Tividale
Tividale is an area within the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, at the heart of the West Midlands' Black Country.
History
Tividale lies in the northwest corner of the large parish of Rowley Regis. The hamlet grew up on the road between Oldbury and Dudley, on the border with the Burnt Tree district of Tipton. In the 18th and 19th Centuries, as coal mining and stone quarrying increased and canals were built across the area, Tividale became a centre for industries such as iron and brick manufacture, and several terraced streets were built.Tividale Hall Park has been known as Derygate Park; it can be traced back as far as 1327 when Tividale was known as Derickton Cross.
Rattlechain Brickworks were opened in about 1895 on a site near Sedgley Road East, in the shadow New Main Line Canal which links Wolverhampton with Birmingham. Quarrying of land next to the brickworks led to a section of the Main Line Canal into the marlhole of the Brickworks, emptying out six miles of canal and causing thousands of pounds worth of damage, although nobody was injured. Another marlhole was created in 1948 and despite the subsequent closure and demolition of the brickworks, the marlhole remained in use as a disposal site for local factories, and is still known locally as Rattlechain Lagoon. Since the late 1990s, there has been growing local concern over Rattlechain Lagoon, with numerous dead birds being found at the site. Their death was linked to poisoning from chemicals disposed of in the water, which included white phosphorus. Nearby residents, including those of a 2006 housing development by Barratt Homes, feared that the proximity of their homes to Rattlechain Lagoon could render them unsellable.
Tividale began to expand during the 1930s, namely with the Tividale Hall and the Grace Mary housing estates. After the Second World War, further housing developments, mostly by the local authority, saw these two housing estates effectively merged. Construction of the Tividale Hall Estate by private builders was halted in about 1940 due to the war effort, but continued during the 1950s when council houses were built.
Tividale Tram workshops opened along the main Tividale Road in 1907, and operated until 1930. The tramway closed in 1939, as trams were phased out in favour of motor buses.
After the Second World War, Tividale became the first part of Rowley Regis for which a purpose-built comprehensive school was provided. Excellent primary schools were built at Oakham and Tividale Hall to supplement the original Tividale Primary School.
There were several air raids on Tividale during the Second World War, including a landmine which on 12 August 1941 destroyed a pair of recently built semi-detached houses on Birch Crescent, killing a six-year-old girl in a house opposite, as well as three people in the two destroyed houses; a 49-year-old woman in a second, and a married couple in a third. The houses were later rebuilt in the same style, while several surrounding houses suffered damage from the impact of the bombing and were repaired.
On 19 November 1940, a landmine was dropped in City Road, ripping into a section of recently built council houses. Four houses were completely reduced to rubble and several others suffered severe damage. A total of 10 people died, including all five members of the Roberts family; 11-year-old Ada her 33-year-old mother Mary 37-year-old father Sidney, eight-year-old brother Geoffrey and nine-year-old brother Sidney junior. Samuel and Beatrice Millington, a married couple in their forties, also died at the scene; their 20-year-old son Samuel junior was pulled alive from the house but died in hospital from his injuries the next day. The only surviving member of the family was the youngest son, 17-year-old Sidney. Also killed were a 17-year-old man and five-year-old boy, both from different families. According to one source, the bodies of some of the nine people killed outright were never found and one victim's body was reportedly blown into a nearby tree. Two residents of one badly damaged house escaped injury despite standing on the doorstep of his house when it was half demolished by the landmine. Several other people survived injuries in this attack. The wrecked houses were later rebuilt in the same style.
The Luftwaffe are believed to have targeted these areas of Tividale due to their proximity to the "Big Bertha" anti-aircraft gun which was located near City Road and had been erected at the beginning of the war in 1939 to tackle the impending threat of enemy bombers.
On 21 December 1940, the Boat Inn on Dudley Road East was hit by an anti-aircraft shell from "Big Bertha", resulting the deaths of 12 people who were attending a wedding reception there. A 15-year-old boy, along with his 26-year-old brother a 36-year-old woman, 28-year-old man, a married couple and a 38-year-old man died at the scene. A 16-year-old girl died just after arriving at hospital, as did a 19-year-old man. A 30-year-old woman died in hospital from her injuries the next day,
and a 19-year-old woman died in hospital from her injuries two days later, as did a 20-year-old woman. A 20-year-old man in a neighbouring house was also injured as a result of the explosion and died in hospital the next day. The Boat Inn was rebuilt several years afterwards but demolished in 2004.
A total of 27 people died as a result of air raids at Tividale during the Second World War, and dozens more were injured.
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 on the edge of 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, Tividale became part of the 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 as a building stone ceased over two centuries ago, after bricks 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. The roads on this estate are all named after golf courses; St Andrews Drive, Muirfield Crescent, Gleneagles Drive, Hoylake Drive, Sunningdale Drive, Birkdale Drive and Wentworth Drive.
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. Further sections of private housing were added in 2006 and 2017. 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 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.
Tividale is home to a Sikh Temple or Gurdwara called Gurdwara Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji. Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji was the Sixth 'Teacher' of the Sikh Religion. The Gurdwara is the place of worship for Sikhs, the followers of Sikhism. A Gurdwara can be identified from a distance by a tall flagpole bearing the Nishan Sahib, the Sikh flag. There are about 200–300 Sikhs living in Tividale today.
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, when Tividale Comprehensive School opened in Lower City Road to serve the 11–18 age range. It was renamed Tividale High School in September 1997 before becoming Ormiston Sandwell Community Academy in September 2009.Tividale county primary school is situated half way up Regent Road. It’s long term headteacher in the 50s and 60s was mister Brown who was supported for many years by teacher Mrs Stewart.
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.
The closest higher education institution is the University of Wolverhampton.
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. 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, Barley Mow, Red Lion, The Huntsman, The Waggon & Horses 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; Warley council had to take down the tree and all trace has now been removed.