Blakenhall

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For the Cheshire village, see Blakenhall, Cheshire.

Blakenhall is a district of Wolverhampton which was developed during the late 19th century just south of the town centre, with hundreds of terraced houses some with shop fronts being built on the main road towards Sedgley as well as many being built in the side streets running off. The next major development in Blakenhall took place in the 1960s when several tower blocks were constructed, although one tower block was demolished in 2002 and two more in 2005.

Blakenhall is also a ward of Wolverhampton City Council, which forms part of the Wolverhampton South East constituency. The ward also covers the suburb of Goldthorn Park, immediately to the south, and part of Graiseley. It borders Penn, Graiseley, St Peter's, Ettingshall and Spring Vale wards, as well as (briefly) South Staffordshire and the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. The ward is represented by three Labour councillors; R M Jones, John Rowley and Judith Rowley^[1].

Blakenhall has a predominantly Sikh community which settled into the area in the two decades following the Second World War. The Guru Nanak Gurdwara occupies the site of a former Corona rinks factory and has at times been able to claim to be the largest Gurdwara in Europe.

In 1960, 1st Blakenhall Scout Group was formed by the late Maurice Lane. Maurice was influential in setting up the group which is still going strong today and still recruiting young people aged 6-14. Although Scouting has changed somewhat since the days 1st Blakenhall has formed the group now meet at St Johns Methodist Church near to the Fighting Cocks crossroads and is open to both male and females in the Blakenhall area^[2].

The Royal Wolverhampton School is situated in Blakenhall ward, as are Colton Hills and Parkfields Secondary schools.

On 8th July 1996, as nationally reported in the news, a machete attack took place at St Luke's Nursery School in Blakenhall, when 33-year-old Horrett Campbell ran riot - stabbing 21-year-old nursery nurse Lisa Potts and six children aged between 2 and 4 years. Campbell was later convicted on seven counts of attempted murder and sentenced to indefinite detention in a mental hospital^[3], while Lisa Potts was awarded the George Medal for her bravery^[4].