Wikipedia talk:WikiProject West Midlands/Archive 2

Archive 1

Archive 2

Archive 3

Archive 4

Lyndon, West Midlands

I see we currently have an article at Lyndon, West Midlands. This appears to cover the ward in Solihull that covers the area north of Olton up to the Birmingham border. The article itself states that "area is not generally called Lyndon", but, looking at maps, nor does there seem to be a specific name for this area. However, the local library is called Hobs Moat library,[1] the church states that it serves the parish of Hobs Moat [2] and the majority of the public amenities in the area around Hobs Moat Road/Ullieries Road appear to use the Hobs Moat name for the locality (e.g. [3]). Would a page move be in order? Or alternatively the creation of a new article at Hobs Moat? DWaterson 00:11, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

Article assessments

Many other wikiprojects are assessing articles within their scope and considering the scope that this wikiproject covers, it seems right to me that we should start doing so. It would take time and we would have to agree on what would be considered a B-class or Start class article etc etc. What are your thoughts on this? - Erebus555 16:43, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

I think this would be an excellent idea. Fingerpuppet 21:35, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

OK I've started the page at Wikipedia:WikiProject West Midlands/Assessment. It needs work still and I'll get on with adding the appropriate parameters to {{WPWM}} and creating the categories. Any further issues to do with the assessment should really be done on the talk page. - Erebus555 13:37, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

Inkberrow, Worcestershire

Can someone please go around Inkberrow and take some photos of it (principally the pub, church, local country houses, etc.)? I am starting a WikiProject for The Archers and need some images for it.--Vox Humana 8' 14:41, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Brownhills

Hi there

Would anyone from this project be prepared to look at this FAC? it's currently somewhat stalled, with only one editor having expressed a support/oppose opinion........

Cheers!!

ChrisTheDude 11:35, 8 November 2007 (UTC)

The Troubles in Birmingham

Stephen Whalley, 21, from Bloxwich was one of the victims of the Birmingham Pub BombingsIs it technically possible to see his name pop up in Category:People from Bloxwich even though he does not have a dedicated Wikipage?

Also I am currently involved in mediation about the inclusion of a full list of the victims in the article proper here The article is tagged as being in the scope of both this project aswell as Wikipedia:WikiProject Irish Republicanism. I have been failing in my attempts to educate some of the members of that project that these people are simply not all dead Brummies. Any input is welcome (even if you disagree with my opinion!). Aatomic1 18:05, 12 November 2007 (UTC)

It's not really very possible for the name to appear in the normal way without an appropriate article, as far as I am aware. Fingerpuppet 21:22, 12 November 2007 (UTC)

I think you can create a redirect and categorise that. Cateogorised redirects show up but italicised. DWaterson 22:44, 12 November 2007 (UTC)

It worked! -thank you. Aatomic1 07:27, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

Jericho, Birmingham

Can anyone confirm that there is an area called Jericho in Birmingham? Now known to Google. The article's original text related to Oxford. This seems to be a mis-informed article. Oosoom ^Talk 13:21, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

Just from having a quick look on Google Earth, there is a business called Jericho Print and Promotion just down the road from Edgbaston so maybe the area was previously named Jericho? Although the article was created by a respected and established user "User:Erebus555" so I would not think it was a hoax of any sort. He is sure to be online some time today so I am sure he can explain. _└^and-rew_┘^┌_talk^┐ 14:48, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

I have tried to find evidence that the place actually exists but I really can't find anything. The article appears to be created by me but I had actually moved the article to it's current name from what it was originally. I have a feeling this is a mis-informed article and seeing as no one can find any references to confirm its existence, I think it may be best to delete it. - Erebus555 (talk) 16:55, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

Hi there, I went to school in the area (KES) and don't remember ever seeing or indeed hearing about "Jericho" (OR I know). I have now prodded it. Woodym555 (talk) 17:13, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

Thanks all, and thanks Erebus555. I never thought it was a hoax. Your work is certainly respected and appreciated here. :) Oosoom ^Talk 20:46, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

West Bromwich Albion F.C. GA

West Bromwich Albion F.C. is now a Good Article. I've added it to the Showcase article list for this project. Cheers. --Jameboy 18:47, 2 December 2007 (UTC)

Proposed deletion: Tipton Green Junior School

Tipton Green Junior School (via WP:PROD on 21 December 2007)

--User:Ceyockey (talk to me) 15:37, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Birmingham categories

Why are some categories called "X in Birmingham" (eg Category:Nightclubs in Birmingham) and some are called "X in Birmingham, England" (eg Category:Museums in Birmingham, England)? As the articles are all called Birmingham/History of Birmingham/Government of Birmingham without adding England on the end, shouldn't the categories follow the same convention?

There was a similar discussion here Category_talk:Birmingham,_England that came to the same conclusion, but nothing seems to have come of it. Should anything be done about it? If so, does anybody know how to go about it?

JimmyGuano (talk) 21:08, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

WP:CFD is the way to go. I think uniformity should be our goal here. Woody (talk) 13:05, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for that. It looks very complicated, but here goes... JimmyGuano (talk) 17:16, 17 February 2008 (UTC)

OK, I think I've tagged them all. Please add any that you spot I've missed. Discussion is here WP:Categories_for_discussion/Log/2008_February_17#Birmingham

JimmyGuano (talk) 18:00, 17 February 2008 (UTC)

Ladywood page a stereotyped caricature evidently written by a non-resident!

I live in a tower block in Ladywood ward and was horrified to read the ignorant negative stereotype presented on the Ladywood page. I will do a little editing in next day or so. Might add a photo too. -Resident —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.143.53.245 (talk) 10:40, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

WikiProject Coventry proposal

Snowmanradio has proposed the creation of a Coventry WikiProject. To show your interest, add your username to the list at Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals#Coventry. It might be worth thinking about a Birmingham WikiProject. Thoughts? - Erebus555 (talk) 16:50, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

New project now started at Wikipedia:WikiProject_Coventry. Snowman (talk) 21:03, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Photographs of courts

If any West Midlands-based photographers could take snaps of courts in their neck of the woods (e.g. Birmingham Crown & County Court, Coventry Crown and County Court, Telford County Court, Wolverhampton Crown & County Court, local magistrates courts) and add them to commons:Courthouses in the United Kingdom, the photographs would be very much appreciated for List of courts in England and Wales and List of county courts in England and Wales. I'm also working on a list of closed courts, so photographs of former court buildings would be useful too. Thanks, Bencherlite^Talk 22:30, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

I think you mean commons:Category:Courthouses in the United Kingdom.  :) Oosoom ^Talk 16:55, 2 February 2008 (UTC)

Oops, yes I did - I'd fixed all the other messages but overlooked this one. Apols. Bencherlite^Talk 23:43, 2 February 2008 (UTC)

Wikiproject:Coventry

I have enough interest to start this as a wikiproject with six people indicating an interest at: Wikipedia:WikiProject_Council/Proposals#Coventry. I think some of these are also members of the wikiproject westmidlands, so I wondered about forming wikiproject:Coventry a sub-project of the west midlands project, although this was not my original intention. Snowman (talk) 19:11, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

I have no problem with that at all. The WikiProject can still run the way it wants without any interference from the parent West Midland WikiProject. It will work in the same way this WikiProject works without interferences from the UK Geography WikiProject or Cities WikiProject. - Erebus555 (talk) 19:48, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

ok. How is it set up? Snowman (talk) 19:54, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

When I created this page, I created a draft version in my user sandbox. When I was satisfied that I had addressed the basic needs of a WikiProject, I moved it to this page. The page your WikiProject will move to is Wikipedia:WikiProject Coventry. There should be a page somewhere that gives you information on what this page should include, such as the WikiProject's scope, goals and participants. Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Guide should give you some information. If you need other help then I'd be more than happy to help you out! - Erebus555 (talk) 20:05, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

I will need to think about that for a few days. I might have some questions soon. Snowman (talk) 20:28, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Project started today with new a rather basic project page. Snowman (talk) 20:25, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

WikiProject Coventry and WikiProject Warwickshire now active. Snowman (talk) 21:00, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Question/Proposal

Just a question about the function of this WikiProject. I'm interested largely in Shropshire articles, but I don't feel the county is important enough, or has enough articles to warrant its own WikiProject. I'm sure i'm in a similar situation to contributors to Herefordshire, Worcestershire etc counties (e.g. ones within the West Midlands region). Anyway, I was just wondering, would it not be a good idea to widen this project to cover the region, and then create task forces for the individual counties? I know I would certainly be interested in a Shropshire taskforce.

Anyway, It's clear that this WikiProject is devoted primarily to the county, particularly Birmingham (and rightly so given the project's definition!), but I think it could be a good opportunity for the project to expand, and may be a better way to coordinate the efforts of contributions to West Midland counties, rather than setting up seperate WikiProjects for every county. Any thoughts? Thanks, Asdfasdf1231234 (talk) 20:44, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Hmm, I just read the discussion above and it seems you already narrowed the focus of this project from regional to county. So I'm just going to go ahead and try to get a new WikiProject for Shropshire. Asdfasdf1231234 (talk) 21:35, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Having said that, Telford (as a West Midlands conurbation overspill New Town) is already within the project scope - though the rest of Shropshire currently isn't. Fingerpuppet (talk) 21:40, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Well, maybe if I get my proposal through WikiProject council there could be some inter-project cooperation :) btw, when you started this project, did you have to manually put your WikiProject template on all the article talk pages, or is there some kind of tool that does this for you? Thanks, Asdfasdf1231234 (talk) 18:22, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

I added WikiProject templates manually, although I am unsure how others added them. I think the AutoWikiBrowser tool may be able to add the templates to the talk pages although I have never fully explored this possibility. I know it is possible for it to rate pages though.

I would be in full support of Shropshire WikiProject. I think that Shropshire-related articles on Wikipedia are in need of focussed support. I hope that the WikiProject would be able to improve the standard of articles the same way this WikiProject and others have! - Erebus555 (talk) 18:55, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Oh thanks! Well i'll have a look at that program then :) I do quite agree, Shropshire-related articles are generally lacking. Recently I have been improving Shrewsbury to an extent where I've nominated it for Good Article (still awaiting the outcome). So far however, I only have one other interested party! But I think a couple more casual users would be in support for it, just havent been on yet. I'll probably start the project either way though, as the county's articles do need grouping and rating. Asdfasdf1231234 (talk) 19:03, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Hmmm, well I did a bit of research and I dont think I have enough edits to use the AutoWikiBrowser, not that I'd know what to do with it anyway! Well for the moment I'm just going to wait and see if anyone else comes forward. :) 84.68.229.34 (talk) 19:42, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

It may be worth mentioning this on the talk page of the Shropshire article and see if you can get more interested participants. Snowman (talk) 21:11, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

OK, I posted a little coment on a couple of prominent Shropshire articles. Thanks, Asdfasdf1231234 (talk) 21:30, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

"Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals" is the official place to list proposed new projects, so make link to there with your comments, and list your proposal there. The WikiProject Warwickshire got the necessary five people interested even before being listed there. Snowman (talk) 21:43, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Yep, It's listed here. Did that the other day, but still only two people! I think all the Shropshire editors must be on easter break somewhere! Asdfasdf1231234 (talk) 22:37, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Red links

I ran a wiki tool to find red links in the pages in the West Midlands category. It is possible that relevant pages have already been made with a different name. Pages with more than three red link are listed: Snowman (talk) 12:22, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Wanted	Title
4	A2Z Travel
4	Adderley Park
5	Bromford
5	City Park, Birmingham
11	Diocese of Coventry and Lichfield
4	New seat
4	Reddicap Heath
4	Stoke, Coventry

A2Z Travel was created but was speedily deleted. I don't think it is notable enough for it to have it's own article. I've looked at creating articles for Adderley Park, Bromford and Reddicap Heath but I can find very few sources to give them their own articles. I was going to write the City Park article a little while back but as the development has been thrown into turmoil due to funding issues, I think it's best to leave it for the time being. - Erebus555 (talk) 14:45, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

Infobox Maps II

As mentioned above (one year ago - has it really been that long?), the West Midlands county infobox map as some issues.

There are some problems with settlements not being located in the correct place on the map using the co-ordinates - they all seem to be shifted towards the centre (or east) of the map somewhat. I have absolutely no idea how to even attempt to fix it, so I'd appreciate it if someone who does could look at it? Obvious incorrect placings are on the Stourbridge article, whilst Wednesfield, Ashmore Park and Bradley, West Midlands all end up in the wrong borough. It only seems to affect articles in the western half of the map - if anything Castle Bromwich is coming out too far west. Fingerpuppet (talk) 22:15, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

I've raised this on the Infobox talk page [4] DWaterson (talk) 22:31, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

I've had a go at fixing the West Midlands map. I'm not sure I've got it exactly right but hopefully it's a little better. Here's a test page I did. -- WOSlinker (talk) 10:06, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for that - it's better than before. Unfortunately, things seem to be a little too far north now. Fingerpuppet (talk) 10:26, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

Try it again now. -- WOSlinker (talk) 11:11, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

That's better thanks. Now, it needs to move about the same amount again. Bradley should be the best pointer, as it's that small section of Wolverhampton that sticks out to the south-east of the local authority. Fingerpuppet (talk) 21:24, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

Architecture of Birmingham

This article is currently assessed as being of B-class quality, although, in my view it is better than this. Before I submit it for Good Article status, what other work may need to be done to the page? - Erebus555 (talk) 14:49, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

Per WP:LEAD#Length the article is 64KB so therefore should have three or four paragraphs. Expanding the lead will improve an already impressive article. ^┌_Joshii^┐_└^chat_┘ 15:15, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

List of schools in the West Midlands split

There is a proposal to split List of schools in the West Midlands into more manageable lists. There is a discussion on the article talk page. - Erebus555 (talk) 14:59, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

Museums in the West Midlands

Could I ask for some help accessing local knowledge, from members of this wikiproject, on the behalf of the new WikiProject Museums? We are currently trying to identify articles within the Museum projects scope (& develop guidelines to help improve them etc). There is a List of museums in West Midlands. Could you take a look at the list for your local area and see if any are missing or create articles for any red links. Could you also add the new project banner "{{WikiProject Museums}}" to the Talk pages of the articles, so that we can identify those in need of work etc. Any help appreciated &, if anyone is interested you are welcome to join the project or discuss Museum related articles on the Project Talk Page.— Rod ^talk 14:17, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

Google map Birmingham

Anyone noticed that Google have updated their aerial/satellite maps of Birmingham? Oosoom ^Talk 17:34, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

Changes to the WP:1.0 assessment scheme

As you may have heard, we at the Wikipedia 1.0 Editorial Team recently made some changes to the assessment scale, including the addition of a new level. The new description is available at WP:ASSESS.

• The new C-Class represents articles that are beyond the basic Start-Class, but which need additional references or cleanup to meet the standards for B-Class.
• The criteria for B-Class have been tightened up with the addition of a rubric, and are now more in line with the stricter standards already used at some projects.
• A-Class article reviews will now need more than one person, as described here.

Each WikiProject should already have a new C-Class category at Category:C-Class_articles. If your project elects not to use the new level, you can simply delete your WikiProject's C-Class category and clarify any amendments on your project's assessment/discussion pages. The bot is already finding and listing C-Class articles.

Please leave a message with us if you have any queries regarding the introduction of the revised scheme. This scheme should allow the team to start producing offline selections for your project and the wider community within the next year. Thanks for using the Wikipedia 1.0 scheme! For the 1.0 Editorial Team, §hepBot (Disable) 21:33, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Greater Manchester

Hello team,

Just a note that your not too distant relation Greater Manchester is up for FAC at Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Greater Manchester. Your input and help would be very welcome. :-) --Jza84 |  Talk  02:50, 10 July 2008 (UTC)

Articles flagged for cleanup

Currently, 1496 articles are assigned to this project, of which 212, or 14.2%, are flagged for cleanup of some sort. (Data as of 14 July 2008.) Are you interested in finding out more? I am offering to generate cleanup to-do lists on a project or work group level. See User:B. Wolterding/Cleanup listings for details. More than 150 projects and work groups have already subscribed, and adding a subscription for yours is easy - just place a template on your project page.

If you want to respond to this canned message, please do so at my user talk page; I'm not watching this page. --B. Wolterding (talk) 16:38, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

Monarch's Way

Hi, Can I ask for some help, from the experts in this WikiProject, with the Monarch's Way article. It is a 615 miles (990 km) long-distance footpath in England that approximates the escape route taken by King Charles II in 1651 after being defeated in the Battle of Worcester to Shoreham-by-Sea and passes through the area covered by this WikiProject. The article is a stub at present but some of us are trying to expand it and give details of the route (along the lines of the South West Coast Path which is currently a GA). We are using Talk:Monarch's Way as a communal sandbox for this and if anyone was able to add description, settlements, places of interest etc along the route for their local area this would be really helpful.— Rod ^talk 12:43, 27 August 2008 (UTC)

Photographs

There are quite a lot of photographs on buildings in Birmingham that have an appropriate copyright that can be uploaded to commons from flickr here. Snowman (talk) 21:30, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

Otherwise leave a list oif local things needed and I will take them for you

Wikipedia 0.7 articles have been selected for West Midlands

Wikipedia 0.7 is a collection of English Wikipedia articles due to be released on DVD, and available for free download, later this year. The Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team has made an automated selection of articles for Version 0.7.

We would like to ask you to review the articles selected from this project. These were chosen from the articles with this project's talk page tag, based on the rated importance and quality. If there are any specific articles that should be removed, please let us know at Wikipedia talk:Version 0.7. You can also nominate additional articles for release, following the procedure at Wikipedia:Release Version Nominations.

A list of selected articles with cleanup tags, sorted by project, is available. The list is automatically updated each hour when it is loaded. Please try to fix any urgent problems in the selected articles. A team of copyeditors has agreed to help with copyediting requests, although you should try to fix simple issues on your own if possible.

We would also appreciate your help in identifying the version of each article that you think we should use, to help avoid vandalism or POV issues. These versions can be recorded at this project's subpage of User:SelectionBot/0.7. We are planning to release the selection for the holiday season, so we ask you to select the revisions before October 20. At that time, we will use an automatic process to identify which version of each article to release, if no version has been manually selected. Thanks! For the Wikipedia 1.0 Editorial team, SelectionBot 23:20, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

Jewellery Quarter

I have spent the last couple of weeks rewriting the Jewellery Quarter article in my user sandbox and I put the new article up yesterday. However, there is the slight problem of assessing the article. I'm appealing for another user to assess the article as I'm a bit worried that my bias might creep into the decision. I don't think it would be fair if I did it. Thanks! - Erebus555 (talk) 20:40, 17 September 2008 (UTC)

Features on the River Tame

Please add features on the River Tame, and their coordinates, to the table on River Tame (West Midlands). Thank you. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 21:58, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

Penns Hall dates

The dates on Penns Hall don't make sense; please see talk:Penns Hall. Thank you. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 19:49, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

Image needs replacement - West Midlands (region)

Hello all...

An image used in the article, specifically Image:KEASTON Main.jpg, has a little bit of a licensing issue. The image was uploaded back when the rules around image uploading were less restrictive. It is presumed that the uploader was willing to license the picture under the GFDL license but was not clear in that regard. As such, the image, while not at risk of deletion, is likely not clearly licensed to allow for free use in any future use of this article. If anyone has an image that can replace this, or can go take one and upload it, it would be best.

You have your mission, take your camera and start clicking.--Jordan 1972 (talk) 01:15, 5 October 2008 (UTC)

Category:Wikipedians_in_Birmingham

Some of you may wish to add your self to Category:Wikipedians_in_Birmingham. One way to do so is to add {{User Brum}} to your user page. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 20:25, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Missing coordinates

Many West Midlands articles are missing coordinates; You can find them using the Wikipedia:CatScan tool, using this CatScan search (note that CatScan is slow, and may take up to a minute before it starts producing results). Alternatively, if CatScan is down or very slow, you can find them by looking through Category:United Kingdom articles missing geocoordinate data.

These articles are currently marked with {{coord missing}} templates, which need replacing with filled in {{coord}} templates containing their latitude/longitude data. You can find out how to do this at the Wikipedia:Geocoding how-to for WikiProject members. Please do so. Thank you. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 07:19, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

Update: 23 articles in Category:West Midlands articles missing geocoordinate data do not have geographic coordinates. Coords are useful for making the article appear on Google Maps & many other mapping services; and they allow our users to click through to see the article subject location on a map. There's a short guide to on how to add geocodes to articles ... it really is very easy to do. I hope you'll take some time to ensure that West Midlands is as well represented as it can be on wikipedia by fixing up the listed articles. thanks -- — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tagishsimon (talk • contribs)

I've added a list of region codes, which can be used when adding coordinates. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 12:26, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

Martineau Family

I started Martineau Family (Birmingham), but it could do with being expanded. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 17:59, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

S-Plan

The article S-Plan details IRA activity in Great Britain during 1939/40. There are a number of references to places and events in Birmingham and the Black Country, which could do with checking and cleaning up, and possibly repeating n articles about the places concerned, if anyone's interested. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 20:50, 22 November 2008 (UTC)

Raymond Forbes-Kings

I've tagged new article Raymond Forbes-Kings as a copyvio of [5]; but he looks like an interesting subject, being a Birmingham sculptor who worked with William Bloye. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 16:33, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Second City derby

Does somebody want to follow up on this discussion thread: http://wiki.riteme.site/wiki/Talk:Birmingham_derby#.27Better_known.27_and_.27Also_known.27 ? I'd have a go myself but I'm not au fait with such things and I'm sure there's someone here who would do it better than I. Matthew (talk) 15:55, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

Listed building category listings

A recent slew of edits like this one have left Category:Grade I listed buildings in the West Midlands looking a real mess, with everything in Birmingham listed under "B", regardless of the title. Was this discussed before it was done? Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 21:41, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

I made the changes because I thought it was an improvement to have the Birmingham entries grouped together. This is quite normal in other sub-categories in this category. At least one was already in place (St Bart's Edgbaston) and most of the churches in Grade I listed churches sub-category had had the change made. Admittedly only half the Birmingham entries intrinsically state that they're in Birmingham (which I think is questionable in itself). I've created a county list of Grade I listed buildings for every county in the county, and added dozens of buildings to these sub-categories and there is not time to consult. If there is a consensus, please accept my apologies and rollback.Major-General Clanger (talk) 22:24, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

I've just gone to the same editor's talk page to comment on the category for St George's Church, Leeds: I don't think it's helpful to distort the order within the category (this one instance includes the name of the town, but not all examples would do so, leaving the order obscure). By all means make a separate "List of Grade I listed buildings in Leeds" (specifying carefully either in title or text that you mean "City of Leeds" met district rather than "Leeds" - highly controversial territory!), but the category is best left filing by natural title, give or take sort keys to put all the St/St./Saint titles neatly together. PamD (talk) 13:44, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

My main interest at the moment is updating the Grade I lists and categories by county - it doesn't help 'my' project (which I'm looking at making official) to invent new categories. The churches are a good example: if I don't pipe the category then about half the entries in the category will come under either "church" or "st". I do take the point about the sort order being obscure. Another option would be to move all the pages to pages in a uniform format - ideal but likely to be a whole load more controversial than mere category piping! Or we could move the category to a redirect page in uniform format. This last option would mean that the category page would be very tidy but some editors would find it surprising that I was apparently decategorising their buildings!! We're likely to have different views here - I thought the West Midlands category page was a real mess; once I'd 'sorted' it out Andy Mabbett diplomatically so described my repairs! I hope we can come up with a good compromise here; I think I can add value - I'm about to start bringing over photos from 'my' flickr group, for example, and am starting to amass literature to reference. Equally, I do not want to mess up (sic) existing projects. Happy New Year! Major-General Clanger (talk) 14:15, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

It also occurs to me that unpiped categories look much worse in more rural counties with more buildings. In Suffolk for example, I could end up with 300 buildings under "Church" or "St"! Major-General Clanger (talk) 14:26, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Interesting example in Stamford, Lincs:

{ {DEFAULTSORT:Stamford, All Saints' Church}}

[ [Category:Buildings and structures in Lincolnshire]]

[ [Category:Visitor attractions in Lincolnshire]]

[ [Category:Church of England churches in Lincolnshire]]

[ [Category:Grade I listed buildings in Lincolnshire]]Major-General Clanger (talk) 15:22, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

West Midlands Library: free images, maps etc.

West Midlands Library: free images, maps and other local resources: http://www.westmidlandslibrary.co.uk/ Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 10:11, 6 January 2009 (UTC)

Announcement: The 2009 Structural Changes in Local Government in England: A Taskforce

1. On 1 April, 2009, a number of changes will occur that will affect a number of counties and districts in England, including some which fall within the remit of your project and/or county.
2. The changes will necessitate a large number of changes to various articles on wikipedia.
3. New articles may have to be written, old ones may have to be changed because they will then describe abolished former districts, etc, and numerous changes will have to be made to templates, category names, and articles about individual settlements to update information about local government.
4. Because of this the Uk Geography Project has set up a specific taskforce to identify the changes to be made and then to coordinate the work of preparing for the changes and then implementing them when the changes occur on 1 April.
5. The name of the taskforce is Wikipedia:WikiProject UK geography/2009 local government structural changes task force or WP:2009ENGLAND.
6. You are invited to join this taskforce to help us all improve wikipedia in these areas by making sure the information is kept updated, and accurate.

Many thanks.  DDStretch  (talk) 22:00, 15 January 2009 (UTC) (on behalf of the taskforce)

Note - In the West Midlands region, only Shropshire, outside the scope of this project, is affected. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 23:27, 15 January 2009 (UTC)

Even given this in the project description?

• Articles within the three overspill New Towns of Telford, Redditch and Tamworth
• Articles within an approximate 5 mile radius of any of the above

I thought it would be relevant given the presence of Telford and the 5 mile radius.  DDStretch  (talk) 23:37, 15 January 2009 (UTC)

Handsworth murals

There is some information to be gleaned from http://www.flickr.com/groups/birmingham/discuss/72157612754331346/, and perhaps pictures we can use. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 17:07, 21 January 2009 (UTC)

Wolverhampton

I've been working on the article for quite some time now, and it's now not too bad, as far as I can see at least! Unfortunately, I'm now starting to run out of ideas about how to improve the article, and would appreciate some help.

Ta muchly! Fingerpuppet (talk) 18:11, 29 January 2009 (UTC)

OK Wiki Mod I believe you should remove the text in Heath Town Wolverhampton where it says the area was in these words savaged high gangs uns knives high crime drugs and riots which made international news there's no citations of this because it isn't true it's little kids wishing they live in the ghetto trying to give fqalse reputations to the area in which should be removed do it SAP! And should be put onto Lozells Birmingham as that is true in Lozells Birmingham as many people will know!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Formal Discussion (talk • contribs) 14:14, 17 February 2009 (UTC)

New book from The Victorian Society: Birmingham's Victorian Architects

Seen on their Facebook group:

[The Victorian Society - Birmingham & West Midlands Group] are pleased to announce the launch of our book 'Birmingham's Victorian Architects'. The book launch will be at a day symposium, which will include topics from the book, such as Birmingham’s Victorian schools and its commercial and religious buildings and will feature notable Victorian architects, including W. A. Harvey, W. H. Bidlake and C. E. Bateman.

Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 21:02, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

Coordinators' working group

Hi! I'd like to draw your attention to the new WikiProject coordinators' working group, an effort to bring both official and unofficial WikiProject coordinators together so that the projects can more easily develop consensus and collaborate. This group has been created after discussion regarding possible changes to the A-Class review system, and that may be one of the first things discussed by interested coordinators.

All designated project coordinators are invited to join this working group. If your project hasn't formally designated any editors as coordinators, but you are someone who regularly deals with coordination tasks in the project, please feel free to join as well. — Delievered by §hepBot (Disable) on behalf of the WikiProject coordinators' working group at 06:59, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

Local chapter for the Wikimedia Foundation

We are Wikimedia UK - the group of local Wikimedians helping the Foundation to create "a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge". Love Wikipedia? Based in the UK? Can you support us in projects such as generating free-content photographs, freeing up archive material and media relations? Or are there other projects you'd like us to help with? if so, please click here to Join up, Donate and Get Involved

AndrewRT(Talk) 21:16, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

Category:People from Birmingham, England

Why do we have Category:People from Birmingham, England when the article is simply "Birmingham" (due to primary usage)? In other words, why is category space disambiguated differently to article space? --Jameboy (talk) 18:23, 25 May 2009 (UTC)

England at GAC!

Alerting all WikiProject West Midlands members that England is undergoing a review for WP:GA status. Things you can help with are listed here. Please help if you can... England expects that every man will do his duty.... :) --Jza84 |  Talk  16:16, 8 September 2009 (UTC)

Sutton Coldfield transmitting station

The coordinates the infobox (and {{Coord}}) on Sutton Coldfield transmitting station are correct when checked against Google Maps, and are in Birmingham, but the red dot on the map is outside the city boundaries. Is the map image at fault, or something else? Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 15:33, 14 September 2009 (UTC)

Possiobly free images of Birmingham

Slides by Phyllis Nicklin of Birmingham in the 1960s are "available to download and redistribute for non-commercial purposes". Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 19:42, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

Walsall Observer

I know an ex-reporter for the Observer, so I created this stub. Could you give me some help here? --Orange Mike | Talk 19:00, 22 December 2009 (UTC)

WP 1.0 bot announcement

This message is being sent to each WikiProject that participates in the WP 1.0 assessment system. On Saturday, January 23, 2010, the WP 1.0 bot will be upgraded. Your project does not need to take any action, but the appearance of your project's summary table will change. The upgrade will make many new, optional features available to all WikiProjects. Additional information is available at the WP 1.0 project homepage. — Carl (CBM · talk) 04:09, 22 January 2010 (UTC)

Chelmsley Wood edit war

I'd like to request some help and advice with the page Chelmsley Wood which has been the subject of edit wars probably since the article was created. It surrounds the issue of whether we describe Chelmsley Wood as being in Solihull or Birmingham. Some users are intent on describing it as in Solihull, and will delete any reference to Birmingham in the lead of the article. Other users seem to have the opposite opinion.

As locals will know, officially it's in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull and residents pay their council tax as such. However the area comes under the post town of Birmingham, not Solihull, and the Office of National statistics counts it as part of the settlement of Birmingham, not Solihull (see talk page for source). Further, some local residents say they live in Solihull, others say Birmingham. It's all a bit complicated and a very polarising issue for people in the area.

I am of the opinion that wikipedia must acknowledge that it is in both areas in different ways. I think the best compromise is that the lead of the article describes it as in the West Midlands first, then it should go on to explain it as part of the Borough of Solihull, and officially also part of the settlement/post town of Birmingham. I recently changed the lead to be worded like this, and I also added the 'UK place' infobox so that the map can show where it is. This hasn't satisfied some anonymous IP users though who have still continued to make changes. The admin have now semi-protected the page for 3 days to put the edit war on hold. I was just wondering if any project contributors have any opinions or ideas on how to come up with a more permanent solution. Thanks Abc30 (talk) 18:55, 11 February 2010 (UTC)

New category for parks

Category:Parks and open spaces in Birmingham, England. Beomora (talk) 10:53, 15 February 2010 (UTC)

Now Category:Parks and open spaces in Birmingham, West Midlands. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 11:46, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Hardman & Co.

Hardman & Co. could do with some additional work - there's no mention of their premises or continued existence. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 22:38, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Wheel of Birmingham

I would be grateful for someone to take a look and see if the "Update Template" could be removed. I have added some information about the Third Wheel, due for dismantling on 21 February 2010 according to reports on BBC WM. If I get teh chance, I may also get a photo of the dismantling work. -- Robert of Ramsor (talk) 00:43, 20 February 2010 (UTC)

I have updated Wheel of Birmingham. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 21:01, 7 March 2010 (UTC)