Yardley Wood Railway Station
Serving the Billesley, Warstock, Yardley Wood areas and parts of Hall Green, offering convenient and rapid direct public transport to the City Centre.
Yardley Wood was opened by the Great Western Railway (GWR) on 1 July 1908 and known initially as Yardley Wood Platform. Platform was a GWR term for an intermediate station between a halt and a station of importance. Today the Yardley Wood station is the busiest part-time staffed station between Stratford upon Avon and Birmingham.
Should you wish to take a break here, you can take a gentle stroll in the footsteps of J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings.
Turning left when you exit the station, walk down the hill to the bridge at the bottom. Left will take you to Trittiford Mill Park. The Park is part of The Shire Country Park, and if time is short, a stroll around the lake makes a pleasant walk.
Crossing Highfield Road, you enter The Shire Country Park, so-called as a tribute to Tolkien, who set The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings within 'The Shire'.
Walk on along the River Cole and through the Dingles (a middle-English word describing a small wooded valley). On the way you might spot kingfishers and egrets. Reaching four arches bridge carry on a few yards, cross Brook Lane and rejoin the River Cole along the John Morris Way.
The path meanders on until you soon reach another highway, Cole Bank Road and see directly opposite Sarehole Mill, the inspiration for The Great Mill in Tolkiens' stories. Tolkien and his brother spent their childhood in Birmingham with their widowed mother. They first lived in the hamlet of Sarehole, which Tolkien said were the happiest years of his youth.
Today there are millers and a baker, and you can rest here for refreshments in the cafe before walking back to Cole Bank Road. Turn left from the car park towards the road island and continue up the hill to the traffic lights on Stratford Road. Cross at the lights and immediately turn left. A four-minute walk brings you to Hall Green Station, where you can continue your journey.
Attractions:
Trittiford Mill Pool, now a park, Millstream Way, the River Cole and Chinn Brook.
Address:
Yardley Wood Railway Station, Highfield Road, Yardley Wood, Birmingham B28 0BY