'Hands off our Pouk Hill' says Slade's Noddy Holder

Pouk Hill urban open space in Walsall inspired a Slade song of the same name after the band took part in a photoshoot in freezing temperatures.

Previously a basalt quarry dating to the 1800s, it is among dozens of woodland spaces earmarked for housing development under the Black Country Local Plan.

The band's former frontman grew up nearby and the cover photograph of the group's first album, Beginnings, was taken at Pouk Hill which is situated close to the M6 southbound carriageway at the junction of Bloxwich Lane and Bentley Lane, Reedswood.

Noddy said: "I am all for saving Pouk Hill and places like it. That is one site which could be left alone as there is not much left in that area and especially after the last two years that we've had.

"People want green spaces. It is something to settle people's minds and bring peace. You need to preserve these areas."

"Obviously I lived nearby on the Beechdale Estate. The reason we wrote a song about it was that we went there to shoot the pictures for our first album Beginnings. I'll never forget it.

"It was on New Year's Day in 1969 and we were all freezing cold.

"God knows why, but the photographer wanted us to strip down to the waist and that was why I wrote the song Pouk Hill about that experience."

"When I was growing up all that area was green belt. I was born in Caldmore and we moved there in 1953 when I was seven. At the time the place was called Gypsy Lane estate because there was a traditional gypsy encampment there with families living in the traditional caravans.

"There were only about four or five roads built there a the time. It was a new thing in Walsall for these new estates to be built to take the populations of places like Caldmore where the properties had got old, mouldy and damp.

"Across the road from where my mom and dad lived was the power station and all that area was absolutely beautiful countryside. We spent all our school holidays fishing at the lakes near the power station and Reedswood Park."

"I live in Cheshire and in Portugal and in a lot of places the same thing is happening," he added.

Nestled in the shadow of the former Reedswood Power Station, now a retail park - Pouk Hill, the former Reedswood Golf Course off Green Lane along with land off Churchill Road, Bentley near the M6 northbound are among those listed in the controversial plans.

Earlier this month several residents attended a meeting to air their views over the plan.

Walsall Council said there will be a further opportunity for the public to engage during a consultation overt the draft proposals next year.

Slade released the song Pouk Hill on their 1970 album Play It Loud.

The Black Country Plan, first drafted in 2017, aims to identify land suitable for regeneration and provide housing and employment opportunities and also aims protect green belt land from developers.

Government estimates show the boroughs need over 76,000 new homes over the next 20 years and 1,384 acres of land to accommodate new jobs by 2039 – equivalent to 835 football fields.