Sandwell

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sandwell is a metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is made up of the Black Country towns of Oldbury, Rowley Regis, Smethwick, Tipton, Wednesbury and West Bromwich.

Sandwell borders the City of Birmingham to the east, the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley to the south and west, the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall to the north, and the City of Wolverhampton to the north-west.

[edit] History of the Borough

The borough was formed on 1 April 1974 as a merger of the county boroughs of Warley (associated with Worcestershire) and West Bromwich (associated with Staffordshire). Warley itself was a recent creation, having been formed in 1966 by a merger of the Staffordshire county borough of Smethwick with the Worcestershire town of Oldbury (itself part of an exclave of Shropshire until the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844) and Rowley Regis(Staffs).

In 1986 the West Midlands County Council was abolished and Sandwell effectively became a unitary authority. Sandwell is divided into 24 Wards and is represented by 72 ward councillors.

West Bromwich is the largest town in Sandwell, however the council headquarters are based in Oldbury.

The borough was named after Sandwell Priory, the ruins of which are in Sandwell Valley [2]. The local council has considered changing its name in the past, as many people outside of the West Midlands are confused as to where it is located, and in June 2002 a survey of borough residents was carried out. Sixty-five percent of those surveyed favoured retaining the name Sandwell.^[1]

Sandwell College, which has a campus in West Bromwich, Oldbury and Smethwick, was opened in September 1986 following the merger of Warley College and West Bromwich College.

[edit] Localities

Localities in the borough include:

• Albion Estate
• Bearwood, Blackheath, Brandhall
• Cape Hill, Cradley Heath
• Dudley Port
• Charlemont and Grove Vale, Guns Village
• Hamstead, Hill Top, Horseley Heath
• Great Barr
• Langley Green, Londonderry
• Oakham, Ocker Hill, Oldbury, Old Hill
• Princes End
• Rood End, Rowley Regis
• Sandwell, Smethwick, Summer Hill
• Tipton, Tividale
• Uplands
• Warley, Wednesbury, West Bromwich
• Yew Tree

[edit] Other places

• Sandwell Priory
• Sandwell Valley
• Sandwell Valley Country Park
• RSPB Sandwell Valley
• West Bromwich Albion
• Sandwell General Hospital
• Black Patch Park

[edit] In popular culture

Local football team West Bromwich Albion are referred to as Sandwell Town by the rivals of several local teams, most notably Wolverhampton Wanderers. Wolves fans have been known to sing a song called Sandwell Town are going down which is based on the tune of London Bridge is falling down.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Sandwell MBC

eo:Sandwell it:Sandwell nl:Sandwell no:Sandwell ro:Sandwell