We visit a quiet Wolverhampton suburb that has strong sport and hospitality roots to find out why locals say they would never live anywhere else
For a small suburb of Wolverhampton with just two estates, Castlecroft manages to pack a whole lot of life into its borders.
Located on the west of the city, it shares a border with South Staffordshire and is situated where the Merry Hill and Tettenhall Wightwick wards meet.
Its proximity to these popular areas of the city made it an ideal spot for one of Wolverhampton's largest Victorian hotels, Castlecroft House, which was built on the site of an early 18th century farmhouse in the 1850s.
The old Wombourne branch train line serviced Castlecroft as well, with nearby stations at Penn and Compton open to passengers between 1925 and 1932. The line itself was mainly used by goods trains from 1858 until its closure in 1968, and separated Castlecroft into an easterly estate and a westerly estate.
The east of the suburb is best known for Bhylls Acre Primary School, an Ofsted-rated 'GOOD' school on Bhylls Lane, which connects Castlecroft Road to Coalway Road in Merry Hill, Penn.
Over on the other side of 'the track' is the hub of the suburb, centred around The Firs pub and shopping court on Windmill Lane. The latter is home to 'Self Service Woodward and Birkin,' an independent convenience store that has served Castlecroft for the best part of the last century.
