Lakeside

Cadbury World

Bournbrook · 8.7 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.

Tudor Grange Park

Blossomfield · 9.3 miles

The park lies on the edge of Solihull in the West Midlands, within easy walking distance of the town centre and directly beside the local railway station and Tudor Grange Leisure Centre. Council documentation describes it as an informal recreation space cut through by the Alder Brook, a stream that feeds a small lake attracting geese, mute swans, ducks, moorhens and coots. The venue also hosts larger community gatherings such as the Solihull Carnival. Acquired by the council in 1946, the site was previously farmland owned by the Bird family, known for the Bird’s Custard brand, whose former residence now forms part of Solihull College. Modern amenities include a children’s play area, a skate park installed in 2003, a pitch-and-putt course at the south-west end, and a cycle track that forms a 1 km figure-of-eight circuit. The track, built with a grant from Sport England and designed alongside British Cycling and local clubs, serves both training purposes and casual riding. Additional facilities introduced during the 2008 redevelopment comprise outdoor gym equipment such as a rowing machine and wall bars, new footpaths, improved lighting, CCTV coverage, and refreshed bridges over the stream. Visitors can reach the park on foot from the town centre or by train, alighting at the adjacent station. The surrounding landscape features semi-mature native trees—including oak, birch, alder and black poplar—planted as part of the recent landscaping scheme. Pathways and hard-standing areas provide clear routes throughout, making the park accessible for a range of activities from walking and wildlife watching to cycling and organised events.

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.

The Leasowes

Webb's Green · 11 miles

A 57-hectare estate set on the edge of Webb’s Green, The Leasowes combines historic house, garden and open parkland within the Halesowen area. The name translates as “rough pasture land”, and the grounds are recorded on English Heritage’s Register of Parks and Gardens at Grade I. Part of the site is occupied by Halesowen Golf Club, while the remainder is maintained as a public park under the care of the local council. The landscape originated between 1743 and 1763 as a ferme ornée created by the poet William Shenstone, whose design aimed for an unadorned, pastoral feel that later attracted commentary from contemporary writers. After Shenstone’s death, Edward Horne acquired the property, replaced the original house with a new building completed around 1776 and added a walled garden and hothouse. Subsequent owners, including Major Francis Halliday, introduced features such as a stone portico and a whimsical hermitage, though later proprietors made little effort to preserve Shenstone’s original layout, leading to a period of decline by the 1820s. The council purchased the estate in 1934, converting it into a publicly accessible park while leasing part to the golf club. A restoration programme carried out from May 2008 to January 2009 reinstated many 18th-century elements and introduced a linear lake within the former Lapal canal, enhancing the historic scenery.

Lightwoods Park

Beech Lanes · 12 miles

Set on the north-west side of Hagley Road, the grounds that now form Lightwoods Park were originally the estate of Lightwoods House, an 18th-century residence built in 1789 by merchant Jonathan Grundy. After passing through the Grundy and Willett families, the property was altered by industrialist George Caleb Adkins following his purchase in 1865. Following the death of Adkins’s widow in 1902, a local adult-school committee raised public funds to acquire the estate and present it to Birmingham Corporation, which opened the area as a public park by 1905. The house, a Grade II listed building, later housed the Hardman stained-glass company before being restored between 2015 and 2016 with support from Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Big Lottery Fund. Restoration work returned the house to community use, adding a café and facilities for events, while the surrounding park received renewed attention to its bandstand, drinking fountains, walls, railings and pond. Today the park offers a skateboard ramp, a bowling green and a walled Shakespeare Garden featuring benches, flower beds and ponds. A plaque commemorating royal gardener John Tradescant the Younger, installed in 2012, marks the garden’s dedication to the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. The bandstand, also Grade II listed, displays the Birmingham City crest. Management transferred to Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council in 2010, and the site is accessed from Hagley Road near the Beech Lanes area; no admission fee is mentioned, and basic visitor facilities such as the café are available within the restored house.

Back To Backs

Chinese Quarter · 12 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.