Discovering the only road ford in Birmingham!

Walk from Northfield Station

1 Leave Polkington Place, turn right, cross Great Stone Road at Pelican crossing and turn right walking up the slight gradient. Cross over the smaller roads until reaching Bristol Road South when you should turn left.

[A] The Black Horse pub flatters to deceive. Despite the black and white timbers the pub was built around 1920, not during the Tudor times as the timbers suggest.

[B] Northfield and Longbridge prospered with the Austin car factory. From this position you can just see in the distance how the sky line is changing, the car factory has gone and replacing it is Bournville College. 

2 Walk down Bristol Road South until you reach Hawkesley Mill Lane where you turn left and walk to the junction with Mill Lane. Cross Mill Lane and enter the path known as the River Rea Heritage Trail. Walk along the trail until it turns left and comes back onto Mill Lane.

[C] In Hawkesley Mill Lane was Hawkesley Mill, the top mill on the River Rea. It was first recorded in 1255 and survived as a corn mill until c1890, a run of over six hundred years

[D] A ford crossing the River Rea. Normally the river is low enough to allow cars to pass easily through the water but after heavy rain the depth increases significantly and caution is needed. If you look past the railway bridge you can just make out a small housing estate known as the Austin Village built during the first World War

[E] The River Rea Heritage Trail follows this small Birmingham river from its source in the Waseley Hills in North Worcestershire to the city centre. The trail is fairly flat and accessible to most walkers and cyclists.  There were water mills, such as Hawkesley Mill and Northfield Mill, some of which are partially preserved, lining the River Rea and were still working in the twentieth century.  The mills were as little as a mile apart and each mill had its own pool in which the miller stored water.

4 Cross Quarry Lane into Pamela Road taking the left hand pavement.

5 At the junction of Pamela Road and Church Hill turn left using the service road and follow this road as it becomes Church Hill and then Church Road. Note St Laurence Church which is recorded in the Domesday Book

6 Follow Church Road as it turns sharp left and turn left on reaching Bunbury Road at the bottom of the hill.  At the junction with Church Road cross at Pelican crossing and return to Polkington Place. 

 Herbert Austin (formed the car company) was concerned that because of the massive increase in the work force that was needed to fuel the War Effort he had to find dormitory accommodation. To give some idea of the sudden increase in numbers of employees, in 1914 the company employed just 2,500 people but by 1918 it had grown to 22,000 who were mainly women. Transport was limited in war time so he needed accommodation locally, this was a problem as the factory was built in a very rural setting. So on the 16th November 1916 he decided to buy 120 acres of farm land in Hawkesley Mill Lane from Thomas Middlemore for £7,750. Because the development need to be constructed quickly he purchased from the Aladdin Company, Bay City, Michigan USA 200 Canadian cedar wood bungalows. The $115,000 contract was agreed on 20 December 1916 with a down payment of $28,750.