Aldersley

Aldersley
Staffordshire
Aldersley bridge & building remains
Location
Location:	52°36’14"N, 2°9’4"W
Data
Post town:	Wolverhampton
Postcode:	WV6
Dialling code:	01902
Local Government
Council:	Wolverhampton

Aldersley is a small suburb of Wolverhampton, Staffordshire. It is north-west of Wolverhampton city centre. Aldersley is a relatively modern part of Wolverhampton, with most of the housing stock – both private and council – dating from after World War II.

The Smestow Valley Leisure Ride starts from there and the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal passes through the area. It is famous for the Aldersley Stadium – home of the Wolverhampton & Bilston Athletics Club and Wolverhampton Wheelers Cycling Club, who use its 500-yard tarmac banked velodrome.

History

The name 'Aldersley' is said by toponymists to come from 'Alor' - Old English for Alder as in Alder Tree, and 'lēah' - a woodland clearing, the name likely meaning a clearing in the Alder wood or woodland clearing where there are Alders. On the grounds of Aldersley Leisure Village, many Alder trees grow today, though it is not known if they are descendents of those that gave their name to the place.

Historically, Aldersley was a rural area consisting of the odd farm or house. The coming of the canals changed things somewhat, with Aldersley housing a major canal junction - that of the Birmingham Mainline Canal and the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal. A small hamlet was built at this junction for the people who operated it - with lock keepers cottages, a tollkeepers house and so on. Today, only the cellars and some brickwork remain of these historic buildings after they were demolished during the 1960s. Nearby stood Aldersley farm, close to the current driveway into Aldersley stadium on the Aldersley Road, with Blakeley Green House just a quarter of a mile north along the Aldersley Road. The next change to the landscape of the area came with the railways, the Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury Line passing along the northern edge of Aldersley, with the Wombourne Branch Line running off this south, through Aldersley and onto Tettenhall, and eventually Wombourne and Stourbridge.

During the mid 20th Century, post-World War II, extensive housing was built in Aldersley and neighbouring Claregate. Aldersley Stadium was also developed in the 1950s on land that previously belonged to Aldersley Farm. In the late 1990s, the stadium was rebuilt, and renamed 'Aldersley Leisure Village'.

Today

Today Aldersley is most known for its modern Leisure Village. Aldersley Leisure Village has astroturf football and hockey pitches, the National Indoor Shooting venue, a banked 500-yard velodrome for cyclists as well as an athletics track, sports hall and gym. Wolverhampton Wanderers academy also have a 'dome' with an indoor pitch on the Leisure Village grounds.