Longbridge is an area of

Northfield Northfield may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Northfield, Aberdeen, Scotland * Northfield, Edinburgh, Scotland * Northfield, Birmingham, England * Northfield (Kettering BC Ward), Northamptonshire, England United States * Northfield, Connec ...

in the south-west of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, located near the border with

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

Public Transport

Longbridge is described as a hub for public transport with a number of bus services run by Kev's Coaches and National Express West Midlands passing through it with destinations including Birmingham City Centre,

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ) is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is north-west of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area known as the Black Country, in terms of geography, ...

and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre. In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family an ...

. West Midlands Railway serves

Longbridge railway station Longbridge railway station serves the Longbridge area in the south-west of Birmingham, England. It is on the Cross City Line. The station and all trains calling there are operated by West Midlands Trains. History Two previous stations serving ...

on the Cross City Line, with destinations at

Redditch Redditch is a town, and local government district, in north-east Worcestershire, England, approximately south of Birmingham. The district has a population of 85,000 as of 2019. In the 19th century, it became the international centre for the ...

Bromsgrove Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England, about northeast of Worcester and southwest of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 29,237 in 2001 (39,644 in the wider Bromsgrove/Catshill urban area). Bromsgrove is the main town in the ...

and Four Oaks or

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west of B ...

with connections to Hereford and Nottingham at University station or nationwide at

Birmingham New Street station Birmingham New Street is the largest and busiest of the three main railway stations in Birmingham city centre, England, and a central hub of the British railway system. It is a major destination for Avanti West Coast services from , and vi ...

. In 2020 a large multi-storey carpark was built near Longbridge station as a park and ride facility to reduce car journeys into the city centre. Some improvements to Longbridge station were also carried out in 2020 though one side of the station remains without a lift facility.

Situation

Longbridge is surrounded by

Frankley Frankley is a village and civil parish in Worcestershire. The modern Frankley estate is part of the New Frankley civil parish in Birmingham, and has been part of the city since 1995. The parish has a population of 122. History Frankley is lis ...

, Frankley Beeches, Rubery,

Rednal Rednal is a residential suburb on the south western edge of metropolitan Birmingham, West Midlands, England, southwest of Birmingham city centre and forming part of Longbridge parish and electoral ward. Rednal is home to approximately 2,000 res ...

, West Heath and Kings Norton. Longbridge is in close proximity to and can be viewed from the Lickey Hills.

Longbridge plant

Since 1906, the area has been dominated by the

Longbridge plant Longbridge plant is an industrial complex in Longbridge, Birmingham, England, currently leased by SAIC as a research and development facility for its MG Motor subsidiary. Vehicle assembly ended in 2016. Opened in 1905, by the late 1960s Longbr ...

, which produced

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

, Nash Metropolitan, Morris,

British Leyland British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partl ...

, and most recently

MG Rover MG Rover Group was the last domestically owned mass-production car manufacturer in the British motor industry. The company was formed when BMW sold the car-making and engine manufacturing assets of the original Rover Group to the Phoenix Consor ...

cars. The factory became dormant, and some parts of the older sections of the site were demolished after MG Rover fell into administration in April 2005. The plant was one of the main employers of the local population and the resultant layoffs caused local decline. The company, renamed

MG Motor MG Motor UK Limited (MG Motor) is an automotive company owned by SAIC Motor UK, headquartered in London, owned by the Shanghai-based Chinese state-owned automaker SAIC Motor. MG Motor designs, develops and markets cars sold under the MG marq ...

(owned by MG Rover's would-be partner

Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation SAIC Motor Corp., Ltd. (formerly Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation) is a Chinese State-owned enterprises of China, state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Anting, Shanghai. Founded in 1955, it is currently the largest of the ...

) resumed limited MG TF sports car production within a small portion of the factory in August 2008 and in late 2010 started final assembly of the

MG6 __NOTOC__ British NVC community MG6 (''Lolium perenne - Cynosurus cristatus'' grassland) is one of the mesotrophic grassland communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system. It is one of four such communities associated with w ...

. Production ceased completely in 2017, when the Chinese car maker decided to ship the fully assembled cars to the UK. The remaining disused sections of the factory were demolished on 4 August 2006.

Regeneration

25,410 people live in Longbridge. Gary Sambrook of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Northfield, representing the seat since the December 2019 general election. As part of the Ward of Longbridge And West Heath, Longbridge is represented on Birmingham City Council by Debbie Clancy (Conservative Party) and Brett O'Reilly ( Labour Party) who was very narrowly elected at the 2018 Birmingham City Council election.

Population

The 2001 Population Census recorded that there were 30,964 people living in Longbridge with a population density of 3,789 people per km² compared with 3,649 people per km² for Birmingham. Longbridge has a small ethnic minority population: only 6.8% (2,117) of the ward's population consists of ethnic minorities, unlike more centralised areas such as

Aston Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, England. Located immediately to the north-east of Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a ward within the metropolitan authority. It is approximately 1.5 miles from Birmingham City Centre. History Aston wa ...

, Handsworth and Small Heath.

References

* *

External links

Birmingham City Council: Longbridge WardLongbridge Birmingham
{{Authority control Former wards of Birmingham, West Midlands Areas of Birmingham, West Midlands Northfield Constituency