92-464: Freehold Land Societies were a type of building society that flourished in England in the late 1840s and early 1850s, although new societies continued to be established for several more decades and some were still operating in the early 20th century. Their original purpose was to acquire land and divide it into plots or allotments of a size that would entitle the (male) owner to a vote. The key stimulus
184-542: A banqueting centre . The museums in Dudley celebrate the geological and industrial heritage of the town and the surrounding Black Country region, and its role in the Industrial Revolution . The Black Country Living Museum is an open-air living museum , which consists of reconstructed buildings from the surrounding area forming a living replica of an industrial village, with demonstrators portraying life in
276-551: A church school from the mid-19th century, but this was closed during the 1970s and was used as a community centre for several years before being transferred to the Black Country Museum in 1989. The site of the school remained undeveloped until 2008, when work began on a new health centre. There are 11 scheduled ancient monuments in Dudley and the surrounding district, and 260 listed buildings, including 6 Grade I listed and 19 Grade II* listed buildings. The town
368-426: A conflict of interest between borrowers and savers. It was the task of the movement to reconcile that conflict of interest so as to enable savers to conclude that their interests and those of borrowers were to some extent complementary rather than conflictive. Conflict of interest between savers and borrowers was never fully reconciled in the building societies but upon deregulation that reconciliation became something of
460-538: A conversion, its managers derive more value from a conversion but do not suffer much loss of perks than if the bank were small. Their benefit is in the right to purchase the new stock, which are valuable because the new issues are consistently underpriced [referring to USA mutual bank conversions]. Moreover, by no means are all mutual managers incompetent, and conversions allows the bank to expand more easily and to grant executive stock options that are valuable to skilled managers". Instead of deploying their margin advantage as
552-557: A defence of mutuality, around 1980 building societies began setting mortgage rates with reference to market clearing levels. In sum they began behaving more like banks, seeking to maximise profit instead of the advantages of a mutual organisation. Thus, according to the Bank of England's Boxall & Gallagher (1997) : "... there was virtually no difference between banks and building society 'listed' interest rates for home finance mortgage lending between 1984 and 1997. This behaviour resulted in
644-619: A demutualisation and a merger in 2011, and four further mergers 2013–2018 which resulted in there being only one building society headquartered respectively in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Since then, the only merger has been in 2023, when the Manchester society merged with the Newcastle society. In the 1980s, changes to British banking laws allowed building societies to offer banking services equivalent to normal banks. The management of
736-756: A divide exists between building societies that operate in New Zealand, on the one hand, and those that (although formally registered in New Zealand) operate offshore: Building societies' registration details and filed documents are available in the Register of Building Societies held at the New Zealand Companies Office. Over the years, a number of building societies were established. Dudley Dudley ( / ˈ d ʌ d l i / DUD -lee , locally [ˈdʊdləi̯] )
828-560: A line that served the small communities on the way to Old Hill and Halesowen . The site was later used as a Freightliner terminal by Freightliner , until an unpopular closure on 26 September 1989. A proposal to re-open the segment of line between Dudley and Dudley Port was unveiled in December 2014, to allow for a light rail link from the town centre to the main line, but this plan was scrapped in May 2016 as Dudley Council favoured keeping
920-448: A lost cause. The management of building societies apparently could expend considerable time and resources (which belonged the organisation) planning their effective capture—of as much of the assets as they could. If so, this is arguably insider dealing on a grand scale with the benefit of inside specialist knowledge of the business and resources of the firm not shared with outsiders like politicians and members (and, perhaps, regulators). Once
1012-511: A major market town during the Middle Ages , selling not only agricultural produce, but also iron goods at a national level. Working iron and mining for coal was in practice as early as the 13th century. The first mention of Dudley's status as a borough dates from the mid-13th century, when Roger de Somery, then Baron of Dudley, approved of the establishment of a market in nearby Wolverhampton . An inquisition after his death further established
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#17327879896471104-503: A member with £50,000 in each of Nationwide, Cheshire and Derbyshire at the time of the respective mergers would retain £150,000 of FSCS protection for their funds in the merged Nationwide. On 31 December 2010 the general FSCS limit for retail deposits was increased to £85,000 for banks and building societies and the transitional arrangements in respect of building society mergers came to an end. As of February 2024 , there are 42 independent building societies, all of which are members of
1196-539: A method of smelting Iron ore using coke at his father's works in Cradley and Pensnett Chase , though his trade was unsuccessful due to circumstances of the time. Abraham Darby was descended from Dud Dudley's sister, Jane, and was the first person to produce iron commercially using coke instead of charcoal at his works in Coalbrookdale , Shropshire in 1709. Abraham Darby was born near Wrens Nest Hill near
1288-564: A mile east of Dudley Castle in 1712, though this is challenged by Wolverhampton, which also claims to have been the location of the first working Newcomen engine. Dudley's population grew dramatically during the 18th and 19th centuries because of the increase in industry , with the main industries including coal and limestone mining. Other industries included iron, steel, engineering, metallurgy, glass cutting, textiles and leatherworking. During this time living conditions remained very poor, with Dudley being named "the most unhealthy place in
1380-478: A mile from Dudley town centre, these are Dudley Port and Tipton . They are within the town of Dudley but outside the borough boundary as parts of Sandwell are considered within Dudley Town. The nearest station to the town within the Dudley borough is Coseley. All of these stations are on the same line, served by local services operated by West Midlands Trains . The nearest regular intercity services run from
1472-413: A number of societies still felt that they were unable to compete with the banks, and a new Building Societies Act was passed in 1986 in response to their concerns. This permitted societies to ' demutualise '. If more than 75% of members voted in favour, the building society would then become a limited company like any other. Members' mutual rights were exchanged for shares in this new company. A number of
1564-749: A one-member, one-vote basis. Building societies often provide other retail banking services, such as current accounts, credit cards and personal loans. The term "building society" first arose in the 19th century in Great Britain from cooperative savings groups. In the United Kingdom, building societies compete with banks for most consumer banking services, especially mortgage lending and savings accounts , and regulations permit up to half of their lending to be funded by debt to non-members, allowing societies to access wholesale bond and money markets to fund mortgages. The world's largest building society
1656-478: A permanent society. Terminating loans were still available and used inside the permanent businesses by staff up until the 1980s because their existence was not widely known after the early 1960s. Because of strict regulations on banks, building societies flourished until the deregulation of the Australian financial industry in the 1980s. Eventually many of the smaller building societies disappeared, while some of
1748-465: A population of 312,900. In 2014, the borough council adopted a slogan describing Dudley as the capital of the Black Country , a title by which it had long been informally known. Originally a market town , Dudley was one of the birthplaces of the Industrial Revolution and grew into an industrial centre in the 19th century with its iron, coal, and limestone industries before their decline and
1840-454: A rather more direct and cynical conclusion: By adopting a policy of building up reserves by maintaining an excess margin, building societies simultaneously allowed banks to compete and may have undermined the long run viability of mutuality. A more cynical approach is that some societies may have adopted an excess-margin strategy simply to enhance their value for conversion. Some of these managements ended up in dispute with their own members. Of
1932-411: A return on assets for building societies which was at least as high as Plc banks and, in the absence of distribution, led to rapid accumulation of reserves". As Boxall & Gallagher (1997) also observe: "... accumulation of reserves in the early-1990s, beyond regulatory and future growth requirements, is difficult to reconcile with conventional theories of mutual behaviour". Llewellyn (1996) draws
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#17327879896472024-485: A rolling basis, continually taking in new members as earlier ones completed purchases, such as Leek Building Society . The main legislative framework for the building society was the Building Societies Act 1874 ( 37 & 38 Vict. c. 42), with subsequent amending legislation in 1894, 1939 (see Coney Hall ), and 1960. In their heyday, there were hundreds of building societies: just about every town in
2116-549: A site of special scientific interest ( SSSI ), considered to be one of the most notable geological locations in the British Isles. A part of the Much Wenlock Limestone Formation , it was heavily mined for centuries because of its large limestone deposits, and is also the location of one of the largest fossil sites in England. The town lends its name to the "Dudley locust", (also 'Dudley Bug'),
2208-455: Is Britain's Nationwide Building Society . In Australia, building societies also compete with retail banks and offer the full range of banking services to consumers. Building societies as an institution began in late-18th century Birmingham – a town which was undergoing rapid economic and physical expansion driven by a multiplicity of small metalworking firms, whose many highly skilled and prosperous owners readily invested in property. Many of
2300-547: Is a market town in the West Midlands , England, 6 miles (9.7 km) southeast of Wolverhampton and 8 miles (13 km) northwest of Birmingham . Historically part of Worcestershire , the town is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley . In the 2011 census , it had a population of 79,379. The Metropolitan Borough, which includes the towns of Stourbridge and Halesowen , had
2392-648: Is expected to begin operation in 2025, connecting Dudley to Edgbaston Village in Birmingham City Centre, and to Wolverhampton station Dudley covers an area of the South Staffordshire Coalfield , which contributed heavily to its growth and industrialisation during the 18th century Industrial Revolution. North-west of the town centre lies the Wren's Nest Nature Reserve , the first British nature reserve in an urban area and
2484-507: Is that Australian building societies are required to incorporate as limited companies . Current building societies are The Building Societies Act of 1962 allowed for the registration of building societies in Eswatini. For a long time the country only had one building society. A second was registered in late 2019. The Republic of Ireland had around 40 building societies at the mid-20th century peak. Many of these were very small and, as
2576-511: Is the M5 , with the closest junction situated in Oldbury, 3 miles (4.8 km) south-east of the town. The nearest international airport is Birmingham Airport , around 19 miles (31 km) to the east. The nearest local airport is Wolverhampton Airport , which is about 10 miles (16 km) to the west of the town. Dudley was the terminus point of two tram routes which opened in the later part of
2668-656: Is the administrative centre of the Dudley Metropolitan Borough , governed by Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council . The borough, which also includes the towns of Halesowen and Stourbridge , had a population of 312,925 as of the 2011 census. In 2012 the Dudley Metropolitan Borough made an unsuccessful bid to receive city status, losing out to Chelmsford , Perth , and St. Asaph . Dudley presently has two parliamentary constituencies , Dudley North and Dudley South , which cover
2760-441: Is those who joined societies by lodging minimum amounts of £100 or so in the hope of profiting from a distribution of surplus after demutualisation. The deregulating Building Societies Act 1986 contained an anti-carpetbagger provision in the form of a two-year rule. This prescribed a qualifying period of two years before savers could participate in a residual claim. But, before the 1989 Abbey National Building Society demutualisation,
2852-554: Is usually considered to be the Birmingham Freehold Land Society, established in 1847 by a local temperance campaigner James Taylor (although not registered until 1849) and by 1851 at least seventy societies were in existence, almost all in the Midlands and Northern England . Many of these early societies were ‘rooted in the working-class ethic of self help’ and at least nominally intended to provide
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2944-487: The 2019 general election , the current Members of Parliament (MPs) elected from these seats to the House of Commons are Marco Longhi and Mike Wood , both Conservatives . The 13th-century ruins of Dudley Castle overlook the town; it is a Grade I listed structure. Dudley Zoo is built into the castle grounds, and houses a large collection of endangered species, and also the largest collection of Tecton buildings in
3036-544: The Anglican Diocese of Worcester . Dudley Council House in Priory Road was financed by the then Earl of Dudley , and was officially opened by Duke of Kent in December 1935. Dudley Town Hall (an events venue) opened on St James's Road in 1928; it stands next to council offices which were converted from the old Police Station in 1939, after the construction of a new building on nearby New Street. Dudley
3128-618: The Board of Health , before the town was eventually incorporated into a municipal borough in 1865. It became a county borough in 1888 under the Local Government Act . For many years the town (but not the castle, which was outside the boundary in Staffordshire ) formed part of an exclave of the county of Worcestershire . Despite the more recent changes in county boundaries, the town and borough still remain part of
3220-521: The Building Societies Association . Ten building societies of the United Kingdom demutualised between 1989 and 2000, either becoming a bank or being acquired by a larger bank. By 2008, every building society that floated on the stock market in the wave of demutualisations of the 1980s and 1990s had either been sold to a conventional bank, or been nationalised . The following is an incomplete list of building societies in
3312-602: The Dudley Canal – most of which passes beneath the town in the Dudley Tunnel and is accessible only by boat because there is no towpath. The open sections of canal are popular with walkers, cyclists, fishermen, and narrowboat users. Many of the canalside towpaths have been upgraded for cycling, and some sections are part of the National Cycle Network . St James's Church at Eve Hill had
3404-582: The English Midlands was established in Leeds in 1785. Most of the original societies were fully terminating , where they would be dissolved when all members had a house: the last of them, First Salisbury and District Perfect Thrift Building Society , was wound up in March 1980. In the 1830s and 1840s a new development took place with the permanent building society , where the society continued on
3496-592: The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), but Nationwide and Yorkshire building societies negotiated a temporary change to the terms of the FSCS to protect members of the societies they acquired in late 2008/early 2009. The amended terms allowed former members of multiple societies which merge into one to maintain multiple entitlements to FSCS protection until 30 September 2009 (later extended to 30 December 2010), so (for example)
3588-594: The Golden Cross inn, in 1775. Members of Ketley's society paid a monthly subscription to a central pool of funds which was used to finance the building of houses for members, which in turn acted as collateral to attract further funding to the society, enabling further construction. By 1781 three more societies had been established in Birmingham, with a fourth in the nearby town of Dudley ; and 19 more formed in Birmingham between 1782 and 1795. The first outside
3680-530: The Merry Hill Shopping Centre . Dudley town centre has been served by a bus station at the junction of Birmingham Street and Fisher Street since 1952. The original bus station was cleared in 1984 and replaced by the current bus station, which became fully operational in 1987. The original bus station was on the slope at right angles to the current bus station. It was replaced by a "temporary car park" which remained in use until work began on
3772-556: The Reform Act of 1832 , Dudley returned one Member of Parliament (MP), a privilege first enacted in the Parliament of 1295 . The town was re-incorporated as a Municipal Borough in 1865, later becoming a County Borough in 1889. Dudley was developed substantially in the early 20th century, with the construction of many entertainment venues including a theatre and cinemas, with two indoor shopping centres being added later in
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3864-819: The Sandwell & Dudley in Oldbury , which was rebuilt in 1984 to serve the two boroughs. Dudley railway station located in the town centre was closed under the Beeching cuts in 1964. It opened in 1860 on the junction between the South Staffordshire and the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton lines, and in its heyday was a hub of services east to Birmingham (via a junction at Great Bridge), Walsall and Lichfield ; north to Wolverhampton , Tipton and Coseley ; and south-west to Stourbridge , as well as
3956-482: The 19th century. The first route, linking the town with Tipton and Wednesbury, opened on 21 January 1884 operating steam trams, the route being electrified in 1907 before being closed in March 1930 and replaced by Midland Red buses along the route. The second route opened a year later, linking the town with Birmingham and heading through the centre of nearby Tividale village on the Dudley-Tipton border. This line
4048-739: The Anglo-Saxon king and saint, Edmund . Mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Dudelei , in the hundred of Clent in Worcestershire , the town was listed as being a medium-sized manor in the possession of Earl Edwin of Mercia prior to the Norman Conquest , with William Fitz-Ansculf as Lord of the Manor in 1086. Dudley Castle , constructed in 1070 by William's father Ansculf de Picquigny after his acquisition of
4140-464: The Irish commercial banks began to originate residential mortgages, the small building societies ceased to be competitive. Most merged or dissolved or, in the case of First Active plc , converted into conventional banks. The last remaining building societies, EBS Building Society and Irish Nationwide Building Society , demutualised and were transferred or acquired into Bank subsidiaries in 2011 following
4232-626: The Midland Metro extension in 2020 which will also see the current bus station demolished. Work on a replacement bus station is set to start in January 2024 with buses using stops in nearby roads for around eighteen months. Midland Red used to operate bus services in the town, mostly from its own bus depot, which opened in 1929. This depot was located on Birmingham Road and passed to West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive in 1973, along with operation of all bus services in Dudley. The depot
4324-558: The Registrar of Building Societies under the Building Societies Act 1965. Registration as a building society is merely a process of establishing the entity as a corporation. It is largely a formality, and easily achieved, as the capital requirement is minimal (20 members must be issued shares of not less than NZ$ 1,000 each, for a total minimum foundation share capital of NZ$ 200,000). As regards prudential supervision,
4416-455: The UK are members of the Building Societies Association . At the start of 2008, there were 59 building societies in the UK, with total assets exceeding £360 billion. The number of societies in the UK fell by four during 2008 due to a series of mergers brought about, to a large extent, by the consequences of the financial crisis of 2007–2008 . There were three further mergers in each of 2009 and 2010,
4508-470: The United Kingdom that no longer exist independently, since they either merged with or were taken over by other organisations. They may still have an active presence on the high street (or online) as a trading name or as a distinct brand. This is typically because brands will often build up specific reputations and attract certain clientele, and this can continue to be marketed successfully. In Australia, building societies evolved along British lines. Following
4600-479: The United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, and formerly in Ireland and several Commonwealth countries, including South Africa as mutual banks. They are similar to credit unions , but rather than promoting thrift and offering unsecured and business loans, the purpose of a building society is to provide home mortgages to members. Borrowers and depositors are society members, setting policy and appointing directors on
4692-427: The balance and taken account of in formulation of policy. They were a nuisance to be dealt with by the costly use of public relations advisers and legal processes. In the end, after a number of large demutualisations, and pressure from carpetbaggers moving from one building society to another to cream off the windfalls, most of the societies whose management wished to keep them mutual modified their rules of membership in
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#17327879896474784-524: The building was in use as a bingo hall until 2009, when it was purchased by Dudley Council with a view for demolition. After long public opposition the building was leased to campaigners in December 2016, with the intent to restore it to theatre use; however the lease was revoked by the council in February 2018, citing a lack of progress. It was demolished in 2023 despite a campaign to save it. The Plaza Cinema remained open until October 1990. The building
4876-510: The century. The grounds of Dudley Castle were converted into a zoo in 1937 by the Earl of Dudley, with buildings designed by architect Berthold Lubetkin . A reported 250,000 people attempted to visit the site upon the first day of opening. In World War II , Dudley was bombed on several occasions. On 19 November 1940 a Luftwaffe bomb demolished a public house in the town centre and damaged several nearby buildings including St Thomas's Church and
4968-465: The closure of many businesses in the town. The development of the Merry Hill Shopping Centre between 1985 and 1990 also saw the loss of most of the town centre's leading name stores, which relocated to take advantage of the tax incentives offered by Merry Hill's status as an Enterprise Zone . The 2007–2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession resulted in even more of the retail units in
5060-463: The country had a building society named after that town. Over succeeding decades the number of societies has decreased, as various societies merged to form larger ones, often renaming in the process, and other societies opted for demutualisation followed by – in the great majority of cases – eventual takeover by a listed bank. Most of the existing larger building societies are the result of the mergers of many smaller societies. All building societies in
5152-405: The country" in 1851. Health Inspector William Lee stated that "In no other part of England and Wales is the work of human extermination effected in so short a time as ... in Dudley". The report led to the installation of clean water supplies and sewage systems. Later the extensive development of council housing during the early 20th century relocated the occupants of local slum housing. Following
5244-450: The courts found against the two-year rule after legal action brought by Abbey National itself to circumvent the intent of the legislators. After this the legislation did prevent a cash distribution to members of less than two years standing, but the same result was obtained by permitting the issue of 'free' shares in the acquiring plc, saleable for cash. The Thatcher Conservative government declined to introduce amending legislation to make good
5336-537: The creation of the present-day metropolitan borough , which included the nearby towns of Stourbridge and Halesowen . Dudley was struck by an F1/T2 tornado on 23 November 1981, as part of the record-breaking nationwide tornado outbreak on that day. The tornado touched down in Woodsetton , subsequently passing through Dudley town centre, causing moderate damage, before dissipating. The declining industry in Dudley has given rise to high unemployment, resulting in
5428-494: The defect in the 'two-year rule'. Building societies, like mutual life insurers, arose as people clubbed together to address a common need interest; in the case of the building societies, this was housing and members were originally both savers and borrowers. But it very quickly became clear that 'outsider' savers were needed whose motive was profit through interest on deposits. Thus permanent building societies quickly became mortgage banks and in such institutions there always existed
5520-480: The early building societies were based in taverns or coffeehouses , which had become the focus for a network of clubs and societies for co-operation and the exchange of ideas among Birmingham's highly active citizenry as part of the movement known as the Midlands Enlightenment . The first building society to be established was Ketley's Building Society , founded by Richard Ketley, the landlord of
5612-1245: The effects of the Irish financial crisis . Leeds Building Society Ireland and Nationwide UK (Ireland) were Irish branches of building societies based in the United Kingdom; both have since ceased all Irish operations. Irish Industrial Building Society (1969–1975) Irish Nationwide Building Society (1975 – Feb 2011) loan book Anglo Irish Bank (February 2011–June 2011) Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (July 2011–February 2013 ) EBS Building Society (1991–2011) Irish Permanent Benefit Building Society (1888–1940) Irish Permanent Building Society (1940–1994) Permanent TSB Group Holdings plc (1999–) merged with TSB Bank, 2001 Permanent TSB Group Holdings plc Irish Civil Service and General (Permanent Benefit) Building Society (1867–1874) Irish Civil Service (Permanent) Building Society (1874–1969) Irish Civil Service Building Society (1969–1984) First National Building Society (1960–1998) acquired by Ulster Bank 2004 and retired in 2009 In Jamaica , three building societies compete with commercial banks and credit unions for most consumer financial services: In New Zealand , building societies are registered with
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#17327879896475704-448: The end of World War II , the terminating model was revived to fund returning servicemen's need for new houses. Hundreds were created with government seed capital, whereby the capital was returned to the government and the terminating societies retained the interest accumulated. Once all the seed funds were loaned, each terminating society could reapply for more seed capital to the point where they could re-lend their own funds and thus became
5796-419: The end of mutuality brought joint stock company (plc) style remuneration committee pay standards and share options. Share options for management of converting societies appear to be a powerful factor in management calculation. Rasmusen (1988) refers to this in the following terms: " ... perks do not rise in proportion to [mutual] bank size. If a mutual is large, or is expected to grow if it can raise capital by
5888-555: The first major conversion of the Abbey in 1989, Kay (1991) observed: [T]he paradox of the Abbey members who campaigned against flotation [conversion to a shareholder-owned bank] of their building society. They were fighting to preserve a degree of accountability to the membership which the management of the Society patently did not feel. For incumbent management, the contrary views of some of their members were not matters to be weighed in
5980-641: The larger societies made such proposals to their members and all were accepted. Some listed on the London Stock Exchange , while others were acquired by larger financial groups. The process began with the demutualisation of the Abbey National Building Society in 1989. Then, from 1995 to late 1999, eight societies demutualised accounting for two-thirds of building societies assets as at 1994. Five of these societies became joint stock banks (plc), one merged with another and
6072-514: The largest (such as Advance and St George ) attained the status of banks. More recent conversions have included Heritage Bank which converted from building society to bank in 2011, Hume in 2014, while Wide Bay Building Society became Auswide Bank and IMB followed suit in 2015, and Greater Building Society became Greater Bank in 2016. Building societies converting to banks are no longer required to demutualise. A particular difference between Australian building societies and those elsewhere,
6164-411: The late 1990s. The method usually adopted were membership rules to ensure that anyone newly joining a society would, for the first few years, be unable to get any profit out of a demutualisation. With the chance of a quick profit removed, the wave of demutualisations came to an end in 2000. One academic study ( Heffernan 2003 ) found that demutualised societies' pricing behaviour on deposits and mortgages
6256-655: The line available for the now confirmed West Midlands Metro extension to Brierley Hill, then later Stourbridge . Dudley bus station is in the town centre and has many connections to surrounding towns, cities, and communities, including Birmingham, Halesowen, Smethwick , Stourbridge , Walsall, West Bromwich , and Wolverhampton, amongst others. The bus station also has coach services run by National Express , mostly to and from London or Wolverhampton . Other places served include holiday destination Blackpool , and London Heathrow and London Gatwick airports. There are also small bus stations located at Russells Hall Hospital and
6348-585: The new Co-Operative department store, but there were no fatalities. However, on the same night a landmine was dropped in the Oakham area of the town and demolished a section of council houses in City Road, resulting in the deaths of 10 people and injuring many others. On 12 August 1941, four people were killed when another landmine was dropped in nearby Birch Crescent. These were the only fatal air raids on Dudley. Following local government reforms in 1966, Dudley
6440-438: The opportunity to claim was presented by management the savers in particular could be relied upon to seize it. There were sufficient hard-up borrowers to take the inducement offered them by management (in spite of few simple sums sufficing to demonstrate that they were probably going to end up effectively paying back the inducement). ( Tayler 2003 ) Management promoting demutualisation also thereby met managerial objectives because
6532-617: The orders of the Government after the Royalist surrender. It is also from around this time that the oldest excavated condoms , found in the remains of Dudley Castle, were believed to have originated. Dudley had become an incredibly impoverished place during the 16th and 17th centuries, but the advent of the Industrial Revolution began to reverse this trend. In the early 17th century, Dud Dudley , an illegitimate son of Edward Sutton, 5th Baron Dudley and Elizabeth Tomlinson, devised
6624-422: The other four were taken over by plcs (in two cases after the mutual had previously converted to a plc). As Tayler (2003) mentions, demutualisation moves succeeded immediately because neither Conservative nor Labour party UK governments created a framework which put obstacles in the way of demutualisation. Political acquiescence in demutualisation was clearest in the case of the position on ' carpetbaggers ', that
6716-799: The passing of the Dudley Town Act 1791 ( 31 Geo. 3 . c. 79), was governed by the Court Leet of the Lords of Dudley. From 1791, the Town Commissioners were the main local authority although the Court Leet continued to meet until 1866. In 1836 the Dudley Poor Law Union was formed, consisting of Dudley itself, and the parishes of Sedgley, Tipton , and Rowley Regis. In 1853 the Town Commissioners were superseded by
6808-707: The region from that time. Work began in 2022 to recreate a typical Black Country town centre using original buildings such as the Woodside Library and replicas of other lost buildings such as the Elephant & Castle pub which stood at the junction of Stafford Street and Cannock Road in Wolverhampton. The pub, whose lower section is clad in traditional Victorian glazed tiles, opened within the museum's village in Autumn 2022. The Dudley Museum and Art Gallery
6900-567: The relocation of its commercial centre to the nearby Merry Hill Shopping Centre in the 1980s. Tourist attractions include Dudley Zoo and Castle , the 12th century priory ruins , and the Black Country Living Museum . Dudley has a history dating back to Anglo-Saxon times, its name deriving from the Old English Duddan Leah , meaning Dudda's clearing, and one of its churches being named in honour of
6992-457: The town and its surrounding area. In October 2017, proposals to revise constituency boundaries were published that would reduce Dudley to just one constituency. The town itself would be divided between multiple constituencies, including ones predominantly based in neighbouring council areas such as Wolverhampton and Sandwell . The proposals were criticised by then MP for Dudley North, Ian Austin As of
7084-458: The town centre becoming vacant, with the Woolworths store on Market Place closing in December 2008 when the company went bankrupt, and Beatties closing its store – the last department store in the town – in January 2010, after more than 40 years due to falling trade. The town had been a manorial borough from the end of the 13th century, and from at least the 16th century until
7176-625: The town centre. The Town Hall also acts as an entertainment venue, hosting dances, theatrical performances, and concerts. Until 2011, the JB's nightclub was situated on Castle Hill, after relocating from an earlier site in King Street (behind Pathfinders clothes store) in the 1990s. Claimed to have been the longest-running live music venue in the UK, the club hosted early performances by acts such as U2 , Dire Straits , and Judas Priest . It closed after going into administration and has since reopened as
7268-537: The town of Dudley and it is claimed that he may have known about Dud Dudley's earlier work. Dud Dudley's discovery, together with improvements to the local road network and the construction of the Dudley Canal , made Dudley into an important industrial and commercial centre. The first Newcomen steam engine , used to pump water from the mines of the Lord Dudley's estates, was installed at the Conygree coal works
7360-675: The town was visited by Queen Elizabeth during a tour of England. In 1605, conspirators of the Gunpowder Plot fled to Holbeche House in nearby Wall Heath , where they were defeated and captured by the forces of the Sheriff of Worcestershire. During the English Civil War Dudley served as a Royalist stronghold, with the castle besieged twice by the Parliamentarians and later partly demolished on
7452-485: The town, served as the seat of the extensive Barony of Dudley, which possessed estates in eleven different counties across England. Of historical significance, the town was attacked by King Stephen in 1138, after a failed siege of the castle following the baron's decision to support Empress Matilda 's claim to the throne during The Anarchy . The castle provided the centre from which the town and borough grew, with early coal and iron workings helping establish Dudley as
7544-475: The value and importance of the borough, with mentions of the town's growing coal industry. By the early 16th century the Dudley estate, now held by the Sutton family, had become severely in debt and was first mortgaged to distant relative John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland , before being sold outright in 1535. Following Dudley's execution in 1553, the estate returned to the Sutton family, during whose ownership
7636-451: The vote and home ownership for working men. From the early 1850s the majority of new societies had a more commercial aim of acquiring cheap land for housing and London became the main focus for new societies. Building society A building society is a financial institution owned by its members as a mutual organization , which offers banking and related financial services , especially savings and mortgage lending . They exist in
7728-404: The world. Under proposals by Dudley Zoo, in partnership with Dudley Council, St. Modwen, and Advantage West Midlands, the zoo is to be regenerated, which will see a former freightliner site redeveloped with a tropical dome, Asiatic forest, two aquatic facilities and walkthrough aviaries. It was expected to cost £38.7 million in 2007. There are many canals in and around Dudley, the main one being
7820-668: Was closed in 1993 and demolished a year later to make way for the Castle Gate roundabout, at the eastern end of the town's new southern by-pass. The island was built in 1997 and the bypass opened on 15 October 1999. Dudley is served by main roads which give a direct route to neighbouring towns. The longest of these roads are the B4176 (which runs to Wombourne, Bridgnorth and Telford ) and the A461 (which passes through Wednesbury and Walsall, finally reaching Lichfield). The nearest motorway
7912-577: Was electrified in 1904 and remained open until 30 September 1939, when it too was replaced by Midland Red buses. In 2021, a 11 km (6.8 mi) long line bringing 2 new lines of the West Midlands Metro , running from Wednesbury to Brierley Hill via Dudley, began construction to re-instate a tram service along the South Staffordshire Line , before running through the town centre and towards Merry Hill . Phase one
8004-446: Was expanded to include the majority of the former urban districts of Brierley Hill and Sedgley , along with parts of Coseley , Amblecote and Rowley Regis ; an area in the eastern section of the town was also transferred into the new borough of Warley . Most of this land had been held by the Lords of Dudley, and contained within the Dudley registration district and parliamentary borough. In 1974, further reorganization led to
8096-598: Was formerly home to a number of cinemas and theatres, including the Criterion, Gaumont, Odeon, and Plaza. The Dudley Hippodrome was one of the largest theatres in the West Midlands, built along with the adjacent Plaza Cinema just prior to the Second World War in 1938. The 1,600-seat Art Deco venue was constructed to replace the earlier Opera House, which had burned down in 1936. After its closure in 1964,
8188-506: Was formerly located in the town centre, having first opened in 1912, but was closed by Dudley Council in 2016 as part of cost-cutting measures, despite widespread public opposition. Some of the museum collections were later relocated to a permanent exhibit at the local archives centre on Tipton Road, adjacent to the Black Country Living Museum. According to ONS, there are two railway stations in Dudley, both just over
8280-712: Was more favourable to shareholders than to customers, with the remaining mutual building societies offering consistently better rates. The Building Societies (Funding) and Mutual Societies (Transfers) Act 2007 , known as the Butterfill Act, was passed in 2007 giving building societies greater powers to merge with other companies. These powers have been used by the Britannia in 2009 and Kent Reliance in 2011 leading to their demutualisation. Prior to 31 December 2010, deposits with building societies of up to £50,000 per individual, per institution, were normally protected by
8372-511: Was the Reform Act 1832 which, under the county franchise, gave the vote to " Forty-shilling freeholders " - men in possession of land worth 40 shillings a year. Initially supporters of the Liberal party were the main promoters of freehold land societies, with the aim of increasing the number of Liberal MPs. The Conservative party and others took up the idea, and by the early 1850s there were at least 180 societies established. The first society
8464-568: Was then taken over by Laser Quest , until its closure and demolition in 1997. As of January 2017 the site remains undeveloped. The Odeon Cinema was converted into a Kingdom Hall for Jehovah's Witnesses in 1976. A present-day Odeon currently exists at the Merry Hill Shopping Centre. Dudley is currently home to a multiplex Showcase Cinema and Tenpin bowling alley, located in the Castle Gate complex north-east of
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