Knowle/Dorridge, Solihull, West Midlands
Created | Updated Jul 22, 2002
Solihull is a great place... umm well kind of, they have plenty of flowers anyway. Just outside of Birmingham, off the M42, it provides what appears to be a slightly more upper-class area than the inner city and most who live there prefer to say they are near Stratford because they think it gives them a better "image". In Dorridge (the more upmarket part) old ladies are often seen telling the younger generations to tuck their shirts in, and telling them they're a disgrace to the neighbourhood. What is it about this area that makes people think they are so much better because they come from it, apart from the house prices of course?
To start with Dorridge, it's a fairly nice place when all said and done. Its tidy and its clean. The council have tried to make it pleasant and on the whole they have done a good job. The whole village is based round a central road (station road) that cuts through the centre. A station at one end, a small roundabout at the other gives you the boundaries (which are usually diputed by all residents anyway.) Just near the station is a small shopping square. It has the standard shops, post office, hairdressers and opticians. There's also a butchers and bakers, and a couple of music shops. There apparently used to be a train shop in the square too, which used to attract collectors from all around in the hay-day of Hornby model railways but unfortunately that moved some years ago. Still, it is fairly well kitted out for a village but it lacks anything of interest now and isn't somewhere where you would want to spend more then 15 minutes.
The houses are nice, ranging from the older bigger houses and the small post-war dwellings. The off-licences and other alcoholic shops are under strict orders from the police to check everyone for ID so anyone under 25 should carry it with them just in case (they ID a stupid amount of people, a 35 year old man even got stopped and there's no way he looked a day younger then 30)
Even though they are fairly strict a large amount of underage drinkers can be seen, especially on a Friday night. Complaints are always made by residents but they are mostly unfounded as the youths are never violent or destructive, they are mainly a nice bunch. Discussions are underway about employing a curfew to try to tackle this problem.
Knowle suffers from the same drinking problem and is pretty much the same sort of place too. Its boundary runs from the roundabout to the motorway. It has a high street that has a larger number of shops, although no opticians, but it does have a Blockbusters movie rental. There are a few pubs which are all moderately ok, and a few very nice restaurants (though a little pricey).
A number of parks span Knowle and Dorridge, they are all nice and big (in village terms) and two have tennis courts, though they are always full in the summer.
As a place to visit it would be rather boring to the ordinary English folk but a fair few tourists (mainly German) come stay here just because they think it shows a nice natural English village.
With Solihull centre near by with their newly opened Touchwood shopping centre there is a good place to shop close by and civilisation isn't to far away.
To start with Dorridge, it's a fairly nice place when all said and done. Its tidy and its clean. The council have tried to make it pleasant and on the whole they have done a good job. The whole village is based round a central road (station road) that cuts through the centre. A station at one end, a small roundabout at the other gives you the boundaries (which are usually diputed by all residents anyway.) Just near the station is a small shopping square. It has the standard shops, post office, hairdressers and opticians. There's also a butchers and bakers, and a couple of music shops. There apparently used to be a train shop in the square too, which used to attract collectors from all around in the hay-day of Hornby model railways but unfortunately that moved some years ago. Still, it is fairly well kitted out for a village but it lacks anything of interest now and isn't somewhere where you would want to spend more then 15 minutes.
The houses are nice, ranging from the older bigger houses and the small post-war dwellings. The off-licences and other alcoholic shops are under strict orders from the police to check everyone for ID so anyone under 25 should carry it with them just in case (they ID a stupid amount of people, a 35 year old man even got stopped and there's no way he looked a day younger then 30)
Even though they are fairly strict a large amount of underage drinkers can be seen, especially on a Friday night. Complaints are always made by residents but they are mostly unfounded as the youths are never violent or destructive, they are mainly a nice bunch. Discussions are underway about employing a curfew to try to tackle this problem.
Knowle suffers from the same drinking problem and is pretty much the same sort of place too. Its boundary runs from the roundabout to the motorway. It has a high street that has a larger number of shops, although no opticians, but it does have a Blockbusters movie rental. There are a few pubs which are all moderately ok, and a few very nice restaurants (though a little pricey).
A number of parks span Knowle and Dorridge, they are all nice and big (in village terms) and two have tennis courts, though they are always full in the summer.
As a place to visit it would be rather boring to the ordinary English folk but a fair few tourists (mainly German) come stay here just because they think it shows a nice natural English village.
With Solihull centre near by with their newly opened Touchwood shopping centre there is a good place to shop close by and civilisation isn't to far away.
