Stogre two

Verified Slow Way

Verified by 100.00% of reviewers

I completed this route today walking eastwards from Stone Cross. A really enjoyable walk alongside the Tame Valley canal and residential streets. A little problem with motorcycles on the towpath did taint the walk briefly, but was fortunately not too bad.

The route is mainly hard surface underfoot except for a short section from the junction with the Rushall canal (photo 9) and the footbridge where you leave the towpath (photo 11). Despite the heavy rain in the morning the unsealed towpath section was not too muddy.

Would recommend and do it again.

Another interesting Slow Ways starting from Great Barr along the busy Newton Road before going through quite streets joining the Tame Valley Canal. You follow the canal tow path with the M6 next to you and views down to Sandwell valley and Birmingham along a aqueduct which crosses the river below and Tame Bridge Parkway Railway Station. The traffic noise is with you yet you do feel away from it. Then up off the canal onto footpath along a busy road into Stone Cross.
Good Slow Ways easy to follow.

Despite living close to West Bromwich for a considerable time, it was Slow Ways that brought me to Stone Cross for the first time. The place itself is well served by public transport and has an abundance of eateries. The first section of the walk follows the pavement of the A4031 Walsall Road, a dual carriageway so this is not the most pleasant section of the walk. I looked for alternatives but there is none so direct. As it is, you don't have to follow it for long. It is just as you can see the M6 and M5 interchange loom in the distance that the peaceful straight aqueduct of the Tame Valley offers you escape. Joining the canal seemed a bit unofficial as I walked down a slight dirt slope where you feel steps might have been. The walk from there is an unusual experience as the canal crosses the Tame Valley, the tiny river unnoticed below. You pass over Tame Bridge Parkway Railway Station and then the interchange between the M6 and the very end of the M5. The M6 remains at the same level about 100m away to your left. So this is the strange thing about this walk. The constant traffic noise and yet a feeling of being away from it. An egret was watching the junction and then flew away. To my right I could make out the buildings of downtown in Birmingham in the distance. Having crossed the valley, the canal passes a junction for the Rushall Canal and then under the M6. It is beyond this point that I started to come across more walkers, mostly locals. Not long after the M6 underpass you leave the canal and walk through the neighbourhoods of suburban Great Barr. At the top of a climb you reach Newton Road then follow its pavement to the meeting point. This slow way is direct, offroad and I felt safe throughout. It offers possibly a unique experience and I really enjoyed it. Full marks.

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