Idea: Gorsebrook, our Ironbridge
Before the Ring Road, and before the Stafford Road was widened destroying the character of the area, Gorsebrook was a little town in itself, with its own shops and amenities.
Anchored by the Croft public house, now a steakhouse, and the Dunstall branch Odeon Cinema, much of it was demolished to build what is now the A449 dual carriageway.
Whether the area is referred to as Gorsebrook or Dunstall depends on the time, with areas changing so much over the centuries. As Dunstall, the area became so important it had its own railway station:
But the reason for this is obvious, as this was Wolverhampton's railway city. A sprawling mass of engine sheds, workshops, manufactories and other industry, this was the end of Brunel's railway.
While science lives on in the area in the form of Wolverhampton Science Park, it would be nice to have something local to show for the industrial past of the area, and what I thought would epitomise this is a museum of science and industry - which could easily be a branch of the National Science Museum.
It's a sore topic actually - they even made an Eddie Redmayne film about the historic escapades of pioneers in the area but chose to instead start the trip from London and not Wolverhampton...
There are numerous railway buildings across Wolverhampton that are being put to disastrous uses such as recycling or rubbish storage.
This building is the last remaining part of the ECC works shown above. My idea was to relocate this brick-by-brick to a plot opposite Jones Road, on Gorsebrook Road, replacing the light industry here. I do this because of the other opportunities in the area.
I am in Fantasy Land here, and of course it would be expensive.
This brings me to the other reason for this idea being Wolverhampton's Ironbridge, and that is the waterway. The canal runs through the area, and the beautiful Jones Road terraces face the canal here. While I don't like the idea of turfing people out of their homes, what I would do is buy them up as they come onto the market, and convert them into little cafes, shops and restaurants, until we have a canalside street scene here.
Despite its important maritime history, Wolverhampton has little to show of this past, with the canal's journey through the city being flanked by dereliction and empty sites. Even when this is eventually built up in future years with new buildings, these will have no history to them. Turning the viaduct area into a canalside village would bring people to this area with a historic frontage, and with my science museum opposite, would be a great focal point on the canal.
The West Midlands Metro will be coming up this way eventually, and while we do not know the route, there is bound to be a stop somewhere in the area, bring in tourists from Birmingham and elsewhere.
