Hallon one

Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Hallon here.

This route has very little to recommend it.Flytipping overgrown paths busy roads to try and cross.Reasonably direct it passes a few points of interest(Walked 5th Feb 2022).

A very challenging walk!.

We walked from Longbridge to Halesowen on a cold, grey winters day. We encountered considerable obstacles ranging from brambles, broken bridges, blocked paths, and very busy road crossings on this route.
Although we managed to complete it, I cannot recommend Hanlon One as a good example of a Slow Ways route.

A group of us walked from Longbridge to Halesowen and found numerous problems, some of which needed diversions, hence the creation of HalLon Two.
Crossing Balaam’s Wood was difficult on an ill-defined path involving a slippery slope to cross a stream. Leaving the housing towards Frankley Hill Farm involved some fly-tipping. The middle of the field-crossing at grid ref 990791 required bramble-bashing which would have been much harder without David’s secateurs! The diagonal footpath after this was not evident on the ground but could be followed directly in winter, but I suspect that in summer you’d need to go around the edge of the field due to crops. The path along to next field (after a short section of road) was overgrown with holly which needed to be pushed through.
We took a small diversion towards Illey House Farm where the OS marked path didn’t seem to exist. From Illey to Illey Hall Farm there is a (mostly) well marked diversion sightly to the east of the OS marked footpath, starting with a fence stile without its step, and ending with an excellent new double stile. Shortly before passing the Abbey remains, there was an earth bridge over a stream which had a collapsed edge that you could easily slip down and drop a couple of metres into the stream. I think this was at grid ref 978827.
The A456 dual carriageway was very busy, and the crossing took a while as there are no lights controlling the traffic anywhere along this stretch.
There is no through way at 972831 and we had to return to the main road and make our own route to the end point in Halesowen. Overall, there is too much wrong with this route (access and safety) to verify it. However there were some great views from the fields in the middle.

A group of us started this route from Longbridge. Although very overgrown in parts, with the help of secateurs we managed to follow the route. However, we encountered two major issues which in my opinion, would render it a failure.
1 At SO9783 8105 we followed the path as the right of way is marked, only to find it impossible to follow (dense tree growth blocked the way). Retracing our steps we discovered that the actual path follows a slightly different route as you can see from the first picture.
2 At SO9717 8310 we were supposed to go through an alleyway at the end of a cul-de-sac which leads through to the next street. This is not marked as a right of way. It was possible to see where this alleyway exists but had been gated off and padlocked.
I've noticed that Dudley MBC has a dearth of dedicated pedestrian crossings, and Halesowen is no exception. We crossed the busy A456 at the suggested crossing but it was not easy. On the way back, crossing it via the mini roundabout was slightly preferable, but only slightly.
The final section took us to the bus station via climb and then descent (pointless!) bypassing the multitude of shops, cafes and benches in the area. A Slow Ways ethical failure!
I will submit an amended version of the route to address all these issues.

Attempted to walk this route from Longbridge to Halesowen. Several navigational issues made this route, as plotted, inaccessible and unpleasant. There was quite a lot about the area that was gorgeous, and Hallon two is a perfectly good route.

Walked Longbridge to Halesowen. A mixed walk, urban at both ends pleasant countryside in the middle. Some challenging navigation throughout. Stiles, horses, sheep and perhaps cattle at other times of year. Crossing of arable fields and some overgrown sections. I suggest use of Romlon and Romhal at a combined distance of 7 miles as a preferred route.

This walk starts well with open paths through a new development on the old Austin car site. Safe passage under the busy road and perhaps a walk up the Rea when development is finished but for now it's alongside the noisy dual carriageway. I like that word carriageway, reminding us what roads were once used for before the infernal combustion engine took over.

A short section of cycle route, then a scramble across a ditch before a labyrinth of paths between houses through New Frankley, frankly not an easy route to follow.

Finally over a pile of household rubbish to leave Birmingham City behind and enter the fields of Worcestershire. Even here I'm not wanted, two locations were reported in 2020 as needing vegetation clearance but Worcestershire note these as low priority.

Things do improve but noise from the M5 is intrusive and the paths offer little sign of local use. After passing under the M5 along a short section of road the route heads towards the border into Dudley Metropolitan Borough where new issues raise their head with paths not quite where they are marked on the map.

The Black Horse at Illey offers a break but a bit over half way from Longbridge. From here the path is not as shown on OS maps then new stiles and waymarking may help or hinder navigation around Illey Hall Farm. The remains of the Abbey can be seen from the walked field which has the humps of fishpond earthworks.

Crossing the busy road is a challenge but possible. There appears to be no light controlled crossing point anywhere on this road. From here the route really went to pot although it did allow me a brief sight of the the Dudley No.2 canal which the Lapal Canal Trust are working to reinstate.

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