Hollywood is a large village predominantly located in the Bromsgrove district of Worcestershire, England, almost contiguous with and to the south of the city of Birmingham. Hollywood was formerly part of Kings Norton, but when Birmingham expanded in 1911, Hollywood remained in Worcestershire. The village now lies across the wards of Hollywood,[2] most of Drakes Cross,[3] the Trueman's Heath polling district area of Trueman's Heath parish ward[4] and, following a 1966 border change, the southern portion of the Birmingham Highter's Heath ward,[5] with all but the latter being located within the civil parish of Wythall.[6] The southern part of the village is also known as Drakes Cross, whilst the eastern part is sometimes referred to as Trueman's Heath. Hollywood is situated in the extreme northeastern corner of Worcestershire, 8.5mi/13km south of Birmingham city centre, 6mi/9.5km west of Solihull and 8mi/12.5km northeast of Redditch.
| Hollywood | |
|---|---|
 Simms Lane (centre), The Innage(centre right), and The Croft (bottom). | |
  Hollywood Location within Worcestershire | |
| Population | 7,284 [1] Including Silver Street and Packhorse/Baccabox Lane |
| OS grid reference | SP081772 |
| Civil parish |
|
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BIRMINGHAM |
| Postcode district | B47 |
| Dialling code | 0121 & 01564 |
| Police | West Mercia |
| Fire | Hereford and Worcester |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
History
editUntil the 1950s, Hollywood was a rural area with many fields and farms.[7] Extensive postwar development saw these fields and farms give way to housing estates, shops and schools. The majority of the development that took place was non-contiguous with the Birmingham conurbation: Hollywood Golf Course in particular ensured a break existed, as well as the retention of open fields directly south of the Maypole. However, in 1966, the city boundary moved from Maypole Lane to incorporate the latest contiguous developments on and directly off Maypole Lane, Alcester Road South and Highters Heath Lane, including the at the time soon to be built Hollywood Primary School.[8] The naming of the school has primarily contributed to this part of Birmingham's Highter's Heath ward continuing to be associated with Hollywood.
Geography
editHollywood is served by the Alcester Road, although the A435 road itself which formerly ran through the village now bypasses it, and is adjacent to Highter's Heath to the north and Wythall to the south. Other settlements close by include Kings Heath, Kings Norton, Shirley, Maypole, Tidbury Green, Earlswood, Major's Green, Whitlocks End and Dickens Heath.
Amenities
editHollywood is home to the 18-hole Hollywood Golf Club, formerly known as Gay Hill Golf Club[9][10] since 1913,[11] a family owned and managed packaging company, Kilby Packaging, which has existed since 1946, and a timber and hardware supplier, Davies Timber, established over 100 years ago. Most of the village's community buildings are centred around Woodrush High School and the adjacent Coppice Primary School on Shawhurst Lane. These include the Woodrush Sports Centre, Community Hub and Wythall (parish) Library, whilst St Mary's CoE Church, originally located on Chapel Lane in Wythall, now occupies a new building adjoining the Coppice School. Hollywood Primary School is located just over the county border within the Highter's Heath ward of the city of Birmingham, and Meadow Green Primary School to the south, in Wythall village, on Meadow Lane. The Packhorse public house is located on Packhorse Lane, at the junction with Alcester Road, and The White Swan public house on Alcester Road, at the junction with Houndsfield Lane.
Transport
editHollywood is served by multiple bus routes. Diamond run the 150 (between Redditch and Kings Heath)[12], and the 502 (a school service between Kings Heath and Alcester Academy)[13], and LandFlight run the A4 (between Wythall (Inkford Brook) and Solihull)[14]. The village is served by two railway stations, being in close proximity to Wythall station and Whitlocks End station, providing half-hourly and hourly trains to Stratford-Upon-Avon, Birmingham, Kidderminster, and Worcester.
Notable residents
edit- Steve Ashley, former motor racing champion (Class 4 Kart, Formula Ford, F3).[citation needed]
- Alan Dedicoat, former presenter at BBC Radio WM and now 'Voice of the Balls' on The National Lottery Draws, born in the village.[15]
- Chris Dunn (bass guitarist) from the band City Boy
- Leslie Dunn (actor, compere, TV news journalist), known for playing Paul Johnson in The Archers
- Parry Glasspool, Hollyoaks actor.[16]
- Alan Smith, former Arsenal and Leicester City striker.[17]
- John Taylor from the band Duran Duran.[18]
References
edit- ^ "citypopulation.de: Hollywood". Retrieved 16 November 2024.
- ^ "Hollywood Ward map" (PDF). Archived from the original on 16 August 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Drakes Cross Ward map" (PDF). Archived from the original on 19 January 2024. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Wythall East (Grimes Hill & Trueman's Heath) Ward map" (PDF). Archived from the original on 15 May 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Highter's Heath ward map" (PDF).
- ^ "Worcestershire County Council Historic Parish Maps: Wythall". Archived from the original (JPG) on 6 September 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
- ^ "NLS old maps".
- ^ "Bill Dargue placenames".
- ^ www.gayhillgolfclub.co.uk http://www.gayhillgolfclub.co.uk/. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help)[title missing] - ^ teeofftimes Accessed 25 November 2017
- ^ https://www.facebook.com/pg/hollywood.golf.club/about/?ref=page_internal Accessed 25 November 2017 [user-generated source]
- ^ "150 - Redditch - Kings Heath". bustimes.org. 12 November 2024. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
- ^ "502 - Kings Heath - Alcester Academy". bustimes.org. 12 November 2024. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
- ^ "A4 - Horse & Jockey - Solihull Station Interchange". bustimes.org. 15 November 2024. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
- ^ "BBC - Radio 2 - Presenters - Alan Dedicoat". BBC. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ Westbrook, Caroline (22 July 2019). "Who is Hollyoaks' Parry Glasspool and where have you seen him before?". Metro. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ "Smithy's on target for school". Birmingham Mail. 23 October 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ "Duran Duran legend rocks round to his home village on tour stop off". Redditch Standard. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
