| Selly Oak Park | |
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 Selly Oak stump | |
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| Location | Selly Oak, Birmingham, England |
| Coordinates | 52°26′34″N1°56′48″W / 52.442829°N 1.946700°W Coordinates: 52°26′34″N1°56′48″W / 52.442829°N 1.946700°W |
| Created | 1899 |
| Operated by | Birmingham City Council |
Selly Oak Park is a public park in Selly Oak, Birmingham, England. It is close to the University of Birmingham. The stump from the "Selly Oak", a large oak tree on Oak Tree Lane was situated in the park after it was felled in 1909. [1] [2] [3]
The park’s history is well documented, in a book, [4] and an associated website. [5] It was the first park developed under the authority of the former Kings Norton and Northfield Urban District Council. In February 1899, Thomas Gibbins and his wife Emma Joel Gibbins (née Cadbury) and her four sons, William, Thomas, John and Benjamin (of the Birmingham Battery and Metal Company, [6] ) donated “11 acres, 2 roods and 5 perches” of land “for ever”, arranging for the Park to be laid out, [7] and a shelter, public conveniences and a park-keeper’s lodge to be built. The park was formally opened by the 88 year old Mrs. Gibbins on Easter Monday, 3 April 1899. The gift was marked by the naming of the adjacent Gibbins Road (formerly Old Lane). In 1911 the district fell within the scope of the Birmingham Extension Order and the park moved into the care of Birmingham City Council.
Following the 1899 gift of land there were four further donations:
In March 1958, 0.271 acres (0.110 hectares) of land at the junction of Gibbins Road and Harborne Lane (previously used by the City Transport Department as a grit and salt store) was transferred from the City’s Public Works Committee.
In more recent years there have been two transfers of land from the park:
The shelter (built in 1899), the bandstand (built in 1908) and the Daughters of Rest Pavilion (built in 1953) have been demolished.
Today, the Park is maintained for Birmingham City Council by Quadron Environmental Services who provide its non-resident park keeper.
In 2011 an active community support group, The Friends of Selly Oak Park, [8] working with the local Council laid out an Art, History and Nature Trail. They also maintain a gallery of park photographs. An annual community event, the Selly Oak Festival, is held in the Park each June.
Smethwick is an industrial town in Sandwell, West Midlands, historically in Staffordshire. It is 4 miles west of Birmingham city centre and borders West Bromwich and Oldbury to the north and west. Formerly a Staffordshire county borough, Smethwick is situated near the edge of Sandwell metropolitan borough and borders the Birmingham districts of Handsworth, Winson Green, Harborne, Edgbaston and Quinton to the south and east, as well as the Black Country towns of West Bromwich and Oldbury in the north and west.
Edgbaston is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre. It is bordered by Moseley to the south east, Selly Oak to the south west, Harborne to the west, and Smethwick and Winson Green to the north west.
Harborne is an area of south-west Birmingham, England, three miles (5 km) southwest from Birmingham city centre. It is a Birmingham City Council ward in the formal district and in the parliamentary constituency of Birmingham Edgbaston.
Bournville is a model village on the southwest side of Birmingham, England, founded by the Quaker Cadbury family for employees at its Cadbury's factory, and designed to be a "garden" village where the sale of alcohol was forbidden. Cadbury's was well known for chocolate products – including a dark chocolate bar branded Bournville. Historically in northern Worcestershire, it is also a ward within the council constituency of Selly Oak and home to the Bournville Centre for Visual Arts. Research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in 2003 found that it was "one of the nicest places to live in Britain".
Selly Oak is an industrial and residential area in south-west Birmingham, England. The area gives its name to Selly Oak ward and includes the neighbourhoods of: Bournbrook, Selly Park, and Ten Acres. The adjoining wards of Edgbaston and Harborne are to the north of the Bourn Brook, which was the former county boundary, and to the south are Weoley, and Bournville. A district committee serves the four wards of Selly Oak, Billesley, Bournville and Brandwood. The same wards form the Birmingham Selly Oak constituency, represented by Steve McCabe (Labour). Selly Oak is connected to Birmingham by the Pershore Road (A441) and the Bristol Road (A38). The Worcester and Birmingham Canal and the Birmingham Cross-City Railway Line run across the Local District Centre.
Stirchley is in the south west of Birmingham, England.
Weoley Castle is a residential suburban district in south-west Birmingham, England. The area is part of the Weoley local authority electoral ward, and also comes under the Northfield local council constituency. The suburb of Weoley Castle is bordered by Selly Oak to the east, Harborne to the north, Bartley Green to the west, and Weoley Hill and Shenley Fields to the south.
Bournbrook is an industrial and residential district in southwest Birmingham, England, in both the Selly Oak Council Ward and the Parliamentary District of Selly Oak. Prior to what is commonly termed the Greater Birmingham Act, which came into effect on 9 November 1911, the Bourn Brook watercourse was the North Eastern boundary of Worcestershire, and the area was locally governed by the King’s Norton and Northfield Urban District Council.
Bearwood is the southern part of Smethwick, Sandwell, West Midlands, England, and north of the A456 Hagley Road. Bearwood Hill was the original name of the High Street from Smethwick Council House to Windmill Lane. The border at the Shireland Brook where Portland Road (Edgbaston) becomes Shireland Road (Sandwell) is signed "Bearwood".
The Dudley Canal is a canal passing through Dudley in the West Midlands of England. The canal is part of the English and Welsh connected network of navigable inland waterways, and in particular forms part of the popular Stourport Ring narrowboat cruising route.
Birmingham Corporation Tramways operated a network of tramways in Birmingham from 1904 until 1953. It was the largest narrow-gauge tramway network in the UK, and was built to a gauge of 3 ft 6 in. It was the fourth largest tramway network in the UK behind London, Glasgow and Manchester.
King's Norton and Northfield Urban District was a local government administrative district in north Worcestershire, England, from 1898 until 1911. Much of its area was afterwards absorbed into the neighbouring Borough of Birmingham, under the Greater Birmingham Scheme, and now constitutes most of the city's southern and southwestern suburban environs.
The Lapal Tunnel is a disused 3,795-yard (3,470 m) canal tunnel on the five mile dry section of the Dudley No. 2 Canal in the West Midlands, England. It takes its name from the settlement of Lapal.
Selly Park is a residential suburban district in south-west Birmingham, England. The suburb of Selly Park is located between the Bristol Road (A38) and the Pershore Road (A441).
The Birmingham Battery and Metal Company was founded in 1836 with a factory in Digbeth, Birmingham.
The Selly Oak local council ward was one of the 40 electoral wards for the City of Birmingham, England prior to 2018. It was also one of the four wards that make up the local council constituency of Selly Oak, the other three being the wards of Billesley, Bournville and Brandwood.
Queens Park was laid out in 1898 in celebration of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, after which Turks Lane was renamed Queens Park Road. The 10-acre plot was bought by the Harborne Charity Fete Committee and presented to the city council.
Selly Oak Library is a Carnegie library in Selly Oak, Birmingham, England. It is Grade II listed.
Highter’s Heath is a district and ward lying on the southern boundary of the city of Birmingham, UK. The district of Highter's Heath lies immediately east of the Maypole. The first recorded use of the name dates from 1495 as Heyters Heath, however today the name is not one that is particularly in widespread use, indeed only three signposted references to the name exist, when entering the city along Maypole Lane, when entering the city from the bottom of Highters Heath Lane and in Majors Green.
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