Dunlop opened a tyre factory on the opposite side of the Chester Road to where the Castle Vale housing estate now stands and gradually expanded over the next few decades to become one of the largest and most recognisable tyre factories in the world. The name of St. Mary was revived in Berwood upon the construction of the Church of St. Mary to serve people housed in nearby Nissen huts. It was dedicated on 17 December 1923 but was destroyed by fire in 1926, only to be rebuilt soon after and fall into disuse. Castle Bromwich Aerodrome The area was a flat plain when it became the Berwood Playing Fields. In 1909, local mechanic Louis Maxfield assembled a flying machine in Berwood Playing Fields. The plane took off and is said to have reached a height of , making it the first flight in Birmingham. The site's suitability was investigated and it soon became the Castle Bromwich private aerodrome. By 1911, a pilot was giving demonstration flights in a Bleriot monoplane. In the London to Manchester air race of 1914, competitors stopped at the aerodrome for refuelling. The start of World War I meant a change at Castle Bromwich Aerodrome and it was requisitioned by the War Office for use by the Royal Flying Corps and flying schools in 1915. No. 5 Flying School was established at the aerodrome in the same year. Pilots were accommodated in tents and huts located around the site and on 1 September 1915, 19 Squadron was established at the aerodrome. In the interwar years, the aerodrome had a dual military and civilian function. In these early days, it was the busiest airport in the area due to its passenger, post and railway air business. A large tract of land adjacent to the airfield was marked out for the British Industries Fair (BIF) in 1920, which was advertised nationally. In 1937, more hangars and a Squadron Headquarters were built for the Royal Air Force and in 1939, it was extended further to become a fighter station, a base for other units and a dispatch site for aeroplanes built at Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory on the other side of the Chester Road. At its peak, the airfield would be used for testing 300 Supermarine Spitfires per month for World War II. Various units used the airfield following the war and there was an annual display to