Bloxwich flying the flag from new site

The Bloxwich flag, which was unveiled two years ago in the east of the town, has now been raised on a site in the west.

The green, white and black standard, which features a lion and a tree, was chosen following a competition to find the best design, prompting a flood of entries from residents and schools.

The winning design, decided by a public vote, came from Julie Hikins.

It made its debut at Elmore Green School's remembrance day service last year and was flown at the Royal British Legion's parade through the town a couple of days later.

In June this year flag was officially raised in Bloxwich East overlooking the Promenade Gardens.

After a second site was located in Elmore Green Road, Bloxwich West, the standard was raised there for the first time on Saturday.

A small crowd, including Walsall North MP Eddie Hughes attended Saturday's unveiling ceremony.

Martin Morris, chairperson of the Bloxwich Flag committee, came across the second-hand flagpoles by luck.

He said: "I was driving home past a car upholstery business which had an unused flagpole outside.

"I made inquiries and they said unfortunately they didn't own the flagpole but had just moved to new premises and found a couple of flagpoles in the roof which they were going to put on the scrapheap.

"I had a look, gave them a good revamp and those are the flagpoles we have today."

The black and green colours on the Bloxwich standard reflect the town's industrial history and also its green open space.

The lion refers to one that escaped at the local carnival to wander through the town, representing the town's carnivals up to the present day, while the tree recalls local folklore about a wishing tree.

The two symbols also recall the sporting badges of Bloxwich, a tree appearing on the rugby team logo and a lion’s head on the football team logo.