Hobs Moat

Travelodge Birmingham Sheldon

Old Lode Lane near Hatchfield Brook Road, Birmingham

Houses on Old Lode Lane, Birmingham

Old Lode Lane at Lode Lane, Birmingham

Businesses on Old Lode Lane, Solihull

On a rainy Monday afternoon.

Chris Allen

Atlas MIS and Orion

Offices on Coventry Road, Sheldon.

Gerald England

Shops on Coventry Road, Sheldon

Including a Turkish Style barbers, Sheldon Fish Bar and Boots Opticians.

Gerald England

Shops on Coventry Road, Sheldon

Including Iceland, Sheldon News, Marie Curie and PDSA.

Gerald England

Businesses in Dovehouse Parade, Olton

This busy parade on the main Warwick Road appears to be generally thriving. It seemed that only one unit was vacant when I visited.

Businesses in Dovehouse Parade, Olton

This busy parade on the main Warwick Road appears to be generally thriving. It seemed that only one unit was vacant when I visited.

Businesses in Dovehouse Parade, Olton

This busy parade on the main Warwick Road appears to be generally thriving. It seemed that only one unit was vacant when I visited.

Businesses in Dovehouse Parade, Olton

This busy parade on the main Warwick Road appears to be generally thriving. It seemed that only one unit was vacant when I visited.

MSJ News

The Sun, News, Magazines, Off Licence and Lottery; what more could one want! Google maps labels this business as MSJ Convenience Store.

Andrew Tatlow

Bridge parapet, Lode Lane

Bridge #81 carries Lode Lane over the Grand Union Canal on the north side of Solihull. A metal plaque, visible to the right of this photo, tells us that the bridge was reconstructed in 1957. Parapets in a modernist style were added at this time, with a pattern of squares cast in relief in the concrete. The bridge can be seen here SP1481 : Bridge #81 Lode Lane, Grand Union Canal.

Public footpath, Lode Lane, Solihull

The path runs from Lode Lane to Tanhouse Farm Road and Elmdon Park. It skirts the fenced-off northern side of the Jaguar Land Rover site, one entrance to which can be seen to the right of the fence post. Fenced-off suburban gardens hem the path in on the other side, too. The OS Six Inch 1888-1913 map shows a path running from Lode Lane to the school in Elmdon Park near Elmdon Hall Link

. The first section of the modern path follows this one, but it then turns to the left and follows long-lost field boundaries.

Public footpath from Lode Lane to Elmdon Park, Solihull

For more on this path see SP1482 : Public footpath, Lode Lane, Solihull. Here it veers off its historic course and follows a long-vanished field boundary. To the left was the boating pool of Olton Hall, long since built over with housing but visible on the OS Six Inch 188-1913 series map Link

. Beyond the fence to the right is the Jaguar Land Rover site.

Veteran sweet chestnut tree, Elmdon Park

The tree is a sweet or Spanish chestnut, Castanea sativa, not native to Britain but grown here since Roman times for its edible nuts; see the Woodland Trust site Link

. A sign on the fence around this tree tells us that it has been dated to 1518 by using an increment borer, a drill which takes a core from the tree stem or trunk, so that its age can be calculated from growth rings and the radius. On the horizon to the right can be seen the Jaguar Land Rover factory.