Brook End

Babbs Mill Lake

Fordbridge · 6.8 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.

Kingfisher Country Park

Kitts Green · 7.5 miles

Stretching along an 11 km (6.8 mi) section of the River Cole, the area provides a mixture of river valley, grassland and woodland that spans the historic border between Warwickshire and Worcestershire. The park lies largely within the former county, in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, and is bordered by Small Heath in Birmingham to the north and Chelmsley Wood at the M6 motorway to the south. Designated as Project Kingfisher by Birmingham City Council in 1985, the site was formally declared a country park in July 2004 and is recognised as a Local Nature Reserve. Covering roughly 1 000 acres (4.0 km²), the landscape includes several artificial lakes such as Babbs Mill Lake, created as a flood-balancing feature, and Shard End Lake, which filled an old quarry. The park is open to cyclists and walkers who may follow the riverbank towards nearby green spaces including Shire Country Park, the Grand Union Canal and Sheldon Country Park. Within its boundaries lie a number of local nature reserves – Yorks Wood, Babbs Mill Lake, Alcott Wood and others – some of which were purchased or declared in the 1980s and 1990s. Wildlife observed along the river includes herons, kingfishers, water voles and mink, while the ponds support invertebrates, amphibians and breeding skylarks. The nearest settlement identified on mapping data is Kitts Green, providing a reference point for visitors arriving by foot or bicycle.

Sutton Park National Nature Reserve

Little Aston · 9.3 miles

Spanning more than 2,200 acres of heath, wetland and ancient woodland, Sutton Park National Nature Reserve lies on the edge of Sutton Coldfield in Birmingham, close to the Little Aston area of the West Midlands. Managed by Birmingham City Council since its designation as a nature reserve in 1997, the site offers unrestricted public entry and permits dogs throughout the grounds. Visitors can wander among seven lakes, explore a network of trails suitable for dog walking, pony trekking, mountain biking and kite-flying, or try the designated zones for model aeroplanes and helicopters. A visitor centre, several cafés, a municipal golf course to the south and a private 18-hole course on the western fringe complement the playgrounds, while a former donkey sanctuary now stands closed. Parking arrangements are currently under review, but no admission fee is required. The landscape bears evidence of continuous human use from the Iron Age onward, including burnt mounds, a prehistoric well and a preserved stretch of the Roman Icknield Street, still walkable near the Royal Oak Gate. Royal connections date back to the ninth-century Mercian forest, later becoming a Norman deer park and, in 1528, a royal grant to Sutton Coldfield by Henry VIII. Features such as Wyndley Pool, possibly of twelfth-century origin, and other historic pools created for watermills illustrate the park’s long-standing water management. A railway line cut through the area in 1879, with a now-defunct station closed in 1964, and the site has hosted wartime camps, the 1957 World Scout Jamboree and a 1992 BBC Radio 1 roadshow. Regular events include a free 5 km parkrun each Saturday at 09:00 from Boldmere Gate, alongside numerous organised runs throughout the year.

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.

Coventry Transport Museum

Coventry · 11 miles

Coventry Transport Museum is a transport museum, located in Coventry city centre, England.

Statue of Lady Godiva

Coventry · 11 miles

A bronze equestrian figure of Lady Godiva stands on a Portland-stone plinth in Broadgate, the central commercial area of Coventry. The monument, recorded by Historic England as a listed historic feature, presents the legendary rider in the act that gave the city its name. The plinth bears excerpts from Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s poem “Godiva” together with a dedication from the original patron, William Bassett-Green, to both the lady and the people of Coventry. The work was first commissioned in 1936 by the local businessman William Bassett-Green. By 1940 a scale model had been produced by the sculptor Sir William Reid Dick, who continued to develop the design throughout the Second World War. After hostilities ended, the full-size statue was cast, set on a plinth whose design was influenced by Sir Edwin Lutyens, and unveiled on 22 October 1949 by Peggy Zinsser Douglas, wife of the American ambassador Lewis Williams Douglas. Originally oriented to face south, the figure was turned westward in 1989 when the Cathedral Lanes Shopping Centre was built; a protective canopy added at that time was later removed in 2008. Located on a public thoroughfare, the statue can be approached directly from the surrounding streets of Broadgate. No admission charge applies, and the site forms part of the open urban landscape, allowing visitors to view the sculpture and its inscriptions at any time without the need for specialised facilities.