Tipwed one

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I walked this route two days ago travelling southwest from Wednesbury. I think it's fair to say I didn't enjoy it. It marked my 79th Slow Way, and for me i'm sorry to say it earns the ignominious award of the worst Slow Way i've done so far.

When I was plotting the route before setting off I saw the off-road section and thought that looks like a good route. Unfortunately, it's this off-road section directly after the Gospel Oak Road up to the canal which is responsible for it's lowly one star rating.

Leaving Wednesbury via subways and dual cycle/footpaths is fairly straightforward, and the walk to Gospel Oak Road is ok enough. Make the most of it for the next part is something else...

Upon reaching the Gospel Oak Road, the sun reflected off a million pieces of broken glass on the footpath ahead. The sheer scale of broken glass was mind boggling. Is it always this bad here? What made me feel particularly sad was a little further on there was a horse tied up to a stake in the middle of the ground feeding amongst the debris.

The debris was far beyond litter. It felt very much like an active fly-tipping hot spot which no-one cared for in the slightest. Utterly depressing. But the 'best' was yet to come... The final section of the off-road section just before the rail tacks was awash with quad bikers and scramble bikers. It really did feel like i'd just entered into a real life Mad Max-esque reality. Some of the quad bikers were even kids accompanied by their parents. None of them gave any respect to us as walkers as they whizzed past far too closely at speed.

It really was a relief to reach the destination at Tipton. Looking at David's review, perhaps I just caught it on a particularly bad day? The route is doable, but I wouldn't particularly recommend it. Given my experience, a one star recommendation seems very fair.

If you do want to earn the final snail, I strongly suggest you put your blinkers on for the awful fly tipping and make an early start before the ASB activity has a chance to wake up and tear up the footpaths with their motors.

I started from the Wednesbury end. The route takes from next to the bus station and then past Wednesbury Parkway Metro Station. It soon picks up a cycle route which takes you along a short branch of the Walsall Canal then via walkways and tracks through greenways and parks. The routes are well used but are sadly strewn with litter. One highlight for me was the high level of Summer Hill, from where you can see West Bromwich in one direction and Dudley Castle in the other. As you pass under the Birmingham to Wolverhampton Railway line you come out on to the Birmingham Canal which you follow for a very short stretch to the meeting place at Tipton Railway Station. What the route loses a little in directness, it makes up for in offroadness. It's very safe, mainly avoiding busy roads and despite the litter, the parks are well used and friendly. It links well with transport.There might be a better way to do this, but I couldn't be sure.

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