Beechdale

Beechdale, originally named Gypsy Lane Estate, is a housing estate in Walsall, England, that was developed predominantly during the 1950s and 1960s.

Education

Beechdale Infant School for 5-7 year olds opened on the estate in 1955 in Remington Road, followed by the 7-11 junior school in 1959. These schools later merged to form a single primary school and remained open until July 2006, being demolished in early 2007.

Hatherton Lane Primary School (which originally opened to infants in 1956 and juniors in 1960) is now the only primary school in the area.

Just to the north of the estate is The Mirus Academy, which opened as Frank F. Harrison Community School in 1965.

Sport

Beechdale Football Club, the local football team, play and train on a football pitch within the estate. The team has had considerable success in recent years within its division. There are also popular pool, snooker and darts teams on the estate.

Notable People

Noddy Holder, the lead singer of Slade, grew up on the estate after moving there as a child from Caldmore; his parents were among the estate's original residents in the 1950s. Another famous former resident of the estate are Rob Halford of Judas Priest & Martin Degville of Sigue Sigue Sputnik. The roads on the estate take their names from discoverers and inventors such as George Stephenson, Edward Jenner, Thomas Edison and Charles Darwin. The homes on the estate are of a common design and layout with two or three bedrooms. However, the western part of the estate that borders with the M6 motorway was built in the 1960s and many of the houses have a slightly different layout. Several blocks of three storey flats also exist on the estate with two bedrooms in each flat.

Public Transport

Trolleybuses once ran into the estate when it was originally called Gypsy Lane Estate. Currently all public transport services are provided by bus and operated by National Express West Midlands. These are the 69, 70 and 70A.