Stirchley in Birmingham named as the best place to live in the Midlands by the Sunday Times

The Sunday Times judges said: 'community spirit is visible all over Stirchley' Credit: ITV News Central

Stirchley in Birmingham has been named as the best place to live in the Midlands, in the annual Sunday Times Best Places to Live guide. 

The suburb in the south-west of the city is a haven for independent businesses, from sustainable shopping to a booming craft beer trade.

It has a population of just over 10,000 people, making it one of the smallest wards in Birmingham.


Credit: ITV News Central

WATCH: The Cadbury family, co-op and pineapples: Stirchley - the story of a suburb reinventing itself

  • Hailed as the new Shoreditch of Birmingham, ITV News Central correspondent Mark Gough visited Stirchley this week to find out what makes it so wonderful.


The Sunday Times judges said: “Anyone lucky enough to live in this down-to-earth suburb of Birmingham has some of the city’s best bars, restaurants and cafés - Couch, Eat Vietnam, Caneat - within walking distance of their home, as well as good schools and easy rail connections to the city centre, especially when the new Pineapple Road station opens later this year.

"Community spirit is visible all over Stirchley, from free art clubs in the library to the events at Stirchley Baths, a community centre that hosts cinema nights and a community market.

"Loaf, the co-operative bakery and cookery school that was one of the first independents to put Stirchley on the map, does a £1 Stirchley loaf, alongside its famous sourdough, so that everyone can afford good local bread.” 

Six other locations in the Midlands feature in the guide:

  • Winner: Stirchley, Birmingham 

  • Buxton, Derbyshire 

  • Knowle and Dorridge, Solihull

  • Market Harborough, Leicestershire 

  • Shropshire Hills 

  • Stamford, Lincolnshire 

  • Sutton on Sea, Lincolnshire


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