The Delves

Bluebell Wood Local Nature Reserve

Charlemont · 1.9 miles

Sot's Hole is a local nature reserve in West Midlands, England. It is on the west side of Sandwell Valley, and north-east of West Bromwich.

Wednesbury Museum & Art Gallery

Wednesbury · 1.9 miles

The purpose-built Victorian gallery in Wednesbury, West Midlands, stands as a listed historic building that houses a range of local collections. Erected in 1891 to display the artworks donated by Mary Ann Richards in memory of her husband Edwin, the structure was designed by the West Bromwich firm Wood and Kendrick and features four façade panels depicting Sir Christopher Wren, Sir Joshua Reynolds, John Flaxman and Sir Isaac Newton, alongside busts of former mayors Alderman Williams and Alderman Lloyd. After serving as council offices following the Second World War, the premises returned to museum use in 1972 following modernisation and renovation. Inside, the permanent displays include the Ruskin Pottery collection, noted for its varied glazes such as Bleu Soufflé, lustre and crystalline finishes, and the Richards Gallery, which presents fifty-four landscape paintings from the Richards bequest, many of which survived wartime storage in Kinver caves. Additional galleries hold a selection of Victorian-era toys and games for Key Stage 1 activities, works by local artist Joseph Gibbs—including a probable post-humous portrait of Mary Ann Richards—and the Crimean War medals of former mayor Alderman John Ashley Kilvert, recently restored to the museum after a complex provenance. Temporary exhibitions rotate roughly every six months; notable past shows have featured the inaugural public presentation of the Stuckism movement, a video art programme with Bill Viola, and portrait loans from Ingestre Hall. The museum is identified on OpenStreetMap as a history-type museum in Wednesbury and is recorded on the Historic England register.

Forge Mill Lake

Newton · 2.5 miles

A 63-hectare wetland reserve on the edge of West Bromwich provides a mix of open water, wildflower meadows and planted woodland, all linked by a network of footpaths, a cycleway and a bridleway. The lake, also known as Sandwell Valley Storage Lake, lies alongside the River Tame and was completed in 1981 as part of flood-alleviation works; its original capacity was 498,000 m³. Managed by Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, the site was designated a local nature reserve in 1991, and a portion—including one of the two islands—is overseen by the RSPB as part of the adjacent Sandwell Valley RSPB reserve. A visitor centre at Forge Mill Farm offers information for those exploring the area. Wildfowl are a regular feature, with winter sightings that can include wigeon, snipe and water rail, while spring and autumn migrations bring a variety of rarer birds through the lake. The reservoir continues to be altered; as of 2020 work was under way to remodel the lake and increase its capacity within the Perry Barr and Witton flood risk management scheme. Access is straightforward from the nearby town of Newton, and the surrounding pathways make it suitable for walkers, cyclists and horse riders seeking a natural setting within Sandwell Valley Country Park.

The Oak House Museum

Ireland Green · 3.7 miles

A timber-framed manor from the early sixteenth century provides a rare example of West Bromwich’s historic domestic architecture. Built around 1620, the house stands close to the settlement of Ireland Green and is recorded as a historic feature by Historic England. The structure originally belonged to an unknown owner, but the Turton family occupied it by 1634 and added brick extensions to the rear in the 1650s. In 1768 the property passed to William Whyley, who arranged for many of the surrounding oak trees to be felled and used in the construction of lock-gates for the Birmingham Canal. The house later hosted two sermons by John Wesley in the late eighteenth century while under Whyley’s ownership. After a series of owners, Alderman Reuben Farley acquired the building, restored it with the assistance of the architects Wood and Kendrick, and presented it to the town as a museum. The museum opened on 25 July 1898, accompanied by the layout of gardens and a bowling green. A half-century later, in 1951, the interior was refitted as a period house with antique furnishings. The Oak House is listed as a Grade I building since 27 September 2024, having previously held Grade II* status from 1949. It operates as a history museum under the management of SMBC and is recognised by Historic England as a heritage asset. Visitors can view the restored timber frame, the 1650s brick rear additions and the period furnishings arranged to illustrate domestic life of the era. Access is via the surrounding streets of West Bromwich, with the nearest town centre being Ireland Green. No admission charges, opening hours or on-site facilities are detailed in the available sources.

Dudley Canal and Caverns

Priory Estate · 5 miles

A canal tunnel of roughly 3,172 yards (2,900.5 m) runs beneath the Dudley area, forming the core of the Dudley Canal and Caverns attraction. The structure comprises a main section of 2,942 yards, a shorter Lord Ward’s tunnel of 196 yards and a 34-yard basin at Castle Mill, making it the second-longest continuous canal tunnel on the UK network. The site lies close to the Priory Estate and is managed by The Dudley Canal and Tunnel Trust together with the Dudley Canal Trust. The tunnel’s origins trace back to the Dudley Canal Act of 1776, which authorised a canal but not the tunnel itself. A later act in 1785 permitted the construction of a long tunnel linking the Dudley Canal with Lord Dudley and Ward’s Castle Mill basin. Surveyors John Snape and John Bull, and engineer Thomas Dadford, oversaw the design, while Abraham Lees acted as resident engineer. Construction began under contractor John Pinkerton, who was dismissed in 1787 after difficulties with ground conditions and water ingress. Subsequent supervision passed to Isaac Pratt and then Josiah Clowes, with the tunnel finally declared complete on 25 June 1792. A stop lock added at the northern end was removed in December 1795, and by 1799 complaints about congestion from limestone boats had subsided. Threats of closure emerged in 1959, leading to a protest cruise in 1960; the tunnel closed in 1962, faced further danger from railway plans, but was ultimately reopened in 1973 following a restoration campaign by local volunteers and Dudley Borough Council.

Sutton Park National Nature Reserve

Little Aston · 5 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.