| Revision as of 13:39, 17 July 2016 editDe728631 (talk | contribs)56,510 editsm →Shire Country Park: layout← Previous edit | Revision as of 13:40, 17 July 2016 edit undoDe728631 (talk | contribs)56,510 edits →Shire Country Park: restored previous paragraph about the course of the riverNext edit → | ||
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| The Shire Country Park consists of the Millstream Way following the course of the River Cole from Yardley Wood to Small Heath and includes the following sites: Scribers Lane SINC, Trittiford Mill Pool, The Dingles, Chinn Brook Recreation Ground, ] Recreation Ground, ] LNR, Burbury Brickworks, The ] and Cocksmoor BMX.<ref name="birmingham">{{cite web |url=http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/shirecountrypark |title=The Shire Country Park |publisher=Birmingham City Council |accessdate=10 February 2015}}</ref> | The Shire Country Park consists of the Millstream Way following the course of the River Cole from Yardley Wood to Small Heath and includes the following sites: Scribers Lane SINC, Trittiford Mill Pool, The Dingles, Chinn Brook Recreation Ground, ] Recreation Ground, ] LNR, Burbury Brickworks, The ] and Cocksmoor BMX.<ref name="birmingham">{{cite web |url=http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/shirecountrypark |title=The Shire Country Park |publisher=Birmingham City Council |accessdate=10 February 2015}}</ref> | ||
| River Cole´s race to ] formerly went under Brook Lane in a culvert, but this has been blocked and the line of the race is lost to northward. The spillway from race to river is seen to be still there, and the slots for the removable plank weir can be seen.<ref name="JMJ"></ref> The riverside walk continues as the ] past the site of Robin Hood Lane ford, across Cotterills Meadow which has been Colebank Playing Field for the last ninety years until it reaches the ] ], Sarehole Mill at ].<ref name="BCC-S">{{cite web|url=http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/shirecountrypark|title=The Shire Country Park|publisher=]|accessdate=5 September 2011}}</ref> The Coldbath Brook, a tributary of the Cole, drives the mill which is now a museum and one of the inspirations for ]'s '']''. The Shire Country Park ranger office is located at Sarehole Mill. | |||
| ===Kingfisher country park=== | ===Kingfisher country park=== | ||
Revision as of 13:40, 17 July 2016
- This article is about the River Cole in the West Midlands, go to River Cole, Wiltshire for the other river.
| Cole | |
|---|---|
 The river in Coleshill | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Kings Norton, West Midlands, and Wythall, Worcestershire |
| Mouth | |
| • location | Confluence with the River Blythe at Ladywalk reserve |
| Length | 25 miles (40 km) |
The River Cole is a 25 miles (40 km) river in the English Midlands. It rises on the lower slopes of Forhill, one of the south-western ramparts of the Birmingham Plateau, at Hob Hill, near Wythall; and flows largely north-east across the plateau to enter the River Blythe below Coleshill, near Ladywalk, shortly before the Blythe meets the Tame. This then joins the Trent, whose waters reach the North Sea via the Humber Estuary. Its source is very near the main watershed of Midland England : tributaries are few and very short except in the lower reaches, so the Cole is only a small stream.
Geology
Average gradient of the central reaches is 10 1/2 feet in a mile. There is a fast run-off from the drift covered Keuper marl clay which makes up its catchment area, and heavy rain produces sudden floods; in the absence of replenishing side-streams these subside as quickly as they rise. The Cole is normally shallow, except where weirs maintain an artificial depth.
Etymology
Its bears a Celtic name derived from the old British word for hazel. In a charter of AD 972 of Pershore Abbey the river throughout Yardley is 'Colle'. It has since borne several different local names:
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| 972 | Colle |
| 1275 | Maerebroc (Boundary Brook) |
| 1495 | Water of Cowle |
| 1609 | Water of Cole |
| 1649 | Inkford Brook (south of Yardley) |
| 18th century | Hemill, Hay Mill Brook |
| 18th century | Low Brook (south of Yardley) |
| 18th century | Greet Brook |
Description of the course
A southern tributary rises in fields at Hob Hill, its course runs through farm land and is then joined in the vicinity of the aptly named Watery Lane by a northern tributary which rises in Redhill and crosses Kings Norton golf club. The combined river then is bridged by the A435, Alcester Road by the Horse and Jockey Public House from where it crosses fields to the east of Wythall before passing under an aqueduct for the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal on Peterbrook Road at Major's Green. Skirting to the west of Shirley and passing the site and former mill pond of Bache Mill, it is joined on its eastern bank by the Shirley Brook which forms the boundary between Birmingham and Solihull.
Shire Country Park
Main article: Shire Country Park
The Shire Country Park consists of the Millstream Way following the course of the River Cole from Yardley Wood to Small Heath and includes the following sites: Scribers Lane SINC, Trittiford Mill Pool, The Dingles, Chinn Brook Recreation Ground, Sarehole Mill Recreation Ground, Moseley Bog LNR, Burbury Brickworks, The John Morris Jones Walkway and Cocksmoor BMX.
River Cole´s race to Sarehole Mill formerly went under Brook Lane in a culvert, but this has been blocked and the line of the race is lost to northward. The spillway from race to river is seen to be still there, and the slots for the removable plank weir can be seen. The riverside walk continues as the John Morris Jones Walkway past the site of Robin Hood Lane ford, across Cotterills Meadow which has been Colebank Playing Field for the last ninety years until it reaches the Grade II Listed water mill, Sarehole Mill at Hall Green. The Coldbath Brook, a tributary of the Cole, drives the mill which is now a museum and one of the inspirations for J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. The Shire Country Park ranger office is located at Sarehole Mill.
Kingfisher country park
Passing under Hay Mills bridge it crosses the A45, Coventry Road and from here eleven kilometres of the river and the Cole Valley are protected by the Kingfisher Country Park. The river now skirts south east of Birmingham city centre and, passing under the M6 motorway at Chelmsley Wood, heads north east again towards Coleshill, to which it gave its name.
The river has the potential to flood during heavy rain and the Stratford Roads' Greet Mill ford shows how treacherous the river could be after heavy rain as the assizes rolls of 1275 record that, Roger Fullard wishing to cross the water with his cart at the mill of Greet, by the flooding water, he and his horses were drowned. Babbs Mill Lake was created to balance the effect.
See also
References
- "B&BC BAP - Rivers and Streams Habitat Action Plan". Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
- ^ The Waters of Yardley John Morris Jones
- ^ Victor Skipp, Medieval Yardley, Phillimore, 1970, p.31. ISBN 0900592079
- E.Ekwal, Dictionary of English Place Names, 4th edn. 1960 p116
- H. P. R. Finberg, The Early Charters of the West Midlands, 1961, p117
- "The Shire Country Park". Birmingham City Council. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
- "The Shire Country Park". Birmingham City Council. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
- "Kingfisher Country Park". Birmingham City Council. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
External links
Map all coordinates using OpenStreetMapDownload coordinates as:
[REDACTED] Media related to River Cole, West Midlands at Wikimedia Commons
![[REDACTED]](https://u3vuiephb.global.ssl.fastly.net/File:Commons-logo.svg){kind=link}
- Watercourses of Yardley - lists many minor tributaries
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