Woods Bank

Darlaston Urban District was a local authority which existed within the West Midlands conurbation, England from 1894 until 1966. It was centred on the township of Darlaston in the Black Country, and also incorporated the villages of Bentley and Moxley. The authority ceased to exist in 1966 when, along with the majority of the neighbouring Willenhall Urban District and parts of the Wednesbury Urban District, it became part of Walsall County Borough, later Metropolitan Borough of Walsall.

Darlaston Community Science College was a secondary school located in Darlaston, West Midlands, England. The school had Specialist Science College status, and since the closure of Kings Hill School during the 1980s, was the only secondary school in the town. It was founded in 1960, as a Grammar and Technical School, on the former premises of the Wednesbury County Commercial Secondary School (The Limes) in Wood Green Road, under the Headmastership of Mr W.C. Donithorn. It transferred to its present site in 1962, and adopted comprehensive status in 1965. Education was provided for pupils aged 11 to 18 years, from Key Stage 3 through GCSE to A-Level. There were typically around 1,100 pupils on the roll, as well as 100 full-time teachers and a further 50 support staff including learning support assistants. OFSTED inspections took place in 1997, 1999 and most recently in 2004. All of these inspections were successful. However in January 2008 the Express and Star newspaper reported the school had been placed in special measures Towards its later years lessons started at 8.45am and finished at 2.40pm to allow for extra-curricular activities which are not suitable for normal lesson time. Lessons were an hour each with 5 lessons per day. The school became the Grace Academy in September 2009, following approvals of plans to convert the school into an academy in November 2008. The school's final head teacher was Mr Stephen Casey.

Grace Academy is an Academy in Darlaston, Walsall, England. It is a non-selective co-educational secondary school. It was formerly Darlaston Community Science College which had been placed into special measures by OFSTED in January 2008 and failed to raise standards in the allotted time. As a result, it was converted into an Academy on 1 September 2009 using the same buildings. A new, purpose-built academy building was opened in September 2013, and the previous school buildings demolished to make way for astroturf sports facilities for the new school site. The academy was formerly operated by Grace Foundation incorporated by Lord Edmiston – entrepreneur of International Motors Ltd and founder of the evangelical charity Christian Vision, then became part of Tove Learning Trust on 1 April 2019 headed by CEO Dr Jamie Clarke. Carl Salt was appointed Principal in April 2016 and led the academy to achieve an OFSTED rating of Good in April 2017 implementing significant improvements in teaching, progress and student achievement. The academy is now headed by Julie Anstey, Associated Principal while Carl Salt is Director of Education over the three Grace Academy schools.

Darlaston is an industrial town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall in the West Midlands of England. It is located near Wednesbury and Willenhall.

Darlaston railway station was a station built on the South Staffordshire Line in 1863. It served the town of Darlaston, and was located to the east of the town centre, on Walsall Road. It was one of two railway stations that served the town. The other, Darlaston James Bridge, was located on the Walsall to Wolverhampton Line and became known as Darlaston after the closure of this station.

The Darlaston Loop was a railway which connected the towns of Walsall, Darlaston and Wednesbury in the West Midlands of England. It was so named because it passed through the town of Darlaston.

Darlaston Town Hall is a municipal building in Victoria Road in Darlaston, a town in the West Midlands of England. The building, which is currently leased to a charity which manages local community activities, is a locally listed building.

Moxley is a village near Darlaston in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, West Midlands County, England. It was first developed during the early part of the 19th century when a handful of terraced houses were built to accommodate locals working in factories and mines and the area was created in 1845 out of land from Darlaston, Bilston and Wednesbury.

Patent Shaft, formerly The Patent Shaft and Axletree Company, established in 1840, was a large steelworks situated in Wednesbury, West Midlands, England. It was in operation for 140 years. From the time of its opening, it employed hundreds of local people and was a key player in the Industrial Revolution that spread across the Black Country during the nineteenth century, and gave the region its iconic name. The metalwork for https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackfriars_Bridge in London was built by The Patent Shaft, following their takeover of Lloyds, Foster and Company. Sources include: https://charlessaumarezsmith.com/2017/10/31/blackfriars-bridge/ http://www.historywebsite.co.uk/articles/Wednesbury/PatentShaft1.htm 7th paragraph https://maierstorm.org/Vampire/index.php/Blackfriars_Bridge 4th paragraph https://www.blackcountryhistory.org/collections/getrecord/GB146_BS-PS_8_1 A decline in the manufacturing industry during the 1970s meant that even the largest factories were faced with threat of closure. Patent Shaft closed in 1980 after 140 years, resulting in hundreds of job losses. The factory buildings were demolished in 1983. In the decade following its closure, the Patent Shaft site was substantially transformed. The construction of the Black Country Spine Road between Bilston and West Bromwich opened up several square miles of previously inaccessible land in 1995. The Spine Road actually passed through the Patent Shaft site, and an Automotive Component Park was opened on another part of the site on 2 March 1993. This development - exclusively occupied by car component manufacturers - was the first of its kind in Europe. The Patent Shaft factory gates still exist, situated on a traffic island in Wednesbury at the junction of Holyhead Road and Dudley Street, having been moved from their original location around 30 years after the factory’s closure.The archives of Patent Shaft are held at Sandwell Community History and Archives Service.

Gospel Oak School (formerly The Royal Society of Arts (RSA) Academy and Willingsworth High School) is one of the new academies opened in England. The school's history dates back to September 1958, when Willingsworth Secondary Modern School to serve the Ocker Hill and Princes End areas of Tipton, replacing a smaller secondary modern at Ocker Hill and gaining comprehensive status in September 1969, when it became Willingsworth High. It became the RSA Academy in September 2008 and moved into its current buildings in September 2010, with the old buildings being demolished the following spring. It was one of the seven schools in the RSA Family of Academies, all in the West Midlands, of the Royal Society of Arts.In September 2021, the school was renamed Gospel Oak School after the Royal Society of Arts renounced their association with the school.

The Bradley Branch or Bradley Locks Branch was a short canal of the Birmingham Canal Navigations in the West Midlands, England. Completed in 1849, it included nine locks, and had a number of basins which enabled it to service local collieries and industrial sites. The locks were unusual, as they had a single gate at both ends, rather than double gates at the bottom end. The route closed in the 1950s, and the top seven locks were covered over and landscaped. Since 2008, there have been calls for the branch to be reopened. In 2015 the results of a feasibility study for reopening were published, and the scheme was branded the Bradley Canal, since it would involve the restoration of the Bradley Branch and a connecting link from the top of the canal, using parts of the Wednesbury Oak Loop and the Rotton Brunt line. The plan has been spearheaded by the Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust, rather than navigation interests, but there is an understanding that boats using the route will ensure that the many other benefits of reopening will be sustainable.

Bradley and Moxley railway station was a station on the Great Western Railway's London Paddington to Birkenhead via Birmingham Snow Hill line. It was opened in 1862 and served the village of Bradley in Wolverhampton and Moxley area of Darlaston in the West Midlands, England. It closed on 1 May 1915, with the coming of the First World War. Due to poor patronage, it didn't reopen following the end of hostilities. A Midland Metro station was opened at Bradley Lane nearby in 1999.