Fordhouses
Encyclopedia
Fordhouses is a suburb of Wolverhampton
, West Midlands
, England
. It is situated to the north of the city centre, adjacent to the border with Staffordshire
, within the Bushbury North
ward of Wolverhampton City Council. It is the most northerly part of the city alongside Pendeford
, adjacent to the M54 motorway
.
, as far north as junction 2 of the M54 at Coven Heath and as far east as Bushbury
. It encompassess several smaller areas, such as Wobaston, Snapes Green, the Harrowby estate & Lesscroft. The area is a mix of housing and industrial, with many rows of industrial units in the north-east along the Wobaston and Stafford Roads, such as HS Marston Aerospace & Spectre UK Ltd, with housing taking up much of the rest of the area.
The other local shops are slightly further north on a slip road running off the southbound arm of the Stafford Road. These include a Perfect Pizza, the Fordhouses Chippy, Kitchen Factory, Wine Cellar, News Xpress newsagents, Sandwich King, K3 Hair salon and Harlequins florist. On the opposite side of the Stafford Road is a BP petrol station. There was previously a petrol station on the same side as the shops, but this was recently demolished to make way for new housing.
On Harrowby Road there is a small row of shops including a Costcutter
store, Divas Hair Salon, Paul's Off-License, Yummy Yummy Rice House Chinese take-away and the Black Country Models store.
Until c.2003, The Vine (Grapevine) stood on Vine Island (lending its name to the island). This has been pulled down and modern apartments now stand in its place, with a vine shaped fence paying homage to the old pub.
On the Harrowby estate is a pub called The Harrowby, which stands on the corner of Patshull Avenue and Harrowby Road.
There is also a members only social club on Pendeford / Fordhouses border, which is part of the Fordhouses Cricket Club (formerly Dowty's).
sqn based on bee lane.
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
, West Midlands
West Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is situated to the north of the city centre, adjacent to the border with Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
, within the Bushbury North
Bushbury North
Bushbury North is a ward of Wolverhampton City Council, West Midlands, England. It is situated to the north of the city centre, on the city's border with South Staffordshire....
ward of Wolverhampton City Council. It is the most northerly part of the city alongside Pendeford
Pendeford
Pendeford is a suburb of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is situated NNW of the city centre, adjacent to the border with Staffordshire, within the Oxley ward of Wolverhampton City Council.- Name and origins :...
, adjacent to the M54 motorway
M54 motorway
The M54 is a 23 mile east-west motorway in the English counties of Shropshire and Staffordshire. It is also referred to as the Telford Motorway, after the road's primary westbound destination, the new town of Telford...
.
Name and origins
The place name 'Fordhouses' refers to the houses situated alongside the Wolverhampton to Stafford road next to where the road crosses the Wobaston Brook. In 14th century subsidy rolls, folk living here were described as being 'atte forde'. This is the earliest known reference to people living in this area, though the nearby Wobaston place name is said by toponymists to derive from 'Wibaldes tun' - likely the early English / Anglo-Saxon 'Wigbeald', with 'tun' meaning homestead or farmstead - so the name would literally mean the farmstead of Wigbeald.Modern times
Today, Fordhouses stretches over a large area, as far south as Oxley, as far west as PendefordPendeford
Pendeford is a suburb of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is situated NNW of the city centre, adjacent to the border with Staffordshire, within the Oxley ward of Wolverhampton City Council.- Name and origins :...
, as far north as junction 2 of the M54 at Coven Heath and as far east as Bushbury
Bushbury
Bushbury is a suburb of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It lies two miles north-east of Wolverhampton city centre, divided between the Bushbury North and Bushbury South and Low Hill wards.- Place name and history :...
. It encompassess several smaller areas, such as Wobaston, Snapes Green, the Harrowby estate & Lesscroft. The area is a mix of housing and industrial, with many rows of industrial units in the north-east along the Wobaston and Stafford Roads, such as HS Marston Aerospace & Spectre UK Ltd, with housing taking up much of the rest of the area.
Shops & amenities
There are two focal points in the central Fordhouses area - both straddling the Stafford Road. The first being the shops at Vine Island in Wobaston. Here there is a branch of the Co-Operative Food store, Pete's Plaice Fish & Chip shop, Winks Tattoo Studio, Sandwich Box, TJ's barbers, the Poonian pharmacy and the Wine Lodge off license.The other local shops are slightly further north on a slip road running off the southbound arm of the Stafford Road. These include a Perfect Pizza, the Fordhouses Chippy, Kitchen Factory, Wine Cellar, News Xpress newsagents, Sandwich King, K3 Hair salon and Harlequins florist. On the opposite side of the Stafford Road is a BP petrol station. There was previously a petrol station on the same side as the shops, but this was recently demolished to make way for new housing.
On Harrowby Road there is a small row of shops including a Costcutter
Costcutter
Costcutter is based in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Poland under which there are supermarkets and local and urban convenience stores. The banner also has its own brand of goods and products which are sold alongside Nisa Today own-brand products and branded products.As of December 2006,...
store, Divas Hair Salon, Paul's Off-License, Yummy Yummy Rice House Chinese take-away and the Black Country Models store.
Public Houses
There is only one pub in the central Fordhouses area today, this is The Moreton Arms on Springfield Lane. It is a Marston's plc pub that specialises in food and good ale.Until c.2003, The Vine (Grapevine) stood on Vine Island (lending its name to the island). This has been pulled down and modern apartments now stand in its place, with a vine shaped fence paying homage to the old pub.
On the Harrowby estate is a pub called The Harrowby, which stands on the corner of Patshull Avenue and Harrowby Road.
There is also a members only social club on Pendeford / Fordhouses border, which is part of the Fordhouses Cricket Club (formerly Dowty's).
People, groups & organisations
The mixed voice choir group, The Marston Singers, are a Fordhouses based choir group. They formed in 1961 when Keith Lloyd along with other employees from engineering company Marston Excelsior Limited set up a small choir. Though this disbanded in 1964, the choir were back in 1970 & continue to this day. Fordhouses also has an Air Training CorpsAir Training Corps
The Air Training Corps , commonly known as the Air Cadets, is a cadet organisation based in the United Kingdom. It is a voluntary youth group which is part of the Air Cadet Organisation and the Royal Air Force . It is supported by the Ministry of Defence, with a regular RAF Officer, currently Air...
sqn based on bee lane.