24/12/18 - Birmingham 3 Parks Walk

Distance - 5.5 Miles
Geocaches - 3
Walk Inspiration


A trip to the 2nd City to see if its still Claret and Blue.   Much hilarity on Facebook, where I have an equal split of Leeds and Villa friends....  "After his move from Brentford, Villa Manager Dean Smith has finally bought a house in Birmingham.  Its a 2 Up, 3 Down".   To which I get the reply, "He cannot move in yet 'cause the Roofe is on fire".

As a Baggie, I'm not sure why I am joining in the banter.   We remain 6 points behind table topping Leeds and needed a favour.

South Birmingham has three parks that can be joined together in a Inner City Ramble that is all on tarmac but not along many roads.   Lots of joggers, a smattering of people doing martial arts and a handful of dog walkers.  This is the City, so not standard dog walkers.   My favourite looked Morpheus from the Matrix trilogy....  Wide brimmed hat, ankle length black leather coat, poorly behaved husky.

A circuit of each park is completed.

Canon Hill - ponds, funfairs and a Tudor building relocated from Digbeth. 
Kings Heath - the smallest - home of the Horticulture Society
Highbury - The Wildest.   Didn't notice any swings.

Here are the photos;

The Leaning Tree of Canon Hill Park

Canon Hill Park

Kings Heath Horticulture Society

Highbury Wilderness 

10:30am and I am back at the car.   Too early for the pub but I'm not going to leave you with a Yuletide dry blog.

Less than two miles away and within 0.5 miles of each other are the two best bottle shops in the West Midlands - if not the Country.  I've read all about them in this Birmingham Mail article.

Feeling that I have not quite enough Belgian beer in the house, I head off to investigate.

Cotteridge Wines, 0.5 Miles from Stirchley Wines

Both are Aladdin's caves of beery delights- everything from a Sam Smith's Double Chocolate Stout to an unpronounceable Belgian Beauty that costs more than a decent bottle of red from Tescos.   To be fair, it's roughly the same strength.

It's going to be an interesting Xmas Day.