SHA Small Heath Alliance

Walked yesterday from the University of Birmingham halls of residence in the Vale along the Worcester and Birmingham canal into Gas Street Basin. It was lovely, what a pleasant walk for anyone thinking of getting out and about over the summer. Honestly people always going on about Brum being a shithole but this is a lovely part of the city, almost idyllic.

What are your recommended canal walks, here or elsewhere?

Henley to Stratford is a real treat, me and my collies favourite.

Haircut1000

Walked yesterday from the University of Birmingham halls of residence in the Vale along the Worcester and Birmingham canal into Gas Street Basin. It was lovely, what a pleasant walk for anyone thinking of getting out and about over the summer. Honestly people always going on about Brum being a shithole but this is a lovely part of the city, almost idyllic.

What are your recommended canal walks, here or elsewhere?

Do that quite regularly. If you go the other way, there’s a nice bunch of taprooms by the canal after Bournville station

I regularly go from Aldridge Road by BP to the Old Walsall Road then back through Perry Hall playing fields and Perry Barr park, it's 4 miles if greenery only 3 miles North of the city centre

Cracking little tree lined walk that, was lucky enough to live a short walk away, often used to hop over the canal wall adjacent to Five Ways Station and follow the disused railway tunnels (it runs above the cross city) up to where Suffolk Steet Goods Station was, that was early 90s, its been much more heavily developed now.

The footpath at Wast Hills is worth a go & you can follow the canal down through the Worcestershire countryside (once it emerges from the tunnel) then down to Lower Bittell Reservoirs, then grab the train back from Alvechurch, which is next to the canal path.

Hope you don't mind me jumping in on this thread , but can I ask a related question? I'm two weeks in to recovering from surgery right now and hoping, in around 3weeks time to start doing some cycling along the canals.
Any info on decent stretches, with tow paths wide enough for cycling would be greatly appreciated. I'm in Sutton, but I've got easy access to the Lichfield to Redditch train line.

TIA

Any stretch of the mon and brecon, though probably best avoiding Cwmbran to Pontypool. Nothing wrong with it, just it gets progressively more beautiful the further you get from Cwmbran, and it is incredibly beautiful. Hard to pick a favourite stretch really.

Got a soft spot for the stretch between pontypool and Goytre Wharf. Cycled it most days while off work recovering from a heart attack. Hardly ever saw another soul on it in the week. Different story weekends. #picallilidillyfeckingcircus

i used to cycle into town down the canal from Sutton. Can go through new hall valley and jump on the canal somewhere by the tyburn island. Its a decent cycle into town under spaghetti J and up through aston. Lots of locks thru Aston so that bit can be tough but the rest is fine. Never saw any trouble and very quiet. I should probably start doing it again....

Thanks very much; that's just what I'm looking for to start. Much appreciated. 👍💙

All the way out from town to Wast Hill tunnel is kind of ok for cycling - all decent surface, though not that good for a road bike as there's a lot of gravel. It's quite busy with cyclists and other pedestrians though. FIne if you're fairly slow and considerate. The narrowest bit is past the Cadburys factory before Bournville station - it goes almost single file there, but there are passing places.

If you 'turn left' at Kings Norton junction, you can cycle a good way along the Stratford Canal other than you have to get off to get past Brandwood Tunnel - though that bit is marked and easy enough to follow. It's decently surfaced out to around Maypole/Solihull Lodge area, then after that can be a bit muddy but usually fine this time of year.

You can actually do all this from up by you (get on at Minworth), but the bit through Erdington and Gravelly Hill is pretty grim and lonely.

The Birmingham and Fazeley canal is decent. Pick it up from Minworth and head through Curdworth, and you'll then come to Kingsbury Water Park and Middleton lakes, which are both well worth exploring in their own right. It's a fairly good route for cycling too, done it loads of times myself over the years, both walking and cycling.

Bromsgrove/Droitwich way is lovely. The walk from The Queen's Head (Stoke Pound) through to The Boat and Railway (Stoke Prior) is a treat. Stop off at The Navigation pub for a curry on the way

The canal and river trust have actually really looked after a lot of the canals around Brum.

I've walked from Acocks Green into town through Digbeth, around the back of the city centre, under the BT tower and up to Broad Street area many times. Some absolutely fascinating industrial architecture to see.

Hope you don't mind me jumping in on this thread , but can I ask a related question? I'm two weeks in to recovering from surgery right now and hoping, in around 3weeks time to start doing some cycling along the canals.
Any info on decent stretches, with tow paths wide enough for cycling would be greatly appreciated. I'm in Sutton, but I've got easy access to the Lichfield to Redditch train line.

TIA

Jump off at Bournville, follow canal to Alvechurch? you will need to do some road up though Primrose Hill/Hawkesley Estate, you will need to check up your route here as its quite mazy, if you can find the bit called Barge Horse Walk your in the right area.
Thru Wast Hills Lane (sadly the scene of two incredibly brutal murders) although its a quiet peaceful country lane, rejoin at Wast Hill south Portal for the final bit down to Alvechurch.

Ricky Blotto

Bromsgrove/Droitwich way is lovely. The walk from The Queen's Head (Stoke Pound) through to The Boat and Railway (Stoke Prior) is a treat. Stop off at The Navigation pub for a curry on the way

Seconded for this. I try to incorporate it into my runs when time allows.

Oh that note, I'm going to run from town out to Alvechurch at some point this summer, if anybody has any tips or has done something similar before then I'm all ears. Think it's just under a half marathon.