the east, Stratford-upon-Avon in the south-west, and Warwick and Leamington Spa adjacent to each other in the centre. For local government purposes, Warwickshire is a non-metropolitan county with five districts. The county historically included the city of Coventry and the area to its west, including Sutton Coldfield, Solihull and the city centre of Birmingham.

The Birmingham Metropolitan Area is an urban agglomeration located in the West Midlands region of England with a population of around 4.3 million people, making it the second largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom. It comprises the three cities (Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton) and four metropolitan boroughs (Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall) which make up the Metropolitan county of the West Midlands, along with its commuter zones, which extend into the neighbouring district authorities of Bromsgrove and Redditch in Worcestershire; Cannock Chase, Lichfield, South Staffordshire and Tamworth in Staffordshire; and all five district authorities of Warwickshire, including the towns of Bedworth, Coleshill, Nuneaton, Royal Leamington Spa, and Warwick itself.

A number of sizeable settlements fall outside the morphological boundaries of the Birmingham Metropolitan Area but still form part of its economic and infrastructural hinterland. Amongst these, the cathedral city of Lichfield, the towns of Cannock, Hednesford and Rugeley in Staffordshire, Rugby and Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, and Kidderminster in the Wyre Forest District of Worcestershire.

Meriden is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, West Midlands, England. Historically, it is part of Warwickshire and lies between the cities of Birmingham and Coventry. It is located close to the North Warwickshire district border within a green belt of the countryside known as the Meriden Gap and is in the ecclesiastical parish of the Diocese of Coventry.

The village is 7.5 miles (12 kilometres) east-northeast of Solihull, 7 miles (11 kilometres) west-northwest of Coventry and 12 miles (19 kilometres) east-southeast of Birmingham city centre. It was known as "Alspath" in the Domesday Book. The village gives its name to the Meriden parliamentary constituency, which was created in 1955 and covers the Meriden Gap. In the 2011 Census, the population of the Meriden parish was 2,719. The population is estimated to have risen to 3,096 by 2017.

The Metropolitan Borough of Solihull is a metropolitan borough in West Midlands county, England. It is named after its largest town, Solihull, from which Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council is based. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region (code UKG32) and is one of seven boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region. Much of the large residential population in the north of the borough centres on the communities of Castle Bromwich, Kingshurst, Marston Green and Smith's Wood as well as the towns of Chelmsley Wood and Fordbridge. In the south are the towns of Shirley and Solihull, as well as the large villages of Knowle, Dorridge, Meriden and Balsall Common.

Since 2011, Solihull has formed part of the Greater Birmingham & Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership along with neighbouring authorities Birmingham, Bromsgrove, Cannock Chase, East Staffordshire, Lichfield, Redditch, Tamworth and Wyre Forest.

The River Blythe flows through the English Midlands from central Warwickshire, through the Borough of Solihull and on to Coleshill in north Warwickshire. It runs along the Meriden Gap in the Midlands Plateau, is fed by the River Cole and is a tributary of the River Tame beside the West Midland Bird Club's Ladywalk reserve. This then joins the River Trent, whose waters reach the North Sea via the Humber Estuary.

The river rises at various sources near Earlswood Lakes, but the principal tributary is listed as Spring Brook (52°21′03″N 1°50′37″W / 52.350915°N 1.843601°W / 52.350915; -1.843601; grid reference SP107725). From here it winds north east, skirting Cheswick Green, towards Solihull. Here it passes through a local wildlife park, Malvern and Brueton Park and Nature Reserve, where it briefly splits/outpours for approximately 250 metres to form Brueton Park Lake. From here it meanders east, past several old country houses—Old Berry Hall, Ravenshaw Hall and Eastcote Hall—before turning sharply south towards Barston, which is encircled within a large meander of the river. At Temple Balsall the Cuttle Brook feeds the river, which now arcs north, and again close by Barston. Past Hampton in Arden the river is fed by Shadow Brook, at Diddington Hall. Travelling further north it passes to the east of Coleshill, and is fed by the River Cole, only a few hundred yards before it itself feeds into the River Tame (52°31′20″N 1°41′18″W / 52.522317°N 1.688242°W / 52.522317; -1.688242; grid reference SP212916), at Ladywalk Nature Reserve.