Harden, West Midlands

Harden is an area to the north of Walsall and borders with Bloxwich, Blakenall Heath, Coalpool, Goscote and Rushall. The whole area was part of the industrial revolution, with mining and metal processing being the main industries. Although close to the A34 main road from the Stoke (potteries) to Birmingham, it is still served by canals.

The area mostly developed with council housing between 1920 and 1960, though some of the older properties have been gradually demolished since the late 1990s.

A large area has been left as park land for community use.

Harden is one of the most deprived parts of the Walsall borough and also has one of the highest crime rates, although it has recently started to improve due to a regeneration of the neighbourhood.

Harden Infant School for 5-7 year olds was opened in 1938 on Goldsmith Road, with the Junior School for 7 to 11 year olds being added a year later. A nursery unit was later added to the infant school, and the infant and junior schools have now been merged to form a 3-11 primary school.

The south of Harden was developed for further council housing in the 1950s, when the new W.R. Wheway School was opened for children aged 11 upwards. It became Forest Comprehensive (an 11-16 school) in September 1973, but closed 19 years later. The building survived as the Hawbush Centre, a local community centre.

Parts of Harden have been plagued by coal mining subsidence and this has resulted in homes having to be demolished around Shakespeare Crescent in the late 1990s. Another reason for demolition of some properties was that they had been attacked by vandals and arsonists while they were empty, which would have increased the cost of refurbishing and re-letting them.

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Wikipedia