Route developed by: TS, checked by: MP

[1] Stand in the car park with your back towards the gasometers, a recurrent feature of this walk. Take the path along the left side of the Health Centre to a grassy area at the rear. Bear half left across the grassy area and follow the path through a fence gap onto Oliver Street. Cross Oliver Street, turn right into it and follow the pavement around a left hand bend. Just past the end of Thames Tower turn left onto a tarmac path winding along the left edge of Bloomsbury Park.

(A) The tower blocks here – named after English rivers – and the surrounding parkland are part of the huge 1950s redevelopment plan which replaced Nechells’ acres of crowded back to back courts. The problems created by the high-rise estates are now being addressed by the Heartlands project.

[2] Follow the tarmac path past incoming paths to right and left, and continue over a cross path by Severn Tower (left hand side) to a fence gap. Go through the gap into a small circular area.

Walk over the circular area and continue on past a terrace row (left hand side) to Rocky Lane (Careful, no pedestrian crossing). Cross Rocky Lane and continue ahead along Charles Drive. At the end of this cul-de-sac turn right and follow the pavement beside a terrace row and through a wide alley to Thimble Mill Lane.

[3] Cross Thimble Mill at the pedestrian lights on the left, turn left into it, and walk on past Wing Yip (right hand side).

(B) The Chinese superstore and restaurants here were built during the 1990s in a bold oriental style, with steep concave roofs, projecting ridges and upturned eaves bristling with lions. The family business grew out of Mr Yip’s first Chinese grocery store, opened in Birmingham in 1969.

Follow the Wing Yip boundary as it curves right into Long Acre.  Cross Long Acre (Careful, no pedestrian crossing),  turn right into it, and walk on beside a diamond patterned wall to a lych gate on the left in middle of the wall. Before entering the gate look ahead along Long Acre to the old pub on the corner of Railway Terrace. The Mitre Ale House backs onto the world’s first trunk railway, the Birmingham to Liverpool Grand Junction, opened in 1837.

[4] Walk through the lych gate into St Joseph’s graveyard (benches).

(C) This secluded patch, the first Catholic cemetery in Birmingham, overlooks the industrial corridor that dominates the next part of the walk. The church itself, by the eminent architect Augustus Pugin (chancel 1850) and his son (nave, aisle 1872) is in Gothic style with carved figures in niches.

Follow the path downhill past the church (or take the grassy track zigzagging through the graves on the left) to the gateway on Thimble Mill Lane (Careful, no pedestrian crossing).

[5] Cross Thimble Mill Lane, turn right into it and walk on past a bridge abutment and past a murky shaft(left hand side of Cheston Road (Careful, no pedestrian crossing) corner – access to Hockley Brook, subterranean for much of its route across north Birmingham). Continue on to the canal bridge and turn left through a gap in the wall onto the towpath.

(D) The Birmingham & Fazeley Canal, designed by John Smeaton, was opened in 1789 and formed a vital link to the northeast. The lock house at Thimble Mill Lane stands by one of the eleven Aston Locks, which were once worked around the clock.

[6] Follow the towpath past the lock, over a bridge (left hand side- gave access to Bloomsbury basin), past another lock, and past modern office units (right hand side - Aston Cross Business Park) to Rocky Lane Bridge. Walk beneath the bridge (access to Business Park cafe) and continue along the towpath past a derelict site (right hand side- former electricity sub-station) to Avenue Road Bridge. Keep on past three more locks (the second with a cantilever bridge raised above the lock edge to allow passage of the towrope) to the new Waterlinks Bridge. Walk under the bridge and turn left up the ramp to Richard Street.

[7] Turn right into Richard Street (Careful, no pedestrian crossing) and after the right hand bend turn left across it into Windsor Street. Walk along Windsor Street past the gasworks (left hand side). The works were rebuilt by the Corporation in the 1880s and became a showcase site, always at the forefront of gas technology. The retorts were demolished when coal gas production ceased in the 1970s but the three huge gasometers, now balancing tanks, and the 1937 Office Block have been retained.

[8] Turn first right into Lord Street (Careful, no pedestrian crossing). The busy streets ahead, lined with functional post-war buildings distinguished only by their chamfered corners, are dedicated to the motor industry. Turn first left into Adams Street, cross Great Lister Street, turn next left into Heneage Street and second right back into Windsor Street. At the dead end of Windsor Street bear left down steps and walk through the scruffy pedestrian underpass beneath the dual carriageway. Nechells Parkway was built as part of the 1950s development plan, replacing Great Lister Street, Ashted Row and other old routes into the City.

Once through the underpass, if time allows, the following detour, to see some of Nechells’ old landmarks, is worthwhile (8 mins / 0.5 km – not included in the main route timing): Take the right hand path through trees towards The Dog & Partridge - the pub (1790s) occupies a remnant of Ashted Row. Just before the pub take the left hand path through trees to Great Brook Street - the brick garage (right hand side, 1920) is the former Co-Operative Society Traffic Dept. Cross Great Brook Street, turn left into it and look right into Moorcroft Place - part of the Ashcroft Estate, an early Council Estate built on the site of the old Cavalry Barracks; it was opened by the Prince of Wales in 1934. Continue along Great Brook Street to the T-junction, cross Barrack Street and turn right into it. Take the path on the left into a grassy area - the gravestones lying in the grass (right hand side) belong to St James’ Church which stood here; it was bombed during WWII but services continued to be held in the ruins. Retrace your steps back to the Nechells Parkway underpass.

[9] With your back to the underpass under Nechells Parkway. follow the path ahead through trees, ignoring incoming paths to left and right, to Francis Street. Turn left into Francis Street and follow it around a right hand bend to Duddeston Manor Road. Turn left into Duddeston Manor Road and just after the main entrance to St Matthew’s School bear half left on a path across the grass towards a red brick church tower. Cross Hobart Croft and follow the path ahead to the front of the church.

(E) When it was built in 1840 the church was called St Matthew’s in the Wilderness, because the area was so sparsely populated, and the Gothic tower had a tall spire. It is now used as a Day Centre for people with alcohol problems.

[10] Cross Nechells Parkway at the pedestrian lights and follow the footpath ahead towards the gasometers. In the space of just sixty years these streets have seen three eras of housing – back to backs, high rise blocks and todays small estates. Cross Verbena Gardens and walk on to Rupert Street. Turn right into Rupert Street and follow it back to the Bloomsbury Health Centre on the right.