to their area by the wind. Quinton was fictionalised as "Tilton" by Francis Brett Young in his 1931 novel Mr & Mrs Pennington. During World War Two on 17 July 1941 a Royal Air Force, Armstrong Whitworth Whitley (Z6476) bomber crashed into Quinton after striking a balloon cable. All six crew died in the crash. Quinton became, with the rest of Birmingham, part of the metropolitan county of the West Midlands on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972. Geography Quinton is covered by the B32 postal district. The northern boundary of Quinton is the southern side of the A456/A458 Hagley Road West between Balden Road and the M5 motorway; the northern side is Brandhall in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell. The M5 forms the western boundary down to junction 3, and separates Quinton from the town of Halesowen in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. The Bourn Brook in Woodgate Valley Country Park is the southern boundary and divides Quinton from Woodgate, South Woodgate and Bartley Green. Balden Road, Tennal Lane and West Boulevard (B4121) form the eastern boundary, however, the ward boundary extends further east to Lordswood Road in the B17 postcode area of Harborne. Quinton covers an area of though its boundaries have since expanded slightly. Eastern parts were formerly known as Ridgacre, with Quinton or "The Quinton" being the area now around the church. Elevation Quinton's highest point is above sea level at the original village centre on High Street. The land drops away to the south and east to a low of at the Bourn Brook by West Boulevard. The top of the spire of the (Church of England) Christ Church is the highest point of any building in Birmingham. The escarpment a little to the west forms part of the national watershed, dividing the catchment areas of the River Severn and the River Trent. Housing The area is almost entirely residential, though there are typical small local service businesses. An office park, accessed from the Quinton Expressway, has been built on part of Quinton Meadows. The original Quinton village in the area around Christ Church on Hagley Road West is of largely Victorian terraced houses. On the corner of Ridgacre Road West and High Street stands the Nailer's Cottage, apparently 18th century, but whose lower walls may date back to the 16th century. It is the oldest dwelling in Quinton. The village spread