Erdington

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Erdington constituency shown within Birmingham

Erdington is an area in north Birmingham, England. It is also a formal district, managed by its own district committee. The formal district comprises the wards of Erdington, Tyburn (formerly Kingsbury), Stockland Green and Kingstanding, although most of Kingstanding ward lies outside the historical boundaries of Erdington.

1 History
2 Rock music
3 Places of interest
4 Facilities
5 Borders
- 5.1 The borders of Erdington are
6 Parts
7 Population
8 Railway connection
9 Member of Parliament
10 Local politics
11 References
12 External links

[edit] History

Erdington was mentioned in the Domesday Book under the name Hardintone and for much of its history was part of the parish of Aston. After a brief period as an urban district at the end of the 19th century, it was absorbed into the growing city of Birmingham in 1911.

[edit] Rock music

It was formerly home to the famous rock music venue, Mothers (previously the Carlton Ballroom), which from 1968 until it closed in 1971 played host to bands such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and The Who. The resident band were locals The Moody Blues and the DJ was non other than John Peel. The club was located opposite St Barnabus Curch on the High Street above a furniture store.

[edit] Places of interest

Notable landmarks include:-

The Spaghetti Junction, which is situated on the southern edge of the district and on the border of Aston & Gravelly Hill.
Erdington Library, which was opened in 1907, as a Carnegie library. (Erdington Historical Society meets at the Library on the 2nd Monday of every month.
Fort Dunlop (Home of Dunlop Tyres), (now a shopping center known as, “The Fort”)
Erdington village itself with the main Shopping Centre on and round the High Street, the busiest high street in Birmingham,
Erdington Parish Church, in the High Street, a continuation of Sutton Rd,
The Abbey Church on Sutton Road
Pype Hayes Park, the former home of the Baggot family
The Old Green Man on Bromford Lane (now known as the Lad in the Lane) one of the oldest public houses in Birmingham

[edit] Facilities

The main shopping centre is in the High Street. Josiah Mason College is a College for adult education.

Erdington is served by the Good Hope Hospital in neighbouring Sutton Coldfield. Erdington is also served by the John Taylor Hospice and by Highcroft Hospital. Highcroft Hospital is a former Poor Law institution, now a Psychiatric hospital. There is a social stigma to being treated there. Other large psychiatric institutions in Birmingham have been broken up. Some of the Highcroft Hospital grounds have been used for new housing.

[edit] Borders

Erdington itself borders the traditionally working class areas of Aston, Perry Barr and Hodge Hill, and the affluent and spacious districts of Sutton Coldfield, Minworth, Castle Bromwich and Water Orton (North Warwickshire). It is located approximately five miles north east of Birmingham City Centre.

[edit] The borders of Erdington are

Stockland Green which borders with Witton at the end of Marsh Hill. (Erdington claims Witton lakes they border Erdington along with Wyrley Birch to separate it from Kingstanding),
The Yenton and Chester Road form the border from Wylde Green,
Following Chester Road down all the way to the Tyburn House Public House would end the Erdington constituency as Castle Vale is further down.
Moving back would be the Tyburn road which intersects Kingsbury road and leads right back to Spaghetti junctionon the border of Aston & Gravelly Hill.

[edit] Parts

Erdington also includes Pype Hayes. This was formerly a working class area of Council Houses built between World War I and World War II. These houses had to be demolished due to problems with the concrete used in their construction. Pype Hayes is now an area with modern houses, some are owner occupied, others belong to Housing associations.

[edit] Population

At the time of the 2001 Census there were 89,095 Yentonians, as residents of Erdington were traditionally known. The population is now over 100,000 people.^{[citation needed]} (The term, "Yentonian" is hardly known or used in 21st century Erdington). The area where Chester Rd crosses Birmingham Rd and Sutton Rd is called, “The Yenton”. The population is socially mixed.

Erdington's most famous resident was Josiah Mason, the philanthropist whose bust now stands at the centre of the roundabout at the junction of Chester Road and Orphanage Road, so named because he founded an Orphanage there in 1860.

[edit] Railway connection

The bridge at Erdington, showing the old LMS lettering.

Erdington railway station is on the Birmingham Cross-City Line.

[edit] Member of Parliament

Birmingham Erdington is a constituency, its Member of Parliament is Siôn Simon.

[edit] Local politics

Erdington has long been dominated by the Labour Party. There was much surprise when Conservative Robert Alden won a seat in Erdington ward de-seating the Labour candidate Susannah McCory. The other two seats in the ward are still Labour held, Jilly Bermingham and Renee Spector are the Labour councillors in the ward.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Council constituencies in Birmingham:

Government of Birmingham

Birmingham council constituencies and wards

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