Old Hill is a locality in the metropolitan borough

Metropolitan borough

A metropolitan borough is a type of local government district in England, and is a subdivision of a metropolitan county. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts, however all of them have been granted or regranted...

 of Sandwell

Sandwell

Sandwell is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands with a population of around 289,100, and an area of . The borough is named after Sandwell Priory, and spans a densely populated part of both the Black Country, and the West Midlands conurbation, encompassing the urban towns of Blackheath,...

 in 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 a district of Cradley Heath

Cradley Heath

Cradley Heath is a town in the Black Country, located in Sandwell metropolitan borough, England. The name is usually pronounced "Craid-ley", not "Crad-ley", but in the Black Country accent, it may even sound like "Craig-ley Aith"...

.

General description

Old Hill is a parish in the Birmingham borough of Sandwell on the Halesowen

Halesowen

Halesowen is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands, England.The population, as measured by the United Kingdom Census 2001, was 55,273...

 Road about 2 miles north of Halesowen

Halesowen

Halesowen is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands, England.The population, as measured by the United Kingdom Census 2001, was 55,273...

 and is home of the famous Old Hill Cricket Ground. It is also where the chains for the infamous White Star Line RMS Titanic were made.

Old Hill High Street is home to several takeaways, ladies clothes shop, pet food shop, former butchers, KFC

KFC

KFC, founded and also known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, is a chain of fast food restaurants based in Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States. KFC has been a brand and operating segment, termed a concept of Yum! Brands since 1997 when that company was spun off from PepsiCo as Tricon Global...

 (opened in 2005 on the site of a former public house) and six different churches. Old Hill has undergone redevelopment.

The Eliza Tinsley factory was sold off in 2005 due to the firm's financial difficulties and has now become a housing estate

Housing estate

A housing estate is a group of buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Accordingly, a housing estate is usually built by a single contractor, with only a few styles of house or building design, so they tend to be uniform in appearance...

.

In the 1940s and 1950s the High Street was very different and contained some desirable shops typical of many main streets in the Black Country at that time. Thomas' Butchers and slaughterhouse was next door to the Grand. It was a family business as most shops were and old Mrs Thomas worked tirelessly well into retirement age. Needhams was a small family grocers and was spotlessly clean. Old Guys sweetshop and tobacconist was a joy to visit. Old Mr Guy was a tiny man who stocked all the best sweets and sold ice cream cornets with chocolate sprinkles. The greengrocers on The Cross was called 'Timmies' and was completely open at the front like a market rather than a shop.

In 1945 prefabs

Prefabricated home

Prefabricated homes, often referred to as prefab homes, are dwellings manufactured off-site in advance, usually in standard sections that can be easily shipped and assembled....

 were built to house young families. They were in Cherry Orchard and Spring Meadow. Although they were meant to be temporary housing they were much loved family homes for twenty years or more.To most of the people who moved into them they were the ultimate luxury with big rooms, large windows, indoor toilet and a bathroom. Kitchens with built in cookers and fridge a real luxury for people moving from tiny terraced houses with the privy in the back yard and only the brewhouse to do the washing and get hot water. They all had gardens big enough for flowers and vegetables and plenty of room to play.

The Cook Shop is the longest serving business in Old Hill and in 2010 celebrated its 120th anniversary under the ownership of the same family.

Old Hill's market hall closed down in 2006. In December 2010 it reopened as a Cost Cutter store.

The old Plaza bingo hall, formerly a theatre, has been redeveloped and reopened April 2010. The building now called the Plaza was originally The Grand, a cinema, and then became the Plaza, a dance hall where many stars of the day performed including The Beatles

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

, Joe Brown and Lulu. When it first opened only soft drinks and snacks were available at the 'bar'.

The town centre was by-passed with the construction of a new single-carriageway road (Heathfield Way) in 1991, relieving the town centre of some of its heavy congestion. The new road runs alongside Heathfield Foundation Technology College (previously Heathfield High School) which was built during the 1970s and is the only secondary school in Old Hill and Cradley Heath. By 1988 the school built a new technology block and a sports hall.

Haden Hill House, a Victorian gentleman's residence set in a park is situated to the south of the town centre. The house and park are owned by Sandwell Borough Council and are open to the public . Haden Hall, a building dating from the Tudor period is next to Haden Hill House.

Transport

Old Hill is served by Old Hill railway station

Old Hill railway station

Old Hill railway station serves the Old Hill area of Sandwell, in the West Midlands of England. The station is managed by London Midland, who provide the majority of train services; Chiltern Railways also operate a small number of trains. It is situated on the Birmingham-Stourbridge...

 on the main line from Birmingham, Snow Hill, to Stourbridge.

It is on a number of bus routes and has links to Halesowen

Halesowen

Halesowen is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands, England.The population, as measured by the United Kingdom Census 2001, was 55,273...

, Dudley

Dudley

Dudley is a large town in the West Midlands county of England. At the 2001 census , the Dudley Urban Sub Area had a population of 194,919, making it the 26th largest settlement in England, the second largest town in the United Kingdom behind Reading, and the largest settlement in the UK without...

, Walsall

Walsall

Walsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation and part of the Black Country.Walsall is the administrative...

, West Bromwich

West Bromwich

West Bromwich is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands, England. It is north west of Birmingham lying on the A41 London-to-Birkenhead road. West Bromwich is part of the Black Country...

, 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...

, and Merry Hill Shopping Centre

Merry Hill Shopping Centre

Westfield Merry Hill is a shopping centre in Brierley Hill near Dudley, West Midlands, England. It was developed between 1985 and 1990, with several expansion and renovation projects taking place since. The original developers and owners were Richardson Developments but the Centre has had a number...

.

Notable people

It is the birthplace of cricketer Eric Hollies

Eric Hollies

William Eric Hollies was an English cricketer, who is mainly remembered for taking the wicket of Donald Bradman for a duck in Bradman's final Test match innings, in which only four was needed for a Test average of 100...

 and his father Billy Hollies, one of the last of the underarm bowlers in League cricket. At present the most famous person from the town is comedienne/comic actress Josie Lawrence

Josie Lawrence

Josie Lawrence is a British comedienne and actress best known for her work with the Comedy Store Players improvisational troupe, the television series Whose Line Is It Anyway? and more recently her role as Manda Best in EastEnders....

 who has been the star of Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Whose Line Is It Anyway? is a short-form improvisational comedy TV show. Originally a British radio programme, it moved to television in 1988 as a series made for the UK's Channel 4, for a 10 series run...

, EastEnders

EastEnders

EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...

 and has topped the bill in London's WestEnd.

Churches

The Parish Church is Holy Trinity, situated at the junction of Lawrence Lane and Halesowen Road (the main street).

Our Lady of Lourdes serves the Roman Catholic community.

The Methodists now meet at a building on the corner of Lawrence Lane and Clyde Street, built after several other congregations amalgamated. There is also a Wesleyan Reform Union

Wesleyan Reform Union

The Wesleyan Reform Union is an Independent Methodist Connexion based in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1859 by the members of the Wesleyan Reform movement who did not join the United Methodist Free Churches-Statement of Faith:...

church, St James', relocated to Highgate Street (opposite Willetts Way) to make way for Cradley Heath bypass.

There are two Strict Baptist chapels, Spring Meadow and Station Road.

There is an independent mission church, the Masefield Mission, in Claremont Street.