About the area:
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. With a population of 303,475 at the 2001 Census (306,000 est. 2007), Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city after Birmingham in the English Midlands by population, although both Nottingham and Leicester have larger urban areas.
Coventry is situated 95 miles (153 km) northwest of London and 19 miles (30 km) east of Birmingham, and is notable for being further inland from the coast than any other city in Britain. Although harbouring a population of almost a third of a million inhabitants, Coventry is not amongst the English Core Cities Group due to its proximity to Birmingham.