Turfpits Lane, Royal-sutton-coldfield

The name Turfpits predates the street's built form by over a century. By 1926 a Catholic church stood where Emery House now is, and a property deed from that same year names the plot Hope Cottage.

Three discrete incidents appear on record. A Turfpits Lane resident was fined in 2023 for fishing without a licence, a garden-shed fire caused no injuries in 2010, and a black Saab 9-3 was reported for careless driving on the lane.

Planning pressure on the lane goes back to a 1935 compulsory purchase. Recent applications show the same pattern: backland plots squeezed for extra homes, and a certificate sought for an already-operating 18-bed HMO at numbers 123 to 125.

On Tomlinson's 1760 map the lane connected to Court Lane and Goosemoor Lane, but by 1880 it was shown truncated. Beyond Jerrys Lane it became The Fordrift, narrowing to a footpath that ended beside a field next to Oscott College.

The 1938 Kelly's directory shows a butcher at No. 2, a fried-fish dealer at No. 6, and a pianoforte teacher at No. 147. One former pupil remembered playing cricket for Turfpits Lane school before moving to Stockland Green in 1960.