page_title: Bearwood, West Midlands
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Bearwood, West Midlands / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: Bearwood (Smethwick) looking north along Bearwood Road at the junction with Abbey Road. Major landmarks are the Bear Tavern (left), The Causeway (middle distance right) and Bearwood Junior and Infant School (far left).
context_page_description: Bearwood is the southern part of Smethwick, Sandwell, West Midlands, England, and north of the A456 Hagley Road. Bearwood Hill was the original name of the High Street from Smethwick Council House to Windmill Lane. The border at the Shireland Brook where Portland Road becomes Shireland Road is signed "Bearwood".
  The part of Bearwood to the west of Shireland Brook is included in Abbey Ward in Sandwell Metropolitan Borough. The smaller part of Bearwood to the east of Shireland Brook is in the North West Edgbaston ward in Birmingham. In 1903, Bearwood Ward in Smethwick extended from Hagley Road to Smethwick High Street and included part of Cape Hill.
  The Bearwood telephone exchange area marked out by the 0121-429, 420, and 434 numbers extends as far east as Harborne Walkway.
  Bearwood, like many areas of the West Midlands conurbation, has a local sense of place, although it has become absorbed into Smethwick proper. Many locals still use the term "The Bear" especially referring to "The Bear Hotel" located in Bearwood. An old map of the 18th century mentions 'The Bear of Smethwick'.
context_section_description: Modern Bearwood centres around the Bearwood Road, and especially the crossroads with Sandon Road (to the east) and Three Shires Oak Road (to the west).  Historically, Bearwood extended as far north as Smethwick High Street by Victoria Park east of the Council House.  The 1899 Smethwick Borough surveyor's map of Smethwick shows Bearwood Ward as including Cheshire Road from its junction immediately opposite the Council House.  Bearwood Hill is the old name for the High Street south of Victoria Park.  The approach to Cape Hill from Birmingham via Portland Road still (March 2014) has a sign saying Bearwood.
  Bearwood has a series of shopping parades along Bearwood Road, including a small indoor market, and a number of other local amenities such as banks, supermarkets, bakeries and pharmacies. There are several opticians and a large NHS dental practice situated on this road. The Birmingham Outer Circle bus routes (the 11A and the 11C), which link Birmingham's suburbs, have stops here. Bearwood also has a number of restaurants serving a range of different cuisines.
  Bearwood Road leads northwards to Smethwick High Street, and at the southern end joins Hagley Road, one of the main arterial routes into Birmingham from the M5 at Junction 3. If the plans for the West Midlands Metro extension along the Hagley Road are realised, Bearwood will also have a tram stop.
  Between 1923 and 1973, Bearwood was the headquarters of the Birmingham & Midland Motor Omnibus Company - or "Midland Red" - based at the company's depot in Bearwood Road. Although most of the company's innovative buses were built at its Carlyle Road workshops in nearby Edgbaston, they were all registered at Bearwood and as such carried the Smethwick 'HA' prefix on their number plates.
caption: Bearwood Road by The Bear
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