Great Bridge, West Midlands

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Great Bridge is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. It is situated in Tipton near the border with West Bromwich.

It has been home to a historic market place for several centuries, and until the final two decades of the 20th century was occupied by numerous factories. Most of the factories have long since been closed and demolished.

Many new housing developments have sprung up in Great Bridge during the last 20 years, mostly on the sites of old factories.

There were two railway stations (Great Bridge North and Great Bridge South) in the Great Bridge area, but both stations were closed in the 1960s due to the Beeching Axe. Great Bridge South Station was situated on the line between Great Bridge and West Bromwich, which was dismantled during the 1970s. Great Bridge North Station was situated on the South Staffordshire Line between Walsall and Stourbridge, which closed to passengers in the 1960s but remained open for goods trains until the Walsall - Round Oak section was closed in 1993. It is set to re-open in 2011 as an extension to the Midland Metro, seeing a return of passenger trains to the area after an absence of almost 50 years. The new light rail passenger link will run alongside a re-opened single track line for goods trains.