Distance: 6.9 miles

Difficulty of the terrain: medium

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

Walk from Tame Bridge to Aldridge via Barr Beacon the tallest hill in northern West Midlands county and a local nature reserve, starting from Tame Bridge Parkway.

The Story

Route Notes

Getting Back

Northern West Midlands County’s Tallest Peak

Rising 228 metres above sea level at its highest point, Barr Beacon is an isolated and highly prominent, narrow sandstone ridge, lying between Great Barr, a northwestern suburb of Birmingham split between Sandwell and Walsall and the town of Aldridge in northern Walsall District.

The hill is one of the highest in West Midlands county, and is by far the tallest in the county’s north. From its wooded slopes and grassy summit, supposedly 11 counties, including Powys in Wales, are visible on days with good visibility. Even on less clear days the Rowley Range and especially Turner’s Hill, the tallest points in West Midlands county, are visible far to the south in the central Black Country, as are the twin peaks of Clent just below Halesowen in northern Worcestershire. Directly south of Barr Beacon the forest of towers in central Birmingham soar skywards with the hill possessing one of the best views into the second city’s heart.

Barr Beacon’s flanks were chibbled away by sandstone quarry workers for centuries, but since 1919 the hill’s highest point and its slopes have been a public park. Prior to this date it formed part of the Great Barr Hall estate. The death of Lady Mildred Scott in 1909 saw parts of the hall’s estate sold in 1918 following World War I. Colonel J. H. Wilkinson of the Staffordshire Volunteer Infantry Brigade purchased the land and gave it to a specially established trust to steward the site and ensure public access. A war memorial in the form of a bronze topped cupola, with a toposcope beneath it, was constructed. Slightly further along the ridge sits a small South Staffordshire Waterworks company reservoir.

After Walsall District was established along its current boundaries in the 1970s management of Barr Beacon passed from the trustees – who still own the land – to the new Metropolitan District Council. Walsall Council have since declared 25 hectares of the hill a local nature reserve primarily due to the abundant wildlife the wooded hillside supports. In the early 2000s around 200,000 people visited Barr Beacon each year, making it north Birmingham and adjacent areas of Walsall and Sandwell’s equivalent of the Lickey Hills on the city’s southern boundary with Worcestershire.

In terms of its situation within the wider landscape Barr Beacon is part of the green salient which slices through the northern part of the West Midlands conurbation, reaching as far south as Dartmouth Park in West Bromwich town centre, and running up the Sandwell Valley to beyond where the M6 cuts across the northern part of the Black Country. This green corridor can be traversed on foot by following the Beacon Way, a 25 mile long footpath connecting West Bromwich with Gentleshaw Common just north of Burntwood in Staffordshire. It is named after Barr Beacon which is the summit of the walk and therefore the best place from which to take in the entire landscape its route encompasses.

Route Notes

Get the route: via Ordnance Survey Maps or download the gpx. 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 from Tame Bridge to Aldridge via Barr Beacon, the tallest hill in northern West Midlands county and a local nature reserve, begins from Tame Bridge Parkway railway station.

From the station or the adjacent bus stops turn left upon reaching the A4031 until you reach the place where you turn left off the main road and onto the towpath of the Tame Valley Canal.

Once on the towpath turn left and walk along the towpath which runs along the top of a high embankment paralleling the River Tame to the left below the embankment and the high deck of a raised section of M6.

Presently you reach a bridge where the towpath crosses the place where the Rushall Canal joins the Tame Valley Canal. Just before the bridge turn left and turn off the Tame Valley Canal walking north along the Rushall Canal.

Soon you walk beneath the M6 motorway and continue along a green stretch of towpath on the far side.

Presently you come to a lattice framed metal footbridge across the waterway reached by a zig zag ramp. Walk up this ramp and cross the waterway.

On the far side follow a tarmac path through some scrubby woodland.

Soon you emerge from the trees into open scrubby grassland. Here leave the path and walk around the edge of the woodland across the grass, crossing a hedgerow of sorts in the middle of the field.

Upon reaching the far side of the grassland you reach a metal bridge across a brook, and continue along an overgrown, yet well worn footpath following a metal fence around a sports ground. This section of the walk is part of the Beacon Way and well waymarked.

Presently you emerge onto a grassy bank which you walk up across the front of Aston University’s conference centre to reach the side of the A34 from Birmingham to Walsall.

Cross the A34 and enter Merrion’s Wood. Walk through Merrion Wood’s on clear paths heading to the right.

Soon you reach a wide unpaved avenue through the trees where you turn right. Reaching the edge of the trees and an avenue running away from them you see Great Barr parish church ahead of you.

At the bottom of the avenue opposite the church you reach a lane where you turn left, walking through greenbelt countryside.

Presently having begun to climb towards Barr Beacon you reach a junction in front of a short terrace of cottages where you turn right. Here on the right there is a footpath running parallel with the road where you can walk to avoid walking in the carriageway. 

Soon you reach a busier road where you cross and enter some woodland around some former sandstone quarries beneath Barr Beacon.

Turn left and follow a wide, yet uneven and undulating path through the trees.

Upon reaching a junction on the path turn right and follow a well worn steep path up hill until you reach the side of Beacon Road, from where there are impressive views south across Birmingham, almost level with the summit of Barr Beacon.

Cross the road here and head right along the access road for Barr Beacon. Walk up this road to reach the summit where the war memorial cupola and South Staffordshire Waterworks reservoir are situated.

Next to the reservoir there is a steep twisting road which takes you back down to Beacon Road.

Upon reaching Beacon Road, taking care, turn right and start walking north along the road towards Aldridge (the left hand side has a wide grass verge so it makes sense to walk along it). There are impressive views south towards the Rowley Hills and Clent Hills to the left as you walk.

Soon on your left beside a very run down farm you turn left along a lane.

Presently you reach the B4151 where you turn left and walk a short distance until you come to a stile leading out into a field on your right.

Head into this field and walk along the edge approaching woodland.

Enter the woodland and follow the path across it through the trees.

Upon leaving the woodland continue straight ahead following the footpath towards the southern edge of Aldridge.

Here you pick up a green lane which runs past the first houses into suburbia.

Cross the road here and head along the long straight road leading to the town centre.

Head over the railway line which links Walsall with Sutton Coldfield, and has long been closed to passengers, though there are blueprint plans to change this, and approach Aldridge’s high street.

Here beside the bus stops is where the walk ends.

Getting Back

Aldridge is well served by buses, but has long lacked a railway station, despite a railway line running through the centre. At the time of writing the frequent 997 and 937 buses ran south from Aldridge across north Birmingham via Perry Barr, with its local railway station, to Birmingham city centre. While numerous other buses ran west towards Walsall. Other services served smaller towns and outlying villages in Walsall district, as well as district centres in north Birmingham like Kingstanding, and adjacent parts of Staffordshire like Lichfield and Burntwood. Walsall and Lichfield also have railway stations. Saturday buses run to a similar schedule to weekdays, while Sunday buses are more limited.