Hall Green Railway Station
Serving the residential suburb of Hall Green.
The area originally received the name Hawe Green taken from the medieval Hawe family who built a moated mansion in the area. The original home was called Hawe Hall. Following various extensions the property was renamed Hall Green Hall and subsequently the area became known as Hall Green.
A treasure of the area is Sarehole Mill and one of only two surviving and operational water mills in Birmingham. Sarehole Mill is a time capsule from Birmingham’s rural and industrial past. Inside you can see grain turned into flour with traditional machinery using water as its source of power. Throughout the mills history it has been used to grind bones for fertilizer, tool sharpening, wire drawing and as early as 1755, the mill was leased by Matthew Boulton, one of the pioneers of the Industrial Revolution. The mill and surrounding area was also an inspiration to famous author JRR Tolkien, whose early childhood was spent at Sarehole.
Comedy and Formula One
Other famous names associated with Hall Green are comedian Tony Hancock, who lived at 41 Southam Road until the age of three (the house contains a plaque commemorating this). Formula One 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.
An interesting and practical sculpture, carved from an oak tree trunk is the Dragon Bench situated outside Hall Green Library. It was created by local woodcarver Graham Jones in 2002 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the opening of the library and was unveiled by Carl Chinn.
The Dambusters
A little known fact regarding Hall Green is the Aldis lamp factory that used to be situated in Sarehole Road, unfortunately closed down, its grounds are now a housing estate. The famous Lancaster 617 squadron of the RAF, better known as The Dam Busters, had two Aldis lamps fitted to the underside of each Lancaster bomber carrying the Barnes Wallis bouncing bomb on the night of 16 May 1943. When over the reservoir of the target dam the lights were switched on and the two beams converged as one spot on the water to correctly gauge the 60ft required height to drop the bomb.
The World Wide Web
Mary Lee Berners-Lee (nee Mary Lee Woods – 1924-2017) was a computer scientist, born in Birmingham. The family lived at 85 Russell Road, Hall Green. Mary went to Yardley Grammar School and then to Birmingham University where she studied Mathematics. Tim, later Sir Tim Berners-Lee, was her eldest child - Tim invented the World Wide Web (www) more commonly referred to as 'the internet', in 1989. Mary referred to herself as 'the grandmother of the web'.
Attractions:
Shopping, Millstream Way, Sarehole Mill and the Tolkein Museum are nearby.
Address:
Hall Green Railway Station, Stratford Road, Hall Green, Birmingham B28 8AA