West Heath, West Midlands
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Coordinates: 52°23′48″N 1°57′27″W / 52.3967°N 1.9575°W
| West Heath | |
  West Heath shown within the West Midlands |
|
| OS grid reference | |
|---|---|
| Metropolitan borough | Birmingham |
| Metropolitan county | West Midlands |
| Region | West Midlands |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BIRMINGHAM |
| Postcode district | B31 / B38 |
| Dialling code | 0121 |
| Police | West Midlands |
| Fire | West Midlands |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| European Parliament | West Midlands |
| Birmingham Northfield | |
| List of places: UK • England • West Midlands | |
West Heath is an area of Birmingham, England. It is located in the ward of Northfield. It is situatied between Kings Norton, Northfield, Hopwood and Longbridge.
A small suburb with a Catholic church, Anglican church, Baptist church, post office, opticians, doctors' surgery (and primary health care centre), nursery, rehabilitation hospital, two old persons' home, primary school, two community centres, a recreation ground and other basic buildings. As the name suggests it used to be heathland until the 1950s when many suburbs were added to the prosperous city of Birmingham. Many houses and schools were built in the 1950s and 60s although some date to the late 19th century.
In the 1930's West Heath was chosen for the building of a Tuberculosis Recuperation hospital due to the high altitude of the area (being in the shadow of the Lickey Hills many people believed this was an aid for helping sick people recover). This site was extended many times and is now called West Heath Hospital, but the original building was pulled down in early 2008 to make for a new housing development. Other notable buildings from this period are The Old Bath Tub lido (opened by Gracie Fields, this too has been demolished - the lido only lasted for 2 years due to bankruptcy. Laughtons took over the site with Eddystone Radio during World War 2 as it's then rural location helped it to avoid attack by German air raids. The site is now a housing estate.) and The Man On The Moon, which was built in 1937 (originally as The Man In The Moon, the name was changed in 1969 to commemorate the moon landings).
Mike Skinner, aka The Streets was raised in West Heath and is one of the suburb's most famous residents, along with Ian Lavender of Dad's Army fame (Private Frank Pike: the wearer of the claret and blue scarf depicting loyalty to his real life favourite local football team Aston Villa[1]). As a young girl, Dame Barbara Cartland also lived in West Heath.
[edit] Transport
The A441 Redditch Road, which runs between Birmingham and Redditch, passes to the East, and the A38 Bristol Road South, which runs between Birmingham and Worcester and eventually Cornwall, passes to the West. The M42 and M5 Motorways are also close, giving National and International connections. Northfield railway station on the Cross-City Line is located to the North, with trains operating to Redditch, Birmingham & Lichfield at a 10 minute frequency during peak times. The Suburb is served by several buses operated by National Express West Midlands, Diamond Bus and First Wyvern, which serve several destinations including Birmingham (45, 47, 146) , Bromsgrove (145), Redditch (146) & Solihull (49)
[edit] External links
- West Heath Library
- South Birmingham Amateur Radio Society
(Based in West Heath Community Centre, Hampstead House West Heath)
[edit] Notes
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