Happy Black Country Day
The Wyre Forest Rail Trail came to an abrupt end at Hagley. Yet there are plenty of Black Country stations to explore of the same line - with rail trail routes becoming available once you enter Warwickshire. Slow Ways coming up with an alternative resource to inspire a short route from Hagley to Stourbridge.
Seems fitting that I reach the South Western edge of the Black Country on the day that flags with red and black chains are all over social media pronouncing "Happy Black Country Day!"
A simple walk - the Monarch's Way providing some countryside and up and over Wychbury Hill. Will the obelisk still have the graffiti pronouncing "Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?"
“Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?” is a mysterious graffiti phrase linked to the 1943 discovery of a woman’s skeleton hidden inside a wych elm tree in Hagley Wood, near Stourbridge. The body was never identified, but the name “Bella” emerged after the graffiti appeared in nearby Birmingham in 1944, sparking decades of speculation. Theories range from espionage—suggesting she was a Nazi spy—to occult murder or a local crime. No one has ever claimed responsibility for the graffiti, which has reappeared intermittently over the years, keeping the unsolved case alive in British folklore and true crime lore.
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| Climbing Wychbury Hill on the Monarch's Way |
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| The Obelisk |
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| The Graffitti |
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| Black Country Views |
Stourbridge is entered from the south, passing the Seven Stars too early.
But on the final day of the second 2025 heatwave, who could resist cask Jaipur at £2.45 in an Air-conditioned 'Spoons? Not me.
Long may the month-long (into its third month) promotion live!
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| 15th Jaipur, 1st branded glass. |
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