It would be hard to pinpoint the true geographical centre of the Black Country, but taking a short trip along the B4163 would come pretty close. Traversing a short 1.9 mile section of the B-road, you’d see how densely packed the Black Country actually was.
In the general vicinity around Bilston, Coseley, Tipton and Moxley, three different council borders meet one another. Here, neighbouring streets can have different bin days and different highways and environmental teams looking after their roads and grass verges.
It is also here where the B4163 snakes inbetween three local authority areas, taking motorists through the heart of the Black Country. Within a six minute’s journey, drivers can pass through three different dialling codes – postcodes are more complicated.
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At the southern end of this section of road, the B4163 is known as Bradley’s Lane. It starts at the junction with the A4037 Bloomfield Road in Tipton, Sandwell, which has the dialling code 0121.
Adding to the confusion, this part of Sandwell features the Dudley postcode DY. Heading northwards, the B4163 passes along Sandwell for a mere 0.1 miles before it crosses over into the Dudley border, near a footpath next to some houses, where the dialling code becomes 01384.
The B4163 then continues for 0.9 miles through the Dudley borough, where its name changes three times from Bradley’s Lane to Summerhill Road, Harding Street and then Daisy Street, until it passes just beyond Asda Coseley where the boundary changes again. Just before the junction with Rounds Road on the left in Coseley, the B4163 crosses over into Wolverhampton where the dialling code changes to 01902 and the postcode changes to WV.
The B4163 runs for another 0.9 miles through the Bradley area of Wolverhampton, its name changing a further four times from Daisy Street to Ash Street, Highfields Road, Salop Street and then Loxdale Street, until it reaches a crossroads with the A41 Oxford Street, where the furniture and DIY store Grand Interiors is located on the corner. Although the road is not the most scenic, it’s an important cut through for traffic passing through the heart of the Black Country, and showcases a number of historic villages that have since been swallowed up by the West Midlands conurbation.