Category
3 articles
Birmingham didn't just build the industrial revolution — it left behind a skeleton of canals, cuttings, and corridors that urban planners are now threading with bike lanes and greenways. We explore how the city's gritty past is quietly becoming its most exciting cycling asset. From Digbeth to Dudley, the transformation is already underway.
Forget the obvious stuff. Birmingham's most devoted cyclists have spent years quietly mapping routes that the average visitor — and plenty of locals — will never find. From ancient green lanes threading through the Lickey Hills to glorious canal-side detours through the Black Country, these are the rides that keep riders coming back week after week.
Birmingham has more miles of canal than Venice — and a growing number of cyclists are quietly discovering that these waterside corridors offer something the city's roads simply can't: a genuinely car-free route through the heart of the Second City. We explore the best towpath rides, talk to the people making them better, and make the case for why this network deserves far more attention than it gets.