Catherine-de-Barnes is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull

Metropolitan Borough of Solihull

The Metropolitan Borough of Solihull is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands, in west-central England. It is named after its largest town, Solihull, from which Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council is based. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary...

 in the English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 county of West Midlands

West Midlands (county)

The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...

. It is split between the local government administration unparished area of Solihull

Solihull

Solihull is a town in the West Midlands of England with a population of 94,753. It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is located 9 miles southeast of Birmingham city centre...

 and the Hampton-in-Arden

Hampton-in-Arden

Hampton-in-Arden is a village and civil parish located within the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the West Midlands of England. The village was previously located within the county of Warwickshire, until the 1974 county boundary changes. It lies in the countryside between Birmingham and Coventry...

 civil parish and situated about 2 miles east of Solihull town centre.

History

Its name originates from Ketelberne, the man who owned it after the Norman Conquest in 1066. However it is mainly a later settlement probably dating from the building of the Grand Union Canal

Grand Union Canal

The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. Its main line connects London and Birmingham, stretching for 137 miles with 166 locks...

 there and the present St Catherine's church, now a village hall, was built by Joseph Gillott in 1879.

In 1907, a "fever hospital" was built in Henwood Lane as a joint operation of the Solihull and Meriden Councils for isolating patients with infectious diseases such as diphtheria

Diphtheria

Diphtheria is an upper respiratory tract illness caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae, a facultative anaerobic, Gram-positive bacterium. It is characterized by sore throat, low fever, and an adherent membrane on the tonsils, pharynx, and/or nasal cavity...

, typhoid fever

Typhoid fever

Typhoid fever, also known as Typhoid, is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi...

 and smallpox

Smallpox

Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...

. In 1978, Janet Parker

Janet Parker

Janet Parker was the last known person to die from smallpox. She was a medical photographer and worked in the Anatomy Department of the University of Birmingham Medical School. Parker died after being accidentally exposed to a strain of smallpox virus that was grown in a research laboratory, on...

 died here, as the last known victim of smallpox.

Transportation

The main road passing through the village is the east-west B4102 Hampton Lane/Solihull Road from Solihull to Hampton in Arden.
The north-south B4438 Catherine de Barnes Lane starts 250m east of the village, leading past Bickenhill

Bickenhill

Bickenhill is a village, civil parish and ward in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, West Midlands, England, on the fringes of the West Midlands conurbation.-History:...

, over the A45 to the NEC

NEC

, a Japanese multinational IT company, has its headquarters in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. NEC, part of the Sumitomo Group, provides information technology and network solutions to business enterprises, communications services providers and government....

, Birmingham International Airport and Birmingham International Station all of which are just 2 miles to the north.

Cricket Club, Canal and Village Life

Behind the village's only pub, The Boat Inn, lies the home of Catherine-de-Barnes (or, more commonly, Catney) Cricket Club which has been in existence since 1949. The ground abutting the Canal is accessed via the narrow passageway between the pub and the adjacent bungalows. The pub has a large car park which at the date of writing provides easy, free parking for a canalside walk or picnic. Catney currently has Saturday first and second cricket XIs in the 'Cotswold Hills League' with its President Lord Tim Basnett and Chairman Eddie Hewitt and First Eleven Captain Dan Heywood. There is also a Sunday team. Support, both players and spectators,is always most welcome.

There is an active Residents Association who run a photographic competition, lend equipment and put out flower tubs and bulbs

External links