Barr Beacon

Barr Beacon Reservoir is a covered, hill-top drinking water reservoir at Barr Beacon, Walsall, England, opened in 1899. It is operated by South Staffs Water.One of the uses of the reservoir is to transfer water from the company's works at Hampton Loade, on the River Severn, to Burton upon Trent. Water is pumped uphill from the Sedgley Beacon Reservoirs, which receive water from Hampton Loade, through 45-inch (110 cm) mains to Barr Beacon Reservoir via West Bromwich Booster. A 36-inch (91 cm) main then carries water by gravity via Seedy Mill works to Burton on Trent.The water company also operates a weather station, one of several in its network, at the reservoir, to monitor temperature, hours of sunshine, and rainfall.The reservoir was re-roofed in 1969, temporarily exposing the brick arches which support the roof.In August 2013, Severn Trent Water launched a £2 million project to build a 2 1/2 mile pipeline linking their Perry Barr Reservoir to Barr Beacon Reservoir, to allow for the exchange of water in emergencies such as severe droughts.

Barr Beacon School, formerly Barr Beacon Language College, is a mixed secondary school in Walsall, England, which acquired Academy status in 2011, when it readopted the school's original name: Barr Beacon School. It takes this name from the adjacent hill, Barr Beacon. The school was designated a specialist Language College in September 2003 but does not have this designation today. It has over 1500 pupils, including a sixth form of approximately 200.

Pheasey is a residential area of Walsall Metropolitan Borough in the West Midlands of England, often considered to be part of Great Barr. The area was predominantly developed for housing, as the Pheasey Estate, in the 1930s, but work was not completed until after the Second World War. Barr Beacon, a hill, is a local landmark.

Great Barr Hall is an 18th-century mansion situated at Pheasey, Walsall, on the border with Great Barr, Birmingham, West Midlands, England. It has associations with the Lunar Society and is a Grade II listed building. It is, however, in a very poor state of repair and is on the Buildings at Risk Register.

Queslett is an area of Great Barr, Birmingham, England. The name (originally Quieslade) has been in use since the 16th century. The first part, from "Queest", means a wood pigeon, the second comes from the Anglo-Saxon "slade", for a small valley. Another old spelling, Queeslet, appears on Victorian maps and postcards. The area was part of Staffordshire until 1928. In 1810, in A Complete History of the Druids, T G Lomax described the area: At the declivity of very pleasingly diversified hills, near Quieslade, is a most delightful lake, by crossing the head of which, the admirer of variegated landscape will be amply rewarded by an agreeable range over the opposite hills, where the High-Wood and Barr Beacon present themselves to view; and by gradually climbing the first of these two summits, the south-east prospect becomes very rich and extensive; and the latter presents an unbounded panorama into fifteen counties, which PLOT, in his History of Staffordshire, has specified. (the later being a reference to Robert Plot's Natural History of Staffordshire). The area was mostly developed with private housing from the 1930s onwards, and is centred on the A4041 Queslett Road between West Bromwich and Sutton Coldfield, overlooked by Barr Beacon. A former sand quarry, on the site of William Booth's farm, was subsequently used for landfill. One half of the site is now Queslett Nature Reserve. The Moonstones, an artwork commemorating The Lunar Society, who met at nearby Great Barr Hall, stands in the grounds of a supermarket, on the site of the quarry's former office.

The Moonstones (grid reference SP062949) are a set of nine carved sandstone memorials to various members of the Lunar Society. Made in 1998, and unveiled in March 1999, they can be viewed in the grounds of the Asda supermarket in Queslett, Great Barr, Birmingham, England. They are visible from the highway, when travelling from Aldridge Road into Queslett Road, toward the Scott Arms, and face outwards from the supermarket. They depict nine members of the Society and attributes connected with their work, in order from Aldridge Road round to Queslett Road: Josiah Wedgwood: portrait and three women from a jasperware design Erasmus Darwin: portrait and design for horizontal windmill Samuel Galton: colour wheel William Murdock: steam road locomotive Matthew Boulton: medal with his portrait James Watt: portrait and steam engine Joseph Priestley: laboratory equipment James Keir: crystals William Withering: foxglove, with words from his book An Account of the Foxglove and some of its Medical UsesThe stones also each have a phase of the moon carved on them, with the Watt stone being the full moon. The designs are by Steve Field and were executed by two stonemasons, Malcolm Sier and Michael Scheurmann. The rear of the Watt stone includes a carved panel crediting the artists and sponsors. Great Barr Hall, Galton's home and a venue for meetings of the Lunar Society, is nearby.

Hay Head Quarry (grid reference SP048987) is a 5.8 hectare (14.3 acre) geological site of Special Scientific Interest in the West Midlands. The site was notified in 1986 under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and is currently managed by the Country Trust.

The Church Of St Margaret (also known as St Margaret's Church), is the Anglican parish church of Great Barr and is located on Chapel Lane, Walsall, England. It is dedicated to Saint Margaret of Antioch. The church was rebuilt in 1862, by Griffin. The tower was built of brick in 1677, but this is completely hidden by a Gothic revival red sandstone casing added in 1893. The spire is 18th-century. The pulpit, in alabaster, was made to a design by Walter Tapper. The church was granted Grade II listed status in July 1986, legally protecting it from unauthorised alteration or demolition. Its war memorial, described by Historic England as "a lantern cross in the medieval style", was separately listed, also at Grade II, in April 2016.The church was historically in Staffordshire, and so its historic records are lodged with Staffordshire Record Office.The church gives its name to the nearby St Margaret's Church of England Primary School, and to the former St Margaret's hospital in the adjacent grounds of Great Barr Hall.

St. Francis of Assisi Catholic College is a mixed Roman Catholic secondary school in Walsall, England. It was previously known as St Francis of Assisi RC School, until it was renamed St Francis of Assisi Catholic Technology College in September 2003 after gaining specialist status as a Technology College. With the ending of the specialist schools programme the school adopted its present name. The school has approximately 1,100 pupils on roll of which around 110 attend the sixth form (years 12 and 13). Admission to the school is prioritised for baptised Catholic children from Catholic primary schools in Aldridge, Brownhills, Lichfield, Shelfield, Streetly, Tamworth, and Walsall.

Walsall was a rural district in Staffordshire, England from 1894 to 1934. It was created by the Local Government Act 1894 based on Walsall rural sanitary district, and included the five parishes of Aldridge, Bentley, Great Barr, Pelsall and Rushall. Four of these parishes were to the east of Walsall, and Bentley was to the west, forming an exclave. It was subject to increased urban development in the early 20th century and was abolished in 1934 under a County Review Order. The parish of Bentley was split between the urban district of Darlaston and the parish of Short Heath (which itself was becoming part of the Willenhall urban district), while the rest of the rural district became the Aldridge urban district, and since 1974 has formed part of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall in the metropolitan county of West Midlands.

Streetly is an area in the county of West Midlands, England which lies around 7 miles (11 km) to the north of Birmingham City Centre. It is uniquely located within the borders of Birmingham, Lichfield and Walsall district authorities, and is part of the West Midlands conurbation. It is adjacent to, New Oscott, Great Barr, Four Oaks, Little Aston and Aldridge. 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. The local area includes Sutton Park of which Streetly has its own dedicated gate. Streetly is part of the Birmingham Metropolitan Area and the Birmingham Urban Area. Bus services provide links to Birmingham, Walsall and Sutton Coldfield. Most are operated by National Express West Midlands. 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 on the opposite side of Sutton Park.

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 amalgamation of the Aldridge and Brownhills urban districts, along with part of Lichfield Rural District, and small parts of the county boroughs of Birmingham and Walsall and the municipal borough of Sutton Coldfield.The urban district had a short existence, as it was abolished in 1974. In that year the Local Government Act 1972 reorganised local administration throughout England and Wales, and Aldridge-Brownhills became part of the new Metropolitan Borough of Walsall. There is still an Aldridge-Brownhills parliamentary constituency.