Sometimes the places I visit can be much of a muchness and then occasionally I'll pitch up somewhere that really stands out. Dickens Heath certainly slots into the latter bracket and is possibly the oddest West Midlands locality I've ever come across...
- A Whitlocks End Starter -
It's Saturday 5th February 2022 as I aim for one of the farther flung West Midlands outposts (well it is when you're starting out from Wolverhampton at any rate). The Stratford train from Smethwick Galton Bridge does the trick, reminding me of the joys of Spring Road, Hall Green and Yardley Wood. My alighting point however is Whitlocks End, awash with a mass of pale terracotta railings and reserved car parking spaces. The station is a fairly ordinary halt named after the nearby hamlet but has gained added prominence since becoming a terminus location for suburban services that used to turn back at Shirley.
- Highgate United FC -
Whitlocks End is the closest station to Dickens Heath and it doesn't take long for Tythe Barn Lane to lead me towards the edges of the village. The area seems to be a footballing hotbed with at least three clubs in the vicinity (Shirley Town, Leafield Athletic and Highgate United) - you won't be stuck for something to watch on a Saturday here, that's for sure. Three Acres Lane hosts the local primary school, operational since 2002 although the building has been designed to look much older. Indeed, there is an element of fantasy to much of the village architecture as if you've stepped onto the pages of a showroom catalogue.
- Dickens Heath Clock -
Dickens Heath was first conceived in the late 1980s as part of Solihull Council's requirement to build over 8,000 new homes, construction subsequently commencing from the mid-1990s onwards. The resulting layout is distinctive with examples of angular roundabouts like the one upon which the village clock is perched. Rumbush Lane snakes through some of the housing before burrowing off towards Forshaw Heath and Earlswood, but I keep my eyes peeled for the Customs House as the frontispiece of an almost-continental canalside piazza. Darlings of Chelsea seem to be the prestigious anchor tenant amongst a clutch of high-end retail spaces that together overlook the pontooned square.
- View from Waters Edge -
With numerous fancy apartments and a cascading staircase of a water feature completing the scene, it's fair to say this is an incongruous sight compared to what I'm used to elsewhere in the West Midlands. The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal probably minded its own business for the best part of 200 years until this development landed on its doorstep, and a modern footbridge (No. 14) is my means of accessing the towpath. I'll be doing a longer canal walk later so my initial focus is on the short stretch to Bridge 15 for Braggs Farm Lane, last visited on my Earlswood Excursion of June 2016.
- Concerned Cattle? -
The higgledy-piggledy barns of Bragg's Farm have their own rustic charm as I unwittingly become embroiled in a staring contest with two of the resident cows - they naturally won! Leaving them to their hay-munching lunch, I proceed along the lane and back around into Dickens Heath Village Centre passing Tesco Express and a shard-like war memorial. In my humble opinion, the most impressive central feature has to be Dickens Heath's branch library, a facility which first opened in October 2004 and is based in a dramatic Italianate tower. The library faces one end of Main Street whereupon you will find coffee shops, boutique salons and fitness gyms, not to mention a watering hole or three...
- The Ale Hub -
Morton's Kitchen and the Moss Sports Bar & Grill no doubt have their merits but I'm solely focused upon the Ale Hub, a micropub that is part of the same small chain as the Shirley specimen Nick and I sampled last October. A colourful chalkboard outside promotes various events and special offers whilst indoors there are stencilled decorations encouraging folks to 'Keep Calm and Drink Gin'. I'm more interested in the cask ales myself of course and can happily report that I'm well catered for. My opening pint of Bewdley Brewery's Jubilee Ale - commemorating the Severn Valley Railway's Golden Jubilee in 2015 - is very tasty indeed so it's imperative I stay for a follow-up glass of Orkney's Northern Light Blonde (also excellent).
- Shirley Drawbridge -
Duly refreshed, I switch my gaze once more to the Stratford Canal only this time walking in a north-westerly fashion to reach Majors Green. Bridge 9 at Haslucks Green Road tells me I'm not far away and sure enough I soon see the familiar sight of Shirley Drawbridge (No. 8) in its fully lowered position. In times gone by the bridge would have been hoisted using a winch mechanism but nowadays it is button-operated using the panel beside the towpath. Sadly there aren't any boats on hand to perform a live demonstration so I nip into the namesake Drawbridge pub for an update on the Kidderminster vs West Ham FA Cup tie.
- Wake Green Amateur Football Club -
My stay at the Drawbridge is relatively short and sweet albeit long enough to account for a Greene King IPA and to note an irritating tendency for blocking off reserved tables hours in advance of their bookings. Across the road from the pub, Wake Green Amateurs are in the final warm-up stages preceding their afternoon fixture at The Holloway. As much as I'd like to, I can't stay for the action as I need to head homeward. A final Stratford Canal segment thus conveys me to Solihull Lodge so that Baldwin's Lane can see me safely aboard the 5. Decent progress is made through the typically traffic-clogged streets of Sparkhill and Sparkbrook, then a sprint through the Bull Ring gets me breathlessly onto my train. Cheers!
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