Transact SQL :: Flat Text File - Separate HTML String

I have a flat text file with lots HTML tags and corresponding values 

For example 
<Near_Side> 5563 </Near_Side>
<Top_Down_Code> Xe345 <Top_Down_Code> 

So, For example I can use the a function 

ALTER function dbo.StripHTML( @text varchar(max) ) returns varchar(max) as
begin
    declare @textXML xml
    declare @result varchar(max)
    set @textXML = REPLACE( @text, '&', '' );

[Code] ...

To which Select dbo.StripHTML('<Near_Side> 5563 </Near_Side>')  Value 

I'll get 5563

However how would you get the values within the tag itself ? E.g. 

Value Name 
5563 Near_side
Xe345      Top_Down_Code

I was thinking along the Charindex but cant seem to get it right.