STORY OF THE ROAD NAMES

Moseley’s road names record its history and researching them makes walking around a lot more interesting. We begin with the cattle and sheep who were the important inhabitants for many centuries, enjoying their plant-based diet, grazing the heaths, commons and leys, until ready to be driven down grassy lanes to the beast market in Birmingham; examples being Stoney Lane, Billesley Lane and Moor Green Lane. The Ordnance Survey first series maps show the pattern of these lanes before the arrival of housing. A croft and a close were small fields, after they had been enclosed from the common land. From the 1700s, turnpike roads were built, which allowed neighbouring towns to be reached by reliable coach services, with the roads having the names of their destinations; Stratford, Pershore and Alcester Roads. At some point, the first section of Alcester Road acquired the name Moseley Road, because it led to Moseley village, from the High Gate over the Balsall Heath. As residential development took place, names recorded features of the former landscape - Park, Prospect, Highfield, with the less obvious Chantry and Grange. Prominent families are remembered, including Grevis and Anderton. I guess that names like Alder and Chestnut refer to trees planted along these roads. There are no 'streets' in Moseley, because that word was associated with the crowded old town, which people escaped by moving to the new suburbs. The railway companies were leading players in the mid-1800s. They sought to publicise the upmarket places you could now visit by train: Oxford, Brighton and others, and we see that these roads lead to the local stations, an experience we shall have again as soon as our lost stations reopen. Trafalgar Road, however, refers to the pub at the end of it, and the naval theme is continued in the side roads off it. We can be grateful that names for roads were chosen to preserve the memory of what was already here, before Moseley became part of the City of Birmingham. John Newson STORY BEHIND THE ROAD NAMES