Tile Hill

Tile Hill is a suburb in the west of Coventry, West Midlands, England. It is mostly residential and partly industrial, with some common land and wooded areas.cite book|title = AA Street by Street. Coventry Rugby| publisher = AA Publishing | page = p.28|edition = 2nd edition (May 2003)| isbn = 0749539739]

Tile Hill railway station is located on the Midland Mainline which links Coventry with London and Birmingham, and is situated at the south-western border with Canley and Solihull.

Geography

Tile Hill is seated in the ancient Forest of Arden, and some remnants of the forest remain between the built up areas. Tile Hill Lane is flanked by Plants Hill Wood to the south and Pig Wood to the north.

Tile Hill has three neighbourhoods. Tile Hill Lane approximately divides the suburb into a northern and a southern section. Tile Hill North, primarily consisting of postwar state housing, extends to Broad Lane in the north, beyond Banner Lane to the west, and to Tile Hill Lane in the south; while the mainly private residences of Tile Hill South extends to Tile Hill Lane in the north, the rail line in the south and the A45 in the east.

The third area is the more prosperous Tile Hill Village, which provides the main gateway into Coventry and out towards Burton Green and Solihull Borough, at the city's western extremity. The Tanyard Farm housing development from the early-1980s is essentially an extension of Tile Hill Village to the north.

Education

There are two secondary schools in Tile Hill; Woodlands School, a boys comprehensive school and sports college, [cite web |url= http://www.thewoodlandsschool.org|title = Woodlands School official website] and Tile Hill Wood School, a girls comprehensive school and Language college. [cite web |url= http://www.thw.coventry.sch.uk|title = Tile Hill Wood School official website] All of the other secondary schools in Coventry are coeducational.

Primary and junior schools in Tile Hill include Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Junior School, [cite web |url = http://www.ourlady.coventry.sch.uk|title = Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Junior School official website] Leigh Church of England Junior School, [cite web |url = http://www.leigh.coventry.sch.uk|title = Leigh Church of England Junior School official website] Limbrick Wood Primary School, [cite web |url = http://www.limbrickwood.coventry.sch.uk|title = Limbrick Wood Primary School official website] and Templars Junior school. [cite web |url = http://www.templars.coventry.sch.uk|title = Templars Junior School official website]

Hereward College [cite web |url= http://www.hereward.ac.uk|title = Hereward College official website] is a further education college for physically impaired students. The Tile Hill Centre (formally called Tile Hill College), was adjacent to Hereward College, but it is being demolished to make way for an expansion of Hereward College.Fact|date=December 2007 Tile Hill Centre has been effectively replaced by City College based in Spon End,Fact|date=December 2007 near to Coventry city centre. [cite web |url = http://www.covcollege.ac.uk|title = City College official website]

Local landmarks

Some of the notable landmarks in the Tile Hill area include:
*Site of the former Massey Ferguson/AGCO factory and offices. Except for the 16-storey tower block and the Massey Ferguson social club, the former factory buildings have been demolished to make way for a mixed use development with housing and a science and technology park containing small industrial units. [ [http://cmis.coventry.gov.uk/CMISWebPublic/Binary.ashx?Document=6014 Planning application brief] ]

*Pig Wood
*Limbrick Wood
*Plants Hill Wood
*Tile Hill Wood
*Maxims casino, formerly Stanley casino
*"The Ponderosa", the local name of a small park, named after the ranch on the Bonanza TV series being broadcast at the time the park was made.
*The "Banana" flats on Jardine Crescent.

Notable residents

The artist, George Shaw, moved into Tile Hill in 1968 with his family. The estate in Tile Hill his family moved to was built after the war, as part of the nationwide programme to create a modern future. The estate is open-plan, cut across by long paths and roads, and edged with woods, a remnant of what was once the Forest of Arden. George used this suburban environment as the inspiration to paint highly detailed, almost photo-realistic, works using the novel medium of Humbrol Model Paint.

Roads named after people

*Dormer Harris Road is named after the local historian and there are also roads named after Robert Cramb, and James Green – the engineer responsible for surveying the route of the Bude Canal.

Gallery

References