SOHO, BIRMINGHAM

::''This article is about the area of Birmingham. For other meanings see Soho (disambiguation)''
'Soho' is an area in north west Birmingham, approximately 2 miles from the City Centre on the A41, which until 1911 formed part of Handsworth District. Soho is also a ward within the council constituency of Ladywood. The name is an abbreviation of South House, that is that it was located to the South of Handsworth proper.

Contents

Population

Politics

Places of interest

Transport

External links

Population

The 2001 Population Census found that 25,634 people were living in Soho with a population density of 5,369 people per km² compared with 3,649 people per km² for Birmingham. Soho covers an area of 4.8 km². The ward is a very ethnically diverse area with ethnic minorities consisting of 76.2% (19,522) of the ward's population, compared with 29.6% for Birmingham.

Politics

Soho Ward is represented by three Labour councillors on Birmingham City Council; Sybil Spence, Chaman Lal and Dorothy Hargreaves.
Soho Ward has adopted a Ward Support Officer with the current holder of the title being Tariq M. Khan.

Places of interest

Industrialist Matthew Boulton opened his "Soho Manufactory" (an early factory) there in 1761. Boulton himself resided at Soho House, now a community museum of the Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery run by Birmingham City Council.
The parish church is dedicated to St John Chrysostom. The area is served by Handsworth Library.
Winson Green Prison and City Hospital are located within the Winson Green area of the ward.

Transport

Soho had stations on the LNWR's Stour Valley Line between Smethwick Rolfe Street and the also closed Winson Green railway station, and on the GWR between Handsworth and Smethwick (now Handsworth Booth Street) and Hockley (replaced by Jewellery Quarter). It is currently served by the Midland Metro on the former GWR line with a stop at Soho Benson Road tram stop.

External links

★ Birmingham City Council Soho Ward