Oxfordshire is a county in South East England. The ceremonial county borders Warwickshire to the north-west, Northamptonshire to the north-east, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, Wiltshire to the south-west and Gloucestershire to the west.
UB40 are an English reggae and pop band, formed in December 1978 in Birmingham, England. The band has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. They have been nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album four times, and in 1984 were nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Group. UB40 have sold over 70 million records worldwide. The ethnic make-up of the band's original line-up was diverse, with musicians of English, Welsh, Irish, Jamaican, Scottish and Yemeni parentage.
Meriden is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, located halfway between the regional cities of New Haven and Hartford. In 2010, the population of the city was 60,868.
Great Barr Hall is an 18th-century mansion situated at Pheasey, Walsall, on the border with Great Barr, Birmingham, West Midlands, England. It has associations with the Lunar Society and is a Grade II* listed building. It is, however, in a very poor state of repair and is on the Buildings at Risk Register.
The Metropolitan Borough of Solihull is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands, in west-central England. It is named after its largest town, Solihull, from which Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council is based. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of seven boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region. Much of the large residential population in the north of the borough centres on the communities of Castle Bromwich, Chelmsley Wood, Fordbridge, Kingshurst, Marston Green and Smith's Wood. In the south are the towns of Solihull and Shirley.
Meriden is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, West Midlands, England. Historically, it is part of Warwickshire and lies between the cities of Birmingham and Coventry. It is located in a green belt of the countryside known as the Meriden Gap and is in the ecclesiastical parish of the Diocese of Coventry. The village is 6.5 miles east-northeast of Solihull, 7 miles west-northwest of Coventry, and 5 miles east-southeast of Birmingham Airport. Birmingham city centre is 13.5 miles east-northeast of the village. Known as "Alspath" in the Domesday Book, it was historically thought to be the geographical centre of England until the early 2000s, after an analysis by the Ordnance Survey proved this to be incorrect.
There has long been debate over the exact location of the geographical centre of the United Kingdom, and its constituent countries, due to the complexity and method of the calculation, such as whether to include offshore islands, and the fact that erosion will cause the position to change over time. There are two main methods of calculating this "centre": either as the centroid of the two-dimensional shape made by the country, or as the point farthest from the boundary of the country. These two methods give quite different answers.
Meriden is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Saqib Bhatti, a Conservative. It is named after the village of Meriden which lies around halfway between the urban fringe of Solihull and Coventry.
Houghton Hall is a country house in the parish of Houghton in Norfolk, England. It is the residence of David Cholmondeley, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley.
Great Packington is a hamlet, civil parish and country park in the North Warwickshire district of Warwickshire, England. The parish of Meriden is to the south-east, and Little Packington to the west. At Great Packington is Packington estate, which includes Packington Hall, Packington Old Hall and St James' Church.
Abberley Hall is a country house in the north-west of the county of Worcestershire, England. The present Italianate house is the work of Samuel Daukes and dates from 1846–49. Since 1916 it has been occupied by Abberley Hall School. It is a Grade II* listed building. The gardens are listed as Grade II on the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. In the area close to Stourport-on-Severn there are several large manor and country houses, among which Witley Court, Astley Hall, Pool House, Areley Hall, Hartlebury and Abberley Hall are particularly significant.
Bramham Park is a Grade I listed 18th-century country house in Bramham, between Leeds and Wetherby, in West Yorkshire, England.
Packington Hall is a 17th-century mansion situated at Great Packington, near Meriden, Warwickshire, England the seat of the Earl of Aylesford. It is a Grade II* listed building.
St James' Church is an 18th-century chapel situated in the grounds of Packington Hall, near Meriden, Warwickshire. It is a Grade I listed building.
Umberslade Hall is a 17th-century mansion converted into residential apartments situated near Tanworth in Arden, Warwickshire. It is a Grade II* listed building.
Walton Hall is a 16th-century country mansion at Walton, near Wellesbourne, Warwickshire, once owned by Lord Field and the entertainer Danny La Rue, now in use as a hotel which is now part of Accor Hotels. It is a Grade II* listed building.
Alistair Ian Campbell is an English singer and songwriter who was the lead singer and a member of the English reggae band UB40. As part of UB40, Campbell sold over 70 million records worldwide and toured the globe for 30 years. In 2008, Campbell left UB40 due to a dispute with band management so he then embarked on a solo career. In 2012, Campbell was announced as one of the three judges on the judging panel of the TV show, New Zealand's Got Talent. In August 2014, Campbell announced that he had reunited with former UB40 band mates Astro and Mickey to record a new album, Silhouette, released on 6 October 2014.
Morley Old Hall is a Grade I-listed moated manor house built in the sixteenth century in the village of Morley Saint Peter, some twelve miles from the cathedral city of Norwich, Norfolk, England.
Getting Over the Storm is the eighteenth studio album by English reggae band UB40. It was released on 2 September 2013. It is the final UB40 album to feature trumpet player and vocalist Astro, due to his departure in late 2013.
