Rubery is the name of two adjacent settlements; one a village in the

Bromsgrove District Bromsgrove is a non-metropolitan district, local government district in north-east Worcestershire, England. It is named after its only town, Bromsgrove, where its council is based, but also includes several villages and surrounding rural areas ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

, the other a suburb of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

in the West Midlands, England. It is from

Bromsgrove Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England, about north-east of Worcester and south-west of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 34,755 in at the 2021 census. It gives its name to the wider Bromsgrove District, of which it is ...

town centre, and from Birmingham city centre. Rubery was built on a sandstone quarry, now known as "Rubery Cutting"/"Leach Green Quarry", parts of which can still be seen near the Rubery 'Fly-over'. Former clay mining pits, later flooded and known locally as 'The Marl Holes', now make up Callowbrook Park, which, alongside St Chads Park, is one of the two main parks in the village. Much of the urbanisation in Rubery occurred between 1960 and 1970, where suburbs replaced former farmland and historic farms such as Callowbrook Farm (formally located at the site of Callowbrook Bridge) and Gunner Lane Farm.

Etymology

The word "Rubery" comes from the old English word "" meaning "a rough hill", which may refer to Rubery Hill, situated on "Cоck-Hill Lane".

Geography and Demography

The settlement is divided between Birmingham and Bromsgrove. The boundary for both districts is between both Cock Hill Lane and Callowbrook Lane. Rubery also contiguous with nearby New Frankley, Northfield and Rednal which are all part of Birmingham. Rubery lies next to both the

A38 road The A38, parts of which are known as Devon Expressway, Bristol Road and Gloucester Road, Bristol, Gloucester Road, is a major A-class trunk road in England. The road runs from Bodmin in Cornwall to Mansfield in Nottinghamshire. It is long, mak ...

and

M5 motorway The M5 is a motorway in England linking the Midlands with the South West England, South West. It runs from junction 8 of the M6 motorway, M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Brom ...

. The village has good connections to nearby

Redditch Redditch is a town and non-metropolitan district with borough status in Worcestershire, England. It is located south of Birmingham, east of Bromsgrove, north-west of Alcester and north-east of Worcester. In 2021, the town had a population of ...

Stourbridge Stourbridge () is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Situated on the River Stour, Worcestershire, River Stour, the town lies around west of Birmingham, at the southwester ...

, Worcester and

Kidderminster Kidderminster is a market town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester, England, Worcester. Located north of the River Stour, Worcestershire, River Stour and east of the River Severn, in th ...

. The population of Rubery was recorded at 11,016 for the Rubery and Rednal Ward of Birmingham. While the Bromsgrove wards of Rubery North and South had populations of both 3,643 (North) and 2,964 (South). Rubery was served by a railway station on the former Halesowen Railway which linked it with Old Hill,

Halesowen Halesowen ( ) is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically an exclave of Shropshire and, from 1844, in Worcestershire, ...

and

Longbridge Longbridge is an area in the south-west of Birmingham, England, located near the border with Worcestershire, historically being within this place. Public transport Longbridge is described as a hub for public transport with a number of bus ...

. The station and line closed in the 1930s and have since been redeveloped and turned into public footpath.

Literary connections

The author Jonathan Coe (b.1961) was brought up in Rubery, and his novel "The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim" names several local places and landmarks.

Politics

The local councillors are, as of March 2014: Peter McDonald (Labour) and Colin Wilson (Labour) - Waseley (District), Christine McDonald (Labour) - Beacon (District) and Peter McDonald (Labour) - Beacon (County) Part of Rubery is represented on Birmingham City Council by Adrian Delaney of the (

Conservative Party (United Kingdom) The Conservative and Unionist Party, commonly the Conservative Party and colloquially known as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. The party sits on the centre-right to right- ...

) who is councillor for the Rubery and Rednal ward. Geographically, most of Rubery lies in the Beacon Ward of

County Council, and under both the Waseley and Beacon areas for

District Council. Part of Rubery falls under Birmingham Council.

Compass

References

{{authority control Villages in Worcestershire Bromsgrove Areas of Birmingham, West Midlands Unparished areas in Worcestershire