Tividale

Tividale
Population	11,585 (2001 Census)
OS grid reference	SO965905
Metropolitan borough	Sandwell
Metropolitan county	West Midlands
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	OLDBURY/TIPTON
Postcode district	B69/DY4
Dialling code	01384
Police	West Midlands
Fire	West Midlands
Ambulance	West Midlands

Tividale is a village in Sandwell, West Midlands.

History

The village was in the parish of St Michael named after the church built there. It was created in 1878 as an extension of the town of Tipton in the county of Staffordshire, England. It was originally set around the main Dudley to Oldbury road, with several hundred terraced houses with shop fronts on the main road, as well as many more on the side streets running off.

Tividale began to expand during the 1930s and was developed beyond Tipton's borders into Dudley, namely with the Tividale Hall Estate (private) and the Grace Mary Estate (council). After the Second World War, further housing developments, mostly by the local authority, saw these two housing estates effectively merged.

Tividale Tram workshops opened along the main Tividale Road (a tram route) in 1907, and operated until 1930. The tramway closed in 1939, as trams were phased out in favour of motor buses.

There were several air raids on Tividale during the Second World War, including a landmine which in 1941 destroyed a pair of recently built semi-detached houses on Birch Crescent, killing a six-year-old girl in one house,a 49-year-old woman in a second,and a married couplein a third.

On 19 November 1940, there were air raids in the City Road area in which an 11-year-old girl diedalong with her 33-year-old mother37-year-old father,and eight-year-old brother.A married couplein a neighbouring house also diedalong with their son.A 17-year-old manand five-year-old boy also died in the City Road bombings, bringing the death toll for that street alone to nine.

On 21 December 1940, the Boat Inn on Dudley Road East was hit by a bomb, resulting in nine deaths. A 15-year-old boy,,along with his 26-year-old brothera 36-year-old woman,28-year-old man<,a marriedcoupleand a 38-year-old man died at the scene.A 16-year-old girl died just after arriving at hospital,and a 19-year-old woman died in hospital from her injuries two days later.A neighbouring house was also hit by the bomb, seriously injuring a 20-year-old man who died in hospital the next day.

The Netherton Tunnel runs under Tividale. Evidence of the tunnel is shown by the 'pepperpots' that can be seen near the site of the former Hangsmans Tree site and in Aston Road, Regent Road and Packwood Road on the Tividale Hall Estate.

Several quarries in the Tividale area were a source of stone known as the 'Rowley rag'. Turner's Hill is the site of the only remaining quarry.

In 1966, Tipton became part of West Bromwich County Borough, but the bulk of Tividale was split between the boroughs of West Bromwich and Warley. Since 1974, it has been part of Sandwell Metropolitan Borough in the West Midlands county.

Quarrying

On the southern and eastern slopes of Turner's Hill, which straddles the border of Tividale and Rowley Regis, a huge quarry exposes the brown and grey igneous rock, called dolerite, which covers less than one square mile. It is one of the most distinctive minor regions within the Black Country. The dolerite can be seen as a building stone in the older cottages around Rowley Regis. The dark brown, shapeless rock was used to create walls around the windy fields on the summit of Turners Hill.

The use of the Rowley dolerite (known as 'Rowley R ag') as a building stone ceased over two centuries ago, after bricks (made from the clays within the coal measures) became the universal building material of the Black Country. The rise of the quarry industry on a commercial scale dates from the 1820s; the hard smooth rock was used for the paving stones of new streets in Birmingham and the rapidly growing Black Country towns. Today the quarries serve as a source of road metal. Quarrying in other areas of Tividale, such as Darby's Hill, Warren's Hall and Blue Rock, has ceased; and the quarries are used for landfill. Only Turner's Hill quarry remains.

Housing

Housing estates around Tividale include Tividale Hall, Castle View, Grace Mary and Brades Hall.

Up until the late 1960s Dudley Golf Course was split in two by the Oakham Road. Around 1966 the section of the course on Darby's Hill was sold and part of it was used to build a private housing estate originally named Oakham Green.

Tividale Hall was developed as private housing during the mid 1930s to early 1940s in the Dudley section of Tividale, but was extended in the 1950s with council housing. Most of the roads in this area are named after trees; including Elm Terrace, Birch Crescent, Pine Road and Ash Terrace.

Castle View is an extension of Tividale Hall and was built during the 1970s, mostly as private housing, but also with several low-rise blocks of council flats. Most of the roads are named after castles; including Stokesay Close, Arundel Close, Clun Close and Pendennis Drive.

Grace Mary was built in the 1930s between Oakham and the recently completed Birmingham New Road, mostly as council housing. Expansions took place in the 1950s to merge it into Tividale Hall.

Brades Hall is situated in the north of Tividale off the A457 road between Tipton and Oldbury. The first development took place with private housing during the 1960s, with further private and council housing being added in the 1970s, and another private development taking place in the mid 1980s. Another section of private housing was added in 2006. Most of the roads are named after former prime ministers and high-profile politicians; including Peel Way, Macdonald Close, Asquith Drive, Palmerston Drive, Gaitskell Terrace, Macmillan Close and Callaghan Drive.

In the early 1990s, the area of Tipton around the Birmingham Canal was developed as a private housing estate called Tividale Quays.

Although located within the original Dudley and Tipton council areas, most of Tividale is classified within the Oldbury B69 postal district, with the remainder falling into Tipton DY4. All of it is within the borough of Sandwell.

Religion

St Michael's C of E Church, once the most prominent landmark in the village, was completed in 1878. Contributions to its costs were made by local industrialists and especially by the Earl of Dudley. The large, brick building became known as the "Cathedral of the Black Country" and earned a reputation for advanced Anglo-Catholicism early in its history. Several vicars became very well known and loved: one, Wynn Griffiths, is commemorated in a street name in the Tividale Quays development.

The growing parish produced two mission churches: one, St Augustine's (a corrugated iron construction now demolished)on Oldbury Road and a second, Holy Cross, on the Grace Mary Estate to the west of the Birmingham New Road. The Parish Church was earmarked for demolition in 1982 after an inspection revealed that the buildings were riddled with damp and woodworm. It was decided to demolish the church and rebuild it, rather than improve the original building. Consequently, the church was demolished in 1984 and a new, smaller church was later opened in 1995, using what had been the substantial parish hall as its core. There is another church, Oakham Evangelical, sitting on the brow of the hill in City Road.

Today, Tividale is also the home of the new Hindu Temple which is an exact replica of Tirupati Balaji Temple in Southern India.

Education

The area has been served by a secondary school since 1956. It was opened as 'Tividale Secondary Modern School' before being renamed Tividale Comprehensive School and earned the nickname locally as 'The Comp' but is now known as Ormiston Sandwell Community Academy.

Vono beds set up business at Tividale in 1896 and remained present in the area for some 100 years afterwards, until relocating from their Groveland Road factory to a new site in Wednesbury in the late 1990s.[23]

Public houses

The majority of Tividale's pubs today are situated on Tividale Road and Dudley Road West near Tividale's northern border. The Wonder, The Albion, The Plough and The George are all within walking distance of each other. Apart from these, there is Brades Tavern on Brades Road and the Price Of Wales on Ashtree Road. The Wheatsheaf stands alone at the southern edge of the area on the junction of Turner's Hill, Portway Hill, City Road and Oakham Road.

Since the turn of the millennium, numerous pubs, especially the housing estate-based establishments, have gone. The Hangman's Tree (demolished 2007), Barley Mow (demolished 2010), Red Lion (demolished 2010), The Huntsman (adapted as an Indian restaurant, the 'Red Mango'), The Waggon & Horses (now a branch of the Co-Operative food store) and the Cottage Spring no longer exist as pubs, if at all.

The Hangman's Tree Public House was named after an elm tree that grew opposite the public house; it was said to have been used for at least one public execution in the 18th or 19th century. The elm tree contracted Dutch elm disease in the early 1970s and was later struck by lightning; the city had to take down the tree and all trace has now been removed.

Politics

Since 1997 Tividale has been in the parliamentary constituency of West Bromwich West, prior to this it was in Warley West which was abolished for that election. A notable MP for the latter constituency was the former Solicitor General Peter Archer. The first MP for Tividale in its present seat was the then Speaker of the House Betty Boothroyd. Its present member is Adrian Bailey of Labour.

Further reading

• The Parish of Tividale website
• Hindu Balaji Temple of UK website
• Ormiston Sandwell Academy, formerly Tividale Comprehensive School