Ward End

Last updated

Drews Lane Drews Lane, Ward End, Birmingham - factory front 2000.jpg
Drews Lane

Ward End is an area of Birmingham, England. It covers the area between Saltley, Hodge Hill and Stechford and includes Ward End Park, a public park that has been open for over 100 years.

Contents

Ward End territory

Pelham in Ward End joins with Alum Rock Ward End starts by Ward End Park on the Washwood Heath Road and finishes at the Fox and Goose public house.

The Fox & Goose

The Fox & Goose, a pub and shopping area is situated in the eastern part of Ward End and marks the boundary with Stechford and Hodge Hill.

Ward End Park

Ward End Park Ward End Park.jpg
Ward End Park

The park, opened in 1904, covers a large part of Ward End. A typical English park, it is heavily populated in the summer months. Ward End Park House is located within the park and dates back to 1759.

The park also has two large multi-sports practice courts, two professional cricket nets, two large play sections and a car park.

Secondary schools

The secondary school which served this area from 1958 was Ward End Hall Secondary Modern; later known as Ward End Hall County Secondary School, before finally being renamed Park View Upper School in 1983 when it catered solely for 4th and 5th year senior pupils, and sixth-formers (or Year 10, 11, 12 and 13s as they are known these days). Park View Lower School was the name given to the next closest secondary school, Naseby, after the two schools amalgamated in the mid-1980s. However, whether it was due to lack of demand for places or just financial problems, the former Ward End Hall School was closed down and demolished in the mid-1990s. A housing estate now stands on the site of the former school. Park View School was renamed Rockwood Academy in 2015. In addition to Rockwood Academy, there is a secondary education establishment quite locally at Washwood Heath (Washwood Heath Academy) and two more in Hodge Hill (Hodge Hill College; and Hodge Hill Girls' School, a former grammar school).

Places of worship

There are a number of places of worship in Ward End, Christ Church in Burney Lane and a large number of mosques.George Grenfell Memorial Hall situated to the rear of Grenfell Baptist Church in Bankdale Road B8 2AA. Monk Road Methodist is now an African pentecostal church.

Unusual events

Several unusual events have occurred in Ward End over the years.

In late-1981 and into 1982, the residents of five houses on Thornton Road informed the police that stones had been thrown against their windows at night. The stones had no fingerprints, so a night-time surveillance using infrared cameras and image-intensifiers was set up. The stone-throwing continued even though no human activity was seen. Eventually the Birmingham CID gave up and left the case open.

In late-2004 and early 2005, there were rumours that a man had bitten several people on Glen Park Road; described as being black and in his mid-20s he was dubbed the "Birmingham Vampire". However the police had received no reports of any attack, and the hospitals had received no bite victims. The local press was inundated with calls from worried residents in Ward End and the surrounding area. The case has been dismissed as an urban legend. [1]

In 2006, Tarmac (a heavy building materials company) drew up a list of Britain's "spookiest roads", with Drews Lane in Ward End coming tenth. Invisible cars are frequently heard on the road.

Famous Resident

Charlie Hall, character actor in many Laurel and Hardy films, was born here.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yardley, Birmingham</span> Area in Birmingham, England

Yardley is an area in east Birmingham, England. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own district committee. Historically it lay within Worcestershire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acocks Green</span> Human settlement in England

Acocks Green is a suburban area and ward of southeast Birmingham, England. It is named after the Acock family, who built a large house there in 1370. It is occasionally spelled "Acock's Green". It has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hodge Hill</span> Human settlement in England

Hodge Hill is an area 4 miles east of Birmingham City Centre, England. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own district committee. The MP of Hodge Hill is currently Liam Byrne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gravelly Hill</span>

Gravelly Hill is an area of Birmingham, United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stechford</span> Human settlement in England

Stechford is an area of East Birmingham, England, situated about five miles east of the city centre, bordering Ward End, Yardley, Hodge Hill and Kitts Green. Historically it lay within Worcestershire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washwood Heath</span> Human settlement in England

Washwood Heath is a ward in Birmingham, within the formal district of Hodge Hill, roughly two miles north-east of Birmingham city centre, England. Washwood Heath covers the areas of Birmingham that lie between Nechells, Bordesley Green, Stechford and Hodge Hill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birmingham Hodge Hill (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1983–2024

Birmingham Hodge Hill was a constituency of part of the city of Birmingham represented in the House of Commons by a member of the Labour Party since its creation and until its abolition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birmingham Yardley (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1918 onwards

Birmingham Yardley is a constituency of part of the city of Birmingham represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Jess Phillips of the Labour Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aston railway station</span> Railway station in Birmingham, England

Aston railway station serves the districts of Aston and Nechells in Birmingham, England. The passenger entrance is on Lichfield Road and accessible via the staircase or lifts to take you to the platform which is raised. The station is on the Cross-City Line and the Chase Line. It is one of two local stations for Aston Villa Football Club and near to the Aston Expressway and to Gravelly Hill Interchange.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alum Rock, Birmingham</span> Ward in England

Alum Rock is an inner-city suburb of Birmingham, England, located roughly 2 miles east of Birmingham city centre. The area is officially a division of Saltley.

The Fox & Goose is a shopping district in Ward End, Birmingham, England, at the eastern end of Washwood Heath Road. It is named after the public house there. It also is the point where Ward End and Hodge Hill end and Stechford begins.

Saltley is an inner-city area of Birmingham, England, east of the city centre. The area is part of the Washwood Heath ward, and was previously part of the Nechells ward. It is part of the Ladywood constituency in the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holland W. Hobbiss</span> English architect

Holland William Hobbiss, was an English architect in the Birmingham area. He traded under the names Holland W. Hobbiss and Partners and Holland W. Hobbiss and M. A. H. Hobbiss.

NHS Birmingham East and North was an NHS primary care trust (PCT) that was formed on 1 October 2006 following the merger of Eastern Birmingham PCT and North Birmingham PCT. PCTs were abolished in April 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bromford</span> Human settlement in England

Bromford, referred to locally as "the Bromford", is an industrial and residential area of Birmingham, situated between Ward End, Alum Rock, Hodge Hill, Washwood Heath, Shard End, Stechford, Castle Bromwich and Tyburn. The industrial area is predominantly situated on the north side of the M6 motorway, including The Bromford Gate industrial park, Fort Shopping Park, and Fort Dunlop, with one industrial site sitting east of the M6 called Bromford Central. The residential area sits adjacent to the East of the M6 comprising two neighbourhoods, Bromford built along Bromford Drive, and The Firs built along Chipperfield Road. The industrial and residential areas have increasingly become two separate distinguishable places, and not recognised locally as joined or one. This is signified by the M6 & River Tame dividing the two areas, poor public transport links between the two areas, and the areas sitting within three different local authority wards, and two parliamentary constituencies (industrial area situated within Birmingham Erdington and residential area situated within Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North.

Alum Rock is an electoral ward of Birmingham City Council in the east of Birmingham, West Midlands, covering an urban area to the east of the city centre.

References

  1. "Vampire takes a bite out of Brum". 17 January 2005.

52°29′34″N01°49′15″W / 52.49278°N 1.82083°W / 52.49278; -1.82083