Chapter six

Acocks Green in the Post-War period saw an increase in its population. Many of the large old Victorian houses along Shirley Road, Victoria Road, Alexander Road, Douglas Road and The Avenue, were converted into flats. Development of housing was on a small scale - more a case of infilling of left-over spaces. The only comprehensive development of housing of any size has been at Fox Hollies, where tower blocks were erected in the 1960s. During the 1980s several old houses near, and across the road from St. Mary's Church were demolished, and smaller red-brick houses, intended for the first-time buyer, were built in their place.

New shops and a Co-operative supermarket were built in the village in the early 1960s, between Station Road and Oxford Road. They were set back from the old building line, with the intention of eventually widening the Warwick Road. Reflecting the growth of the Irish Roman Catholic population, or to be more precise, first generation Irish-Brummies, Archbishop Ilsley R.C. School, in Victoria Road, was opened in July 1960. A new junior and infants school, Holy Souls R.C. Primary School, was opened in September 1968. The Irish made up 10.3 per cent of the population in Acocks Green, and 11.5 per cent in Fox Hollies in the 1990s. These figures do not include former residents of the six counties of Northern Ireland, nor first generation Irish Brummies.

In 1975 the annual Acocks Green Carnival was begun. It was conceived as a means of bringing together the people of the suburb, and giving them a feeling of community spirit. It was about this time that a wholesale, and unpopular, redevelopment of Warwick Road, between Dudley Park Road and Station Road was taking place. Old familiar shops, including two banks, were demolished and new shops and a supermarket were constructed in their place. Badly needed parking space for 101 cars, was provided behind these shops, but not without some cost. Houses and commercial premises in lower Station Road were demolished.

In 1982 land on the south side of the Warwick Road between, and including, the 'Red Lion', up to Holy Souls Church, was developed by the Safeways Supermarket chain. The 'Red Lion' was demolished, and replaced by a new public house, called 'The Trader', to reflect its proximity to the new development. The supermarket, which provided 150 much needed jobs, was opened in February 1983. Car parking for 197 vehicles was provided. A spokesman for the company announced, "We chose Acocks Green because it is a fast developing shopping centre, serving people from both Birmingham and Solihull."

Joseph McKenna, 1990

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