Some interesting info about Dudley. Dudley is a large town in the West Midlands, England, with a population of 194,919. Since 1974 it has been the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Dudley; the original County Borough had undergone a lesser expansion in 1966. It is the 19th largest settlement in England measured by Urban Sub-Area, the second largest town in the United Kingdom, behind Reading and the largest settlement in the UK without its own university.
Dudley is part of the West Midlands conurbation, and is located south of Wolverhampton. It is the largest town in the Black Country. For many years the town (but not the castle) formed part of an exclave of Worcestershire entirely surrounded by Staffordshire - which has determined the fact that, in ecclesiastical terms, it has remained part of the Anglican Diocese of Worcester.
Holly Hall - In the south-west of Dudley town, situated around the road towards Brierley Hill and Stourbridge. Local landmarks include Holly Hall School and Dudley Cemetery (the resting place of local soccer legend Duncan Edwards).
Kates Hill - Situated on a hill to the east of the town centre. Parliamentary soldiers fired cannons from Kates Hill during the Civil War of 1648 in their attack on the Royalist garrison at Dudley Castle. When the local area was developed for housing some 200 years later, many of the local streets took their names from Parliamentary figures. The parish church and church school (though no longer in use as a school) are about the only buildings left on Kates Hill from this era, as many council houses were built between 1920 and 1980.
Netherton - Originally a village, but now more of a small town, which has always been part of Dudley. It grew in size during the Industrial Revolution, and 150 or so years later it retains its Black Country character to a greater extent than most other local towns.
Oakham - A suburban and mostly upmarket eastern area of the town which has mostly been developed since the 1920s, and part of which was absorbed into the County Borough of Warley (now Sandwell) in 1966. Is home to Dudley Golf Course, which since 1966 has actually existed beyond Dudley's boundaries.
Milking Bank - A modern private residential area which was mostly developed in the 1980s on open land more than a mile west of the town centre. Was further expanded in the mid to late 1990s, mostly on land previous occupied by Burton Road Hospital, this development being known as Earls Keep.
Russells Hall - Situated to the west of the town centre and mostly developed between 1958 and 1966 for a mix of private and council housing. Consists of one primary school and three special schools, and since 1983 has been home to Russells Hall Hospital.
Priory Estate - Situated beyond the ancient Priory Ruins to the north of the town centre. Was developed in the 1930s with a mixture of council houses to rehouse people from town centre slums as well as a few streets of more desirable private houses. Includes a public park, primary school, shopping parade and public house. The north part of the estate, consisting of 266 homes, is due to be demolished in 2009 and will be redeveloped with more than 300 new homes.
Woodsetton - A village situated about two miles east of Sedgley town centre near the border with Coseley, most notable for Holden's Brewery that dates back to the 19th century and is one of the local area's biggest and best known brewers.
Woodside - Originally a separate manor from Dudley that also bordered with Brierley Hill, but was merged into Dudley towards the end of the 19th century as new developments began along the Stourbridge Road. This is the place to be in Dudley, and in this same area, it houses what was formerly known as Highgate Primary School.
Wren's Nest Estate - Dominated by the huge hill of the Wren's Nest National Nature Reserve that contains numerous underground caverns as well as a huge collection of fossils, which according to local legend "will never run out". The rural land beneath the hill was developed for council housing during the 1930s. By the 1980s, it was one of the most rundown and deprived estates in the West Midlands, but European Union funding in the early 1990s saw living conditions improve and many of the area's other problems solved.
Gornalwood - A village in the Sedgley township which was a largely rural area until the early 20th century, and has retained much of its original character despite extensive private and council housebuilding since the 1920s.
Lower Gornal - Another village in the Sedgley township, which is very similar to neighbouring Gornalwood and is very difficult to differentiate from its close neighbour, with the boundary between the two villages being very difficult to determine.
Sedgley - A town in its own right which is situated some four miles north of Dudley in the direction of Wolverhampton. Was originally a manor of villages, but developed into a town between 1920 and 1970 following extensive housebuilding in the private and public sectors.
Upper Gornal - A village within the Sedgley township that is situated around the main road between Dudley and Wolverhampton. As with Lower Gornal and Gornal Wood, Upper Gornal features a wide range of building types.
Brierley Hill - Still regarded as a separate town, and dominated by the Merry Hill Shopping Centre which was mostly developed between 1985 and 1989. For some 150 years prior to 1982, the town was dominated by the Round Oak Steel Works, which was situated on part of the site now occupied by Merry Hill.
Coseley - One of the local area's smaller towns, was originally part of Sedgley before becoming a town in its own right in 1897. Until its absorbment in Dudley nearly 70 years later, the town became increasingly more densely developed for housing. Its industry has declined considerably in recent decades, with the most recent major loss being the huge Bean car component factory (once the home of Bean Cars) which closed due to financial problems in 2005.
Kingswinford - A suburban area of the borough which was originally a parish in its own right until becoming part of Brierley Hill and finally Dudley. Unlike many other towns in the borough, it still has a very rural atmosphere despite having been extensively developed for private housing since the 1920s. Is now considered as one of the most desirable residences in the Black Country.
Wall Heath - A village within the Kingswinford suburban area that is among the most popular and desirable residential areas in the Black Country, and a sharp contrast to many other parts of the borough.

Some of the info above is taken with thanks from the free net encyclopedia, wikipedia.org - We take no responsibility for any inaccuracies.

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