Another secret place discovered
The more I ride my bike around this neighbourhood, the more I discover that this neighbourhood looks more like this than like, well, a neighbourhood.
You can be cycling down a perfectly ordinary residential street, pop through a gate between some trees, and suddenly, you have all this weird, hidden public land with pathways, ponds, lakes, bridges and lots of trees.
I suspect this is going to look great in summer – but it’s even a nice surprise in the middle of winter. This photo was taken probably about a mile from my house, and I just had no idea that it was here.
It’s all part of The Shire Country Park (yes, as in Tolkein) – but not a part of it that I was aware of. It’s all in bits strewn all the way from Shirley to Moseley via Hall Green and Yardley Wood. About 5 miles of it, give or take, all conceptually one park, but chopped into pieces and mostly hidden behind other stuff.
Lovely to see you finding Brum’s hidden green spots. That particular one is on my urban ramble route – 13 miles in total of canal and Brum’s rivers the Cole and the Rea. Can be walked or cycled with the bonus of being circular.