Talk:Midlands (disambiguation)/Old history
- See also Midlands (disambiguation).
In general, the central region of any territory may be called its midlands. In the UK and Ireland, the term seems to be reseved for the "middle" in the vertical (North/South) direction - but countries oriented more EW might use "Mid" with a horizontal meaning (ie between East and West).
In the UK, Scotland and England both have midland areas famous enough for the capital M (ie "Midlands" as a name, not just a description. If country is not specified, then "Midlands" usually means the English Midlands. Note that Wales has "Mid Wales" (not "The Welsh Midlands") and Ireland (the island) has its own Midlands (in the Republic).
The rest of this article deals with the English Region known simply as The Midlands (with a capital M), which broadly corresponds to the early-medieval kingdom of Mercia.
The area lies between Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales, and is generally considered to include the counties of Derbyshire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, the West Midlands and Worcestershire. The 2001 census also included Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire in the Midlands but these are not generally considered to be part of the Midlands but East Anglia.
There are two administrative regions of England in the Midlands: West Midlands and East Midlands. Taken together, these regions do not fully cover the traditional Midlands:
- Part of Northern Lincolnshire is now in Yorkshire and the Humber;
- Peterborough has been removed from Northamptonshire and included with Cambridgeshire in the East of England;
- Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire are now in the South West and South East respectively.
- Bedfordshire is now in the East of England.
(cf The 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica, which describes Gloucestershire as "west midland", Bedfordshire as "south midland", and Huntingdonshire as "east midland" counties respectively.)
The "midland" status of Cheshire is often debated. South Cheshire has strong links with North Staffordshire (definitely in the Midlands), and North Cheshire with Merseyside and Manchester (both definitely in Northern England). In offical eyes, the northward pull prevailed (perhaps because the county town, Chester, is so far north) and Cheshire is now part of the North West region.
The largest Midlands conurbation, which includes the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton, is approximately covered by a metropolitan county (which also includes Coventry) also called the West Midlands. Thus, there are two West Midlands, a Region and a (smaller) County.
Parts of the East Midlands are also densely populated, particularly the triangle formed by the cities of Leicester, Nottingham and Derby.
The South Midlands is an area identified by the government for development, consisting of Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire with northern Buckinghamshire. Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire are not usually considered part of the Midlands and are in the administrative regions of the South East and the East of England respectively—a further illustration of the fluidity of the perceived boundaries of the Midlands.
Notable cities and towns
- Birmingham, Boston, Burton upon Trent, Buxton
- Chesterfield, Corby, Coventry
- Derby, Dudley
- Gainsborough, Gloucester, Grantham
- Hereford,
- Kettering, Kidderminster
- Leamington Spa, Leicester, Lichfield, Lincoln, Loughborough
- Mansfield, Matlock
- Newark, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Northampton, Nottingham, Nuneaton
- Redditch, Rugby
- Shrewsbury, Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent, Stratford-on-Avon, Solihull
- Tamworth, Telford
- Walsall, Warwick, Wolverhampton, Worcester, Worksop
