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Metropolitan borough in England
Photo: Brianboru100, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Sandwell is a metropolitan borough that spans a densely populated part of the West Midlands, including Bearwood, Blackheath, Cradley Heath, Oldbury, Rowley Regis, Smethwick, Tipton, Tividale, Wednesbury, West Bromwich.
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Park in Bearwood that can be reached from the woods by crossing Lightwoods Hill. A fairly average park with a bandstand and a playground built by Anneka Rice and her television program. It also houses an old stately home, Lightwoods House (not open to the public) along with 'Shakespeare's Garden', a walled Victorian garden that has seen better days.
You will find a statue to William Perry, a 19th-century bare-fist boxing champion, often known as the "Tipton Slasher".
A bird reserve on the border with Sandwell which organises regular guided walks, talks and family activities.
A large green area with parks, a forest, a nature reserve, and Sandwell Park Farm. Tipton has a large horse population. Most of the horses are privately owned and many can be seen grazing in the public spaces. They are ridden with a small two person chariot along the roads so be mindful when driving.
Olympic swimming and diving pool built for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, and now a public facility. It also contains a fitness centre and cycling studio.
Bearwood Corks Club
Andy Hamilton, MBE was a Jamaican-born British jazz saxophonist and composer, and the "leading light" of the Midlands' jazz scene for decades. Though Andy passed away in 2012, his band, The Blue Notes, are still the resident artists, and the jazz club continues to celebrate Hamilton's legacy and invite a variety of artists to perform every week.
These used to be the private grounds of Warley Abbey, a stately home owned by the Galton Gunmaking family. Warley woods is now a public park, with a golf course and a small cafe. The annual picnic in the park takes place every July featuring live music.
It provides facilities for many sports including track sports, football, tennis, squash and others, all open to the public at cheap rates.
One of the better balti houses in Bearwood, with a more modern take on Indian and Bangladeshi cuisine.
Austrian Cuisine
An Austrian restaurant, nestled on a residential street in Bearwood. Expensive but well regarded.
Gastro Pub
An upmarket pub serving restaurant style food. Good food but there can be long waits.
Widely regarded for its Peshawari cuisine. Allegedly, Sir Mark Tully, ex-India correspondent for the BBC, is a fan of its food.
A theme pub which serves a range of hearty pies and ales. "Almost en-suite" rooms are available
One of the Ember Inn chain pubs. Much like any of the other Ember Inns, can get extremely busy on Friday and Saturday nights, owing to it being the only decent pub in Bearwood now. Now hosts acoustic live music nights on Tuesdays.
Formerly the Bear Hotel. It's the place to go in Bearwood to watch sport and is fairly cheap compared with The Dog or Plan B over the road. It is open late (til around 2AM) on the weekends and is also the place to go for a fight, with trouble on the weekend a regular occurrence.
A local pub for local people. Nicknamed 'the shabby abbey', to say it has a parochial atmosphere is an understatement. The beer's cheap, if not amazing, and the food is a bargain and edible.
Trendy Bar
The premises of 'Plan B' have been a bar for a while now. It started life as JD's bar, a seedy hole that had topless bar maids on certain nights of the week. It was then closed for a while until it opened as Atticus, a trendy alternative bar selling good European beer and having live music on Sunday evenings. It closed its doors, a casualty of the credit crunch but has now reopened as Plan B. Early reviews aren't favourable.
Small public house on the corner of Anderson Road and Hagley Road. It was thriving in the 1980s and has slowly declined. The last time I visited the bar had closed due to lack of trade, but the lounge was still busy. It is a fairly good pub if you want a quiet drink.
formerly Barge and Barrel
A friendly rock and blues popular with motorcyclists. It has a pleasant beer garden next to the canal.
This too has a pleasant beer garden next to the canal, and is on the same canal as The Ace of Spades, which makes it ideal if you wish to try both locations out. This was also known as the drinking place of the "Tipton Slasher".
Small local hotel with car park.
Small hotel with Sky Movies and Sky Sports in every room.
Indian Student Hostel Birmingham
Medium term (6 - 52 weeks) accommodation for students
Where comfort meets great value rates, all guests receive free WiFi in public areas and a complimentary breakfast to set you up for your day.
By bus
National Express West Midlands serves services all across the borough with links to Birmingham, Walsall, Dudley, Wolverhampton and Halesowen.
By train
A regular train service provides connections to Tipton station, but you may have to change at Birmingham New Street.
By plane
The nearest airport is Birmingham Airport (BHX), just over 10 mi away.
By tram
The West Midlands Metro runs through the borough of Sandwell with stations in Wednesbury and West Bromwich. The current line links Wolverhampton and Birmingham.
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Birmingham, West Midlands · International · BHX
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