Belbroughton ( ) is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the

Bromsgrove District Bromsgrove is a local government district in Worcestershire, England. Its council is based in the town of Bromsgrove. It borders the built up area of Birmingham to the north. Other places in the district include Alvechurch, Aston Fields, B ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,380. It is about six miles north of Bromsgrove, six miles east of

Kidderminster Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it ha ...

and four miles south of

Stourbridge Stourbridge is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England, situated on the River Stour. Historically in Worcestershire, it was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution. The 20 ...

. The village of Clent is nearby. The village is served by bus service 318 ( Bromsgrove-

) operared by Kev's Cars and Coaches.

History

Belbroughton was at the core of the North

scythe A scythe ( ) is an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass or harvesting crops. It is historically used to cut down or reap edible grains, before the process of threshing. The scythe has been largely replaced by horse-drawn and then tractor m ...

-making district. Many of the mills of the area were formerly

blade mills A blade mill was a variety of water mill used for sharpening newly fabricated blades, including scythes, swords, sickles, and knives. In the Sheffield area, they were known as cutlers wheels, scythesmiths wheels, etc. Examples are preserved in ...

used for sharpening them, after a scythesmith had forged them from iron, with a thin strip of steel along the cutting edge. From the late 18th century until about 1870, the Waldron family of Field House

Clent Clent is a village and civil parish in the Bromsgrove District of Worcestershire, England, southwest of Birmingham and close to the edge of the West Midlands conurbation. At the 2001 census it had a population of 2,600. Parish history The pari ...

were the leading manufacturers. They were succeeded by Isaac Nash, whose business finally closed in 1967. Scythes were formerly not just made in Belbroughton, but also several adjacent parishes, including

Chaddesley Corbett Chaddesley Corbett is a village and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District of Worcestershire, England. The Anglican and secular versions of the parish include other named neighbourhoods, once farmsteads or milling places: Bluntington, Brocken ...

. In Belbroughton in 1831, with a population of 1,476, 68 weekly payments for

poor relief In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...

were made. Poor relief however was only due to residents of a parish, provable through a certificate of residence. At the crossroads in the nearby hamlet of Bell Heath, there is a boulder that was brought by glacial process from

Arenig Fawr Arenig Fawr ( en, Great High Ground) is a mountain in Snowdonia, North Wales, close to Llyn Celyn reservoir, alongside the A4212 between Trawsfynydd and Bala. Location Arenig Fawr is the highest member of the Arenig range, with Arenig Fach ...

, a mountain within

Snowdonia Snowdonia or Eryri (), is a mountainous region in northwestern Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three national parks in Wales, in 1951. Name and extent It was a commonly held belief that the nam ...

, in

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...

. A plaque reads "Boulder from Arenig Mountain in N. Wales, Brought here by the Welsh Ice-Sheet in the Glacial Period".

Facilities

Facilities include a village shop, which includes the post office, a hairdressers and a recreational centre with tennis courts, children's playground and playing field. There is an active cricket club on the outskirts of the village. The area also has a number of public houses in Belbroughton itself and in neighbouring villages.

Education

Belbroughton Primary School is located in the village, after which students progress to

Haybridge High School Haybridge High School and Sixth Form is an 11–18 mixed academy school with approximately 1,250 students (420 in the sixth form) in Hagley, Worcestershire, England, United Kingdom, serving North West Worcestershire and the West Midlands. The s ...

, in the nearby village of

Hagley Hagley is a large village and civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It is on the boundary of the West Midlands and Worcestershire counties between the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley and Kidderminster. Its estimated population was 7,162 in 2 ...

Politics

Belbroughton is in the constituency of Bromsgrove a traditionally Conservative area with the current MP being

Sajid Javid Sajid Javid (; born 5 December 1969) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from June 2021 to July 2022, having previously served as Home Secretary from 2018 to 2019 and Chancellor of the Exchequer ...

, a member of the

Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the Two-party system, two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. ...

Local events

Since 1996 Belbroughton has hosted ''Scarecrow Weekend'' the last weekend of each September. Founded by Steve Haywood (The Crowman) Children's Author and Artist. Villagers create

scarecrow A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin, often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.Lesley ...

s and display them outside their homes. It has proved very popular over recent years with thousands of visitors, raising tens of thousands of pounds for local organisations and amenities.

Flooding

On 7 September 2008 heavy rain caused Belne Brook, which runs through the village, to swell. The rising water was held back by a seven-foot wall but the pressure of the water caused it to break. The surge of water tore through the village sweeping away cars and causing severe water damage (and in some cases structural damage) to many properties. The current was so strong, it made

tarmac Tarmac may refer to: Engineered surfaces * Tarmacadam, a mainly historical tar-based material for macadamising road surfaces, patented in 1902 * Asphalt concrete, a macadamising material using asphalt instead of tar which has largely superseded ta ...

ripple.

Photogallery

File:Church Lane, Belbroughton.jpg, Church Road File:Belbroughton Church Hall, Church Road, Belbroughton - geograph.org.uk - 2416424.jpg, Church Hall File:Belbroughton Club - geograph.org.uk - 1997144.jpg, Belbroughton Workmen's Club and High Street File:7, 7A High Street, Belbroughton.jpg, Numbers 7 and 7A High Street File:Welcome to Belbroughton - geograph.org.uk - 2050218.jpg, Holy Cross Lane File:Seat in Bradford Lane, Belbroughton - geograph.org.uk - 2416894.jpg, Belbroughton Church File:Church of England Primary School ^ Nursery (1), Bradford Lane, Belbroughton - geograph.org.uk - 2416391.jpg, Belbroughton Church of England Primary School

References

Sources

External links

Belbroughton Net
(This site utilises Flash 8 Player)
Belbroughton scarecrows come out to play

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

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