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| Moseley village park Birmingham V McGarvey cc by Village: consists of a group of houses, together with other buildings such as a church and a school, in a country area. 
St James Church Brightwell-Cum- Sotwell
V Mcgarvey cc by
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It's summer and a time for village merriment, fetes, garden parties, outdoor entertainment, picnic blankets and umbrellas. A couple of weeks ago I attended an outdoor performance of a Midsummer Night's Dream in Brightwell-Cum-Sotwell close to Oxford. It was a bit of a family affair, my nephew was Puck, my brother Bottom, my niece was a fairy and my sister-in-law was hosting the bar. It took place in the church yard of St James Church, a Grade 2 listed building dating back to the 14th century. Brightwell-cum-Sotwell fits the Collins definition of a village, groups of houses, check, church check, in a country area, check. If you walk around the village, you will see houses dating back to Tudor times, idyllic rural wildflower dotted vistas and babbling brooks, it is truly lovely.
It could be argued that the definition of a village may be too restrictive, as the term has also been integrated into urban dialect, for parts of suburbia that cities have enveloped many of which were originally villages and are still referred to as villages. Like Brightwell-Cum-Sotwell these places also host summer outdoor events. Moseley in Birmingham is one such place, the group of shops in the centre of Moseley is commonly known as Moseley Village. It also hosts 2 annual music events Mostly Jazz Funk and Soul in July and Moseley Folk Festival at the end of August. Both take place in the 300 year old Moseley Park which according to its web site is a
"former estate of Moseley Hall (grade 2 listed), which was rebuilt in 1792-6 for John Taylor, a Birmingham manufacturer. The Hall had been burnt out in the Birmingham Riots of 1791 when ‘the mob’ rampaged around Birmingham setting fire to the residences of many landowners"
Access is via an electronically programmed day key. To preserve the park a charitable trust was formed in 2006 to ensure that the Park is restored and preserved and to make sure that it can never be sold.
Stoke-on-Trent is a polycentric city which was formed in 1910 by joining 6 towns that were originally villages, Hanley Burslem Longton Fenton and Tunstall, these towns are comprised of many suburbs some of which are referred to as villages. I live in Hartshill (village) originally a Norman deer hunting park, the residential parts were developed by Herbert Minton pushing it into suburb definition status. My parents live in Milton (village) which is more closely aligned to the standard definition of a village as it is nearer to the country. although the City's tentacles have stretched and attached themselves leaving no obvious rural dividing line. The village/suburb adjacent to Hartshill is Penkhull, it features in the doomsday book and was a royal manor of William the Conqueror. This was developed as a suburb of Stoke by another potter William Spode. Penkhull, like Moseley has annual music performing arts events. Whilst I was enjoying "Mostly JFS" the Penkhull mystery plays were taking place on the village green.
We often hear parts of London referred to as villages or having a village feel, despite being miles away from a "country area". The urban village suggests an alternative community lifestyle to a possibly alienating city life. Urban planning influencer Jane Jacobs championed urban villages as a movement away from what she considered to be brutal impersonal modernist city planning. However, the term village has also been appropriated by those marketing suburbia in particular planners and estate agents. The urban village has also become a product of its own success leading to gentrification, a place for young professionals often leading to the inflation of property prices. Moseley could possibly be described as an example of this with its heaving trendy restaurants and bars. However, for Stoke, adopting village principles has led to the preservation of places, the development of community activities and support networks that have been led by grassroots groups subsidising civic duties that are no longer funded by central government. This is also evidenced by Moseley Park a rural escape hidden within "Moseley Village", where a community has got together to protect it from the encroaching suburbia/urban village.
"former estate of Moseley Hall (grade 2 listed), which was rebuilt in 1792-6 for John Taylor, a Birmingham manufacturer. The Hall had been burnt out in the Birmingham Riots of 1791 when ‘the mob’ rampaged around Birmingham setting fire to the residences of many landowners"
Access is via an electronically programmed day key. To preserve the park a charitable trust was formed in 2006 to ensure that the Park is restored and preserved and to make sure that it can never be sold.
Stoke-on-Trent is a polycentric city which was formed in 1910 by joining 6 towns that were originally villages, Hanley Burslem Longton Fenton and Tunstall, these towns are comprised of many suburbs some of which are referred to as villages. I live in Hartshill (village) originally a Norman deer hunting park, the residential parts were developed by Herbert Minton pushing it into suburb definition status. My parents live in Milton (village) which is more closely aligned to the standard definition of a village as it is nearer to the country. although the City's tentacles have stretched and attached themselves leaving no obvious rural dividing line. The village/suburb adjacent to Hartshill is Penkhull, it features in the doomsday book and was a royal manor of William the Conqueror. This was developed as a suburb of Stoke by another potter William Spode. Penkhull, like Moseley has annual music performing arts events. Whilst I was enjoying "Mostly JFS" the Penkhull mystery plays were taking place on the village green.
We often hear parts of London referred to as villages or having a village feel, despite being miles away from a "country area". The urban village suggests an alternative community lifestyle to a possibly alienating city life. Urban planning influencer Jane Jacobs championed urban villages as a movement away from what she considered to be brutal impersonal modernist city planning. However, the term village has also been appropriated by those marketing suburbia in particular planners and estate agents. The urban village has also become a product of its own success leading to gentrification, a place for young professionals often leading to the inflation of property prices. Moseley could possibly be described as an example of this with its heaving trendy restaurants and bars. However, for Stoke, adopting village principles has led to the preservation of places, the development of community activities and support networks that have been led by grassroots groups subsidising civic duties that are no longer funded by central government. This is also evidenced by Moseley Park a rural escape hidden within "Moseley Village", where a community has got together to protect it from the encroaching suburbia/urban village.
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| Moseley Park Pool V McGarvey cc By |