Distance: 10.5 miles

Difficulty of the terrain: medium

Get the route via: Ordnance Survey Maps or download the GPX. file from Dropbox

Walk from Halesowen on the south western edge of the Black Country to Wednesbury near its heart. Walk goes along canal towpaths, up and over Turner’s Hill and through the centre of Oldbury.

The Story

The Walk

Getting Back

Woden’s Fortress?

Wednesbury, a town in the north western corner of the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell historically renowned for making metal tubes and coal mining, purportedly gets its name from the Germanic god of war Woden, like the middling day of the week Wednesday.

If true this would indicate that there was some kind of settlement in Wednesbury prior to the middle of the 7th Century when, partially at the behest of their Mercian rulers who had “got God” the people of the western Midlands embraced Christianity en-mass. However, the archaeological investigations conducted in Wednesbury to date, have found no signs that the area which now comprises Wednesbury was occupied during the first centuries of the middle ages.

Local legend has it that Church Hill, where the town’s Anglican parish church St. Bartholomew’s stands on high, was like Tamworth and other westerly settlements on the approach to the Trent Valley which was contested with the vikings in the 10th Century, was fortified by the Anglo Saxon warrior queen Ethelfleda. This would place the town alongside places like Kinver firmly within historical southern Staffordshire’s Mercian heritage belt. However, again to date, no solid archeological evidence of early medieval fortifications have been found on Church Hill suggesting that this may be a myth. Although a plaque placed in the 1950s when municipal gardens were created on the hill claims that stonework on display was part of fortifications.

The name Wednesbury however, does appear to suggest that some kind of fortification dedicated to the warrior god did stand in the vicinity. Though it is worth noting that by the time of Ethelfleda, the people of the Midlands had been Christians for the best part of the 300 years, so unless they were harking back to the beliefs of their ancestors or drawing upon a still existing tradition, it is unlikely that a fortress would have been so named in the 10th Century.

Wednesbury, like many Midlands settlements, decisively enters the historical record in 1086 with the compilation of the Domesday Book. At the time Wednesbury was tiny, and in no sense a linear settlement, the entire area supporting between one and two hundred people.

Around 1315 the first known coal pits were dug in the Wednesbury area. In common with other parts of the Black Country where thick coal seams reached the surface Wednesbury became consistently exploited by small scale mining operations. The presence of a ready supply of reliable fuel capable of heating metal really hot led to the development of a nail industry in Wednesbury, which is the first example of metalworking at scale in the vicinity of the modern town.

Throughout the early modern period Wednesbury like its neighbours grew as a centre for coal mining and metalworking, emerging as a distinct and cohesive town. A turnpike road reached the town in 1727, with the canals arriving relatively early in 1769 too, connecting Wednesbury with Birmingham.

Roughly in the middle of this period, in 1743, there was a disturbance in central Wednesbury related to the work of the Methodist preachers John and Charles Wesley. On an initial visit to Wednesbury the brothers were warmly received, including by the town’s Anglican cleric. Later in the year one of their followers came to preach and riled up a pro-Anglican crowd by preaching against the established church. This meant that when John Wesley later returned to preach, there was a clash between Methodists and supporters of the established practices of the Anglican church. Wesley himself was pelted with stones when he tried to preach, and was later subjected to citizens arrested by pro-Anglicans, who only released him after the local magistrates declined to prosecute him for anything, decreeing that he had committed no crime. After this incident he had to flee the town having been set upon and assaulted by the crowd.

This state of affairs did not last beyond the death of Wednesbury’s Anglican cleric in December 1743. After that relations between Methodists and those who remained inside the established church were fairly cordial in Wednesbury. John Wesley continued to visit and preach in the town throughout the rest of his long life. There remains a Methodist church with a well patronised community hall in Wednesbury to this day.

Wednesbury was relatively late to be incorporated as a municipal borough having only attained the status in 1886. However, the council soon began to provide services, including establishing the town’s Museum and Art Gallery, Town Hall and the large Brunswick Park which opened in 1887. Wednesbury Borough Council persisted until 1966 when the town was amalgamated with West Bromwich, which in turn was folded into Sandwell in 1974, which remains the local authority covering the town today.

Wednesbury Borough Council lives on in legal textbooks and its actions in the immediate post-war era are an important footnote in English public law. In 1947 Wednesbury Council granted a cinema licence to Associated Provincial Picture Houses stipulating that no children under the age of fifteen could be admitted to screenings on Sundays. Associated Provincial Picture Houses sued the Council over this condition of their licence, a case which Wednesbury Council chose to defend and won, legislation passed in 1909 and 1932 clearly set out the powers of local authorities to regulate the Sunday opening of cinemas. However, the court set out a series of three tests known to this day as the “Wednesbury Unreasonableness” which set out whether the actions of a public body in England and Wales can be deemed reasonable or not.

More recently Wednesbury was the scene of another event of some cultural significance Stuck in Wednesbury, a show in 2003 at Wednesbury Museum and Art Gallery. Which was mounted by the “Stuckist International” founded by visual artists Billy Childish and Charles Tomson. Stuckism is a consciously reactionary art project focused on painting rather than more conceptual forms of art making. Childish had left the group by the time of Wednesbury show in 2003.

Since 2019-20 a cultural programme and Heritage Action Zone funding from Historic England and other sources has led to some regeneration in central Wednesbury. The town’s centre like so many others in the Midlands has been slighted by traffic, choked by a ring road which cuts off the bulk of the central area from the rest of the town. The Cultural Programme called “We Are Wednesbury” and other Heritage Action Zone work has brought a degree of regeneration to the central area as well as producing all manner of interesting creative outputs. In Blue Sheep Books the town even has an independent bookshop for the first time since the 2000s who run all manner of events.       

The Walk

Get the route: via Ordnance Survey Maps or download the GPX. file from Dropbox

I create the Walk Midlands routes via Ordnance Survey Maps Explorer enabling me to take them on my phone. Subscribe yourself via the banner above.

This walk to Wednesbury starts on the edge of Halesowen town centre from the entrance to Leasowes Park on Mucklow Hill. This is where some of the buses from Birmingham to Halesowen put down.

From here I had to navigate my way to the beginning of the towpath of the fully navigable section of the Dudley No.2 Canal. In front of me across the A-Road there were several roads winding down past industrial units and warehouses. The presence of gates on these roads however, suggested to me that I perhaps wouldn’t be especially welcome just wandering around there looking to see if I could find a way on the canal, so I really needed some further orientation.

A quick Google Maps consultation on my phone suggested that there was a footpath running in the direction of the canal a little further up the hill. This led me to walk a little up the hill along the side of the road to a set of crossing lights near a large out of town style branch of B&Q.

Once on the other side I headed a short way down a fairly steep access road, towards a gate leading onto a path way through some scrubby trees.

Having passed the trees I kept walking along a partially made path, along the backs of some modern industrial units into some woodland.

I caught my first glimpse of the canal, near the point where the navigable section began.

Beyond the line of the canal lay a marina full of boats. I thought to myself that it might have been nicer to have begun the walk amongst the boats rather than trudging through some fairly mediocre woodland behind a trading estate. A search of Google Street View once I returned home, though, disabused me of this notion. It does not appear possible to access the canal basin without a key for the gates, and there aren’t any especially obvious easy ways to get onto the canal from that side either.

So, I had in fact found the best way of reaching the canal. I walked for about five minutes in parallel with the waterway through the trees catching glimpses of it beside me from above.

Presently I came across a metal footbridge across the cut (old midlands term for a canal ditch) painted in black and white the colours of the old British Waterways Board. I walked across this and onto the towpath proper.

Having joined the towpath – turning right after the bridge – the walk sped up significantly. I moved quickly along the towpath through an interesting stretch of waterway, green and tranquil in many ways, but often punctured by the tops of the numerous factories and warehouse units which mark out this area of the Metropolitan borough of Dudley as still being very industrial.

There was also some quite fine street art sprayed, stencilled and tagged on the walls and canal infrastructure, amplifying the area’s quintessentially Black Country sense of being at once urban and surrounded by greenery.

After walking along the towpath for no more than half an hour I came to the Gosty Hill Tunnel. This half a kilometre long tunnel is an example of the immensely narrow earthworks cut by the Dudley Canal Company. It was constructed at more or less the same time as the long shut, now rather mythical Lapal Tunnel, which ran for an enormous 3.5 kilometres between Halesowen and Weoley Castle in Birmingham. So gives a good feel for what that – even narrower – tunnel must have been like.

Here the lack of towpath through the immensely narrow tunnel meant that I had to leave the cut so I headed up a short steep track onto the road.

Handily the road on top runs fairly parallel with the canal tunnel. Having reached the top of the hill I walked up a flight of very old looking steps between two houses.

Then reached a road junction with a fish n’ chip shop and a pub called The Lighthouse.

Crossing over I followed the road past The Lighthouse, through an estate of pleasant, immensely respectable seeming 1970s vintage semi-detached houses. The vibe and feel of the area distilled something of the essence of the Black Country. Scraps of suburbia, amidst a landscape of greenery and short sharp escarpments. There are lots of fine views right across the region on offer during this section of the walk.

At some point imperceptibly, I walked across the boundary between Dudley and Sandwell. The logo on street name plates and wheelie bins changed from the bubble font and swoosh of Dudley, to the six squares representing the six constituent towns of Sandwell. This reflects another characteristic of the Black Country, how fluid it is, with communities often very distinct in their own way, flowing into each other.

There is an incorrect stereotype of the Black Country as backwards, insular and impoverished. A region left adrift and becalmed by the passing of it’s industrial heyday. The areas passed through walking along the navigable section of the Dudley No. 2 Canal disprove this mightily. Busy factories and warehouses line sections of the waterway, whilst in others, new estates of large houses with gleaming cars from smart marques, or older houses nicely restored with beautifully tended gardens, look out onto the banks. This area, consisting of the towns and large villages of Halesowen, Old Hill, Cradley Heath and Rowley Regis, has a modestly prosperous feel. It’s residents in their spacious yet reasonably priced houses find work in the area’s factories and offices, or further afield along the Jewellery Railway Line in Worcester, Droitwich Spa, Kidderminster, Stourbridge or central Birmingham.

Nearing where the Gosty Hill Tunnel ends, allowing for the rejoining of the towpath, there stands a group of very nice 19th Century, or perhaps partially even older, buildings. A small industrial settlement clustered around either the canal itself or some long vanished industry, still lived in and forming a neighbourhood to this day.

Presently the canal re-appears on the right hand side.

Turning onto the towpath there is an interesting array of bridges to walk beneath.

The next section of the walk is generally greener with the bank broken up a bit less frequently by industry and more often by new housing estates. These tend to be very conventional in form and layout, but are usually quite small and integrated with the older buildings around them, providing a more cohesive sense of neighbourhood than is the case for many larger out of town estates.

As I was walking along this section of the canal a blue painted, beautifully tended, narrowboat chugging along at just under the speed I was walking accompanied me much of the way.

A really nice touch is the creatively designed waymarkers, seemingly wrought from iron, which line the route, serving simultaneously as signposts, historical plaques and a public art installation. They are a reminder that many of the lumps and bumps, shady canal inlets and tumbled down creeper snagged walls lining the route, were once places of toil for thousands of workers. Sadly they’re clearly ten to twenty years old now and are falling into disrepair, but they inventively tell the story of the canal’s heritage and the multitude of industries that used to line the route as well as serving a practical purpose assisting travellers traversing the towpath.

A personal favourite amongst the components of this canalside installation was situated on the side of a ruined tollhouse. It comprises a black and white pencil rendering of a man in mid-19th Century workers clobber wielding a spray paint can in place of the tools of his trade, tagging the words “Tollman Was Ere” in hot pink pink on the side of the building. A neat idea with a lot of warmth behind it, which ties the memory and presence of the workers who created and tended the canal, to its present use as a place of leisure, recreation and creative expression.

During this section of the walk the wild and dramatic escarpment of the Rowley Hills comes sharply into view. The highest point at 271 metres above sea level is Turner’s Hill, which is the highest point in the West Midlands county and bristles with two radio transmitters which are visible from miles around. On a clear day the hills are visible from the Malverns thirty miles away on the other side of Worcestershire.

Presently you come to a bridge near the edge of the Warrens Hall Nature Reserve, once site of the Windmill End Colliery.

On the far side of the bridge off to the left there is a path running off onto a road. Turn off the towpath here onto the road.

Once on the pavement turn left and cross over the bridge. Taking care as drivers often approach it at speed.

On the far side of the bridge keep walking straight ahead until you reach a junction. Here turn right.

Walk a short distance along the road. Off to the left there is a housing estate constructed on the Radburn Principle, with garages and vehicular access at the back of the building. Turn left and walk up this access road.

At the top of the access road there is a snicket leading out onto a road which you walk up. 

Once on the road turn right and cross the road heading up a short flight of steps and through a double row of garages.

This leads out onto a path beside a main road. Turn right here and head up a flight of steps up a bank to a pavement beside a road.

Here off to the right there is a road running uphill through a mid-20th Century housing estate.

Continue walking straight uphill through the estate until off to the right there is a snicket, which you turn up.

The snicket leads onto a patch of grassland where a footpath runs off to the left. This leads to a ginnel behind a set of houses which you walk up.

This leads out onto a cul-de-sac of 1960s vintage houses. Once on this road turn right and walk to the end of the road.

Here there is a footpath running up onto the side of the Rowley Hills. A prominent hill range, comprising the highest peaks in West Midlands county, which forms part of the watershed between the Severn to the south and west and the Trent to the north and east.

Once on the footpath start following it uphill.

After a short way you pass through a hedgerow to your right.

As soon as you are through the hedgerow turn left and walk a short distance uphill passing a corrugated metal sided shack.

Just past the shack there is a stile leading onto a footpath running uphill through scrubby woodland leading up to Dudley Golf Course.

Presently the footpath enters Dudley Golf Course. Here turn right following handy homemade signs uphill.

Soon you reach a track running uphill. Follow it, keeping to the left as it twists and turns up the hillside, steadily approaching the communications antenna on the hilltop.

After some distance along the track you reach a footpath sign pointing off to the left. Turn left here and walk onto an access road running alongside the golf course which has a few houses along it.

On the road turn right and follow it until you come out beside a disused pub on the side of a road opposite the Grace Mary Estate.

This point is very near the summit of Turner’s Hill, the tallest peak in West Midlands county.

Upon reaching the side of the road, cross over, and turn right.

Walk for a short distance until you come out next to the exposed land on your left (managed as a nature reserve by Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust) which lies on Portway Hill. Provided the day has reasonable visibility there should be excellent views across the West Midlands conurbation at least as far as the towers in central Birmingham.

Here turn left onto one of the paths running down the side of Portway Hill. Follow the paths as they run straight down the side of the hill towards the side of the A4123 Wolverhampton Road.

Off to your right there are spectacular views across West Midlands county as you descend.

Presently the tracks down the side of the hill lead you to the side of the Wolverhampton Road on the edge of Oldbury.

Here a little way to your right there are traffic lights enabling you to cross the road.

Once on the other side of the road turn right, then quickly left onto a road which runs through an industrial estate, including a Sandwell Council household waste collection centre.

After some distance the road emerges onto the side of the A4034 running into Oldbury town centre.

Turn left here and begin walking along the side of the road towards central Oldbury.

Opposite a McDonald’s drive thru cross the road, turn slightly to the right then carry on right past a series of bus stops and a big Sainsbury’s supermarket surrounded by acres of parking (when it was opened in 1980 the shop was an early Sainsbury’s SavaCentre).

Passing Sainsbury’s carry on past Sandwell Council House straight along the road through the centre of Oldbury.

Leaving the town centre carry on straight, passing beneath the bridge which carries the Birmingham – Wolverhampton Railway line, immediately adjacent to Sandwell and Dudley Railway Station.

Having passed beneath the bridge, carry on walking a little further past The Railway pub.

Approaching a bridge over the Birmingham Canal Navigation Mainline look out on your right for an access ramp down onto the towpath. Head down this access ramp to the towpath.

Once on the towpath turn left and walk along it for some distance. Off to the right you see the entrance to a narrow canal crossed by a footbridge. This is the start of the Walsall Canal.

Just after this point you come to a road bridge. Take the ramp to the right up onto the side of the road.

Cross the road here and turn right across the bridge. Take care as when I walked the route the road was pretty busy and the narrow roads and canal bridge form something of a choke point for irate motorists.

On the far side of the bridge there is a ramp off to the left down onto the towpath. Turn left and head down this ramp.

At the bottom of the ramp turn left and walk underneath the bridge walking along the towpath opposite where you have just been walking.

Soon you reach the bridge across the mouth of the Walsall Canal which you cross.

On the far side, having come down from the bridge, turn left and begin walking along the Walsall Canal, through an industrial area on the edge of central West Bromwich.

Presently you come to a footbridge where the towpath switches sides of the canal.

Having crossed the canal continue straight along the towpath walking through the industrial area.

You walk underneath the Ryders Green bridge and begin walking along the final stretches of canal leading to Wednesbury.

This section of canal runs straight heading out of West Bromwich towards Wednesbury.

You pass under a major road bridge, then a railway bridge.

Shortly after this off to your right on the far side of the canal stretches the long straight line of the Tame Valley Canal which runs off wending its way into northern Birmingham.

You keep walking.

Presently you come to a road bridge just after the industrial estate. Walk underneath the bridge and look out on the left just afterwards, for a ramp leading up onto the road.

Head up the ramp to the pavement running alongside the road. Once on the pavement turn left.

Continue along the road for some distance heading towards Wednesbury town centre.

After a short distance there is a fork in the road where there is a bypassed older road with a few houses on it running off to the left.

Turn left and head down this road walking towards the Wednesbury Park and Ride Midland Metro stop.

Passing the entrance to the Wednesbury Park and Ride Midland Metro stop you walk underneath a bridge and down a wide walking and cycle path in the trees.

At a fork in the path turn right. Keep walking straight ahead across the centre of a roundabout and beneath an underpass on the far side.

Beyond the underpass keep on walking straight up a ramp on the far side.

This leads out beside the busy A461. Once beside the road turn left and walk along the pavement.

Continue walking, crossing the mouths of a couple of roads and passing the big branch of Morrison’s and the bus interchange in the centre of Wednesbury on the far side of the road.

Presently you come to a set of traffic lights. Here cross the road and head straight down Union Street into the heart of Wednesbury.

Continue walking into the centre of the town. Ahead of you, you can see the art deco style tower of the old cinema, the subject of the famous “Wednesbury Unreasonableness” case in 1947.

Getting Back

Wednesbury is fairly well served by public transport. There is a frequent service north west towards Wolverhampton and south east towards Birmingham on the Midland Metro. There are also frequent buses towards both cities, and towards neighbouring towns including Walsall, Dudley, Tipton and West Bromwich as well as other destinations across the Black Country.