The Oak

Abbey Fields

Abbey Fields · 8.1 miles

A sizeable green space occupies the centre of Kenilworth in Warwickshire, offering both historic remnants and modern leisure facilities. The area was originally farmland attached to St Mary’s Abbey before the abbey’s dissolution in the mid-sixteenth century; today the ruins of a sandstone gatehouse and stonework from the former abbey’s doors and windows can be seen incorporated into the doorway of St Nicholas Church, a building whose origins date from the mid-sixteenth to seventeenth centuries. Within the park’s boundaries the natural lake and Finham Brook, a tributary of the River Sowe, provide water-side scenery alongside the town’s war memorial and a museum housed in an old barn that records the abbey’s history. Management of the site rests with Warwick District Council, which also operates a leisure-centre complex featuring indoor and outdoor swimming pools, five tennis courts and a large children’s play area. Visitors can obtain refreshments at the on-site café, and the volunteer group Friends of Abbey Fields assists with upkeep. The park regularly accommodates community events such as the Lions Club show, the town carnival, bonfire night activities and a Boxing Day charity duck race, and it serves as an orienteering venue for the Midlands club Octavian Droobers. Access is straightforward from the surrounding town, with no admission charge mentioned for the park or its main attractions.

Cadbury World

Bournbrook · 9.3 miles

Cadbury World is a visitor attraction in Bournville, Birmingham, England, featuring a self-guided exhibition tour, created and run by the Cadbury Company. The tour tells the history of chocolate, and of the Cadbury business.

Lapworth Museum of Geology

Metchley · 9.9 miles

The Lapworth Museum of Geology is a geological museum run by the University of Birmingham and located on the university's campus in Edgbaston, south Birmingham, England. The museum is named after the geologist Charles Lapworth, its origins dating back to 1880. It reopened in 2016 following a £2.7 million redevelopment project that created new galleries and displays, as well as modern visitor and educational facilities.

Babbs Mill Lake

Fordbridge · 9.9 miles

A man-made lake within Kingfisher Country Park serves as a balancing feature for floodwater from the nearby River Cole, and lies close to the Fordbridge area of Solihull. The water body, also known as Kingshurst Lake, gives its name to Babbs Mill Park, a space created to mark the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 1977. In 2002 the site was formally recognised as a Local Nature Reserve, reflecting its value for wildlife and recreation. Since August 2019 the lake has been the venue for a weekly Parkrun, offering a 5 km route that circles the water and provides a regular community exercise opportunity. The surrounding parkland supports walking and bird-watching, while the lake itself remains accessible to the public without a charge. Planning permission granted by Solihull Council in March 2016 allowed the construction of 52 houses on roughly seven per cent of the reserve, indicating ongoing development pressures on the area. A tragic incident occurred in December 2022 when ice formed on the lake’s surface, leading to the deaths of four children. An inquest later concluded the deaths were accidental. The lake continues to be managed as part of the local green network, with access via the surrounding footpaths and proximity to the Fordbridge settlement. No admission fee is required, and the site is open year-round for visitors.

Back To Backs

Chinese Quarter · 11 miles

The city’s only surviving court of back-to-back houses offers a rare glimpse of the cramped, courtyard-based terraces that once housed thousands of industrial workers. Set on 50–54 Inge Street and 55–63 Hurst Street, the court lies adjacent to Birmingham’s Chinese Quarter and is run as a historic house museum by the National Trust, with an admission charge required. Inside, four separate dwellings have been restored and furnished to represent distinct periods – the 1840s, 1870s, 1930s and 1970s – illustrating how living conditions and interiors evolved over a century and a half. The original occupants were skilled artisans such as button makers, glassworkers, jewellers and tailors, many of whom worked from home; records show over 500 families lived in Court 15. By the early 20th century the ground floors had been converted into shops, later including a tailor’s premises once owned by George Saunders, whose voice now narrates his story in a recorded exhibit. The court received Grade II listed status in 1988, was surveyed by the City of Hereford Archaeological Unit in 1995, and was restored by the Birmingham Conservation Trust before opening to visitors on 21 July 2004. Visitors reach the site on foot from the Chinese Quarter; the museum is operated by the National Trust and charges an entry fee. No additional facilities are detailed in the source material.

Hearsall Common

Chapelfields · 11 miles

A public green space set in the Earlsdon district of Coventry, close to the Chapelfields area, offers a mix of open grass, a small tarmac-gravel section and a wooded nature reserve. Entry is free and the site is legally open to the public at any hour, although an embankment has been erected alongside the adjacent road to stop vehicles from entering after complaints about itinerant travellers. Visitors can reach the common via Hearsall Common Road, where the landscape is bounded by the grassy field on one side and the woodland on the other. The area has been recorded as common land since at least the thirteenth century, with a detailed survey of the surrounding waste ground dating back to 1423. Historically it served as grazing ground for the city’s freemen, a right that persisted into the nineteenth century. The Coventry Corporation Act of 1927 transferred Hearsall Common, together with several other local commons, to the status of a recreation ground and terminated the remaining commoning rights, compensating the freemen with an annual sum. By the mid-1950s, twenty-one acres of the site had been laid out as sports pitches, and the common has long hosted fairs, including the historic ‘crock fair’. Today the eastern expanse of the common is a popular venue for dog walkers, kite flyers, sunbathers and informal football games, while the northern edge near the woods holds a cycle-speedway track used by the Coventry Cycle Speedway Club. The site regularly accommodates travelling circuses – the Moscow State Circus performed there in November 2004 – and has acted as a temporary base for the Earlsdon Festival during the May Day bank-holiday weekend. In 2007 the Donkey Derby was also staged on the common after heavy summer rain elsewhere. A plaque on the ground commemorates the 1916 aircraft landing that, according to local legend, sparked Frank Whittle’s interest in aeronautics.