Great Bridge | |
---|---|
Great Bridge roundabout with lions | |
Location within the West Midlands | |
Population | 12,962 (2011) [1] |
OS grid reference | SO976925 |
Metropolitan borough | |
Metropolitan county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | TIPTON |
Postcode district | DY4 |
Dialling code | 0121 |
Police | West Midlands |
Fire | West Midlands |
Ambulance | West Midlands |
UK Parliament | |
Great Bridge is a historic village and district of Tipton in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell in the metropolitan county of the West Midlands, England. It is situated near the towns of Dudley, West Bromwich and Wednesbury.
The place name Great Bridge comes from Old English 'grēot' (grit or gravelly - meaning a stream with a gravelly bed), with the later addition of 'Bridge' - when a bridge was first built over the stream. There are several watercourses in England with the name 'Greet', all from this origin. The stream is thought to be the Oldbury arm of the River Tame, known to the early English in this area as 'grēot' (Greets Green takes its name from the same watercourse). [2]
Great Bridge has had a marketplace for several centuries. Until 2020 it had both an outdoor and an indoor market; the latter was permanently closed because of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. [3]
In the early hours of 17 May 1941, an air raid by the German Luftwaffe destroyed the Tipton Tavern house on the corner of New Road and Horseley Road, killing six people: two brothers aged three and seven, a 36-year-old male air raid warden, a middle-aged married couple and a 42-year-old woman. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] New Road Methodist Church was also destroyed in the same attack and a number of nearby houses were damaged. [10]
For most of the 20th century Great Bridge was the home of numerous factories (including an ice cream factory opened by Italian immigrant Giuseppe Bonaccorsi) and foundries. However, by the end of the 1990s most of the factories had long since been closed and been demolished. These include Ratcliff's on Eagle Lane, which closed in 1989, and John Thompson's on Horseley Road, which closed in 1991. Since the early 1990s many new housing developments have sprung up, mostly on the sites of factories. Two lion statues from the entrance of the former Roman Mosaic ceramics factory were moved to the roundabout in the centre of Great Bridge in 2002 to mark the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, and subsequently gifted to the borough. [11]
A 24-hour two-storey Asda superstore opened in May 1998 on a factory site. [10] A smaller supermarket in the old village was opened in December 1986 and occupied by Kwik Save until the retailer went into liquidation in 2007. Wilko took the building over in May 2008. [12]
Sheepwash Urban Park, a Local Nature Reserve, lies within the Great Bridge area. It is a local beauty spot where fishing can be carried out and wild birds such as herons, ducks, swans and Canada geese can be seen. It is encircled by a path used by both cyclists and walkers.
There were two railway stations (Great Bridge North Railway Station and Great Bridge South railway station) in the Great Bridge area, but both stations were closed in the 1960s due to the Beeching Axe. Great Bridge South Station was situated on the line between Great Bridge and West Bromwich, which was dismantled during the 1970s. Great Bridge North Station was situated on the South Staffordshire Line between Walsall and Stourbridge, which closed to passengers in the 1960s but remained open for goods trains until the Walsall - Round Oak section was closed in 1993. It is set to re-open during the mid-late 2020s as an extension to the Midland Metro. [13]
Great Bridge has direct bus links with Tipton, Dudley,West Bromwich, Bilston, Stone Cross and Birmingham on bus services 30, 42, 43, 74 and 74A operated by National Express West Midlands and Diamond.
Since 1995, Great Bridge has been served by the Black Country Spine Road, which gives a quick dual carriageway route to Bilston and Wednesbury in one direction and West Bromwich as well as the M5 motorway in the other. This opened up several square miles of previously inaccessible land for industrial and commercial use, bringing jobs to Great Bridge in the aftermath of the 1970s and 1980s de-industrialisation.
The Walsall Canal and River Tame both pass through the eastern side of Great Bridge. A pedestrian footpath crossing them links the town centre to the Asda site.
West Bromwich, commonly known as West Brom, is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is 7 miles northwest of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area known as the Black Country, in terms of geography, culture and dialect. West Bromwich had a population of 103,112 in the 2021 Census.
Tipton is an industrial town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell in the West Midlands County in England. It had a population of 38,777 at the 2011 UK Census. It is located northwest of Birmingham and southeast of Wolverhampton. It is also contiguous with nearby towns of Darlaston, Dudley, Wednesbury and Bilston.
Wednesbury is a market town in Sandwell in the West Midlands County, England - historically in Staffordshire. It is located near the source of the River Tame, and is part of the Black Country. Wednesbury is situated 5 miles (8km) south-east of Wolverhampton, 2.7 miles (4.4km) south-west of Walsall, and 7.3 miles (11.8km) north-west of Birmingham. At the 2011 Census the town had a population of 37,817.
Sandwell is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands county in England. The borough is named after the Sandwell Priory, and spans a densely populated part of the West Midlands conurbation. Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council defines the borough as the six amalgamated towns of Oldbury, Rowley Regis, Smethwick, Tipton, Wednesbury and West Bromwich. Rowley Regis includes the towns of Blackheath and Cradley Heath.
Bilston is a market town in the City of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, England. It is close to the borders of Sandwell and Walsall. The nearest towns are Darlaston, Wednesbury, and Willenhall. Historically in Staffordshire, three wards of Wolverhampton City Council now cover the town: Bilston East and Bilston North, which almost entirely comprise parts of the historic Borough of Bilston, and Ettingshall, which comprises a part of Bilston and parts of Wolverhampton.
The River Tame is a river in the West Midlands of England, and one of the principal tributaries of the River Trent. The Tame is about 95 km (59 mi) long from the source at Oldbury to its confluence with the Trent near Alrewas, but the main river length of the entire catchment, i.e. the Tame and its main tributaries, is about 285 km (177 mi).
The West Midlands region straddles the historic borders between the counties of Warwickshire, Staffordshire in the north, and Worcestershire in the south.
Moxley is a village near Darlaston in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, West Midlands County, England. It was first developed during the early part of the 19th century when a handful of terraced houses were built to accommodate locals working in factories and mines and the area was created in 1845 out of land from Darlaston, Bilston and Wednesbury.
Coseley is a village in the Dudley Metropolitan Borough, in the West Midlands County, England. It is situated three miles north of Dudley itself, on the border with Wolverhampton and Sandwell. It falls within the Tipton and Wednesbury parliamentary constituency.
Princes End is an area of Tipton, West Midlands, England, near the border with Coseley, which was heavily developed during the 19th century with the construction of factories. The population of the Sandwell ward taken at the 2011 census was 12,981. Several hundred terraced houses were built around the same time to accommodate the factory workers. Many council houses were built in the area between 1920 and 1980, as well as many private houses.
Bradley is a suburban village in the City of Wolverhampton, West Midlands County, England. It is located in the Bilston East ward.
West Bromwich West was a constituency in the West Midlands in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was represented from 1974 until 2019 by members of the Labour Party, and by the Conservatives from 2019 until 2024.
Dudley Port railway station serves the Dudley Port and Great Bridge areas of Tipton, West Midlands, England. Situated on both the Stour Valley Line and Rugby–Birmingham–Stafford line, the station is operated by West Midlands Railway.
Q3 Academy Tipton is a coeducational secondary school located in Tipton in the West Midlands of England.
The Black Country New Road is a major road which runs through the West Midlands of England.
Horseley Heath is a residential area of Tipton, in the West Midlands of England. It is situated around the main A461 road which links the major townships of Dudley and Walsall, and stands on the banks of the River Tame.
Stone Cross is a residential area of West Bromwich in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell in the West Midlands of England. It is situated on the A4034 road that links West Bromwich and Walsall. To the southwest is Charlemont and Grove Vale and to the north is Friar Park.
Patent Shaft, formerly The Patent Shaft and Axletree Company, established in 1840, was a steel=making company that operated large steelworks situated in Wednesbury, then in Staffordshire, England, in a region known as the Black Country due to its industrialisation. It was in operation for 140 years, and employed hundreds of local people.