What to See in Walsall - Top Sights and Attractions

St. Mary's Church is the parish church of Aldridge, a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, England. It is operated by the Church of England.

Records show that it was built before 1257. Other than the 14th-century tower, all the exterior walls were added or rebuilt between the years 1841–1853. A south vestry was added in 1975. Between 1991 and 1995, the pews and choir stalls were removed.

The church has two medieval effigies, of Sir Robert de Stapleton (active c. 1282–1301), lord of the Manor of Great Barr and Aldridge; and of a 14th-century priest, possibly Roger de Elyngton.

The church's historic records are held at Staffordshire Record Office.

Aldridge's war memorial stands on the green next to the church.

The current Rector is the Revd Steve Doel.

A 1955 painting of the church by the then Rector, the Rev Ronald William Cartmel, is in the collection of The New Art Gallery Walsall.^[4]

Rough Wood is a small woodland area located within the Short Heath area of Willenhall in England, United Kingdom. It covers two local nature reserves: Rough Wood and Rough Wood Chase. It is one of only a few remaining ancient woodlands with a mix of tree varieties but comprising largely oak trees.

Historically the woodland was privately owned up until the 1950s when it was given to the then Willenhall Council to protect it from clay extraction. The council promptly placed a preservation order on all the trees. First mentioned in the 12th Century as a royal hunting wood it stretched over a vast area taking in most of what is currently Walsall all the way to the woodland that is now known as Cannock Chase.

The woodland resides on top of the Bentley Seam of coal which runs close to the surface of the ground. It was previously exploited for coal resources which is evident by large sections having undulating surfaces caused by the sinking of bell pits. The site is encircled by the Woodlands housing estate to the north and west, by the M6 motorway to the east and by the Wyrley and Essington canal to the south and east.^[11]

Goscote is a residential area of Walsall in the West Midlands of England. The Goscote name dates back several centuries and as recently as the 1920s it was a largely rural area that had survived the recent Industrial Revolution which dramatically altered the face of the region.

However, that all changed in the 1930s when Walsall council designated Goscote as the site of a new council housing development to rehouse families from town centre slums. By the outbreak of World War II in 1939, more than 400 families had been rehoused to new council housing in Goscote Lane, Goscote Lodge Crescent, Hildicks Crescent, Middle Crescent and Hildicks Place. Further new housing was developed by the council around Goscote after the war ended in 1945.

However, Goscote was in serious decline by the 1980s with high crime rates, unemployment and the deteriorating condition of the housing. Demand for housing in the area became low, leading to an increase in the number of empty properties. Arson attacks were also a frequent occurrence.

Goscote forms part of the Blakenall ward of Walsall, which also includes Blakenall Heath, Harden and Coal Pool, which was earmarked for major regeneration from April 2001 as part of the government's New Deal initiative to regenerate some of the country's most deprived areas.

In May 2004, Walsall council unveiled plans to demolish nearly 900 homes in Blakenall Heath, Harden and Goscote, with the area around Goscote Lodge Crescent featuring on the shortlist of properties for possible demolition. These also included a large section of 1930s council housing around Harden and Blakenall Heath, although eventually some of the properties at risk of demolition were later selected for refurbishment.

In January 2007, the local council confirmed that it intended to demolish 281 interwar properties in Goscote Lodge Crescent, Hildicks Crescent and Middle Crescent and Hildicks Place. By this stage, several houses on the estate had already been demolished due to attacks by vandals and arsonists while they were empty. 103 of the 281 condemned houses were already empty. By April 2008, just over 20 families remained on the condemned estate, which the remaining residents were now comparing to war-torn Basra in Iraq due to increased arson, looting and vandalism. Some of the condemned properties had already been demolished by this stage, and within a year almost all of the estate had been demolished. The final resident left the estate in July 2011, enabling the demolition to be completed. Plans for 808 new homes on the estate were announced at the end of that year, with construction work beginning in 2018.^[14]

Museum. Aston Manor Road Transport Museum, also known as Aldridge Transport Museum, is an independent transport museum in Aldridge, Walsall, England. Until December 2011 the Museum occupied the former Birmingham Corporation Tramways Witton Tram Depot, in the Aston district of Birmingham, run by a registered charity.

The museum hosted the 40th birthday party of Charles, Prince of Wales on 14 November 1988, when he formally opened the museum.

Following a decision by Birmingham City Council to cease funding the rent on the Witton Tram Depot, it closed in October 2011. Between then and December that year, the collection was moved to the Beecham Business Park, home to the former Jack Allen dustcart assembly plant, in nearby Aldridge. Subsequently the museum moved again, this time a short distance within Aldridge, to its present location in Shenstone Drive, Aldridge, where it opened to the public in July 2013. Since reopening, the museum has retained its bus collection but also added an increased number of light commercial vehicles on display.^[15]