HALL GREEN

'Hall Green' is an area and ward in south Birmingham, England. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own district committee.
St John's Church in Sparkhill is the Anglican Church whose parish covers the northern part of this district.

Contents

Politics

Population and housing

Facilities

Architecture

Famous residents

The Shire Country Park

References

Politics

Birmingham, Hall Green is a parliamentary constituency; its Member of Parliament is Stephen James McCabe. Hall Green ward is presently represented by three Liberal Democrat councillors on Birmingham City Council; Sandra O'Brien, Paula Smith and Michael Wilkes.
Hall Green has adopted a Ward Support Officer with the current holder of the title being Talbinder Kaur.

Population and housing

The 2001 Population Census found that there were 25,921 people living in Hall Green with a population density of 4,867 people per km², this compares with 3,649 people per square KM for Birmingham. Hall Green is below average, when compared to Birmingham in general, in the percentage of population represented by ethnic minorities with the figure for Hall Green being 25.4% (6,580) and the figure for Birmingham being 29.6%.
Housing is largely inter-war (mainly semi-detached) and pleasantly laid out with tree-lined roads and green spaces. There are still a good number of independent locally run shops.

Facilities

There is a popular Greyhound racing stadium and race course situated on York Road called "Hall Green Stadium", though this is technically just across the border in neighbouring Acocks Green. The stadium has won the BGRB Midlands and Western Region Racecourse of the Year 2003 award for the 4th consecutive year.
Hall Green is also home to Moor Green F.C., but the future of the club is residency in the area is uncertain after an arson attack in 2005 on the Moorlands stadium.^[1]
The area is served by Hall Green Library, which was opened in 1962.^[2]

Architecture

On School Road is the Church of the Ascension, formerly the Job Marston Chapel. Built in 1704, it is believed to have been designed by Sir William Wilson. The chancel and transepts were added in 1860. The brick building consists of an exterior with a stone entablature and balustrade supported by Doric pilasters and the window architraves are of moulded stone. At the west end is a tower with an octagonal upper storey with a copper cupola. The interior of the nave is covered by a coved plaster ceiling. It is the earliest classical church to survive within the city boundary. Birmingham, Douglas Hickman, , , Studio Vista Limited, 1970,
Other historic buildings in Hall Green include Sarehole Mill, one of only two watermills in the city. As well as this is Petersfield Court, an Art Deco housing block containing 14 flats, built in 1937. Built out of brick, it has rounded corner windows, made possible by the introduction of reinforced concrete. Later examples of architecture include the original Hall Green Technical College on the Stratford Road. It was designed by S. T. Walker and Partners in association with Alwyn Sheppard Fidler, the City architect for Birmingham. Built in 1958, it consists of a reinforced concrete framed classroom and an administration block clad with cedar boards and aluminium windows. Boarding was rarely used on educational buildings of this size at the time.

Famous residents

Hall Green has been a home to comedian Tony Hancock, who lived at 41 Southam Road until the age of three (the house contains a plaque commemorating this), racing commentator Murray Walker, who was born at 214 Reddings Lane (which is now a dentist), Nigel Mansell, who though born in Upton-upon-Severn spent most of his childhood and early adult years in the area and most famously J. R. R. Tolkien, who lived near Sarehole Mill, Birmingham's only working water mill. Sarehole Mill is a tourist attraction, powered by the River Cole, that is open to visitors during the summer months and has several locations nearby that are supposedly the inspiration behind scenes in ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. The area of Hall Green was not developed at the time when Tolkien lived there (1896—1900).

The Shire Country Park

The Shire Country Park runs past Sarehole Mill and along the course of the River Cole to Small Heath. Millstream Way passes through the park. Wildlife present at the country park include otters and water voles and many types of birds. The old village of Sarehole (now on the border of Hall Green and Moseley) is where J.R.R. Tolkien lived as a child and gained inspiration for the Hobbits home "The Shire".

References

1. ''Football club hit by arson attack'' - BBC News, 27 January, 2005 (Retrieved August 21, 2007)
2. Notes on the History of the Birmingham Public Libraries, Rolf Weitzel, , , Birmingham Public Libraries, 1962,


★ ''J R R Tolkien - A Biography'', Humphrey Carpenter ISBN 0-261-10245-1

★ Hall Green Community Network pages

★ Birmingham City Council: Hall Green Constituency

★ Birmingham City Council: Hall Green Ward

★ Photographs Hall Green

★ Greyhound racing in Hall Green

★ Made in Birmingham

★ Moor Green FC