40 Years of Change

April 1st is the anniversary date when Wolverhampton subsumed Tettenhall, Wednesfield and Bilston into its enlarged town boundaries. Forty years on and the town has become a City and Tettenhall, Wednesfield and Bilston have continued to exert all the influences that they previously had, and more, in the way that the City has developed.

Mayor Phil Bateman said today " Whilst there are no specific city-wide celebrations planned ,it is recognised as an important local historic date. I made a decision very early in my year of office to wear the insignia of the former local authorities during the course of this municipal year. On April 23rd ( St George's Day) I will be wearing the Bilston 'chains' at St Leonard's Church in Bilston, this will see this particular insignia being worn on the streets of Bilston for the first time in those 40 years..

I am very proud of the fact that I will have worn all three chains at least once during my mayoral year.I know people gain a great deal of pleasure in seeing the historic chains out and about. Certainly when I wore the 'Wednesfield Chain' it drew very complimentary comments.

I think that the local government changes of that year, though bitterly fought in some quarters, will be recognised now as of being a huge strength to Wolverhampton. Of course the City has always been a hugely dynamic centre. The combined strength of the districts that are still very distinct but are also homogenous to Wolverhampton is something that we can all be very proud of.

On the 10th May at the Mayoral Coffee morning I will be speaking of the City heritage and the important role that the three districts played in the development of the City we know today."

Picture shows the Wednesfield chains being worn in Wednesfield by the Mayor.