Distance: 10.2 miles

Difficulty of the terrain: medium

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

Railway-station-to-railway-station walk from Longbridge to Wood End tracing the line of the Midlands Watershed Ridge where it runs along the lip of the Birmingham Plateau.

The Story

Route Notes

Getting Back

Lip of the Plateau

South of the Wast Hills just below Kings Norton in south Birmingham the Midlands Watershed Ridge dips in height but does not finish. Running along summits like Weatheroak Hill and Hob Hill which stand over 180 metres above sea level.

This section of the ridge, like the Wast Hills, forms part of the lip of the Birmingham Plateau which extends south from the city’s boundary into Worcestershire’s far north east. If approached from the north the ridge appears like a slight rise in the land, while if approached from the south it appears as a steep slope rising out of Worcestershire’s River Severn plain. Something which gives it a character not unlike the Cotswolds escarpment to the south east or the rim of the White Peak plateau far to the north.

From the Wast Hills the Midlands Watershed Ridge gently descends below the 200 metre above sea level mark at Forhill. From Forhill Icknield Street – the road built by the Roman from south from Yorkshire to the Cotswolds – parallels the ridge for a short distance, before descending. It then runs across Weatheroak Hill and Hob Hill before declining further, dropping another 30 metres, until at Wood End just inside Warwickshire the ridge more or less peters out entirely. From there Midlands Watershed continues, far less distinctively, running north east across Coventry and into the eastern Midlands, where it finishes near the Naseby Plateau in Northamptonshire, which is where the River Avon, the easternmost tributary of the River Severn rises.

Route Notes

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 railway-station-to-railway-station walk from Longbridge to Wood End tracing the line of the Midlands Watershed Ridge where it runs along the lip of the Birmingham Plateau begins in Longbridge south Birmingham.

Upon exiting the station turn left walking along Longbridge Lane.

Soon, just past the early postwar vintage parish church which has become a base for the Gas Street Longbridge evangelical church, you cross the road and turn right down Coombes Lane on the far side.

At the bottom of Coombes Lane, cross the road and turn left onto the quiet Nuthurst Road, a residential street which lies just beneath the lip of the Watershed Ridge.

Upon reaching the bottom of Nuthurst Road turn right walking along the edge of West Heath, suburban housing on one side of the road, open fields and woodland at the top of the ridge on the right.

Soon you reach the junction where the A441 Redditch Road runs out of the city and down the Midlands Watershed Ridge through Hopwood to the junction with the M42 and onwards towards Redditch. 

Turn left here and walk a little way back into the city. Before coming level with a tall wooden footpath waymark on the right hand side of the road pointing along a footpath leading into the Wast Hills.

When there is a break in the traffic, cross the road and head along this footpath, which leads along the backs of several sports grounds, including one for Birmingham City Football Club.

Presently you emerge onto a lane which runs down past the Wast Hill canal tunnel’s southern portal. Here you take a slight right, before turning onto a footpath which runs off the road across a meadow and into woodland.

You follow the path through the trees and along the crest of the ridge. Through breaks in the trees there are spectacular views to the left out across Birmingham and to the right down into Worcestershire.

You follow the path through the trees and along the crest of the ridge. Through breaks in the trees there are spectacular views to the left out across Birmingham and to the right down into Worcestershire.

Leaving the trees you walk straight across a meadow at the top of the ridge and enter horse pasture land.

Once amidst the pasture turn right and step through a footgate onto a lane which runs between farms and out towards Forhill. Turn left on this lane and continue until you reach the road junction beside a radio mast and the Peacock Inn.

Turn left here and pick up a short stretch of footpath across the Worcestershire County Council maintained Forhill Picnic Place.

On the far side of the picnic area you descend some steps cut into the bank and turn right walking along Brockhill Lane which runs in parallel with the Roman Icknield Street along the top of the Watershed Ridge. Take care as it can be busy with cars travelling fast, but the bends are typically not too sharp.

Past the Kings Norton Golf Club you reach the hamlet of Weatheroak Hill, and cross the road, heading down the road which runs steadily downhill on the far side of the junction.

You descend into a relatively flat break in the Watershed Ridge and cross the M42 which runs through the gap.

On the far side of the motorway you walk steadily until the steep flank of Hob Hill, where the ridge’s southernmost section resumes, appears on your right.

Continue along the road until you reach a stile in the hedgerow to your left. Cross this stile and ascend Hob Hill.

At the top you walk through the trees at the summit and pass the old trig point approaching a farm.

Nearing the farm, turn right and cross a stile to emerge onto a lane. Cross this lane and head across the field on the far side.

In the middle of the field next to an orphaned gate you turn right and head through a gate and across a driveway, walking along a tarmac road through a field used for training horses approaching a stile.

Past the enclosure you cross the stile and turn right and pick up a green lane lined with trees for some distance until you emerge onto a lane.

Walk straight down to the lane past a scattering of farms and houses. At this point in the walk the Watershed Ridge is still running around 170 metres above sea level with a steep slope down into the Severn catchment area.

Presently you reach a footpath running across a field past a children’s farm attraction and then, across a lane, and down the footpath on the far side.

Soon you reach the edge of Branson’s Cross, where you turn left and head into the village. Here you head beneath the A435, into Warwickshire, and continue towards Wood End.

Walk all the road through Wood End. On the far side of the village you reach the railway station on your left.

This is where the walk ends.

Getting Back

Wood End has an hourly train service on the Stratford-upon-Avon Line every day both north towards Birmingham, the Black Country and into Worcestershire via Shirley and Hall Green, and south towards Stratford-upon-Avon. Buses to outlying locations across West Midlands and Warwickshire depart from the vicinity of the major stations.