86-740: Longstone Lighthouse is an active 19th century lighthouse on Longstone Rock in the outer group of the Farne Islands off the Northumberland Coast , England . Completed in 1826, it was originally called the Outer Farne Lighthouse , and complemented the earlier Inner Farne Lighthouse . The lighthouse is best known for the 1838 wreck of the Forfarshire and the role of Grace Darling , the lighthouse keeper's daughter, in rescuing survivors. The Farne Islands had
172-445: A Chapel of Ease in the parish of St Peter, Harborne . The building was originally known as "Parkes' Chapel" in honour of Mistress Dorothy Parkes who bequeathed the money for the church and also for a local school. The chapel was later known as the "Old Chapel", and the public house next to it is still called this. In the church there are several fine memorials, including one to Dorothy Parkes. The Grade I listed Galton Bridge spans
258-413: A 21-inch parabolic reflector . At the same time, in 1826, William Darling moved with his family from the old lighthouse on Brownsman Island to serve as lighthouse keeper at Longstone. On 7 September 1838 his daughter Grace spotted the paddlesteamer Forfarshire shipwrecked on a nearby rocky island. Grace Darling gained great renown when news of her part in the subsequent rescue attempt became known to
344-578: A comprehensive upgrade, begun in 1946 and only completed in 1952, during which the light was electrified and a new optic (of an unusual 'spectacle' design) was installed (manufactured by Chance Brothers). Each side of the optic contained a 1000-watt light bulb; rotated by clockwork, it flashed once every twenty seconds and was claimed to be one of the most powerful lights on the East Coast. Three single-cylinder and two five-cylinder Gardner diesel engines were installed at this time, to provide electricity for
430-487: A hamlet within the parish of Harborne, Staffordshire , Smethwick was made into an urban district in 1894, on 31 December Smethwick became a civil parish , in 1899 the district became a municipal corporation , and the district became county borough within Staffordshire in 1907 with its base at Smethwick Council House . On 1 April 1966, Smethwick was merged with the boroughs of Oldbury and Rowley Regis to form
516-473: A large colony of grey seals pup on the islands. Summer visitors to Inner Farne are strongly advised to wear hats due to Arctic terns dive bombing to protect their chicks. Breeding birds on the Farnes (as of 2022; 2021 counts marked *) include: A total of 303 bird species have been recorded on the Farnes, including in the 1760s, an example of the now extinct great auk . On 28–29 May 1979, an Aleutian tern ,
602-740: A long history of needing a light to warn ships of the many surrounding hazards. In 1673 King Charles II had instructed the landowners (the Dean and chapter of Durham ) to grant a licence to Sir John Clayton and George Blake to erect a lighthouse on Inner Farne as part of a proposed network of beacons along the Northumberland coast; however the scheme never came to fruition because the authorities (the Elder Brethren of Trinity House ) were unable to persuade its potential beneficiaries (the ship-owning merchants of Newcastle upon Tyne) to contribute to
688-651: A majority of the men being veterans of the war. After the Second World War, Smethwick attracted a large number of immigrants from Commonwealth countries beginning in 1945, the largest ethnic group being Sikhs from the Punjab in India, the majority of whom had served in that War. The ethnic minority communities were initially unpopular with the white population of Smethwick, leading to the election of Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP) Peter Griffiths at
774-548: A military equipment. Soho railway station closed in 1949, followed by Spon Lane station in 1968. In 1972 the section of line between Smethwick West and Birmingham Moor Street , as well as the Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Dudley railway, was closed, with the exception of a single line between Smethwick West and Coopers Scrap Metal in Handsworth; and all Stourbridge services were diverted into Birmingham New Street. In 1995
860-505: A more powerful siren apparatus was installed, which sounded through a pair of larger vertical trumpets, and compressed air was produced using Blackstone & Co semi-diesel engines . A horizontal band of white was added to the red-painted tower in 1895. In 1942, during the Second World War , the fog signal house was destroyed by bombing and in 1951 a new keepers' accommodation block was built in its place. This formed part of
946-649: A number of high rise blocks of flats. Other estates and areas include Black Patch, Cape Hill, Uplands, Albion Estate, Bearwood, Londonderry and Rood End. In July 2013, a major fire occurred at the Jayplas plastics and paper recycling plant on Dartmouth Road. The oldest surviving building in Smethwick is the Old Church which stands on the corner of Church Road and the Uplands. This was consecrated in 1732 as
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#17327984004341032-773: A rare tern from the Aleutian Islands in the North Pacific Ocean, visited the Farnes. It was the first, and still the only, member of its species ever seen anywhere in Europe. A longer-staying unusual visitor was "Elsie" the lesser crested tern , which visited the Farnes every summer from 1984 to 1997; during that period (paired with a male Sandwich tern ) she raised several hybrid chicks and attracted several thousand birders keen to see this species in Britain. Lesser crested terns normally nest on islands off
1118-870: A squat stone building which was known as the Pinnacle Lighthouse) and the other on Inner Farne (which he erected on the top of Prior Castell's Tower). These beacons were first lit in December 1778; however the Pinnacle Lighthouse was severely damaged in a storm just six years later. A replacement was built on the adjacent Brownsman Island in 1795 (it too had to be rebuilt following storm damage in 1800). Robert Darling (grandfather of Grace) had been employed as lighthouse keeper at Staple Island, and he likewise transferred to Brownsman Island in 1795; following Robert's death in 1815 his son William succeeded him as keeper. In 1806, Trinity House surveyed
1204-513: A standstill because of a crisis in the construction industry. Other former industry included railway rolling stock manufacture, at the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company factory; screws and other fastenings from Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds (GKN); engines from Tangye ; tubing from Evered's; steel pen nibs from British Pens; and various products from Chance Brothers ' glassworks, including lighthouse lenses and
1290-424: A variety of sites suitable for all levels of divers, for the seals and wrecks. Hundreds of ships have been wrecked on the Farnes over the years, providing plenty for wreck divers to explore. Among them are: Diving at the Farnes is generally possible, regardless of wind direction; shelter is always available somewhere. Some dive locations even provide the opportunity to combine diving and birdwatching, in particular
1376-450: A vote for Tory, Labour or Liberal is a vote for more Blacks!". Jordan would also use similar campaign tactics against Gordon Walker in the 1965 Leyton by-election . The election of Griffiths led to Smethwick becoming notorious as 'Britain's most racist town'. Historian Rachel Yemm argues that the anti-immigration sentiment in the town was the result of a housing shortage, which local newspapers, such as The Smethwick Telephone , blamed on
1462-516: Is 14 metres (46 ft). The earliest recorded inhabitants of the Farne Islands were various Culdees , some connected with Lindisfarne . This followed the old Celtic Christian tradition of island hermitages, also found in Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. The islands are first recorded in 651, when they became home to Saint Aidan , followed by Saint Cuthbert . Cuthbert isolated himself on
1548-577: Is a Grade II listed building built in brick in the Moderne style . The town is notable for a somewhat turbulent political history. It was first created as a separate parliamentary constituency in 1918, having previously been part of the Handsworth constituency . At that year's general election , Christabel Pankhurst , standing as a Women's Party candidate, narrowly failed to become one of Britain's first woman Members of Parliament. She lost to
1634-494: Is designed by Yeoville Thomason . Matthew Boulton and James Watt opened their Soho Foundry in the north of Smethwick (not to be confused with the Soho Manufactory in nearby Soho ) in the late 18th century. In 1802, William Murdoch illuminated the foundry with gas lighting of his own invention. The foundry was later home to weighing scale makers W & T Avery Ltd. Rolfe Street public baths were among
1720-440: Is fissured, dolerite forms strong columns. This gives the islands their steep, in places vertical cliffs , and the sea around the islands is scattered with stacks up to 19 metres (62 ft) high on Inner Farne and 14 metres (46 ft) on Staple Island. Many of the small islands are bare rock, but the larger islands have a layer of clay subsoil and peat soil supporting vegetation. The rock strata slope slightly upwards to
1806-477: Is now maintained by Trinity House via its local lighthouse attendant, George Shiel, who provides guided tours inside the lighthouse. Ruins of some of the older lighthouses may be seen, for example on the Brownsman, which has two. Before the lighthouses, beacons were on several of the islands. The prominent white streak on the cliff facing the mainland (see photo) is similar to bird droppings; although many parts of
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#17327984004341892-537: The 1964 general election , who campaigned by appealing to the racist element and whose supporters had used the slogan, "If you want a nigger for a neighbour, vote Labour". This came two years after race riots had hit the town in 1962; it was also set against a background of local factory closures. In 1961, the Sikh community purchased the unused Congregational Church on the High Street in Smethwick. Soon after, this
1978-580: The Birmingham Corporation Tramways in 1906 and trams eventually ran from both the Dudley Road and Hagley Road direction. Dudley Road trams operated to Cape Hill and then diverged to either take the route towards Dudley (Route 87) via the High Street or towards Bearwood (Route 29) via Waterloo Road, terminating near the site of current Bearwood Bus Station and Kings Head public house. Route 34 from Birmingham to Bearwood along
2064-526: The George and Mary , sunk with the loss of all 100 souls on board) prompted Trinity House to act, and (having purchased the lease of the islands from the Blackett family in 1825) they swiftly moved to construct a new lighthouse on one of the furthest outlying islands: Longstone. Longstone Lighthouse was designed and built by Joseph Nelson (who fifteen years earlier had worked with Daniel Alexander on building
2150-825: The Labour candidate by 775 votes in a straight fight. Labour held the seat until 1931; from 1926, the MP was Sir Oswald Mosley , future founder of the British Union of Fascists . Mosley resigned the Labour whip in March 1931, but continued to represent the constituency until it was taken by the Conservatives at that year's general election . Labour won it back at the UK general election of 1945 , held on 26 July that year. However,
2236-571: The Sandwell Metropolitan Borough, which was incorporated into the new West Midlands county. In 1888, there had been plans for Smethwick to be incorporated into the city of Birmingham, but the urban district council voted against these plans by a single vote. The archives for the Borough of Smethwick are held at Sandwell Community History and Archives Service . Smethwick has a long association with canals, which were
2322-470: The Smethwick Engine on Rabone Lane and the other was near Spon Lane. New Smethwick Pumping Station next to Brasshouse Lane was added later in 1892. Because of the locks, the canal through Smethwick became a bottleneck and Thomas Telford was commissioned in 1824 to look at alternatives. The new main line through Smethwick was completed by 1829 and completely bypassed all six remaining locks of
2408-602: The Smethwick Engine , made by Boulton & Watt , originally stood near Bridge Street, Smethwick. It is now at Thinktank , the new science museum in Birmingham. One notable company was The London Works, manufacturing base of the Fox Henderson Company which made the cast-iron framework for the Crystal Palace . This was founded by Charles Fox , whose inventions included the first patented railway points. His notable employees included William Siemens ,
2494-558: The 1980s, levels of crime and unemployment on the estate were high, and by the early 1990s, Sandwell Council had decided to demolish it. Between 1993 and 1997, the estate was entirely redeveloped with modern low-rise housing, and was renamed Galton Village. Another local housing estate called the Windmill Lane Estate, located near Cape Hill, was also redeveloped. There is a collection of red brick turn-of-20th century terrace, 1930s semi-detached, newly built modern housing and
2580-551: The 87 in fact uses the same number. The West Midlands Metro , opened in 1999, is more of a light railway than a tramway. It follows the former Great Western Railway track bed from Birmingham Snow Hill station to the former Wolverhampton Low Level via West Bromwich until Priestfield in Wolverhampton. After that, it becomes a tramway proper and runs along the Bilston Road into Wolverhampton city centre. From late 2015
2666-543: The Hagley Road and terminated at the top of Bearwood Road next to the route from Cape Hill, despite terminating so close to each other there was no physical link between route 29 and 34 in Bearwood. Route 34 was the first route in Smethwick to disappear, in 1930; the last tram route was closed in 1939 and replaced by motor buses. Both the current National Express West Midlands routes 82 and 87 are former tram routes and
Longstone Lighthouse - Misplaced Pages Continue
2752-495: The Indian Workers' Association. The BBC had been intending to make a feature about a new black-led newspaper, and a BBC News journalist had a view to X having a debate with Griffiths outside a council house in Smethwick. Griffiths declined at late notice, and so an interview with X was conducted on the streets of Smethwick. This was to be one of X's last TV interviews before his assassination nine days later. The footage
2838-639: The Inner Group are Inner Farne, Knoxes Reef, the East and West Wideopens (all joined on very low tides), and (somewhat separated) the Megstone; the main islands in the Outer Group are Staple Island , Brownsman, North and South Wamses, Big Harcar, and Longstone. The two groups are separated by Staple Sound. The highest point on Inner Farne is 19 metres (62 ft) above mean sea level and on Staple Island
2924-586: The Midland Red, West Bromwich and Birmingham. In the early 1970s, all local bus transport was taken over by the WMPTE until deregulation in the 1980s. Since then, National Express West Midlands has been the primary operator in the West Midlands. Steam trams started through Smethwick in 1885 operated by Birmingham and Midland Tramways. These were replaced by electric trams in 1904 and then merged into
3010-581: The New Line canal and railway. When built in 1829 by Thomas Telford , it was the highest single-span bridge in the world. Its name commemorates Samuel Galton , a local landowner and industrialist. It is identical to Telford's bridge at Holt Fleet over the River Severn built in 1828 and opened in 1830. The public library in the High Street was originally built as the Public Hall in 1866–67 and
3096-751: The North West, Rolfe Street and Spon Lane opened that year followed by Soho in 1853. In 1867 the Stourbridge Railway opened a link between the Great Western Birmingham, Wolverhampton & Dudley Railway (of 1852) near the current Hawthorns and Stourbridge with a station at Smethwick West and a link to the Stour Valley line towards New Street called Smethwick Junction, the Stourbridge Railway
3182-650: The Pinnacles, where guillemots can be found fishing at safety-stop depth. Farne Islands was a civil parish , in 1951 the parish had a population of 3. On 1 April 1955 the parish was abolished and merged with North Sunderland . Smethwick Smethwick ( / ˈ s m ɛ ð ɪ k / ) is an industrial town in the Sandwell district, in the county of the West Midlands , England. It lies 4 miles (6 km) west of Birmingham city centre . Historically it
3268-752: The artist John Ruskin , was in Oldbury Road. Many English churches have stained glass windows made by Hardman Studios in Lightwoods House, or, before that, by the Camm family. During the Second World War , Smethwick was bombed on a number of occasions by the German Luftwaffe . A total of 80 people died as a result of these air raids. After the First World War about 50+ Sikh families settled in Smethwick beginning in 1917, with
3354-435: The cell. Known as St Cuthbert's Chapel, it is described as a "single-cell building of four bays". The remains of a second chapel have been incorporated into a later building. The Farne Islands are associated with the story of Grace Darling and the wreck of the Forfarshire . Grace Darling was the daughter of Longstone lighthouse-keeper (one of the islands' lighthouses), William Darling, and on 7 September 1838, when she
3440-548: The centre of Birmingham near the International Convention Centre, National Indoor Arena and Broad Street. The old main line was completed through Smethwick by 1769. It required 12 locks to climb over the hill through the town; Brindley had found the earth too soft to dig a cutting through at the time. Water was supplied by two steam engines. One of them was located on the Engine Arm which led to
3526-525: The coast of Libya and migrate to West Africa for the winter; "Elsie" is thought to have taken a wrong turn at the Straits of Gibraltar on spring migration. An Arctic tern from the Farnes, ringed as a chick not yet old enough to fly in summer 1982, reached Melbourne , Australia, in October 1982, a sea journey over 22,000 kilometres (14,000 mi) in just three months from fledging. This remains one of
Longstone Lighthouse - Misplaced Pages Continue
3612-577: The company manufactured steel window systems, roof glazing, gearings and metalwork. Council housing began in Smethwick after 1920 on land previously belonging to the Downing family, whose family home became Holly Lodge High School for Girls in 1922. The mass council house building of the 1920s and 1930s also involved Smethwick's boundaries being extended into part of neighbouring Oldbury in 1928. The Ruskin Pottery Studio, named in honour of
3698-534: The complete separation of African Americans from whites, but he now showed his opposition to racial segregation , telling the press: I have come here because I am disturbed by reports that coloured people in Smethwick are being treated badly. I have heard they are being treated as the Jews were under Hitler . I would not wait for the fascist element in Smethwick to erect gas ovens. Malcolm X had been invited to Smethwick by Claudia Jones on behalf of Avtar Singh Jouhl of
3784-408: The famous Birmingham & Midland Motor Omnibus Company (BMMO or Midland Red) was based on Bearwood Road on the site of the current Bearwood Shopping Centre until 1974. The garage later saw use as an indoor market until it was demolished in 1979. Smethwick never had its own Corporation Transport Department, like West Bromwich or Birmingham . Most bus services until the earlier 1970s were provided by
3870-595: The first public swimming baths in the country when opened north of the town centre in 1888. The baths remained open for nearly a century before closing. In the late 1980s, the Black Country Museum expressed interest in transferring the building to its site in Dudley and so the transfer of the building began in 1989. It was finally opened to visitors at the museum in 1999, housing the museum's exhibition gallery and archive resource centre. Thimblemill Library
3956-648: The glazing for the Crystal Palace (the London works, in North Smethwick, manufactured its metalwork). Phillips Cycles , once one of the largest bicycle manufacturers in the world, was based in Bridge Street, Smethwick. Nearby, in Downing Street, is the famous bicycle saddle maker, Brooks Saddles . The important metalworking factory of Henry Hope & Sons Ltd was based at Halford's Lane where
4042-576: The islands do exhibit this colouring during the breeding season only, in this case it is the result of chalk deposits from the many years of spent calcium carbide from the lighthouse being thrown down the cliff; this calcium carbide was used to generate acetylene , which was used as fuel for the light before electricity came. The Farne Islands are an internationally important wildlife habitat. In summer eider duck, cormorant, shag, fulmar, kittiwake, Arctic tern, common tern, Sandwich tern, guillemot, razorbill, and puffins all breed here, while in late autumn
4128-468: The islands until he was called to the bishopric of Lindisfarne, but after two years, he returned to the solitude of the Inner Farne and died there in 687, when Saint Aethelwold took up residence, instead. Among other acts, Cuthbert introduced special laws in 676 protecting the eider ducks , and other seabirds nesting on the islands; these are thought to be the earliest bird-protection laws anywhere in
4214-464: The islands were sold to Charles Thorp , who was at the time Archdeacon of Durham . In 1894, the islands were bought by industrialist William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong . The islands are currently owned by the National Trust . Remains still exist of the seventh-century anchorite cell used by Saint Aidan and Saint Cuthbert, as do the remains of a 14th-century chapel associated with
4300-448: The islands with a view to taking over the beacons and replacing them with new oil-fuelled lighthouses. By 1811 they had built three, all to a similar design: two on Inner Farne and one on Brownsman. The Brownsman Island Lighthouse, however, proved to be poorly-located for its task and over the following years many ships foundered on the rocks and islands further out to sea. The loss of a succession of ships there in 1823 and 1824 (among them
4386-478: The lamp (by way of three 5.5 kW generator sets) and compressed air for the fog siren (by way of two Reavell compressors). A new, powerful 12-inch siren was provided, sounding from a pair of conical resonators built into a cast iron turret on top of a smaller tower, built alongside the lighthouse itself. Power generated was also supplied to the dwellings and other rooms, and used to charge a reserve battery for emergency use. The works were completed in 1952, whereupon
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#17327984004344472-498: The lamp The new optic maintained the characteristic of a white flash every thirty seconds. Further improvements around this time included the introduction of a fog siren in November 1876, powered by a caloric engine , sounding two blasts every two minutes (Late-19th-century photographs show a single horn rising from the roof of the engine house, which had been built within the high wall of the lighthouse compound). Around about 1890
4558-469: The lighthouse, which is only accessible by boat, are operated by The Golden Gate Boat Trip Company under licence from Trinity House . Farne Islands The Farne Islands are a group of islands off the coast of Northumberland , England. The group has between 15 and 20 islands depending on the level of the tide . They form an archipelago, divided into the Inner and the Outer Group. The main islands in
4644-526: The line between Birmingham Snow Hill and Smethwick West was restored and a new station called Smethwick Galton Bridge was constructed over both the Snow Hill and Stour Valley lines to provide an interchange. Smethwick West was due to close when Galton Bridge opened, but due to a legal error British Railways had to maintain a parliamentary train service to the station. Most local trains from Stourbridge to Birmingham were diverted into Snow Hill although it
4730-403: The longest known distances travelled by any bird. The Farnes are resistant igneous dolerite outcrops. These would originally have been connected to the mainland and surrounded by areas of less resistant limestone . Through a combination of erosion of the weaker surrounding rock, and sea level rise following the last ice age , the Farnes were left as islands. Because of the way the rock
4816-594: The main industry. A water mill named Briddismylne is recorded in 1499 as belonging to Halesowen Abbey , thought to be on the more recent Thimblemill site. In 1659, a mill in the Hockley Brook is recorded as belonging to a Mr. Lane. The mill which led to the street name "Windmill Lane" was built on land bought in 1803 by William Croxall, a miller. The last part of the windmill building was demolished in 1949. The Soho Foundry , opened in 1796 by James Watt and Matthew Boulton , trading as Boulton, Watt & Sons,
4902-468: The maintenance of the light. A similar request was made in 1727, and in 1755 Captain John Blackett petitioned to establish a light on Staple Island (which he held on a lease from the Dean and Chapter); but both requests were declined. Twenty-one years later, however, when Blackett again submitted a proposal, he finally gained permission: this time for a pair of coal-fired beacons, which he built at his own expense: one on Staple Island (for which he constructed
4988-422: The median age of Smethwick residents was 32. In terms of ethnicity: In terms of religion, 39.5% of Smethwick residents identified as Christian , 21.8% were Muslim , 15.7% were Sikh , 14.0% said they had no religion , 5.8% did not state any religion, 2.3% were Hindu , 0.3% were Buddhists , and 0.6% were from another religion. Until the end of the 18th century, Smethwick was largely rural, with farming as
5074-543: The migrants. Griffiths not only drew on these fears, but also raised racist concerns about ' miscegenation ' and argued for the repatriation of migrants. At the beginning of 1965 Smethwick Council was planning "to purchase all available houses on Marshall Street to prevent their sale to immigrants". This made national headlines, and the plan was later stopped by the government. In February 1965, American black activist Malcolm X visited Marshall Street just days before his assassination . Earlier in his career he had advocated
5160-433: The new County Borough of Warley , part also went to the County Borough of West Bromwich and the County Borough of Birmingham , Smethwick was transferred into the county of Worcestershire . The parish was also abolished on 1 April 1966 to form Warley , part also went to West Bromwich and Birmingham. In 1961 the parish had a population of 68,390. Warley county borough in turn was merged with West Bromwich in 1974 to form
5246-431: The new Inner Farne and Brownsman lighthouses). Construction was relatively swift, and the new Longstone Lighthouse was first lit on 15 February 1826. The total cost was £4,771. The tower was painted red and displayed, like its predecessor, a revolving light 'showing the full face of a reflector every 30 seconds'; it was equipped with a four-sided rotating array of twelve Argand lamps (three on each side), each mounted within
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#17327984004345332-438: The new and old main line diverged at one end at Smethwick Junction near Bridge Street and rejoined at Bromford Junction near Bromford Road in Oldbury. Today Galton Valley is a nature area and of more historical interest than commercial, and used mainly for leisure rather than transporting commercial goods. The LNWR was the first to construct a railway through Smethwick in 1852 from New Street towards Wolverhampton and
5418-473: The new equipment became operational. The following year, the old first-order optic was put on display in the new Museum of Science and Industry in Birmingham, the city where it had been manufactured eighty years earlier. In 1990 Longstone Lighthouse became fully automated, and the keepers were withdrawn. Prior to automation an electric fog signal had replaced the siren. Until 2015 the diesel generators at Longstone were run 24 hours-a-day; in that year solar power
5504-417: The notable mechanical and electrical engineer. The company was bankrupted in 1855 by the failure of an overseas railway to pay for work done. The site was later used by the GKN company. In 2015 the site was being cleared to build the new Midland Metropolitan University Hospital which aims to combine the Sandwell General Hospital at West Bromwich and City Hospital , Dudley Road. Work at the site later came to
5590-405: The public; she and her father were both later awarded the silver medal for bravery by the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck . In 1873 the lamp at Longstone was reconfigured and improved with the addition of a new optic by Chance Brothers of Smethwick , made up from a number of Fresnel lens panels, which were used to increase the transmission of light from
5676-463: The school. However, O'Connor was well liked by both parents and children; he eventually retired in 1983. In the mid- to late 1960s, a large council estate in the west of Smethwick was built. It was officially known as the West Smethwick Estate, but as all of the homes were constructed from concrete the estate was known locally as the "concrete jungle". The homes, mostly three or four storey townhouses, were prone to damp and other construction faults. By
5762-456: The service was extended from its former terminus at Snow Hill through the city centre to Grand Central . The metro can be caught at the Hawthorns railway station . Smethwick borders West Bromwich and Oldbury to the north and west, and the Birmingham districts of Handsworth , Winson Green , Harborne , Edgbaston and Quinton to the south and east. At the 2011 census , there were 48,765 residents in Smethwick in 18,381 households, and
5848-457: The site and monitoring wildlife. They live in Prior Castell's Tower on the Inner Farne (the largest and closest inshore of the islands), Lighthouse Cottage on Inner Farne and the lighthouse cottage on the Brownsman in the outer group. The pele tower was built during the early part of the 1494-1519 tenure of Thomas Castell as Prior of Durham . The lighthouse would not have been painted red and white in Grace Darling's day. The first lighthouse
5934-435: The slogan "If you want a nigger for a neighbour, vote Liberal or Labour." Griffiths refused to condemn the slogan. Colin Jordan , a British Neo-Nazi and later leader of the British Movement , claimed that members of his group had produced the initial slogan as well as spread the publicised poster and sticker campaign which contained it; Jordan's group in the past had also campaigned on other slogans, such as: "Don't vote -
6020-495: The south, giving the highest cliffs on the south and some beaches to the north. One classic view of the Farnes, very popular with photographers, is that from the harbour at Seahouses, but they are closer to the mainland further up the road northwards towards Bamburgh , and excellent views may be seen from here, in the vicinity of the Monks House Rocks, as well as from Bamburgh Castle and beach The Farne Islands are popular with bird watchers, and as scuba diving locations, with
6106-400: The summit with a deep cutting. The Engine Arm and Stewarts aqueducts were built to carry their respective canals over the new mainline. The cutting was built through the land of the local businessman Samuel Galton and thus this cutting created the Galton Valley and Galton Bridge was named in his honour. The bridge was the longest single-span iron bridge in the world at the time. The canals of
6192-607: The town's first major transport links from a time before decent roads and of course railways. The Birmingham Canal Navigation Old and New Main Line Canals run through the industrial areas and right past the High Street, running parallel to the Stour Valley Line : all three end up in Wolverhampton . James Brindley was the engineer charged with building the canal, a man who gives his name to the busy district in
6278-466: The victorious MP, Alfred Dobbs , was killed in a car crash the very next day. He is thus the shortest-serving Member of Parliament (MP) in British history, if one discounts a few cases of people being elected posthumously. In the resulting by-election , Patrick Gordon Walker won again for Labour. The seat remained held by Labour until 1964. At the 1964 general election , sitting MP Gordon Walker, who
6364-487: The world. The islands were used by hermits intermittently from the seventh century. These included Saint Bartholomew of Farne . The last hermit was Thomas De Melsonby, who died on the islands in 1246. A formal monastic cell of Benedictine monks was established on the islands circa 1255. The cell was dependent on Durham Abbey, now Durham Cathedral . A very small cell, it was usually home to only two monks, although on occasion this rose to as many as six. The cell
6450-485: Was Shadow Foreign Secretary , was defeated in highly controversial circumstances in the constituency by the virulently anti-immigration Conservative Party candidate Peter Griffiths . Smethwick had attracted immigration from the Commonwealth in the economic and industrial growth of the years following the Second World War and Griffiths ran a campaign critical of the government's policy. His supporters had circulated
6536-460: Was aged 22, with her father she rescued nine people from the wreck of the Forfarshire in a strong gale and thick fog, the vessel having run aground on Harcar Rock. The story of the rescue attracted extraordinary attention throughout Britain, and made Grace Darling a heroine who has gone down in British folklore. By the eighteenth century, picnics were being held on the Farne Islands. A picnic
6622-529: Was built on the islands in 1773; prior to that, a beacon may have been installed on Prior Castell's Tower, permission having first been given for a light on Inner Farne in 1669. Currently, two lighthouses are operated by Trinity House on the Farne Islands: Former lighthouses on the islands include: All the operational lighthouses on the Farnes are now automatic and have no resident keepers, although in former years, they did. The lighthouse
6708-571: Was converted into a gurdwara , today known as the [Guru Nanak Gurdwara Smethwick]. Bearwood Primary School appointed Tony O'Connor as head teacher in 1967. He was the first black head teacher in the UK, having been born in Jamaica and moved to Britain with the RAF in 1943. Smethwick received bad publicity when, the day after the announcement of his appointment, racist slogans and swastikas were daubed around
6794-582: Was dissolved in 1536 as part of King Henry VIII 's Dissolution of the Monasteries . Following the dissolution of the monastic cell on the islands, they became the property of the Dean and Chapter of Durham Cathedral , who leased them to various tenants. The islands remained a detached part of County Durham until 1844, when the Counties (Detached Parts) Act transferred them to Northumberland. In 1861,
6880-407: Was held in 1778 on Pinnacle Island by Dr Kayne and his house party which consisted of ten persons and one dog. The picnic was illustrated by S.H.Grimm who made a drawing of the house party and a separate drawing of the accompanying seven servants enjoying a picnic meal. The islands have no permanent population, but National Trust rangers live on the islands for nine months of the year, maintaining
6966-485: Was in Staffordshire and then Worcestershire before being placed into West Midlands county. In 2019, the ward of Smethwick had an estimated population of 15,246, while the wider built-up area subdivision has a population of 53,653. It was suggested that the name Smethwick meant "smiths' place of work", but a more recent interpretation has suggested the name means "the settlement on the smooth land". Smethwick
7052-493: Was introduced, much reducing the site's carbon footprint , and an LED light source was installed within the twin optic (the range of the light having been reduced from 24 to 18 nautical miles and the intensity from 645,000 candela to 116,000). The generators are now for standby use only. Longstone Lighthouse remains in use and is now monitored remotely from the Trinity House Centre at Harwich , Essex . Tours of
7138-520: Was merged into the Great Western in 1870. Not until 1931 was a railway station was constructed at the Hawthorns, although it was a 'halt' primarily for the football ground; this station closed in 1967. From 1854 the Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company was based in Smethwick until its closure in 1963. The company not only built trains, but also London Underground stock, buses and
7224-514: Was never screened until Stephen C Page, a community artist, uncovered the footage in 2005. Labour candidate and actor Andrew Faulds defeated Griffiths in the 1966 general election , remaining as an MP until his retirement at the 1997 general election , 23 years after Smethwick became part of the Warley East constituency. Griffiths subsequently moved away from the area and later served as Conservative MP for Portsmouth North . Originally
7310-428: Was not until 2004 that the last regular service used the route into Birmingham New Street via Smethwick Junction. Soho TMD is located next to Soho rail junction; road access is just off Wellington Street. It is the principal train depot for West Midlands Trains ' Class 323 train fleet, which are often seen providing local train services in the area. The town of Smethwick has a long association with buses. From 1914
7396-611: Was recorded in the Domesday Book as Smedeuuich , the d in this spelling being the Anglo-Saxon letter eth . Until the end of the 18th century it was an outlying hamlet of the south Staffordshire village of Harborne . Harborne became part of the county borough of Birmingham and thus transferred from Staffordshire to Warwickshire in 1891, leaving Smethwick in the County of Staffordshire. The world's oldest working engine,
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