A Brummie's Guide to Birmingham

Weoley Castle

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 11:46:00 +0000

Weoley Castle is an area of South Birmingham which has the remains of an old fortified manor house. Not much remains of the house, but the bases of the stone walls can be seen. There’s more to see here than at Hawkesley House!

Weoley Castle is not a castle as such; it was a manor house that had curtain walls and a moat and it was inhabited since the 12^th century. You can read more about the history here or there is a very comprehensive history here.

Covert shot taken through the railings ;-)

Unfortunately, Weoley Castle ruins are closed off to the public except on open days and guided walks. There is a ‘Talk and Walk’ Day on September 7^th that I’ll be going to! The walls can be seen from a viewing platform (and some can be seen from the track that goes along the back of the site, as I discovered by accident!) Weoley Castle is operated by the Birmingham Museums Trust.

A few more pics, from around t'interwebs:

Source

Weoley Castle can be found on Alwold Road, B29. The 29 bus goes past the site, from Northfield high street, or the City Centre (by St Phillips Cathedral/Pigeon Park). Maybe I'll see some of you at the Talk and Walk day on September 7th?

Bourn Brook Walkway

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 29 Aug 2013 10:31:00 +0000

The other day I ventured down a path I’ve never been before – the Bourn Brook Walkway. I suppose I never knew it existed, I’m never usually in this part of Birmingham but I had seen it (the old faithful) Google Earth, and I decided to go for a mooch one day and see where I ended up. So, with my shiny new phone and its shiny new camera, I set off for a walk! The walkway also leads you towards Woodgate Valley Country Park.

The Bourn Brook walkway is approximately 1.5 miles long; I started it at the roundabout for the new Selly Oak bypass (near the QE Hospital) and then walked West towards the Weoley Castle area. I forgot to time how long it took me but I was ambling along quite slowly as it was a hot and sunny day! Apparently it is part of a larger walking route that takes in Harborne and some parkland as well.

The Bourn Brook is a small stream that flows into the River Rea in Cannon Hill Park via Selly Oak (it flows past the new Selly Oak bypass and the University). People often get it confused with the Bourn, which flows through Stirchley and the Nature Centre, before joining the Rea! Bournbrook is also the name of an area of Birmingham, primarily student-ville to the south of the University, and it’s roots may be traced back to the 19^th century and growth around this part of the watercourse.

For a lot of the route, you can’t actually see the water, as it is obscured by vegetation, which is a shame! There are also no benches along this route and it is not tarmacked so be prepared!

And now for pictures! (Lots and lots of..)

The view at the start of the route. The QE Hospital is up the hill behind me, and the Selly Oak bypass is off to the left.

Granite boulder avec caption. Geeked out a bit, but I am a geologist so it's allowed...

The end of the first part of the walk, on Harborne Park Road. The route continues over the road by the garage...

...by this small sign!

This is where I left the route, at Stonehouse Hill/California Way.

All in all, it was a pleasant walk in the afternoon and I enjoyed it, but I'd like to see more information boards along the way, highlighting the Bourn Brook and the local history and wildlife etc. and I'm aware that a lot of the pictures are very samey-samey as the views weren't very different along the route!

Ode to a Secret River

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 25 Aug 2013 09:55:00 +0000

As many of you will know, Birmingham is home to the wonderful River Rea and its tributaries and wildlife. Not so many people know that it has a poem! This ode was written in 1998 by Harry Reeves, and I believe you can buy hard copies of it at the Lickey Hills Visitor Centre. Parts of this ode are featured on the notice boards along the river.

I've lifted this straight from the River Rea Trail website but I fully recommend you go and have a nosey through it all, lots of information relating to the Rea!

Ode to a Secret River

On Waseley Hills in Worcestershire a little river rises,

It isn’t much to look at, but it’s so full of surprises,

To many folk it’s not well known, which seems to be a pity

For on its banks near Deritend began our Second City.

The river is of course THE REA which flows into Brum’s heart

Since Saxon times to present day its played a vital part.

From Waseley Hills it flows north-east and heads for Gannow Green

Then Frankley, Rubery, Colmers Farm where Callow Brook is seen,

On, underneath the Rover Works the Rea makes steady flow,

To local folk ‘The Austin’ works is still the name they know.

From Longbridge through to Daffodil Park and then past Kalamazoo,

The Impey family founded it with loose-leaf binders new.

Through Mill Lane Fields the Rea flows on, once corn mills graced each end,

‘twas ‘Hawkesley Mill’ near Kalamazoo and ‘Northfield’ by the bend.

Now underneath the railway line as Northfield comes in sight,

And by the side of Station Road, Rea flows on day and night.

Soon on to Wychall reservoir past rolling mill long gone,

But then Kings Norton Church appears with spire to gaze upon.

So on to Lifford we must go, cross Worcester Canal with river below,

Then Tollhouse Junction and Guillotine Lock,

on Lifford Hall should we dare to knock?

Another reservoir appears and Lifford is its name;

‘twas built two hundred years ago and Wychall was the same,

Canals were being opened up with navvies toil and sweat

More water still was needed now to keep the levels set.

Canals did take their water from the nearby River Rea,

but millers were not happy and protested all the way!

In the year of seventeen ninety our Parliament passed an Act

To store supplies of water, which everybody backed

Those reservoirs provided that water night and day,

Canalmen now felt happy, as did millers on the Rea!

To Fordhouse Lane and Hazelwell where corn mill once stood proud

And on the bank a millstone lies, mid bushes on the ground,

The walkway and the cycletrack now pass on either side -

It’s good for people to enjoy a walk or family ride.

The Pershore Road’s not very far with traffic night and day,

But as you walk the valley’s banks it’s quiet by the Rea.

At Cartland Road the Rea is joined by a stream that’s called ‘The Bourn’

It started life as Merritt’s Brook, then Griffin’s Brook was born,

But as it flowed through Cadbury’s works did George call it the Bourne?

Through Stirchley now to Selly Park where Moor Green Woods are seen

With joggers and ‘doggers’ and mothers with prams, enjoying the peaceful scene,

Here kingfisher and heron live and little fishes too

Just looking for their daily food, as many creatures do.

With Queen Anne’s lace and Campion the hedges all abound

And on a wet and marshy site the kingcup can be found,

Whilst Himalayan Balsam, is this the Ranger’s friend?

Just springs up as you walk the banks, on going round a bend.

What is that in the distance?, that building I can see

Ah, now I know, It’s Pebble Mill and the well known BBC,

I wonder if Carl Chinn is there, still getting little rest.

But telling all the world around that Brum is still the best!

The Nature Centre’s our next stop, as we go on our way

And here another little stream runs down to join the Rea.

This is Bournbrook and not the Bourne. To some it seems confusing

But as it flows past Pebble Mill the brook finds this amusing.

Inside the Nature Centre, it’s fun for many a child,

The animals can’t stray away, but do still roam quite wild.

There are fox and lynx and beaver, with sheep and goats and deer,

While birds, and snakes, and insects are studied without fear.

In nineteen hundred and twenty seven a thunderstorm did break,

It was a summer’s evening , the ground looked like a lake,

The Rea was flooded all the way from Longbridge into town

And streets turned into rivers, as the rain came pouring down.

In Austin works and Kalamazoo the floods did leave their mark

And bread and milk were brought by boat to folk in Selly Park,

Allotments in the valley had sties where pigs were kept

But when the river burst its banks the pigs down stream were swept.

Near Bristol Road at Longbridge, a man in a hut was found,

The hut was wedged beneath a bridge, but he was safe and sound!

The Cricket ground was flooded with water from the Rea,

And pictures in the local press showed bike sheds washed away!

But now there is a cover, ‘Brumbrella’ is its name,

It takes the water from the pitch - down in the Rea to drain!

Deep into a culvert the Rea had to go

Because of that flooding so long ago,

Between its stone walls into Cannon Hill Park

With weirs to flow over to make it less stark.

But the walls are not barren to those who are keen

For if you look closer moss and lichen are seen.

Louisa Ryland gave the park in Eighteen Seventy Three,

Its brought much joy to many folk, and most of the time it’s free.

The flowers and trees are beautiful, at all times of the year,

But if you walk back through the park, wild meadows soon appear.

The MAC is busy everyday, with Drama, Theatre, Art

While August brings a fireworks show and music plays a part.

There are horse parades and puppet shows, boating and fishing too,

Whenever you go to Cannon Hill, there’s something to see and do.

Now it’s under the road into Warwickshire’s ground

For Edgbaston cricket the crowds are all bound,

There’s a stand by the river, ‘Rea Bank’ WAS its name

But it’s now Eric Hollies, of late bowling fame.

Inside its concrete collar the river still flows on

Through Calthorpe Park to Balsall Heath,

Where have the ‘ladies’ gone?

And then we come to Belgrave Road, to the ‘Bristol’ folk can’t go,

But up the hill the Mosque is seen whilst the Rea is down below.

So now it’s under Gooch Street that the Rea is flowing on,

And then on into Rea street with memories long gone.

For there you’ll find the places where many a workshop stood

And men did toil with sweated brow - conditions were not good.

It was the birth of industry when metal trades held sway,

And if you walk along those streets, you’ll find some there today.

At High Street Digbeth, long ago, men met to trade and barter,

And in eleven sixty-six, King Henry’s Market Charter.

In April sixteen forty-three the Battle of Brum was fought,

Prince Rupert came down from Camp Hill and caught defenders short.

He came to punish Birmingham, whose mills were making swords,

And crossed the Rea at Deritend with all his fighting hordes,

They overcame defenders there and put them all to flight

Then up the hill his forces went to set the town alight!

“Grey willows whispered by the Rea

where lovers dreamt and children played in clean fields on a summer’s day”.

‘Twas over the Rea in Floodgate Street where that place was described

And here we think Beorma’s folk, a pleasant spot espied,

They settled near the river’s brink with fields and woods nearby,

Was water from the Rea itself then pure enough to try?

To people passing up above the Rea cannot be seen,

It is a secret river , and we try to keep it clean

But if the Digbeth plans take shape and start to make their way,

We hope the next millennium will, revitalise the Rea.

Road bridges could be opened up to let the people see,

There is a river down below that’s flowing to the sea.

Now what about a walkway with flowers and plants and trees?

And wayside pubs and cafes, where folk could take their ease.

Bird’s Custard Factory still stands there, its front well worth a glance

But at the back it’s full of life, with art and craft and dance.

The old Crown Inn’s just up the road now looking very well,

If its past history was revealed what stories it could tell.

So on we go to Fazeley Street, ‘Grand Unions’ overhead

You can walk the ‘cut’ to London Town, or take a barge instead!

Now the Rea is hidden, in a culvert dark and deep,

But ‘neath the rails of Curzon Street, the river does not sleep.

It flows on to the Heartlands where life begins anew

Canal banks are now lively, with buildings bright and new.

Perhaps I’m only dreaming with hope still in my heart

But could the Rea itself be raised, to play a vital part?

Spaghetti now looms nearer, it’s just by Nechells bend

The river is still flowing on, but near to journey’s end.

At last the River Tame is reached , which takes us to the Trent,

Due North it flows to Humberside, its waters nearly spent,

And now it turns towards the East, it’s plain for all to see -

The Rea’s arrived at journey’s end, out in the Great North Sea.

From humble start in Waseley Hills, the Rea has reached the sea,

But on its way as you have heard, its shaped Brum’s history!

We formed a conservation group, to make all folk aware

The City has a river and it’s there for ALL to share.

It has a pleasant valley too with walks and cycle tracks;

We’ve planted trees and bushes there, and filled up litter sacks.

We try to make it greener, and help to keep it clean

But cans and cars and trolleys are dumped upon the scene,

There is a linear walkway, and cycling’s made its mark -

One day, we hope, it will become, Rea Valley Country Park!

Harry Reeves 1998

Cluedo!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 14:52:00 +0000

I read this little ditty on 101brum and, given the tone of the rest of the posts, I’m not sure if I should take this with a pinch of salt, but a quick scout around Ye Olde Interwebs tells me it could well be true.. Apparently the board game Cluedo was invented in Brum!

A man named Anthony invented a game called Murder! back in 1944 as a way to while away the evenings during the war. In 1945 a company called Waddingtons took it on and changed the name to Cluedo, and voila! A board game was born.

The floor plan of the board game is said to be based on Highbury Hall, and later this year a blue plaque will be unveiled to honour Anthony.

Source

Lapworth Museum of Geology

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 11:14:00 +0000

The Lapworth Museum of Geology is located in the Aston Webb building at the University of Birmingham, where it forms a key part of the Earth Sciences department. The Lapworth dates back to 1880 and retains the original, Edwardian display cases, although it has recently won funding from the Lottery Heritage Fund for redevelopment.

The Lapworth Museum is named after Charles Lapworth, who was a geologist who worked in furthering the understanding of how mountains are made. He was the first Professor of Geology at Mason College, which became the University of Birmingham in 1898.

Charles Lapworth - Source

Much of the items on display at the museum are fossils, including shells, trilobites, crinoids and ammonites. There are samples of the Solnhofen Limestone as well as mineral samples from the surrounding area, especially the coal mining history of the Black Country.

Entry to the museum is free and it is fully wheelchair accessible.

You can read more about the Natural Science collections ofthe West Midlands here.

The Lapworth Museum has a Twitter feed!

Trilobite!

The Lapworth Museum can be found in the Aston Webb building at the University of Birmingham (A Block). The University can be reached by train on the cross-city line; head for University station. If you've never been to campus before, aim for the clock tower - Old Joe is in the courtyard in front of the Aston Webb building (it is the curved redbrick building - also worthy of a blog post due to the detail and sculptures above the main doors!)

The University can also be reached by bus - the 61 and 63 stop on the Bristol Road. The 98 and 99 stop by the Medical School, near the railway station. You can also drive, though parking on campus is limited, especially during term time. There are disabled bays near the museum entrance.

The University website has a collection of maps and PDFs available - see here for more.

Bournville Carillon

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 07:26:00 +0000

The Carillon at Bournville is a tower at the school opposite the green, and it has a clock face on it. Some days, especially in the summer, a sweet sound of bells can be heard over the air - this is the carillon playing!

A carillon is an instrument composed of bells that are played in a series to produce a melody. It was erected in 1906 and has 48 bells.

University of Birmingham Blue Plaque; Edward Elgar

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 10:45:00 +0000

"Sir Edward Elgar, composer, became the University's first Professor of Music in 1905"

Cotteridge Park

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 17:54:00 +0000

Cotteridge Park is a place I’ve known about but only fully explored sometime this year. I was never sure of how to get there, which road I should go down, if it really was the park I could see from the train? Turns out it is the park I see from the train, it’s really easy to get to and I could quite happily wonder around it for a while.

Dear old Wiki tells me that the park is 22 acres in size and is one of the Victorian parks of the city. Didn’t know that. It also has a boulodrome and last year was awarded a Green Flag award!

I quite like this park because there are lots of boulders. I like boulders. I had to ask a couple of people if they would move so I could get a photo of the boulders. These boulders (this word looks silly now) are thought to be more glacial erratics! Lots of these scattered around the place. If all of the Cotteridge Park rocks are glacial erratics, that gives a total of 10 found so far, since I started the blog.

Every year there is a small free festival in Cotteridge Park, called CoCoMad. I went last year (it was very muddy) and it was BRILLIANT. A good day out despite the rain! There are stalls selling crafts and merch and food, a main stage and an acoustic tent area, a shopping trolley pageant and all sorts of other fun stuff.

Cotteridge has Anglo-Saxon roots and the name is first recorded in the early 1300s. There is quite an in-depth history written here which is worth a read if you want to know more!

Cotteridge Park is also on Twitter!

You can read more about it here and here.

More pics:

A pretty awesome willow tunnel!

Edgbaston, seen from Millenium Green

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 14:46:00 +0000

I badly codged this together on MS Paint sometime in January after going for a walk around Kings Norton and The Fields, Millenium Green. I found a gap in the trees and was quite shocked at how far I could see! I have highlighted a few key localities on the top photo, and the map at the bottom shows it is ~4 miles as the crow flies between the edge of the city boundary and the QE hospital. Not bad, eh!

Selly Oak Brick Grafiti

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 18:42:00 +0000

I went for a wander along the canal of Selly Oak a little while ago, and I saw some gold bricks. I have no idea why they are there, but some have been damaged. They made me smile :-)

Bullring Brickwork 05

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 19:30:00 +0000

Birmingham Nature Centre

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 12:24:00 +0000

Birmingham Nature Centre on the Pershore Road was opened in 1974. It was originally called the Birmingham Natural History Museum. The entrance is off the main Pershore Road and is easily accessible from the city centre by the 45 or 47 buses, or the 61 and 63 which stop on the Bristol Road.

The land here was once a fulling mill, known as Pebble Mill, which gave its name to the BBC buildings that once stood here.

The Nature Centre is now home to many animals, including guinea pigs, deer, rheas, lynxes and all manner of reptiles. Apparently there used to be elephants here! And the porcupines are kept in the old fish pond. It’s a weird little place – much loved, quite dated, but still a good way to spend an afternoon before wandering off up to Cannon Hill Park or back along the river towards Stirchley.

The Bournbrook flows through the Nature Centre on its way to the Rea.

The Birmingham Council website has a page of updates for the Nature Centre with news of breeding programmes etc. I can’t seem to find much information with regards to the history of this building or the previous mill, which is a shame!

Sloth!!

Pictures of alive animals were taken by my sister, all the rest were by me.

Glacial Erratic; University of Birmingham

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 09:11:00 +0000

I did it! I found another one! I knew there was a glacial erratic somewhere on the University of Birmingham main Edgbaston campus, but I was never exactly sure where, and there has been a lot of work on campus with the construction of the Bramall Music Hall.

A few weeks ago, a friend and myself walked under the Bramall down a new flight of steps, and there it was! A huge boulder, perched on some grass. I will admit, I got very excited – but I am a geology student.

Note Michael for scale ;-)

This BBC page called ‘Walk Through Time’ alludes to the boulder being near the Physics building, but it isn’t exact.

The BCGS Geology Matters website has an interesting article on the origin of these huge boulders – I had always assumed that they were from the last ice age, but maybe they are even older deposits?

Big Brum Buz Tour!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 10:58:00 +0000

During Artsfest 2012, my friend and I decided to go on the open top Buz!

It was a lovely, sunny (hot!) day – yes we did have sun last year – and the top deck of the bus was full. We set off from outside the Council House and began our tour! I was sat near the back of the bus so most of the pictures feature backs-of-heads, and any attempt at getting pictures have buildings have resulted in photos of the top storeys only.

We went along Waterloo Street and Newhall Street first – the architecture around here is amazing! I need to spend more time looking up in this City.

A little while later, we passed a building with a pelican on the top of it! The man doing the commentary on the bus said that the pelican was placed here so the delivery boys would know which building to go to – hardly anyone could read, so buildings had different identifying features on them! Very clever.

After passing through the Jewellery Quarter, we headed down towards Edgbaston via Broad Street.

We went down the Hagley Road and saw J.R.R Tolkiens house!

On the way back into the City, we passed a delightful building just off Camp Hill Middleway – The internet tells me it is called Stratford House (because it is on Stratford Road), and it was built in 1601! You can read a bit more about it here – I hope to go back and get some better photos of it sooner rather than later!

We then came back in Birmingham via Deritend and Digbeth, where we saw even more examples of grand architecture!

I’d recommend the Big Brum Buz tour if you’re interested in the history of Birmingham – it only took about an hour so it’s not very in-depth information, but it’s enough for you to want to dig and find out more. It’s also a good whip around the city for finding new places to explore, or places to photograph. All in all it was a good way to spend some time, especially with decent weather – but watch out for the low trees!

Local Explorer Walk - Rea Valley Circular

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 14:41:00 +0000

I walked this route on a lovely, sunny, freezing cold day in December, following a route in the Local Explorer Walks booklet. I started at Fairfax shops, but the route can be started anywhere. The booklet states that the walk is 13km (8 miles) long, but after walking it and tracking it with Endomondo, and then working it out on Google Earth, I can confirm it is a little over 5 miles long, which is 8km. Ish. (Therefore I assume the leaflet has a typo!)

The Fairfax area is a relatively new area of Birmingham – this area was still farmland in the 1940s – and it is mainly low rise flats with some blocks. There is a row of shops, which is where I started the walk. They also sell white Kit Kat chunkys, so it’s worth knowing ;-)

From Fairfax shops, I followed the route North, simply because it was going away from the sun and it would be more pleasant. Follow the road towards the pub, then turn right. This road takes you towards the Fordrough. Head up here towards West Heath Park.

You will then pass through the Fairway – this area is also covered on the previous LEW I did, though this time I missed out Merecroft Pool due to recent weather conditions, and I walked down the road towards Wychall Lane, and then onto King’s Norton Nature Reserve.

If you have been following this blog from the start you will recognise this part of the route. Follow the Rea through King’s Norton Nature Reserve, past Wychall Reservoir and up the back of Staple Lodge Road. You will emerge onto Middlemore Road, near Northfield Railway Station. You now want to follow the route of the railway line – another side note, the chippy on the corner here does a hog roast every Saturday – down Station Road. Go under the railway bridge and then immediately cross the road. There is a small gate on the left – this takes you along a river path called the Mill Walk, which (incidentally) was one of my first posts on the blog! There is a small flight of steps here, or you could carry on up the road to bypass these. Just before the steps is a notice board about the mill that once stood here. Apparently there are remains of the building in all the undergrowth but I’ve never seen it!

This is a 4-way traffic light controlled junction with no proper crossings for pedestrians. Take care crossing here!

This part of the walk is pretty much straight along the river now. Take care when crossing near the ford, and continue walking towards the new estate. This part of the path is now the Daffodil Path, and will take you to Tessall Lane.

Follow the road around to the left and up alongside Longbridge railway station. At the junction turn left, and walk up Longbridge Lane. Keep heading in this direction until you pass a park on the left – you’re nearly at the end!

Follow the road to the left, and this will lead you to a path, which in turn leads you back to Fairfax shops and the lovely chippy! (What! You need a reward after that walk..)

Northfield Railway Station

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 18:21:00 +0000

Northfield railway station gets a blog post all of its own because I think it’s rather spectacular. It has 4 platforms, but only two are used. It has bricked up subways (that most people don’t know exist) and has completely changed in the ~140years it’s been here.

When the station first opened in the late 1800s, the passenger trains originally used the central platform, with the outer tracks being used for freight. Platforms one and four didn’t exist then! Access to the central platform was gained via the subway under the bridge on West Heath Road (near the petrol station) – you can still see the bricked and boarded up holes today (the other is in the subway at the ticket office end). At the time, Northfield wasn’t part of Birmingham, so the railways brought people, jobs and goods to the rural areas, and subsequently modern Northfield built up around this.

The passenger subway at the ticket office end is now the only subway here, and it has recently (late 2012) had a refurb – lifts have been installed, more lighting, steps and hand rails. There are also two strips of neon green ‘stuff’ on the floor. One of these patches covers the numbers ‘1892’. My brother (who is a train geek) and I have decided that this date marks the opening of the subway, as the station as a whole was already open for a while before this.

I love looking at old pictures of this area and seeing how little it has changed – the road layouts are pretty much the same, and you can really imagine what the area was like one hundred years ago. Some old photos of the station can be seen here and here.

Brummie’s Guide End of Year Summary!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Hello Everyone!

Looks like we all survived the apocalypse eh? Well done us :-)

I thought I would take some time to write a blog post about the blog, to restate its aims and intentions, to share some stats, to give my thoughts and thanks and all that, and then to maybe write a bit about the future of the blog.

The support, feedback, comments, tweets and words in person have been overwhelming – I never thought I would get this response. It really was just an idea that I just fancied doing out my own interest, to pursue my own interests in my local area in South Birmingham and to increase my own knowledge of the history of the area. I started blogging it purely so it was stored away somewhere, but secretly hoping someone would stumble upon it and make it go viral. I mentioned it to a few people and they gave their thoughts on it; my mother was and still is a massive supporter of the blog and she often appears in my bedroom to give me titbits of information and suggest new places for me to visit. Pete Ashton also, for giving me the e-nudge via twitter to just go for it – look what you started.

I love this City, I love all the secrets and I love uncovering them. There’s so much more to this place than most people know, and if I can begin to make a dent in showing off this other side to Birmingham, then I will try my best. The aim of this blog was and still is to show off what else there is here aside from the usual tourist attractions and shopping plazas. I hope this blog has inspired some of you to take a walk along the river, or to explore the towpaths of the canal network. Despite writing over 70 blog posts, I’ve only covered a small percentage of what there is to do here. I’ve only really visited 4 wards in South Birmingham and even they have more to be written about. I realise that there’s so much for me to cover, and I’m sure some of you sit at home wondering why I haven’t been to x place or the other – I’m only one person, and the weather hasn’t exactly been great photo taking weather. I would be out all day every day if I had the weather (and boots that didn’t blister my toes!) – but I am getting there. I want to blog about everything! I want to explore everywhere! I want to know everything there is to know about this City and to share it and show it off to the world.

This year, the blog may slow down, and may even stop for a short while over the summer – I took a leave of absence from my undergraduate degree last spring, and now the time has come for me to go back and start attempt number two at getting a degree, and this will have to come first. I have a list of articles ready to be written and another list of places to explore, so when I get a free moment I will get them all written up. If things seem sporadic, they probably are! In the summer I will be off gallivanting somewhere in the British Isles in the name of geological mapping for my dissertation. I will try (I am intending to!) get some blog posts written and auto-scheduled to go live while I am away, but we’ll wait and see how that one turns out.

There has been a bit of a blog silence for the past month or so – I didn’t realise/knew but completely forgot about the photo limit on blogger, and it seems I have hit it. I dislike blog posts without pictures, so until I can pay to upgrade (which will hopefully be soon – c’mon payday!), there will be no posts. I am working on a few though at the moment which require more background research, and they’re coming along nicely.

So! I said I would mention some stats. They’re not really that impressive, but I think for a little blog that I did for my own pleasure it’s something to be proud of.

~7000 blog views since I started it, which was at the end of May 2012. So that’s 1000 views a month for seven months? Well done to you guys, and thank you for returning whenever I post a new write-up! (I realise lots of these are probably me checking the formatting, typos, pictures etc.)
I also have 159 followers on Twitter, which isn’t bad really considering its main use is to tweet links to the blog posts!
Four of my posts have also had over 200 views! They are TheCoat of Arms, King’s Norton Railway Bridge, the guest post from Rhys, Exploring Birmingham’s Heritage and Old Joe.

I’m not entirely sure how a lot of you find the blog – is it word of mouth? Do you google it? Did you get talking to me at Stirchley Stores and I couldn’t shut up about it? Whatever way you come across my blog, I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have – I don’t think I would keep writing if the figures had dropped off, so please keep coming back!

I hope that this year I will be able to continue this blog to the best of my ability and keep up with regular posting. I hope you all keep coming back and reading and sharing and telling your friends and family about it. I hope I keep discovering new places to visit and write about! Though I think for a City such as this, this blog will never run dry. It’s been good fun writing it, and it’s also been really good therapy for me in terms of my illness that made me drop out of uni. It’s given me a reason to get out and explore, and to write. It’s been a productive use of my time! It’s also helped me reconnect with parts of Birmingham I had neglected, mainly the river. I spent so much time playing down by the river when I was younger, or paddling in it in wellies at the ford, or on bike rides with my brother, or causing trouble as a teenager in the fields.

That’s enough ramble – thanks to everyone for the last seven months! And here’s to 2013!

Laura

Canal Walk; University to Stirchley

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 16:18:00 +0000

This walk heads south, from the University of Birmingham to Stirchley, along the Worcester and Birmingham Canal. The walk took me about an hour. This route is popular with cyclists and joggers so be prepared to move aside!

I joined the canal via a hole in a wall, near to University railway station (building on the left).

The canal towpath goes over a new bridge that was built as part of the new relief road work. The cross winds up here are quite powerful!!!

At the Selly Oak Railway Bridge, on the left hand side, a graffiti-ed wall can be seen. This is the start of a railway bridge - I'm not sure if it was ever used, but it would have taken the railway in the direction of Harborne.

Towards the end of the walk, you go past the back of the Cadbury factory! Sundays are Dairy Milk days ;-)

This was a really pleasant walk to do on my way home from work on a lazy sunny Sunday! The canal carries on from Stirchley towards King's Norton Junction, but I decided to leave the path here.

Birmingham in the 1300s

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 16:25:00 +0000

At the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, there is a new exhibition about Birmingham, called 'Birmingham: its people, its history'. I haven't yet been to it but I've been reading the blogs of a curator there (read parts one, two and three by following the links). Part of this gallery contains a model of Birmingham - the detail in it is amazing - and they have just published a video blog-fly through of the model. It is on youtube here, but I have also embedded it below.

Exploring Medieval Birmingham 1300

After seeing the video, I want to go visit the exhibition even more!

King Edward VI School, Five Ways

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 13:56:00 +0000

This simple, small plaque can be seen in the pedestrian area of the subway around the Five Ways Island at the top of Broad Street. I happened upon it when walking a new way to an appointment.

King Edwards VI School used to stand on this site – a picture of the grand building can be seen below (from Wiki)

The school is now sited in Bartley Green.

Hawkesley Hall; King’s Norton

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 13:44:00 +0000

One day, I was doing a volunteering shift at Stirchley Stores with a rather nice man called Steve. We were talking about this blog and he asked if I knew anything about Hawkesley Hall. I said, I’ve never heard of it, which was true. Fast forward a few weeks to a day when I decided to go and find it, and I’m quite pleased that I have! There are no remains on the site, so if the signs weren’t here you’d have no idea. There are carved stone blocks with minimal information on, but to someone who doesn’t know, this area just looks like a patch of trees in the middle of an estate.

Hawkesley Hall is possibly the sister manor to Hawkesley House on Turves Green – the former being Little Hawkesley and the latter being Great Hawkesley. There is a chance that the former was the first home of the Hawkeslow family, and then they upgraded and moved to Turves Green. I wish I could claim to be a genius and know all this, but a lot of my information is from here and here.

There is a path around this site, and it supposedly follows the line of the moat. I like this idea; you can walk around the perimeter of the property before taking the path that would lead up to, and now through, the house.

It would be very interesting to know more about this – what the original house would’ve looked like, what the surrounding area would look like, how the Victorian house that was built on the same land would look like etc. I love peering into the past at old buildings and imagining how the world has changed so much in that one location!

Lime Tree Walk

To get to this location, you need to aim for the Hawkesley Estate. I walked up from the canal, but the 45 stops a 5 minute walk away, and the 35 and 27 also stop nearby. Once again, check out my brilliant Google Earth Map to find out more!

Local Explorer Walk – King’s Norton and West Heath

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 19:55:00 +0000

Based around Merecroft Pool, Wychall Reservoir and West Heath park.

I’ve wanted to find Merecroft Pool for a while, in order to blog about it, but then as I was getting ready to go for a walk, I found a Local Explorer Walks leaflet in my drawer, and I decided to follow the walk that has Merecroft Pool as its focus. I have already covered half of the walk in previous posts – it follows the River Rea route past Wychall Reservoir and behind Wychall Road – so this post may sound familiar if you’ve read the other ones!

I started this route at Merecroft Pool itself, near the entrance to King’s Norton Nature Reserve on Beaks Hill Road. As this route is circular, you can start it anywhere! See my brilliant Google Earth route map for more information.

As I walked this route fairly recently, I can vouch for the need for the walker to be wearing either sturdy waterproof boots, or sturdy wellies! Most of the route around the pool was more mud than not and some of it was a few inches deep. The rest of the route is either along tarmacked walkways or on public roads. It is not really suitable for cyclists, wheelchairs or buggies around the pool, but the rest of the walk is. The route is about 2 miles long.

Merecroft Pool is a former millpond, and this area used to be farmed. It is now built up, suburban Birmingham, and a few houses around the pool have direct access from their gardens to the pool. You can read some more of the history over on the Friends of King’s Norton Nature Reserve website.

I walked this route in an anti-clockwise direction, following the Google Earth map view above.

The paths are narrow and very muddy! They are not tarmacked and there are lots of low branches.

The route continues over the road and round to the left, back towards Wychall Reservoir. The route here is on a proper road surface.

Continue past Wychall Reservoir.

When you leave the River Rea path, you need to head up Staple Lodge Road until you reach West Heath Park. There are paths in the park, though if it has been raining you might prefer to walk up Oddingley Road. Follow the route (it basically follows the line of Oddingley Road) through the park.

If you do walk through the park, you will come to a set of steps. Follow these, and they will bring you out on Vardon Way.

Continue walking in a straight line, down some alleyways, and you will end up back at the pool!

There are a number of ways of getting here; the 47 goes past and stops near the field on Wychall Lane, as does the 49. King’s Norton railway station is nearby. There is no parking and no visitor facilities. Please take rubbish with you. I didn’t time how long the walk took me, but I walk fairly quickly. The leaflet suggests an hour.

Bournville Village Green

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 13:51:00 +0000

Bournville is a suburb in south Birmingham, about 4 miles from the city centre. The original area of Bournville is centred around a village green with amenities such as places of worship, shops and open parkland for recreation. The original layout remains to this day, and the area is now a designated conservation area.

The village green, surrounding parkland and houses were all planned and built by the Cadbury brothers (George and Richard), who were the sons of John, founder of the Cadbury business. The brothers built the Cadbury factory which is next door to the green.

The Cadbury brothers believed that workers needed a suitable place to live and work, close to the factory, but with large, spacious houses and clean air. The area of Bournville reflects this; houses are semi-detached 3 or 4 bedroom buildings, with large gardens. The land along the river was opened out into parkland, the canal network provided links to the countryside, and at the time, this part of Birmingham was in the countryside anyway, not the modern urban sprawl we are used to. You can read more here, here and here. You can see some pictures here.

Bournville Village Green was the centre of this masterpiece, with a Carillion, a Quakers meeting house, and local shops including a butchers and a bakers. There are also schools in the area.

I love walking around the Green – it feels very nostalgic and is really quite nice when it’s sunny! All of the buildings retain their original character, and the sounds from the Carillion carry for quite a distance. You can get to the village green area in a number of ways. The 27 and 11 bus services serve this area well, and you can also catch a train to Bournville and then walk up Bournville Lane (follow the signs for Cadbury World). You could also walk or cycle along the Worcester and Birmingham canal, exiting at Mary Vale Road (also the exit for the railway station). You can also drive, though parking during the week is limited.

There is also an information board to tell you more:

Bonus Pics:

River Rea; Cannon Hill Park - Cartland Road

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 08:42:00 +0000

This walk is a pleasant route from Cannon Hill Park back towards Cartland Road. There is the familiar route marker near the lake, and the path leads away past a play area and a small field. The river is on the right of this path. This section is tarmacked and very popular with cyclists.

Along the way, there are bridges over the river, and also small areas that look like old crossing points. It is possible to go to the waters edge but some of the bricks are worn so be careful!

The path branches off in a fork - going up the path on the left takes you to Moor Green and King's Heath. The path to the right takes you along the river towards Stirchley.

The road suddenly stops, and you need to cross a bridge to continue the walk. The river is now on your left, and there is open fields to your right. I never knew this was here, it was quite a surprise when I came across this sign! Another of the 150 or so mills used to stand on this site; Moor Green Mill was a blade sharpening mill, powered by the water from the river.

At Kitchener Road, you must leave the river and walk along the footpaths. This is a residential area and it is the main route, be aware of cars, cyclists, joggers etc. If you walk up this road, you will end up on the Pershore Road. If you take a left onto Cecil Road, you will come out at the end of Dogpool Lane (another mill stood here). Take a left, and cross the road. Just before Dads Lane Chippy, there is a path, and this is the River Rea route again.

The route now follows a simple path, also fully tarmacked, through to Cartland Road. You can continue your walk on the other side of the road or you can detour into Stirchley and visit their newest residents!

Heron :)

University of Birmingham Blue Plaque; Charles Lapworth

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 16:42:00 +0000

"University of Birmingham. Charles Lapworth, undertook pioneering work into the formation of mountain belts, 1882-1883"

He also went crazy doing so.

The Earth Sciences student society is named LapSoc (Lapworth Society) in his honour, though this is routinely changed with some sort of pun for their socials (Lashworth, Lapizza, Lapsausage etc.) The Museum is also named after him.

This plaque can be seen on the wall of the Lapworth Museum of Geology at the University of Birmingham, main campus.