Mount Residents Association
The area known as the MOUNT lies in the North Eastern corner of the Parish of Hockley Heath. Its central feature is a small hill from which it gets its name extending to an area of some 70 acres, and dominating the surrounding countryside. On the summit of this hill is an ancient moated fortification and camp, both scheduled as ancient monuments. The fringes of this central part of the mount are densely wooded, so that the casual passer-by would never know about 200 people live within its confines. The whole area known as the MOUNT ESTATE is double that of the central part, extending in all to some 140 acres lying between the Birmingham to Stratford road and the Shirley to Tanworth lane.

Much of this is farmland, but the road frontages are populated by a further 200 people in addition to those in the. central area. The building of dwellings in the area started after the 1914 - 1918 war when it was divided into plots of various sizes between 1/4 and 1 acre. These were mainly sold to ex-service men wanting to use their gratuities to buy a small piece of land of their own.

Many of these people came to use the land to build week-end bungalows where they could enjoy the country, after a week in Birmingham. Others built more substantial dwellings and set up small holdings, and many of these latter remain to this day, happy to spend their declining years in surroundings of green fields and trees.

During the last war, many people bombed out of their permanent homes went to live in their week-end bungalows, and due to the post-war housing shortage remained there when hostilities ceased. Many of these people wished to replace their week-end bungalows by more permanent structures, but were unable to get permission to do this from the local authority then controlling the area. This has resulted in a considerable number of substandard dwellings, although there are a few well-built houses.

The people here have one thing in common, namely that they love the area in which they live and would not wish to live in some typical suburban district. Many of the younger people wish to replace their substandard dwellings by proper houses, if they can get official permission to do so.

Several attempts have been made to form a residents association which would try to co-ordinate individual attempts to keep the MOUNT tidy, and the un-adopted roads in repair.

With special thanks to Godfrey Nall, William Hiscox and the late John Burman.