THE journey from Worcester to Birmingham involves a climb of about 122m (400ft) from the Worcestershire plain to the Birmingham plateau. It does not sound much and it does not look much - in fact, most of us probably don't even notice it. Nevertheless, it presented quite a challenge to the engineers of the Worcester and Birmingham Canal and the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway. In this walk you can see how they dealt with the challenge.

The first part of the walk follows the Lickey Incline, which is said to be the steepest main line gradient in Britain. There is nothing dramatic about it visually - it scarcely looks like a gradient at all and, in fact, it is only 1 in 37. For trains, however, that's steep. The incline took a year to build and raised the railway 91m (300ft) in the two miles from Bromsgrove to Blackwell. Modern trains take it in their stride, but in the days of steam it was a different matter, and the first trains had to be pulled by two locomotives. In later years a different method was used, with a rear banking engine pushing each train up the Lickey. Sometimes two, or even three, bankers were required, depending on the weight of the train.

The railway opened in 1841, signalling the beginning of the end for commercial traffic on the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, which had opened in 1815 after 24 difficult years of construction. The canal builders had faced a bigger challenge than the railwaymen and had dealt with it by building tunnels and locks. The Tardebigge Flight has 30 locks which raise the canal 66m (217ft). The neighbouring Stoke Flight has a further six, giving a total of 36 locks in less than four miles, making the Worcester and Birmingham the most heavily locked canal in the country. This walk passes 14 of the locks between Tardebigge Tunnel and bridge 52. The Tardebigge Flight is both a magnificent feat of engineering and an endlessly fascinating backdrop to a canalside walk.

DIRECTIONS

From Bromsgrove Station, walk up New Road, turn right past The Ladybird Inn and Banners, then right again on St Godwald's Road.

Cross the railway line then turn left on a footpath sandwiched between the

railway and the neighbouring fields.

Turn right on Finstall Road when the path comes to an end. Keep walking straight on until you come to the junction with Walnut Lane then fork left on Heydon Road.

Turn right at Alcester Road, then immediately left on Pikes Pool Lane. When the roadside footway ends climb a stile

and turn left, parallel with the lane.

At the next stile return to the lane, which passes under the railway line and turns right.

Then turn right on a path just before you reach the end of the lane.

Walk past houses then cross the railway before rejoining the lane. Continue in the same direction for a few paces then cross to a footpath.

Go diagonally across a field to the railway and follow it north until you meet a lane. Turn

right, then first left on Agmore Road.

Before long you will notice a golf course on your right:

ignore the first path which crosses it but take the second one, which follows a brook across the golf course to meet a road.

Turn left for a little way until you can join another path. Go diagonally right to meet a hedge then follow it to a stile in the field corner.

Turn right to follow the next field edge, skirt round Cattespoole Cottage and walk along its driveway to meet Agmore Lane. Turn left.

Go straight on at a crossroads, joining Wharf Lane. Before long you will pass Wharf Meadow Donkey Centre.

If you would like a closer look at the donkeys watch for a path which leads to the canal towpath but return to the lane afterwards.

Turn left at a T-junction, crossing the canal bridge then turning right, with the canal below you, on the right. There is no towpath here as the canal is about to plunge into Tardebigge Tunnel.

Cross Hewell Lane (B4096) to join a footpath opposite and walk by the left edge of a field to meet Bromsgrove Highway (A448).

Cross to another footpath opposite. Walk to Alcester Road and turn left to join the canal towpath just beyond Tardebigge Tunnel.

Leave the towpath at bridge 52, crossing the canal to join a footpath.

Follow the waymarkers to Upper Gambolds Lane and turn right, then left at a T-junction onto Dusthouse Lane and right at the next junction onto St Godwalds Road.

Walk to the top then turn left to New Road and the station.

FACTFILE

Start: Bromsgrove Station, at Aston Fields, grid reference SO968693.

Length: 6 miles/10.5km.

Maps: OS Explorers 204 and 219, OS

Landranger 139.

Terrain: quiet lanes, paths and canal towpath.

Stiles: 9.

Parking: station car park should be left for rail users only; some parking may be available on St Godwald's Road, and for one or two cars at other points along the route (see map) but it's best to take the train.

Public transport: Central Trains operates daily but services are infrequent on

Sundays; bus 144 runs daily to Droitwich and Bromsgrove, with connections to

Aston Fields from Droitwich provided by 140 and 141 on weekdays, and from

Bromsgrove by 78, 007, 140 and 143 on weekdays and 343 on Sundays; Traveline 0870 608 2608.

Refreshments: pub, shops and take-away (Banners) at Aston Fields.

DISCLAIMER

This walk has been carefully checked and the directions are believed to be correct at the time of publication. No responsibility is accepted by either the author or publisher for errors or omissions, or for any loss or injury, however caused.