MCW Metrobus
The MCW Metrobus was a two and three-axle double-decker bus manufactured by Metro Cammell Weymann between 1977 and 1989, with over 4,000 built. The original MkI was superseded by the MkII which had a symmetrical windscreen with an arched top in 1981, although production of the original MkI continued for the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive and London Regional Transport until 1983 and 1985 respectively; the Metrobus was conceived as an integral product manufactured by MCW, but Alexander and Northern Counties bodied some examples. MCW planned to produce a single-decker version but this was not to come into production. In the United Kingdom, the Metrobus was used in the metropolitan areas London, West Midlands and Greater Manchester. London Regional Transport purchased 1,440 MkI examples between 1978 and 1985, numbering them M1 to M1440. Two MkII prototypes were delivered to London Transport as M1441 and M1442 in 1984, but no orders resulted. In 1987/88, 14 were purchased secondhand Metrobuses from the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive, West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive and Busways.
London Transport's low-cost subsidiary Harrow Buses leased 29 new MkII Metrobuses in 1987, but returned them to their lessor three years later. London Transport's Metrobuses were the mainstay of the double decker fleet between 1987 and privatisation in 1994, when most of them passed to seven of the new operators. MTL bought the London Northern company, with a host of Metrobuses, it acquired more when it took over London Suburban Buses, including some ex-London examples from its Merseyside operation. Garages were at North Acton and Potters Bar. Metroline Northern operations in London dwindled during 2002, with Ms replaced by low-floor buses on most routes; some clung through 2003 on as deputising on the AEC Routemaster routes, but operation on TfL services ceased in March 2004. Potters Bar was the last outpost, where a handful remained on other services until May 2005. London General reached the end with Metrobuses in normal service in February 2003, when Stockwell Garage's last were withdrawn.
This still left a couple for special purposes. There was still a crowd of white-blouse and grey-skirt training buses too, which were moved out from their comfy homes to the Plough Lane open-air space, to make room for the new larger fleet of low-floor WVLs. There is an open-top MCW Metrobus for use by hire in London General. First CentreWest, First Capital and London United reached the end with Metrobuses in normal service in 2003. Arriva London continued using Metrobuses until these were displaced in 2002/03; some of the MCW Metrobuses were converted to open-top for use by The Original Tour. The last were withdrawn by December 2007. London Pride Sightseeing had MCW Metrobuses, but these were sold to Ensignbus. By 2014, there were no MCW Metrobuses licensed for use in London; the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive and its successor, West Midlands Travel purchased significant numbers of Metrobuses, both MkI and MkII examples. The first order for five MCW Metrobuses was placed in 1977, with the first delivered in January 1978.
Fifty dual-purpose Metrobuses with high-back seats, were purchased in 1986. Many of these buses were converted to normal seated buses and continued in service until November 2008, they were used on limited-stop services. Fourteen guided buses were delivered for route 65, the first guided bus system in the UK, although the experiment only lasted a couple of years. All of the 14 guided buses were converted for conventional use. In early 1995 Marshall Bus of Cambridge were contracted to overhaul all of West Midland Travel's Metrobus fleet; this was the largest used bus overhaul programme in Europe at the time and Marshalls set up a dedicated business division and staff to handle it. Many unavailable parts had to be sourced and made to original patterns by the Marshall procurement team. A production line was established in one of Marshall's aircraft hangars and anything up to 30 Metrobuses could be found in work at some stage along the line. Duration of refurbishment of each bus was 2-3 per week. No powerline items were included with the result that original engines were put back in the overhauled buses as they were.
This had the effect that as the vehicles were driven from the West Midlands to Marshalls at Cambridge and driven back once completed and broke down. Over 600 MkII metrobuses were overhauled with the contract terminated abruptly in 1999 due to lack of confidence in Marshall Bus over delays with WMT orders for new single deck buses; the last were withdrawn in July 2010.. A few were retained as driver training vehicles until 2017, however. In 2017 National Express West Midlands purchased a preserved example to add to its vintage hire fleet. National Express West Midlands had sold this bus to a dealer in 2003; as a result, National Express West Midlands now owns a Metrobus for events and hire. The Green Bus were operating various former Harrow Buses MkII and former National Express West Midlands Mk-IIA Metrobuses on both school services and commercial services until the end of 2013, with two entering preservation, the rest either sold on or going for scrap. While they failed with the Leyland Titan, they were more successful with the conventional MCW Metrobuses which were delivered between 1979 and 1983.
All 190 were ordered in total over a space of four years and were used in Stockport, Oldham, Manch
West Bromwich
West Bromwich is a large market town and is one of the six amalgamated towns in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. Part of Staffordshire, it is 6.4 miles northwest of Birmingham. West Bromwich has a population of 78,000 in 2018. West Bromwich was first mentioned as Bromwic in the Domesday Book of 1086, it is believed that it may have been part of the Handsworth parish. A Benedictine priory existed in West Bromwich from the 12th century around which the settlement of Broomwich Heath grew. In 1727, the town became a stop on the coaching road between London and Shrewsbury and its growth began; the prefix'West' serves to distinguish it from the village of Castle Bromwich in the West Midlands but the other side of Birmingham. In the 19th century, coal deposits were discovered, ensuring that the town grew as an industrial centre, with industries such as spring and nail making developing. Well before the end of the 19th century, West Bromwich had established itself as a prominent area to match older neighbouring towns including Dudley and Walsall.
In 1888, West Bromwich became a county borough. It was expanded in 1966, acquiring most of the borough of Tipton and Wednesbury urban district as well as a small section of Coseley urban district, before joining with the neighbouring county borough of Warley in 1974 to form the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell. Charlemont Hall, built during the 1750s, stood on the west side of the present Charlemont Crescent, in the Charlemont and Grove Vale district of the town. Charlemont Hall was described c. 1800 as'a lofty neat-looking house of brick, faced with stone, with iron palisades etc. in front'. An east wing was added in 1855; the last occupant was the widow of Thomas Jones, town clerk of Wednesbury 1897–1921. The house was demolished in 1948, is now covered by a number of smaller detached homes. Much of the surrounding area was developed during the 1960s as the Charlemont Farm housing estate, a mix of private and council housing. West Bromwich suffered in the Cholera epidemic of 1831 which spread northwards into the town.
A temporary board of health was set up and a hospital opened in the former Revivalist chapel in Spon Lane. The natural gradual slope of the land provided drainage within the soil, urbanisation made this difficult and drainage along the streets was described as inadequate; the West Bromwich Town Improvement Commissioners was established in 1854, they tackled the drainage problem in the town. They in the 1880s bought land in Friar Park for a sewerage farm. Under the Reform Act 1832, West Bromwich became part of the new southern division of Staffordshire, under the Reform Act 1867 it was transferred to the parliamentary borough of Wednesbury. Under the Redistribution of Seats Act of 1885, the borough of West Bromwich became a parliamentary borough returning one member. In 1885, it was held by the Liberal Party but from 1886 to 1906 it was held by the Conservative Party before being held by the Liberal Party again until 1910 when the Conservative Party regained the area which they held until 1918 under the representation of Viscount Lewisham.
In 1918, it was won by Labour who have held it since, except for between 1931 and 1935 when it held by the National Unionists. By the outbreak of World War I in 1914, many of the older houses built to house workers during the Industrial Revolution were becoming unfit for human habitation Sanitation was inadequate, decay was rife, the homes were becoming a danger to the health and safety of their inhabitants. After the end of the war, the local council started building new homes to rehouse people from the rundown town centre. However, there are still many late 19th century and early 20th century buildings around the centre of West Bromwich; the first Council housing in West Bromwich was built in 1920 on the Tantany Estate to the north of the town centre. Within 20 years, several thousand council houses had been built by West Bromwich County Borough Council; the largest developments were in the north of the town, including the Charlemont Farm Estate around Walsall Road, the Friar Park Estate near the border with Wednesbury.
The town suffered significant air raid damage in World War II, with 58 civilian deaths, most in the raids of 19 November 1940 around Oak Road and Lombard Street to the west of the town centre. There were a few other less severe raids in the war on parts of West Bromwich including Stone Cross and Tantany, with no fatalities; this occurred on the same night as the Birmingham Blitz, which resulted in thousands of casualties, as well as the less severe raids on nearby Dudley and Tipton. The first major postwar council housing development was the Harvills Hawthorn Estate near Hill Top, completed in 1948. Mass immigration from the Commonwealth took place in West Bromwich during the 1950s and 1960s, with most of these hailing from the Indian subcontinent, although a significant number of Afro-Caribbean immigrants settled in West Bromwich; the majority of these immigrants settled in the older parts of the town that were made up of Victorian and Edwardian terraced houses. The local road network was massively improved during the 1960s and 1970s.
West Bromwich is at the extreme northern end of the M5 motorway, has had direct access to it since the early 1960s. This gave the town an immediate fast road link to faraway places including Worcester, Gloucester and Exeter. Traffic passing through West Bromwich on the main route from Wolverhampton to Birmingham was diverted along the new dual carriageway, the Northern Loop Road (also known as
Bloxwich
Bloxwich is a small market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, West Midlands, situated in the north of the borough and forming part of the Staffordshire/West Midlands border. Bloxwich has its origins at least as early as the Anglo-Saxon period, when the place name evidence suggests it was a small Mercian settlement named after the family of Bloc; some 19th century works suggest that at one time Bloxwich was a settlement in the ancient manor of Wednesbury. There is no conclusive evidence for this and Bloxwich has since at least medieval times been associated with the manor and town of Walsall. Bloxwich itself is however mentioned in this book under the name'Blockeswich'. Traditionally there has been a strong rivalry between Bloxwich and Walsall with origins as early as the English Civil War, when Walsall was Parliamentarian in sympathy and Bloxwich, centre of the Foreign of Walsall, was Royalist; this situation was exacerbated by disputes over local taxation for the poor rate in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Bloxwich grew in the 18th century around coal mining, iron smelting and various manufacturing industries, as part of the Industrial Revolution. Manufacturing in the area consisted of bridle bits, keys, cabinet locks, plane irons, buckle tongues and saddles, its most famous product of manufacture were awl blades, which it is reputed to have surpassed all other places in the United Kingdom in manufacturing. In the early 19th century, Bloxwich was still a village. Most of its inhabitants were employed in the newly founded mining and forging industries, as well as light metalworking, it is known for its canals. Bloxwich was developed between the wars for council housing. Most were constructed around Blakenall Heath, as well as Goscote. In the 20 years which followed the Second World War, the Lower Farm and Mossley estates were erected as council housing developments, while the southern side of Harden was developed along with the Rivers Estate at Blakenall Heath. Many owned houses in the Little Bloxwich area, were constructed.
In the 1990s and 2000s, many new housing developments have sprung up both in Bloxwich and at Blakenall Heath. Bloxwich was struck by an F1/T2 tornado on 23 November 1981, as part of the record-breaking nationwide tornado outbreak on that day; the tornado moved out over Walsall town centre, causing further damage. Bloxwich has in recent years completed numerous redevelopment projects. Bloxwich Police Station, opened in 1884 on Elmore Green Road, was closed for reconstruction in 2000, reopened by Princess Anne on 26 September 2002; the market square and job centres have been refurbished. Bloxwich town centre is still made up of Victorian and Edwardian buildings and leafy parks and gardens, which maintain its origins as a Staffordshire village. Good built examples are Bloxwich Hospital, Bloxwich Hall, All Saints' Church and several private houses in Station Street, Stafford Road, Wolverhampton Street and Sandbank. From the Georgian period to the 1960s, Bloxwich had more public houses than any other town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, though these have begun to disappear.
However, its jewel in the crown still resides there: The Turf Tavern, a grade II listed building, is, according to CAMRA: "The last unspoilt terraced pub left in the country..." A focal point is the well-known Bloxwich Fountain in the Promenade Gardens. The church contains the original cemetery. Beyond Bloxwich Golf Club, Yieldfields Hall, to the north of the town on the A34 marks the northernmost edge of Bloxwich and the West Midlands the border with Staffordshire. Blakenall Heath Beechdale Harden Little Bloxwich Wallington Heath Mossley Turnberry Estate Dudley Fields Goscote Leamore Lower Farm EstateThe postcode for Bloxwich is WS3, it covers the suburban centre of Pelsall. Sunshine Infant School Blakenall Heath Junior School Bloxwich Academy Harden Primary School Leamore Primary School Busill Jones Primary School Mossley Primary School Little Bloxwich Church of England Primary School Elmore Green Primary School St Peter's Catholic Primary School Lower Farm Primary School Abbey Primary School Bloxwich Academy Walsall Academy Black Country University Technical College Forest Comprehensive School Sneyd Comprehensive School T. P. Riley Comprehensive School Bloxwich is well served by public transport and is home to two railway stations and Bloxwich North.
Regular buses link Bloxwich with Walsall, whilst others link the area to the surrounding towns of Wolverhampton, Willenhall, Wednesfield and Hednesford. Other local services serve nearby estates of Coalpool, Mossley, Lower Farm, Leamore, Dudley Fields, Landywood and Pelsall. Three peak only services link Bloxwich with Birmingham; the main operator of bus services in the area is National Express West Midlands, but Arriva Midlands operate on routes in the area. Notable bus routes include: 1, 2, 2E Walsall – Bloxwich – Cannock 301 Walsall – Mossley 302 Walsall – Lower FarmRoadwise, the A34, Southampton/Oxford/Manchester road, goes straight through the town and forms its High Street. Most shops are based on this linear development; the A4124 Wolverhampton to Brownhills road crosses to the north of the town. Bloxwich is four miles from the M6 motorway between junctions 10 and 11. Rob Halford, lead singer of seminal heavy metal band Judas Priest, who still owns a house in Walsall despite being resident in the USA.
Phil Drabble and television
Bus deregulation in Great Britain
Bus deregulation in Great Britain was the transfer of operation of bus services from public bodies to private companies as legislated by the Transport Act 1985. In the early 1980s much of the British bus network was in public ownership, either by the state owned National Bus Company or by municipal owned bus operators, it was regulated with operators not subject to competition. The Thatcher Government commissioned a white paper into the bus industry; this resulted in the implementation of the Transport Act 1985 on 26 October 1986 and the deregulation of bus services in England and Wales. Deregulation did not apply to London Buses which in April 1989 was split into 11 quasi-independent companies that were privatised in 1994/95; the Act abolished road service licensing and allowed for the introduction of competition on local bus services for the first time since the 1930s. To operate a service all an accredited operator was required to do was provide 56 days' notice to the Traffic Commissioner of their intention to commence, cease or alter operation on a route.
Existing operators faced competition on their most profitable routes, both from new and existing operators, other municipal operators seeking to increase revenue. This would result in the incumbent operator retaliating by starting up operations on the new operator's home turf. Tactics included operating extra services, it provided for the privatisation of the National Bus Company, divided into 70 separate legal entities and sold, with the sale of National Coach Holidays to Shearings in July 1986 the first. Many were sold in management buyouts, including some 24 which introduced employee ownership in the form of employee share ownership plans; however they began to be bought out by transport companies Arriva, First, Go-Ahead, National Express and Stagecoach. The Act required that operators be run at arm's length from local authorities and thus their operations were transferred to separate legal entities. Intense competition sometimes resulted in a bus war, requiring the intervention of the authorities to stamp out unscrupulous or unsafe practices.
In 1988 Southern Vectis became the first operator to attract the interest of the regulators when the Office of Fair Trading forced it to allow competing operators access to Newport bus station. It was reprimanded for operating extra services purely to stifle its competition. In 2000 Stagecoach Manchester was found to have been employing bus inspectors to usher passengers away from competitors' services. In 2004/05 Cardiff Bus was found to have engaged in predatory behaviour to stifle competitor 2 Travel. In 2006/07 Stagecoach Manchester and UK North engaged in a bus war on route 192 and on the Wilmslow Road bus corridor that caused traffic chaos in Manchester. UK North were found to have been engaging in unsafe work practices with two managers jailed. In November 2009 the Competition Commission ordered Stagecoach to sell Preston Bus after it had adversely affected competition in the area forcing Preston Bus to sell in January 2009. Bus wars still periodically occur, in 2011 Connexions and Transdev in Harrogate were engaged in Wetherby.
Only 12 operations remain in the largest being Lothian Buses in Edinburgh. As at 2010 the big five operators, First, Go-Ahead, National Express and Stagecoach, controlled 70% of the market. With the sale of Arriva to Deutsche Bahn and Abellio, ComfortDelGro and Veolia Transport owning operations, 24% of operators were in foreign ownership in 2010; this has increased with RATP Transit Systems having since entered the market. Deregulation and privatisation of the PTE bus operations Privatisation of London bus services
Acocks Green
Acocks Green is an area and ward of southeast Birmingham, England. It is named after the Acock family, who built a large house there in 1370. Acocks Green is one of four wards making up Yardley formal district, it is spelled "Acock's Green". It has been noted on lists of unusual place names. Stockfield was once a separate village located in the north of the ward, it merged with Acocks after housing developments during the 20th century. The ward now covers an area 4.773 square kilometres, including the Edenbridge Road Estate, Gospel Estate, Pemberley Road Flats, Stockfield Estate, part of the Tyseley Estate and the Yarnfield Estate. The ward covers parts of the B11 postcode areas. Acocks Green developed north of the current centre at the roundabout where the Warwick Road meets Shirley and Westley Roads; this area was known Tenchlee or Tenelea, meaning'ten clearings'. The settlement that developed here has disappeared. Hyron Hall and Broom Hall were moated manor houses located in the area; the area of Fox Hollies in the ward receives its name from the time when the Fox family bought the farm belonging to the atte Holies in the 15th century.
The earliest known reference to Acocks Green is in the Yardley Parish Register of 1604. In 1626, Acocks Green House and other estates were given by Richard Acock to his son as a wedding gift. In 1725, the Warwick Road was turnpiked. During the end of the 18th century, the Warwick and Birmingham Canal was cut through Acocks' Green; this resulted in wharves being constructed at Yardley Road. The increased prosperity brought by the canal prompted the construction of farms and large residences. Acocks Green began to expand in the 19th century when it was connected to the Birmingham to Oxford Railway in 1852. At this time there were three hamlets along the Warwick Road. Westley Brook was to become the centre of modern Acocks Green; as Acocks Green was closer to the station, it developed faster than the old centre. In 1911, Yardley, of which Acocks Green was a part of, was absorbed into Birmingham. Birmingham was in need of housing and in the mid-1920s, municipal housing was built on around half of Acocks Green, resulting in a large increase in the population.
Many new residents were unwelcome and existing residents moved away leading to the nickname Snob's Green. Acocks Green benefited from an increase in commerce brought about by the newcomers, it developed into a major shopping area and churches and meeting halls were extended to accommodate more people. Trams first arrived in Acocks Green in 1916, they first stopped at Broad Road, before stopping at the Green from 1922. The centre of Acocks Green was remodelled in 1932, a large island incorporating the tram terminus was created. After the tram service ended, the island was grassed over to become the Green. Acocks Green was the location for a custom-built factory which made parts for the Bristol Hercules radial engines. Construction of the factory commenced in late 1936 on the site of Westwood's market gardening business near the canal; the factory was the Rover shadow factory and it was operational by July 1937. Towards the end of the war, the Rover factory began to produce Meteor tank engines, the Meteorite engine.
The factory was visited by King George VI in March 1938. The military connection the factory had made Acocks Green a target for German bombers. There are a number of statutorily listed buildings; as well as this, there are locally listed buildings. In Fox Hollies Park, there is a Bronze Age burnt mound with Scheduled Ancient Monument status. Stockfield Estate was one of Birmingham's many interwar housing estates, built by the local council during the 1920s and 1930s to rehouse people from inner-city slums; the houses were popular on their completion thanks to the inclusion of electricity, running water, indoor toilets and bathrooms. The houses were designed in the'Parkinson' style. However, the housing was declared defective by law in 1985 and structural tests carried out in 1986 concluded that damage was so severe that repair would not be possible; this meant that the 477 houses had to be demolished, Birmingham City Council did not have the financial services available to carry out the work. Residents of the estate set up an Estate Development Group and architects Webb Seeger Moorhouse were invited to prepare a masterplan for the estate.
They worked in partnership with the city council. The masterplan and the proposal to establish a community association were publicly announced in October 1989 in a public meeting to the residents of the estate who unanimously approved the plans. Stockfield Community Association was formed in 1991 and a redevelopment partnership was formed between the Community Association, Birmingham City Council, Halifax Building Society and Bromford Carinthia Housing Association, with Anthony Collins Solicitors and Webb Seeger Moorhouse Community Architects giving support. Wimpey Homes were appointed as the developers and work on the first phase of the estate commenced in July 1991; this was met with opposition from some residents refusing to move and the crime on the estate was so bad that the washing machine in the show home provided by Wimpey was stolen. The first phase, 17 Bromford family homes for rent, were opened in the summer of 1991 by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham. By 1998, all four phases of the estate were completed by Wimpey
Sutton Coldfield
Sutton Coldfield the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, is a town and civil parish in Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The town lies about 7 miles northeast of Birmingham City Centre and borders Little Aston, North Warwickshire, Lichfield and South Staffordshire, its 2011 Census population was 95,107 – an increase of 6.7% since the 2001 Census. In Warwickshire, it became part of Birmingham and the West Midlands metropolitan county in 1974. In 2015, the village elected a Parish/Town Council for the first time in its recent history, it is an affluent town, encompassing the Four Oaks Park Estate and bordering the Little Aston Park private estate where many of the region's wealthiest residents live. The etymology of the name Sutton appears to be from "South Town"; the name "Sutton Coldfield" appears to come from this time, being the "south town" on the edge of the "col field". "Col" is derived from "charcoal", charcoal burners being active in the area. The earliest known signs of human presence in Sutton Coldfield were discovered in 2001–2003 on the boundaries of the town.
Archaeological surveys undertaken in preparation for the construction of the M6 Toll road revealed evidence of Bronze Age burnt mounds near Langley Mill Farm, at Langley Brook. Additionally, evidence for a Bronze Age burial mound was discovered, one of only two in Birmingham with the other being located in Kingstanding. Excavations uncovered the presence of an Iron Age settlement, dating to around 400 and 100 BC, consisting of circular houses built over at least three phases surrounded by ditches. Closer to Langley Brook, excavations uncovered the remains of a single circular house surrounded by ditches, dating from the same period. Near to Langley Mill Farm is Fox Hollies, where archaeological surveys have uncovered flints dating from the New Stone Age. Amongst the finds in the area were flint cores and a flint scraper, retouched with a knife; the presence of flint cores suggest that the site was used for tool manufacture and that a settlement was nearby. Additionally, a Bronze Age burnt mound was discovered in the area.
In his History of Birmingham, published in 1782, William Hutton describes the presence of three mounds adjacent to Chester Road on the extremities of Sutton Coldfield. The site, southwest of Bourne Pool, is called Loaches Banks and was mapped as early as 1752 by Dr. Wilks of Willenhall. Hutton interpreted the earthworks as a Saxon fortification but further archaeological work led Dr. Mike Hodder, now the Planning Archaeologist for Birmingham City Council, to believe that the site was an Iron Age hill-slope enclosure. Centuries of agriculture on the land has affected the visibility of the features, with the earthworks now only apparent in aerial photography. Further evidence of pre-Roman human habitation are preserved in Sutton Park. A major fire in the park in 1926 revealed six more mounds near Streetly Lane, excavations of which uncovered charred and cracked stones within them and pits below the two largest mounds. Although their date of origin is unknown, claims they were of Bronze Age origin were disproved.
The mounds are now covered in rough heathland. The area around Rowton's Well has been the source of many archaeological discoveries such as flint tools, in the 18th century, worked timbers were discovered near the well, suggesting a possible Iron Age timber trackway built across wet land, similar to others discovered elsewhere in the country. A burnt mound was discovered in New Hall Valley; the presence of Romans in the area is most visible in Sutton Park, where a 1.5-mile long preserved section of Icknield Street passes through. Whilst the road connects Gloucestershire to South Yorkshire, the road was important for connecting Metchley Fort in Edgbaston with Letocetum, now Wall, in Staffordshire; the road is most visible from near to the pedestrian gate on Thornhill Road, where the 8 m wide bank that formed the road surface is most prominent. Excavations at the road have showed that it was made from compacted gravel, never having a paved surface. Along each side are intermittent ditches, marked by Roman engineers, beyond these are hollows where gravel was excavated to make the road surface.
At least three Roman coins have been found along the course of Icknield Street through Sutton Park, as well as a Roman pottery kiln elsewhere in the town. Next to the Iron Age property at Langley Brook, the remains of a timber building and field system were discovered. Pottery recovered from this site was dated to the 2nd and 3rd century, indicating the presence of a Roman farmstead. Upon the Roman withdrawal from Britain to protect the Roman Empire on the continent in the 5th century, the area of Sutton Coldfield, still undeveloped, passed into the Anglo Saxon kingdom of Mercia, it is during this period that it is believed Sutton Coldfield may have originated as a hamlet, as a hunting lodge was built at Maney Hill for the purpose of the Mercian leaders. The outline of the deer park that it served is still visible within Sutton Park, with the ditch and bank boundary forming the western boundary of Holly Hurst crossing Keepers Valley, through the Lower Nuthurst and continuing on south of Blackroot Pool.
Due to the marshy ground at Blackroot Valley, a fence was constructed to contain the deer, the ditch and bank boundary commence again on the eastern side, on towards Holly Knoll. This became known as Sutton. Middleton is situated between the two. "Coldfi
Hockley, West Midlands
For the other place near Birmingham, see Hockley Heath. Hockley is a central inner-city district in the city of England, it lies about one mile north-west of the city centre, is served by the Jewellery Quarter station. Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter continues to thrive in Hockley, much of the original architecture and small artisan workshops have survived intact. Kathleen Dayus born 1903 in Hockley wrote about the area between 1982 and 2000 in a series of books now brought together under the title The Girl from Hockley. Hockley is location of the Museum of Birmingham Mint. Vittoria Street in Hockley is home to Birmingham Institute of Art and Design's Jewellery School, The Big Peg arts & crafts workshop cluster is nearby. Housing in the area is characterised by well-built Victorian villas and terraces; the "Hockley flyover" road interchange is an exemplary example of brutalist late-modernist concrete architecture. Hockley lies within the constituency of Birmingham Ladywood. Hockley has been the centre of the city's jewellery industry since the mid-1830s, evolving out of the city's earlier button, pin and toy trades.
The Quarter's strong growth eclipsed the jewellery trade in nearby Derby, which faded away, the Quarter made a large proportion of the British Empire's fine jewellery. Hockley was the first place in Birmingham to be connected to the city centre by a tram line, opened in 1873. Billy Walton Fred Allen Harry Howell Jamelia Kathleen Dayus Daniel Sturridge Photos of Hockley More photos of Hockley
