Pype Hayes

Pype Hayes is a modern housing estate area and council ward in the east of the Erdington district of Birmingham.

Pype Hayes developed mainly during the 20th century as a result of the expansion of Erdington northwards towards the Chester Road.

The construction of the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal in the south of Erdington prompted the establishment of industries near Tyburn, which is close to Pype Hayes.

Walmley in Sutton Coldfield expanded massively and Castle Vale to the south-east became a major industrial area with the construction of a large aerodrome.

Walmley Ash, nearby to Pype Hayes, witnessed 70-80 bombs being dropped on the area in just one night.

[2] By the 1980s, most of the houses at Pype Hayes were plagued with "concrete cancer" – a structural defect which renders buildings beyond repair.

As with many large council housing estates, car crime, drugs, burglaries and "hooligan" behaviour were becoming a widespread problem.

Several tower blocks were built on Pype Hayes during the 1960s, as part of further rehousing from inner city slums, but these homes were no better than the older ones in the area, despite being some 40 years newer.

On 7 July 2005 the council approved the demolition of properties 189-235 Pype Hayes Road, which were built by Dunlop Boswell.

Pype Hayes Hall remains today and was auctioned by Birmingham City Council in February 2012.

The hall was sold in November 2013 for £25,000 to private investors with plans to create a hotel and leisure complex.

Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street included a tram stop in Pype Hayes, as well as one in the nearby Minworth, and the reopening of the abandoned Penns railway station as Walmley, which would serve as the closest railway station for the eastern portion of Pype Hayes.