Does anyone know Birmingham well?

[Ibuiltthiscityonrocknroll]

Hi all,

Just wondered if anyone lives in or around Birmingham or just knows the place well?

Meeting my mum on Sunday for the first time in 3 months for a socially distanced meet up with the kids (6 and 4). She’s had a pretty lonely time of it in lockdown on her own and has missed the kids loads so I wanted to ask for recommendations for a nice place to meet for have a picnic maybe. I’m not sure which parks etc are open and which are the best ones to go to. Would love a cafe to get a hot drink if any are open that you know about.

Sorry should have mentioned that Birmingham is roughly the halfway point between us which is why we’ve chosen to meet there.

Looks like the weather won’t be too great so wonder if there’s anywhere that might have a bit of cover if it’s raining?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions 🙂

Are you driving or using public transport? If you're driving, and don't know Birmingham, I'd avoid the centre. It's such a hard city to navigate. If the south side works for you, Solihull has nice parks and good motorway access (M42) as well as plenty of parking.

Further north, Sutton Coldfield also has nice parks.

Where are you both coming from? We might be able to help with specific options based on that.

Ooh interesting challenge.

How will you both be travelling?

Do you mean the city centre?

Thanks Reviewing and Chatons.

We’ll all be driving - we’re coming from Reading and mum is coming from Manchester.

Sounds like we would want to avoid the city centre then?

When travelling that way we often have a break at the Lickey Hills, handy for the M5 and M42.

I'd be worried that any 'country park' type place would be really busy and therefore there would be queues for the toilets and coffee counters so, as the main reason to travel is to meet with your mum, might a service station work?

They're fairly quiet at the moment, have food and drinks available, plus toilets and often have outside picnic areas. Hopwood Park just of J2 of M42 looks to have outside tables and quite a lot of grassed areas, but there's probably other options depending on who's happy driving furthest.

Thanks for the recommendation. Does the journey to Lickey Hills avoid going into central Birmingham do you know?

Barbara, thanks for the post and yes I did think about service stations but I kind of wanted to spend some time with her and the thought of hanging about at a service station for more than an hour wasn’t sounding so appealing. Even with the grassy areas I was thinking about the hgv’s piling in etc....

I was going to suggest Lickey Hills, but probably not based on Reading/Manchester origins.

Solihull could be a good option on that basis. Brueton Park is nice. Tudor Grange nearer the town centre. Not sure about cover though. Isn't the whole point that we're not supposed to be indoors with people?

What about Coleshill?

There’s a few supermarkets for drinks and sandwiches although it’s best if you take your own

There a small park off the high street with lots of grass and a cricket pitch

You could go to Sandwell valley, we go there frequently for a picnic, it’s just off the m5 so very easy to get to. Doesn’t involve going anywhere near the city centre, it’s really lovely there, nice lakes, a farm, lots of parking and open spaces so you can socially distance.

Here

I would second Sandwell Valley, just of the M5 J1

@Ibuiltthiscityonrocknroll you don't need to go near the city centre for the Lickey Hills. You come off junction 4 of the M5 or Junction 1 of M42 and it is a short drive, I mean 2 or 3 minutes. I don't know what it would be like for shelter, there is a visitor centre an cafe but don't know if they would be open. We like it better than a park but obviously it is personal taste, it is a bit wilder with lots of trees.

Brueton Park is just off the M42 and it's lovely. Or somewhere just outside Birmingham like Henley in Arden, also v close to M42 The lovely ice cream shop is open.

Arrow valley park in Redditch is lovely. It is not far from j3 m42. There is a big lake to walk around as well as meadows and woodland. 900 acres in total. The cafe is shut though.
Another space is cannon hill park which is closer to Birmingham city centre. Haven't been there recently though so not sure if the cafe or kiosks are open.
We went to go to the lickey hills the other day and they had diversions on by it so ended up at arrow valley park instead.

I would recommend Sutton Park in Sutton Coldfield. It's a beautiful, scenic and clean 2,400 acre National Nature Reserve. Car parking is available throughout the park. My partner and myself go there about three times a week for walk.

Some great suggestions here, thanks everyone. I think I’ll have a search on the places mentioned and see which one is most appealing.

What about Malvern Hills (one of my favourite places!) or Cannock Chase?

Pic from route map.