City of Birmingham

The Council House declined from its eminence, becoming a suburban registry and library. A huge task faced the municipality in providing the services and amenities the R. D. C. had lacked the resources to supply, and in improving the roads. Re-surfacing, widening, raising, re-bridging, laying of drains, water and gas mains, installing street-lamps, and collecting refuse, were unspectacular but essential labours. As the scores of marl-holes were already filled with rubbish, the City continued its former practice of dumping and burning refuse at the boundaries - hereabout using part of Yardley Wood Common beside Priory Millpool. This activity raised the level so that future building would be possible; the site is in the news at present, being now destined to carry housing instead of the long-deferred and recently-abandoned school.

Sparkhill Baths were not in use until 1931, and Hall Green Library was three decades later. But an early start was made on the provision of open space. The R. D. C. had decided in '09 on a plan to keep the Cole valley green; it was to be a parkway from end to end of the District, some nine miles of meadow. This was incorporated in the Town Plans; during the twenties the Dingle, the Chinn Valley, Titterford Mill Pool, Swanshurst Park, and parts of Brand and Yardley Wood Commons were acquired and opened to the public. School playing fields were allocated at the Dell, just above the willow swamp that had been the bed of the Old Pool until the dam was breached in the nineties, Colebank in what had been Cotterell's Meadow, and - belatedly - at Yardley Wood; there planned streets were abandoned, leaving old short dead-ends. The R. D. C. had received a gift of several pieces of land from the Charity Trust, but had opened only one of these, as Sparkhill Park (1904). This had a small pool until after World War II.