Two parks in one that are in Solihull Town Centre. Well Malvern Park is closer to the shops in Solihull. While Brueton Park is closer to the M42 (not far from the A41 and Junction 5). Over the years I've been to Malvern Park multiple times. Brueton Park only twice (it is much further away from the centre). Lots of paths to walk, also a lake and the River Blythe in Brueton Park.

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Malvern and Brueton Parks: from Solihull Town Centre to the M42





Two parks in one that are in Solihull Town Centre. Well Malvern Park is closer to the shops in Solihull. While Brueton Park is closer to the M42 (not far from the A41 and Junction 5). Over the years I've been to Malvern Park multiple times. Brueton Park only twice (it is much further away from the centre). Lots of paths to walk, also a lake and the River Blythe in Brueton Park.


First up details from the Wikipedia page Malvern and Brueton Park.

This pair of parks is located in Solihull.The park is over 130 acres in size and opened in 1944. The parks are a Green Flag Award winner.

Malvern Park was laid out by the then Solihull Urban District Council in 1926, on land that was formerly part of the estate of Malvern Hall. The Statue of Horse and Horse Tamer was sculpted in 1874 by Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm. It was purchased at auction by Captain Oliver Bird, of Bird's Custard for his garden at Tudor Grange, but he donated it to Solihull Council in 1945. It was placed in the park during the coronation year of 1953. The statue was damaged in 2012, and restored later that year.

Brueton Park is a Local Nature Reserve. The parkland was given to Solihull by Horace Brueton in 1944. This land was also formerly part of the estate of Malvern Hall. The two parks were linked in 1963. A lake runs through the park near the River Blythe. There is many species of Oak trees in the park. It is hard to tell when you are leaving Malvern Park as you enter Brueton Park as they merge into one.

 

I'm not putting all the photos I've uploaded into this post, please see them in the gallery. Alternatively in my Flickr albums Malvern Park and Brueton Park.

Malvern Park

The Prancing Horse statue seen during January 2010. This was when the bronze was looking quite green and before metal thieves damaged it in 2012 (before it was later restored).

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The gates into Malvern Park. Seen in the middle of January 2010. They are the main gates from New Road in Solihull Town Centre. And not  far from the Warwick Road. They date to 1954-55.

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Saw this wooden frame not far from the playground in the park during December 2012. A few years later I saw that they had installed a rope that children could climb on and walk along, like something from an obstacle course.

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Near the New Road gate entrance. Saw this plaque in December 2012. From the "Rotary Club of Solihull. Presented to the people of Solihull in celebration of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, 2012, Sixty Glorious years". It was donated by Earlswood Garden & Landscape Centre and was made of mid Wales stone.

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A path in Malvern Park seen during February 2014. Sometimes the pedestrian and cylist paintwork on the path can become quite faint, so sometimes you maybe walking on the cyclists side.

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This canopy seen in Malvern Park during October 2014. Some kind of gazebo. Possibly somewhere that a band could play music, not that I've ever seen that myself here.

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This wooden walkway seen in March 2016, going off the path to the right.

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Ice cream van in the car park seen during March 2017. Super Whippy. I usually take the entrance from Park Road as it is the closest entrance from the Solihull High Street.

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There was a lot of snow in the park during December 2017. A Winter Wonderland. This view looking to the spire of St Alphege's Church. It was freezing!

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Mr Blue Sky was in Malvern Park during January 2019. Looking this way to the tennis courts.

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The main gates to the park if you are coming in from the Park Road entrance. But there is also a path to the right. The October 2019 visit which I took on the walk to Brueton Park again. These gates date to the opening of the park in 1926.

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Brueton Park

I've only been into Brueton Park twice. The first time was during October 2018. That time I walked all the way to the Warwick Road and then back into Solihull Town Centre. The Second time in October 2019 to cross a footbridge over the M42 (on a rather long walk to Widney Manor Station).

The path that leads from Malvern Park into Brueton Park.

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Here the paths diverge, but you can really only go right past the evergreen trees. This is near the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust (I've been past them but not gone in).

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The lake in Brueton Park. It is quite large and runs along side the River Blythe.

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A swan in the Brueton Park Lake.

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Some gulls standing on branches of a tree, near the lake.

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Heading into Brueton Park during October 2019 and the leaves on the trees are going yellowy orange. Quite autumnal.

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This time I took the right path around the lake heading to a footbridge that crossed the River Blythe.

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Here the Brueton Park Lake flows into the River Blythe. I was on my way to cross that footbridge.

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Following the path alongside the River Blythe. The lake is on the other sides of the trees to the left.

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Another footbridge crossing the River Blythe in Brueton Park. A quick look before I left the park for the footbridge over the M42.

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Not only is it possible to walk from Solihull Town Centre over the M42, but you could probably also walk to Knowle and Dorridge if you wanted to. The Warwick Road is cut in half by the motorway. So the Solihull Bypass replaces that section of the A41. The footbridge can only be used by pedestrians, dog walkers and cyclists (while they are not riding there bikes). I took a route towards Widney Manor Station.

 

Photos taken by Elliott Brown.

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