Oldbury, West Midlands

Coordinates: 52°30′18″N 2°00′57″W / 52.505°N 2.0159°W / 52.505; -2.0159

Oldbury
Oldbury  Oldbury shown within the West Midlands
Population	10,830 (2001)
OS grid reference	SO989897
Metropolitan borough	Sandwell
Metropolitan county	West Midlands
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Sandwell
Postcode district	B68, B69
Dialling code	0121
Police	West Midlands
Fire	West Midlands
Ambulance	West Midlands
EU Parliament	West Midlands
List of places: UK • England • West Midlands

Oldbury is a town in the West Midlands in England. It is a part of the Black Country and the administrative centre of the borough of Sandwell.

Local government

Oldbury was part of the ancient parish of Halesowen, a detached part of Shropshire (surrounded by Worcestershire and Staffordshire) until Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844, when it was incorporated back into Worcestershire after an absence of nine-hundred years.

In 1966, Oldbury (which had become a municipal borough in 1935) merged with the County Borough of Smethwick and the Municipal Borough of Rowley Regis to form the County Borough of Warley, also taking in part of Tipton and a tiny fragment of Dudley. The county boundaries were also changed to include the whole of Warley as part of Worcestershire.

Oldbury council built several thousands houses, flats and bungalows for some 40 years until its disbandment, the 1,000th of which was completed in 1933 at Wallace Road near the border with Rowley Regis.[2]

In 1974, Oldbury became part of the new Sandwell Metropolitan Borough (a merger between the county boroughs of West Bromwich and Warley) and is now in the West Midlands Metropolitan County. Sandwell's headquarters are situated in Oldbury Town Centre.

Oldbury comes within the B68 and B69 postal districts, the latter of which also covers part of Tipton.

Notable people

Martin Elliott born July 1946 - died 24 March 2010)^[1] Martin, educated at Oldbury Grammar School , was a photographer, best-known for the iconic poster "Tennis Girl".^[2][3][4]

Jack Judge (christened John, born in Oldbury, Worcestershire born 3 December 1872, died 25 July 1938, West Bromwich) was a song-writer and music-hall entertainer best remembered for writing the song It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary.

The comedian Frank Skinner was born in Oldbury at 181 Bristnall Hall Road. He attended Moat Farm Infants School, St Hubert's Roman Catholic Junior School and Oldbury Technical School, and has been a TV comedian since the late 1980s.

The Sadlers rose to become a preeminent family in Oldbury during the nineteenth century. Notable figures included John Sadler (1820-1910) ('the Grand Old Man of Oldbury') and Sir Samuel Alexander Sadler.

Oldbury has a local branch of the Learning Skill Council situated at Black Country House.

The boxer Pat Cowdell, who achieved stardom during the 1970s and 1980s, was born in Oldbury and is still living in the town.

Mick Aston the renowned archaeologist and star of the TV programme Time Team was born in Oldbury and attended Oldbury Grammar School

Oldbury is the birthplace of Sir John Frederick Bridge who was a famous organist, composer and author. he was known as "Westminster Bridge" because of his long stint as organist at Westminster Abbey. He composed special music for Queen Victoria's Jubilee and King Edward VII's coronation, in addition to other choral, instrumental and organ music. His brother Joseph Cox Bridge was also an organist,composer and author. Becoming well known for his recorder compositions.

Oldbury is also home to former Iron Maiden and current Wolfsbane and BLAZE frontman Blaze Bayley.

Australian radio station 2SM talk-back host Gary Stewart was born in Oldbury on January 22 1960, he attended Rounds Green primary school from 1965-1967, he migrated with his family to Australia in 1968, he began his radio career in 1989.

Local Events

Lap of Oldbury - Sometimes referred to as 'Lap of shame' by many locals, the origins of this increasingly popular event are still unknown, however the future of the event is under threat as one of the original founding members has announced his permanent withdrawal, due to economic reasons.

Notable businesses

The first branch of Lloyds Bank was opened in Oldbury in 1864. The original building survives to this day, but was recently made redundant as a bank and is now a Subway fast food restaurant.

The first Asian restaurant was Deepak's Balti which opened 1940 which closed in 1965 after a fire.

In October 1980, retail giant J Sainsbury opened one of its first SavaCentre hypermarkets in Oldbury town centre. 20 years later, it was rebranded as a traditional Sainsbury's store as the retailer gradually phased out the SavaCentre side of the business. The town has seen a large expansion in retail since then, including a Toys "R" Us superstore on Wolverhampton Road in about 1985 and Oldbury Green Retail Park on the town's ring road a decade later. This, along with the development of the Merry Hill Shopping Centre some six miles away during the second half of the 1980s, has contributed to a decline in the fortunes of nearby West Bromwich town centre as a retail centre.^[5]

Balti Valley Takeaway is one of the first Indian Takeaway in Oldbury opened in 1994. http://www.baltivalley.webs.com

Transport links

For over thirty years there were three railway stations in the parish named Oldbury; only one is still open, but under a new name.

The oldest surviving one is on the Stour Valley line (former LMS Railway), at Bromford Road. It has been there since the 1850s. It was originally called Oldbury & Bromford Lane Station, then Oldbury Station, but it is now known as Sandwell and Dudley.

The second nearest railway station to the centre of Oldbury is at Langley Green, at Western Road, on the Stourbridge Extension Line, now the Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster Line. It opened in April 1867 and was originally called Langley Green & Rood End Station. However a short half-mile long branch line, the Oldbury Railway, was linked to the station with its own (third) platform. It opened in November 1884; and Langley Green & Rood End Station was then renamed Langley Green. The Oldbury Railway, which also linked to Albright and Wilson, had both a passenger station, called Oldbury railway station, on Halesowen Road; and a goods station, Oldbury Goods railway station, at the Birmingham Canal Navigations wharf in Oldbury. Passenger services ran to Oldbury Station until March 1915; and the line closed completely other than as a freight line for Albright and Wilson. All traces of its viaduct and embankment beyond Tat Bank Road were destroyed when the M5 motorway was built.

The M5 has served Oldbury since 1964 and passes the town on an elevated section built on reinforced concrete pillars. Access is from junction 2. This is also the closest junction to the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley.

Neighbourhoods

• Causeway Green
• Langley Green
• Warley
• Brandhall
• Londonderry
• Rood End
• Brades Village
• Lion Farm

Schools

• Bristnall Hall Technology College
• Oldbury College of Sport
• Perryfields High School

Etymology

The place name Oldbury, comes from the Old English 'Ealdenbyrig', - signifying that Oldbury was old even in early English times over 1000 years ago. Eald being Old English for 'old', Byrig is the plural of 'burh' in Old English - a burh being a fortification or fortified town.

References

1. ^ Death notice
2. ^ Independent obituary
3. ^ BBC News - 'Tennis Girl poster photographer dies'
4. ^ Andrew Hough, "'Tennis girl' poster photographer Martin Elliott dies of cancer", Daily Telegraph, 2 April 2010
5. ^ [1]