In times gone by this was the first thing visitors to the village saw as they reached the top of Mill Hill.
Since 1973 Castle Bromwich has been a far flung outpost of Solihull.
A bit too far flung if you ask me.
(On one of these signs a local wag has turned the 'S' into a '$'!
The Rectory has recently ceased to be that. It is now a private house, greatly improved by the new owners.
The South Avenue of, mainly, horse chestnut trees extends into Birmingham which has, happily, preserved them. This is a view, looking North, near the River Cole.
This view has been destroyed by Birmingham City Council in an unprecedented act of vandalism: constructing a children's playground (in colours which clash) where I have never seen children play before.
The Methodist church is now in the Birmingham part of School Lane.
It recently celebrated its sesquicentenary, although not all that time on this site. Originally it stood where the 'Coach and Horses' now is.
The brewers made the (then) teetotal Methodists an offer which even they couldn't refuse!
Viewed from Poplars Drive, this collection of cottages straddles Chester Road near the Victory Hall.
The Castle was once a coaching inn, lying on the old road from London to Holyhead. It must have been host on occasions to the Irish Mail stagecoaches.
The river Cole has been rescued by 'Project Kingfisher'.
The name could not be more appropriate because - despite the supermarket trolleys, burnt-out cars and trail bikes - on three occasions I have seen the iridescent blue flash of a Kingfisher there, watched the languid flight of a grey heron and heard the tap-tap-tap of a woodpecker. So all is not lost - yet!
Spitfire Roundabout on Chester Road.
This controversial memorial to the 11,780 Spitfires built nearby stands at what used to be the entrance to Castle Bromwich aerodrome.
Designed by Tim, nephew of J R R, Tolkien, it was unveiled by the octogenarian former test pilot Alex Henshaw in November 2000.
I like it!
The river Tame, not far from where the railway station used to be. Now overshadowed by the M6 motorway!
'Pimple' hill.
This is the name by which the Anglo-Saxon burial mound/fortification is known locally.
Sadly its symmetry has been destroyed by the collector road in front of it.
The pub got its name before the roundabout!
After more than a century of service to the community - followed by a year's rest and a makeover - the village Post Office is now a hair and beauty salon.
What would Lady Bradford have said!
Before
After
One of the old coaching inns on Chester Road. Was this the 'White Horse Inn'?
You can still see, on its western wall, the gable end of the old estate office.
If you look hard enough you can still find remnants of the old village.
Now a private house, was this Webb's Farm?
John Pierce confirms that his grandfather, Tom Webb, did indeed move here in 1902. He also tells me that Tom was the third person in the village to own a car - after Lady Bradford and one Colonel Demuth!
I think it later became Rawlins' Farm.
On a corner of Chester Road the old cottages remain unchanged.
Even the old fire brigade insurance sign has survived - just!
The Victory Hall is now a Community Church. Its foundation stone bears testimony to the social structure of the village, which even a World War could not change!
Other old cottages have been subdivided.
Whateley Green is bounded nowadays by two busy roads.
Another of Castle Bromwich's surviving cottages.
This one overlooks the village green.
A Palm Sunday procession through the village.
A rare picture showing the heraldry which gives the Bradford Arms pub its name. Usually it is buried under layers of ivy!
The corner of Chester Road and Birmingham Road.