Barr Beacon

Friday 8th February 2013: Come lace up your hiking boots and join me on the towpath trail as I lead you on a roundabout stroll from Birchfield to Birchills by way of Barr Beacon...

BIRCHFIELD: Our endeavours begin at Perry Barr Station from where we set out in search of pub photographs in the surrounding areas. Wellington Road offers us the Calthorpe Arms by way of an opening gambit as we note the Brighter Birchfield hoardings by Westminster Road. The Birchfield area is notable for its terraced sequences as we do a loop around Putney Road and Church Vale.

- Hutton Road -

HANDSWORTH: We emerge onto Church Hill Road for a helping of Handsworth, admiring St Mary's Anglican Church on the Hamstead Road. The church looks out over part of Handsworth Park where we will find the pool and the park lodge to occupy our cameras. The park is divided into two by a railway line and there are other entrances from Grove Lane or Holly Road.

- Handsworth Park -

LOZELLS: Our next pub picture quest sees us seeking out the Stork, an old Butler's pub that's around here somewhere. As ever with me, there's an element of circumnavigation before we hit the target, although I'm not quite the sure backstreets of Lozells are really somewhere you want to be wandering around randomly. Nonetheless, the pub is located on the corner of Heathfield Road and Finch Road, just down from the Mayfield School.

- The Stork -

WITTON: From Lozells we have another brush with Birchfield, locating the temporary branch library facility behind the old Earlsbury Grange neighbourhood office - I remember taking a photo of the previous library back in 2005. Via Canterbury Cross we shall proceed to Witton, giving a nod to The Broadway where the Harriers pub has been converted into a day nursery. The Aston Hotel is a fine local landmark and we can lament the former site of the Aston Manor Transport Museum where a sign still forlornly hangs outside the tramways depot building.

- Lock 12 with cottages -

TAME VALLEY: Did I mention towpaths? The canal contingent comes to the fore as we join the Tame Valley cut at Deykin Avenue - there are a couple of nice lock cottages to admire before we commence our climb up the Perry Barr flight to Aldridge Road. On the way we will pass below Brookvale Road and the M6 motorway, completing the stretch from lock 12 up to lock 8.

- Drakes Drum -

OLD OSCOTT: You are permitted to rest your feet momentarily as we hop aboard the 997 bus for a short dash to Old Oscott. Birmingham Metropolitan University's James Watt Campus might catch your eye with there also being the chance to spot the Drakes Drum pub before we continue into Pheasey to collect lunch in the shadow of the Collingwood Centre.

- Restoring the Barr Beacon Memorial -

BARR BEACON: The highlight of the afternoon will undoubtedly be a walk across Barr Beacon, where we can stop to eat our lunch and admire the panoramic views. This is one of the highest points in the whole of the West Midlands and a welcome escape from the dense urban areas toured in the morning. The beacon's war memorial has been a much-loved landmark for many years, although sadly targeted by metal thieves in recent times. A project is underway to repair and restore the monument to ensure it once again does justice to the borough's service men and women.

- Longwood Junction -

LONGWOOD: Another landmark in distress is the Three Crowns pub on Sutton Road, the building in a sorry state whilst its car park is used as a car wash premises. A renewed burst of energy then sees us joining the Rushall Canal at Daisy Bank, encountering Moat Bridge at the back of the arboretum before emerging at Longwood Junction where we meet the Daw End Branch and a couple more locks.

- Walsall Town Wharf -

WALSALL: A swift ride on the 7 will convey us into Walsall for a survey of the town's ongoing transformation. The arrival of Tesco and the development of a new college campus have changed the scene dramatically, and there is a similar story to tell down at Walsall Wharf where the Art Gallery has latterly been joined by new waterside developments in various curious pastel-shaded shapes and forms.

- Sainsbury's at Reedswood -

BIRCHILLS: From the Walsall Town Arm we shall weave into Birchills for a flurry of further photography, the light just about holding after 4pm now we're firmly into February. The Orange Tree by Hollyhedge Lane is a deteriorating eyesore these days, whilst the wedge-shaped Tannery off Burrowes Street has met an apparent demise. A final canal stretch sees us to Birchills Junction and we round the whole hike off with a moment or two of reflection at the site of Birchills Power Station. Six cooling towers dominated the skyline for a number of years but were demolished in the 1980's and the land reclaimed, now used for a Sainsbury's supermarket amongst other things. With that our endeavours are over and we can collapse in a heap on the number 89 bus back to Wolverhampton, concluding another memorable feat of West Midlands explorational endurance.