Streetly is an area in the county of

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 ...

which lies around to the north of

Birmingham City Centre Birmingham City Centre, also known as Central Birmingham and often known locally as town, is the central business district of Birmingham, England. Following the removal of the Inner Ring Road, the city centre is now defined as being the area wi ...

. It is uniquely located within the borders of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west of B ...

and

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

district authorities, and is part of the

West Midlands conurbation The West Midlands conurbation is the large conurbation that includes the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton and the towns of Sutton Coldfield, Dudley, Walsall, West Bromwich, Solihull, Stourbridge and Halesowen in the English West Midlands ...

. It is adjacent to,

New Oscott New Oscott is an area of Birmingham, England. It was named after the Oscott area of Birmingham, when St. Mary's College, the Roman Catholic seminary, moved from that site to the new one. The original then became known as Old Oscott. The only p ...

Great Barr Great Barr is now a large and loosely defined area to the north-west of Birmingham, England. The area was historically in Staffordshire, and the parts now in Birmingham were once known as Perry Barr, which is still the name of an adjacent Birmi ...

, Four Oaks,

Little Aston Little Aston is a village in Staffordshire, England. It is located within the Lichfield District and is approximately south of the city of Lichfield. Formerly a separate settlement, it is in modern times contiguous with the built-up area of th ...

and

Aldridge Aldridge is an industrial town in the Walsall borough, West Midlands, England. It is historically a village that was part of Staffordshire until 1974. The town is from Brownhills, from Walsall, from Sutton Coldfield and from Lichfield. ...

. Streetly is a semi-rural district, lying close to many farms and is separated from Walsall by open fields and the North Birmingham

green belt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which hav ...

. The local area includes Sutton Park of which Streetly has its own dedicated gate. Streetly is part of the Birmingham

Metropolitan Area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...

and the Birmingham

Urban Area An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, t ...

. Bus services provide links to

and

Sutton Coldfield Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, known locally as Sutton ( ), is a town and civil parish in the City of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south ...

. Most are operated by

National Express West Midlands National Express West Midlands (NXWM) is a bus operator in the West Midlands that operates services in Birmingham, Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall, Wolverhampton, and Solihull, as well as limited routes outside of the general area of Birmingham, su ...

. The area was served by trains on the Sutton Park Line. However while the line remains open for freight, Streetly railway station closed in 1965 and the nearest station now is in

Four Oaks railway station Four Oaks railway station serves the Four Oaks area of Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, England. It is situated on the Cross-City Line. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by West Midlands Railway. History The station opened ...

on the opposite side of Sutton Park.

History

Streetly is named after

Icknield Street Icknield Street or Ryknild Street is a Roman road in England, with a route roughly south-west to north-east. It runs from the Fosse Way at Bourton on the Water in Gloucestershire () to Templeborough in South Yorkshire (). It passes through Alc ...

, a Roman road, of which parts can still be found in Sutton Park. Streetly was a rural area of

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

until the 1950s when the character of the area became suburban due to the mass construction of modern housing in response to the

urbanisation Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly the ...

. Streetly was in

Aldridge-Brownhills Urban District Aldridge-Brownhills was an urban district in Staffordshire, England from 1966 to 1974. The district was formed in accordance with a recommendation of the Local Government Commission for England on 1 April 1966. It was created by the amalgamatio ...

until the creation of the metropolitan West Midlands county in 1974. The history of Streetly in the 20th century is regularly discussed in a local history Facebook page and the Birmingham History Forum. These resources include links to further online information including the personal recollections of previous residents.

Education

There is one 11–18 secondary school in Streetly, and four primary schools for children aged up to 11 years: *

The Streetly Academy The Streetly Academy (formerly known as The Streetly School) is a large co-educational secondary school in Streetly, West Midlands, England, on the border of Birmingham and Walsall local authorities. It was established in 1961. In December 2012, ...

* Lindens Primary School * Manor Primary School *

St. Anne According to Christianity, Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the Gospel#Canonical gospels, canonical gospels. ...

s Roman Catholic Primary School * Blackwood Primary School From September 1972, Streetly and other areas of the then Aldridge-Brownhills Urban District operated a system of 5-9 first, 9-13 middle and 13-18 secondary schools. However, from September 1986 the area reverted to the conventional system of 5-11 primary schools and 11-18 secondary schools following a decision by Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council to bring the former Aldridge-Brownhills Urban District area schools into line with the rest of the borough. Since September 1992, pupils transferring from primary schools in Streetly have had the option of transferring to secondary schools in neighbouring

(since 1974 part of

) following that area's reduction in the secondary school age from 12 to 11.

Politics

As part of the constituency of Aldridge-Brownhills, Streetly's MP is currently

Wendy Morton Wendy Morton (born 9 November 1967) is a British politician who served as Chief Whip of the House of Commons and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury from September to October 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she has been the Member ...

. Streetly has three councillors at Walsall Council, all three are Conservatives - Suky Samra, Sat Johal, and Keir Pedley.

Sports

In 2011 Streetly Cricket Club's First XI won the Warwickshire Cricket League Premier Division, which enabled them to play in the Birmingham and District Cricket League for the very first time in their history in 2012. In 2017 they won the Birmingham League Division 3 title. Streetly also has a hockey club with four men's and two women's teams, and a lawn bowls club.

Famous residents

Martin Shaw Martin Shaw (born 21 January 1945) is an English actor. He came to national recognition as Doyle in ITV (TV network), ITV crime-action television drama series ''The Professionals (TV series), The Professionals'' (1977–1983). Further notable ...

, British television actor *

Connie Talbot Connie Victoria Elizabeth Talbot (born 20 November 2000) is an English singer. In 2007, she was the runner-up of the first series of ''Britain's Got Talent''. She then signed with Rainbow Recording Company and released her debut album '' Over t ...

, child singer, who first found fame on the ITV talent series

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquially ...

Peter Bonetti Peter Philip Bonetti (27 September 1941 – 12 April 2020) was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Chelsea, the St. Louis Stars, Dundee United and England. He was known for his safe handling, lightning reflexes an ...

, former England goalkeeper *

Gabriel Agbonlahor Gabriel Imuetinyan Agbonlahor (born 13 October 1986) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward; he mostly played as a central striker, but he was also capable of playing on the wing. He spent his entire professional ...

, former

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

footballer *

Diane Leather Diane S Leather Charles (7 January 19335 September 2018) was an English athlete who was the first woman to run a sub-5-minute mile. Early life Leather was born in Streetly, Staffordshire. She was one of six children, and the only daughter, ...

, first woman to run a sub-five-minute mile

References

{{Authority control Populated places in the West Midlands (county) Sutton Coldfield