Bromford is an industrial area of Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

, situated between Ward End

Ward End

Ward End is an area of Birmingham, England. It covers the area between Saltley, Hodge Hill and Stechford and includes Ward End Park, a public park that has been open for over 100 years.-Ward End territory:...

 and Erdington

Erdington

Erdington is a suburb northeast of Birmingham city centre, England and bordering Sutton Coldfield. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own district committee...

.

Toponomy

In Old English, "Bromford" means "broom ford", signifying abundance of broom shrubs

Broom (shrub)

Brooms are a group of evergreen, semi-evergreen, and deciduous shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the legume family Fabaceae, mainly in the three genera Chamaecytisus, Cytisus and Genista, but also in many other small genera . All genera in this group are from the tribe Genisteae...

 (or similar hard-wearing plants) and a location to cross the River Tame

River Tame, West Midlands

The River Tame is the main river of the West Midlands, and the most important tributary of the River Trent. The Tame is about 40 km from source at Oldbury to its confluence with the Trent near Alrewas, but the main river length of the entire catchment, i.e...

.

In the United Kingdom Census of 1841 the area was named as "Bromfield", however the exact location is uncertain.

History

Bromford has historically been associated with two main features – the river crossing (a bridge in the area was first documented in 1317) and a mill. Bromford Mill, serving nearby Erdington, was first recorded in the Domesday Book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

 in 1086 and was a corn mill. At around 1600, it was converted to an iron mill – the last of Birmingham's mills to do so. In the Ordnance Survey

Ordnance Survey

Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...

 map of 1864, the mill was annotated as Bromyard Forge; its use had changed from iron milling to paper mill

Paper mill

A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags and other ingredients using a Fourdrinier machine or other type of paper machine.- History :...

ing and finally to wire drawing

Wire drawing

Wire drawing is a metalworking process used to reduce the cross-section of a wire by pulling the wire through a single, or series of, drawing die. There are many applications for wire drawing, including electrical wiring, cables, tension-loaded structural components, springs, paper clips, spokes...

 and steel rolling

Steelmaking

Steelmaking is the second step in producing steel from iron ore. In this stage, impurities such as sulfur, phosphorus, and excess carbon are removed from the raw iron, and alloying elements such as manganese, nickel, chromium and vanadium are added to produce the exact steel required.-Older...

 at approximately 1850. The production of steel continued in the surrounding area until the late 20th century.

Transport

Bromford lies on the River Tame, and is adjacent to the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal

Birmingham and Fazeley Canal

The Birmingham and Fazeley Canal is a canal of the Birmingham Canal Navigations in the West Midlands of England. Its purpose was to provide a link between the Coventry Canal and Birmingham and thereby connect Birmingham to London via the Oxford Canal....

. Bromford Bridge railway station

Bromford Bridge railway station

Bromford Bridge railway station was a railway station in Birmingham opened by the Midland Railway in 1896.It was built on the site of the previous Bromford Forge railway station which opened in the 1840s....

 served the area between 1898 and 1965, closing when Bromford Bridge Racecourse

Bromford Bridge Racecourse

Bromford Bridge Racecourse was a racecourse in the Bromford area of Birmingham, England.- History :The racecourse was opened in 1894 by brothers John and Stanley Ford. The lease of the land was supported by a company owned by the Earl of Aylesford. The first recorded meeting was on 14 June 1895...

 ceased to operate.

The M6 motorway

M6 motorway

The M6 motorway runs from junction 19 of the M1 at the Catthorpe Interchange, near Rugby via Birmingham then heads north, passing Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester, Preston, Carlisle and terminating at the Gretna junction . Here, just short of the Scottish border it becomes the A74 which continues to...

 cuts through Bromford. The Gravelly Hill Interchange

Gravelly Hill Interchange

Gravelly Hill Interchange, better known by its nickname Spaghetti Junction, is junction 6 of the M6 motorway where it meets the A38 Aston Expressway in Birmingham, England.- Overview :...

(known as "Spaghetti Junction") is approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west of Bromford.