Birmingham is Britain’s second largest city. Lying in the heart of the West Midlands, the centre of the canal network and close to coal mining areas, the city became the leading manufacturing city in the world during the Industrial Revolution with its myriad specialised and innovative workshops. Its industrial heartland was devastated by aerial bombardment during the Second World War and post-war redevelopment turned against much of Birmingham’s Victorian heritage. Large areas were rebuilt in a modern style, opened up to the car, and Victorian brick terraces were swept away, but in recent...