Spring Vale is a

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

City Council,

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is situated SSE of the city centre, on the city's border with the

Metropolitan Borough of Dudley The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley is a metropolitan borough of West Midlands, England. It was created in 1974 following the Local Government Act 1972, through a merger of the existing Dudley County Borough with the municipal boroughs of Stourb ...

. The population of the ward taken at the 2011 census was 12,243.

Geography

As well as

Dudley Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...

, Spring Vale borders the

Blakenhall Blakenhall is a suburb and ward in Wolverhampton, England. Toponymy and history Blakenhall's name, according to toponymists comes from the Old English 'blæc', meaning 'black' or dark coloured, & 'halh' meaning 'nook' or 'corner'. It was deve ...

Ettingshall Ettingshall is an area of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England, and is a ward of Wolverhampton City Council. The population of this ward taken at the 2011 census was 13,482. History Historically part of Staffordshire, Ettingshall was mention ...

and Bilston East wards, and forms part of the

Wolverhampton South East Wolverhampton South East is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. Members of Parliament ...

constituency. It contains the suburbs of Ettingshall Park,

Woodcross Woodcross is a residential area of Coseley, West Midlands, England. It is set within the City of Wolverhampton, though the area traditionally existed within the boundaries of Sedgley and later Coseley until 1966. History The first known record ...

(which is actually part of the

Bilston Bilston is a market town, ward, and civil parish located in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is close to the borders of Sandwell and Walsall. The nearest towns are Darlaston, Wednesbury, and Willenhall. Historically in Staffordshi ...

township) and

Lanesfield Lanesfield is a district now within the boundaries of Wolverhampton, specifically in the city council's Spring Vale ward. Lanesfield lies within the Ancient Manor of Sedgley and was a rural village for many years until the growth of the Black Co ...

History

The area has seen some regeneration in recent years, as a result of the close of the Bilston Steel Works in 1979 by

British Steel Corporation British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

. The works were a major employer for the area and the location where the first Bessemer blast furnace was installed, which allowed the invention of

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 ...

using burnt coal residue. The closure of works resulted in the loss of 2,000 and the surrounding communities all witnessed a rise in unemployment and significant damage to their local economies.

Places of interest

In 1994, Blue Lamp and Tarmac Industries developed the land building Springvale Retail Park, providing new employment to local people. In 1995, Blue Lamp Business Parks Ltd. commissioned a landmark sculpture called 'Roll Down', designed and created by sculptor

Robert Erskine Robert Erskine (1735–1780) was a Scottish inventor and engineer who came to the British colonial Province of New Jersey in 1771 to run the ironworks at Ringwood, New Jersey. He subsequently became sympathetic to the movement for independenc ...

FRBS. 'Roll Down' stands on the exact location of where the number 1 Bessemer Blast Furnace, known as Elizabeth to the steel workers, was sited. At a height of and wide, 'Roll Down' is made of wrought stainless steel. It was nominated for the Anderson Sculpture Prize. The sculpture was unveiled on 19 October 1994 by

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

Dennis Turner Dennis Turner, Baron Bilston (26 August 1942 – 25 February 2014) was a British Labour Co-operative politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Wolverhampton South East from 1987 to 2005. Early life Turner was born in Bradley in t ...

, who had worked as a steelman at the Elizabeth blast furnace. Past steel workers were invited to the ceremony and reception. 250 children from the Springvale Primary school adjacent to the sculpture, buried memory capsules beneath the sculpture. This was after a tour organised by Robert Erskine to the works in Derby where he was creating 'Roll Down', and involved the children in the project. The capsules contain poignant stories of the children's families experiencing unemployment, but also messages of thought for the future. Many children provided precious artifacts and objects from their relatives, which in time will be revealed and preserved for future generations. 'Roll Down' is designed to last a minimum of 500 years. Also located in the ward is Spring Vale Library on Bevan Avenue.

References

Wards of Wolverhampton City Council {{WestMidlands-geo-stub