Catshill

Catshill is a village in Worcestershire about 2.5 miles north of Bromsgrove and 10 miles south-west of Birmingham. The parish of Catshill was formed around the Turnpike Road (A38) in 1844.

Catshill
Catshill Village Hall, located on Golden Cross Lane
Catshill Location within Worcestershire
Population	6,858 (2011)[1]
OS grid reference	SO960738
• London	102 miles (164 km)
Civil parish	Catshill and North Marlbrook
District	Bromsgrove
Shire county	Worcestershire
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BROMSGROVE
Postcode district	B61
Dialling code	01527
Police	West Mercia
Fire	Hereford and Worcester
Ambulance	West Midlands
UK Parliament	Bromsgrove

The population of Catshill in 2011 was 6,858.[1]

Education

Catshill is home to Catshill First School and Catshill Middle School. The first school Catshill First School and Nursery is located in the centre of the village on Gibb Lane. The Middle School was built in 1939, and was converted from a Secondary Modern to a Middle School in 1970. The village has a small library, though it is not open every day. Catshill also has a village hall in which many different learning activities take place, from karate to IT skills.

Transport

Catshill is served by regular bus services by First Midland Red, Diamond West Midlands and MRD Travel. There are routes to Birmingham, Halesowen, Merry Hill, Stourbridge, Bromsgrove, Worcester and Droitwich.

With nearby access to the M5 and M42 motorways, Catshill is within commuting distance by car to both Worcester and Birmingham and as a result the population of the village has grown in recent years.

History

In 1828 a Baptist chapel was opened in Little Catshill.[2]

Catshill developed in the nineteenth century through nailmaking and by 1914 was one of the few villages in the area which produced nails.[3]

Famous people

The poet Alfred Edward Housman lived in Catshill.[4] The professional footballer Roy Hartle (Bolton Wanderers) was born here. For more than a quarter of a century Sarah Hilda Haines was the much respected district nurse (plaque in church) who received the royal Maundy in 1980 at Worcester. Her son Roy Martin Haines, a Foundation Scholar of Bromsgrove School, became a mediaeval historian (Worcester College, Oxford) and professor at Dalhousie University, Canada. A Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and life member of Clare Hall, Cambridge, he was awarded the degrees of D.Phil.and D.Litt. of Oxford.

References

1. "2011 census".
2. Berrow's Worcester Journal, 28 August 1828
3. "History". Catshill & North Marlbrook Parish Council. Archived from the original on 4 April 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2009.
4. Richard Perceval Graves (1979). A. E. Housman. Taylor & Francis. p. 25. ISBN 978-0-7100-0340-9.