Oldbury
Oldbury is a town in Sandwell, West Midlands in England. It is a part of the Black Country, and the administrative centre of the borough of Sandwell. The town's name comes from the Old English 'Ealdenbyrig', which shows that Oldbury was old even in early English times over 1000 years ago. Eald is Old English for 'old', and Byrig is the plural of 'burh' in Old English, with a burh being a stronghold or fortified town. In accordance with the 2011 Census, the town has a permanent population of around 13606 people. Oldbury belonged to the ancient parish of Halesowen, a separated part of Shropshire surrounded by Worcestershire and Staffordshire, until the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844, when it was combined back into Worcestershire after an absence of nine-hundred years. It became an Urban District in 1894, acquiring Municipal Borough status in 1935. In this time, Oldbury council created several thousand houses, flats and bungalows for some 40 years until its disbandment, the 1000th of which was finished in 1933 at Wallace Road near the border with Rowley Regis. Since the 1980s, the town has seen ongoing development, specifically the development of more retail opportunities. This features Oldbury Green Retail Park, situated on the town's ring road, which was developed in the middle of the 1990s. This, alongside the advancement of the Merry Hill Shopping Centre discovered approximately 6 miles away during the second half of the 1980s, has added to a decline in the functioning of neighboring West Bromwich town centre as a retail centre for residents. For all your home enhancements, be sure to identify reputable contractors in Oldbury to make certain of quality.