A few images from our home village of Hockley Heath in the borough of Solihull, West Midlands. Pictures of the Stratford on Avon canal which runs through this village can be found in the Canal and Waterways gallery.

The name of the village is likely to have been derived from "Oakley" or meadow of the oaks. An important north-south route has run through the village for centuries. Today it is the A3400 but as far back as 1200 there was reference to a "magna via" - an important highway running through the Arden Forest between Birmingham and Beaudesert (Henley-in-Arden). With the advent of travel by horse and coach, a number of coaching inns were established by the late 1700s - one of which, The Nag's Head is still used today as a Harvester restaurant.

The Birmingham to Stratford canal reached Hockley Heath from Birmingham in 1798. The section of the canal between Hockley Heath and Stratford was not completed for another 18 years so for this period, Hockley Heath was, in effect, the terminus of the canal.

The combination of the canal and the major route with coaching inns lead to the establishment and growth of the village of Hockley Heath.

[Information from: "Tanworth in Arden: an introduction to the history of the ancient parish" by John W. Pettinger, 2005, Brewin Books Ltd. ISBN 1 85858 255 5].

The gallery of old deeds contains some scans of documents relating to the land between Stratford Road, Spring Lane and the Stratford upon Avon canal.