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| Today's Trace |
Sparkhill, was named after Spark Brook, a little stream which originally ran from Moseley into the River Cole at what is now The Ackers Trust. Spark Hill was a hill near the brook.
It all sounds like some country idyll and it was until around 1850 when, as a result of the industrial revolution, the area was developed for housing.
From the 1860's, many different developers were building in Sparkhill which accounts for the varied architecture of the area, although to be honest, most of it is fairly uninspiring terraced housing.
The streets were built in a fairly uniform pattern of straight streets which minimised the amount of zig-zagging needed to walk them all.
Shortly after starting, I was walking up one of many cul-de-sacs, when a slab-laying man stopped to say "Hello." This was probably the polite way of saying, "What the hell are you doing here?" We got chatting and I explained my mission to walk every street in Birmingham. Probably humouring me, he wished me luck and after a handshake, I resumed my walking.
Today's route looks a bit like a ladder with the Stratford Road and Stoney Lane being the stales. Along one of the 'rungs', I spied this interesting establishment...
On another 'rung', I noticed this car parked, oblivious to the request painted above the garage.
Across the road, adding the word 'please' has made absolutely no difference!
About 4 miles into the stroll, after passing this colourful display on the busy Stratford Road, I came to St. John's Church. During the war (to be read as Uncle Albert, in Only Fools and Horses, would), the nearby BSA factory was bombed. There is a memorial to those killed in the church.
Towards the end of today's journey, I noticed this forlorn shop on Stoney Lane. Once it must have been one of those places that specialised in all those bits and pieces that you didn't know the name of but nobody else stocked.
After completing the ladder, a short walk towards Moseley, allowed me to meet my other half from work.
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