Marston Green

Marston Green
Marston Green
	Marston Green Location within the West Midlands
Population	5,000 (2001)
Civil parish	Bickenhill and Marston Green;
Metropolitan borough	Solihull;
Metropolitan county	West Midlands;
Region	West Midlands;
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BIRMINGHAM
Postcode district	B37, B40
Dialling code	0121
Police	West Midlands
Fire	West Midlands
Ambulance	West Midlands
UK Parliament	Meriden;
	List of places UK England West Midlands 52°27′54″N 1°44′24″W / 52.465°N 1.740°W

Marston Green is a village of around 5000 residents in the civil parish of Bickenhill and Marston Green, in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the West Midlands.

The village is adjacent to Birmingham Airport and the National Exhibition Centre. Marston Green railway station lies on the Birmingham loop of the West Coast Main Line railway and is served by West Midlands Trains local services to Birmingham and Coventry, and a small number of semi fast services to Northampton and London Euston. Notable features of the area include a number of shops, the Marston Green Tavern, St Leonards Church and Marston Green Infant and Junior schools.

History

Marston Green began as a small village surrounded by agricultural land in the estate of Coleshill^{[citation needed]} at this time, the village was known as Merstone^{[citation needed]} The village grew into a leafy suburb in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, due to the construction of many detached and semi-detached homes in the 1930s, which were typical of many suburban homes in the area. The growth of homes here was encouraged by the presence of a rail station. Following the expansion of the nearby Birmingham Airport, the construction of the National Exhibition Centre and the local housing estate of Chelmsley Wood, Marston Green has grown largely into a commuter village with many of its residents working in Solihull and Birmingham.

There was a Canadian airforce base in Marston Green during the Second World War.^[1] Afterwards, the buildings were used as a maternity hospital and then a psychiatric hospital. They were demolished in the 1990s.

Famous people

Professional footballer, Terry Cooke who has played for Manchester United and Manchester City was born in the village on August 5, 1976.

Miles Hunt, lead singer of The Wonder Stuff, lived in Marston Green with his parents and brother in the 1970s and 1980s.

Stewart Talbot, professional Footballer who has played for Port Vale and Brentford amongst others. Frankie Bunn who played for Luton, Hull City and Oldham and holds the record for the most goals scored in one game, in the Littlewoods/league Cup, in 1989 when against scarborough he scored 6 of 7.

Dave Willetts, singer in musicals, was born in Marston Green on 24 June 1952 and was brought up in Acocks Green. While working for British Leyland, he got involved in amateur drama and his ability was spotted. He sang in the lead role of Valjean in Les Miserables in 1986, and took over the lead role from Michael Crawford in The Phantom of the Opera, and is famous as a top class musicals singer.^[2]

References

^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-02-16. Retrieved 2009-01-06. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ Jones, Alison (31 May 2013). "Willetts still on song". Birmingham Post. Retrieved 24 March 2018.

External links

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[1] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-02-16. Retrieved 2009-01-06. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[2] Jones, Alison (31 May 2013). "Willetts still on song". Birmingham Post. Retrieved 24 March 2018.

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