Legacy of chainmaker to live on in new Cradley village

Midland Heart has started work on the development of 120 homes next to Homer Hill Park in Cradley.

The developer has announced plans to name the access road to the development after Benjamin Hodgetts.

The businessman and chainmaker helped purchase the land for the park in 1920. He was also chairman of Cradley Parish Council which was abolished in the mid 1920s.

The land has been managed by the Homer Hill Recreation Ground Trust ever since and this subsequently came under the control of Dudley Council over the years.

The new road will be called Benjamin Drive according to a report drawn up by transport chief Khurshid Ahmed.

It said: "Benjamin Hodgetts was a well-known chain maker who died in 1926. He was assigned to buy land at Homer Hill for recreation while chairman of Cradley Parish Council. It was thought that he lent his own money for this purpose."

The development is being built on the site of the former Cradley High School. Construction work began in July on the complex which will feature a range of facilities including a bar, coffee shop, restaurant, activity hall, gym and library.

The apartments would be available to buy or rent, or be taken on as shared ownership. Every unit will have its own front entrance door, while bigger apartments will incorporate a second bedroom, with enough space for wheelchair access. There would also be garden and woodland areas.

The development is due to be completed in the spring of 2015. The development in Cradley follows in the footsteps of similar schemes – Broad Meadow in Middlepark Road,Russells Hall and Willowfields in Whitehouse Street, Coseley.

Plans were given the go ahead in March this year, despite opposition from residents living near the site, off Slade Road, on grounds they thought it was unsuitable for the development and it would cause disruption.

The Friends group for the nearby Homer Hill Park had also objected to the scheme fearing it would have a negative impact on the park.