Perry Park is often overlooked as it's right next to one of the main roads in and out of the city…read more Despite this, last year they completed the building of an international standard BMX track within the park itself. This track sits alongside the existing skate ramps that have been on the site for years and are regularly used both by young people from the area, and youth workers looking to do outreach work with those young people. The park itself has loads of open flat grass and has been used for carnivals and festivals in the past, so has plenty of space to take a dog for a walk or have a family picnic - but only if this weather holds out!

Perry Park is big, really big!! It's important to state that as whether you are approaching it from…read morethe Walsall Road or Aldridge Road it's easy to think it's quite small. Not only is it such a big park that they have events and fairs on due to the expanse of flat green lawn but it has a reservoir, is home to Alexandra Stadium and has a world class BMX park. Personally I like to think of it as Brum's version of New York's Central Park just minus statues, ice rinks and restaurants. The size of the park means it's easy to think it's not busy. If you are a young person then it's a great place to hang out and youth workers are often doing detached work, which means opportunities to get involved in fun projects.

Hazelwell Park is a funny little park. It's on a slope, which makes it frequently a bit…read morewater-logged at the lower end. It's also not actually all that little - it's deceptively large. Part of the Rea Valley cycle route runs through it and it backs almost onto the Pershore Road, which makes it that nice mix of green space and inner city. It never looks particularly neat or landscaped - however a good deal of thought seems to have gone into the children's play area, which they seem to be continually developing - adding the occasional swing or climbing frame. Due to this, its relative peace and quiet and easy accessibility to the good folk of Stichley, it's quite popular with locals with little ones in tow. Even though you always have to wear your wellies, almost year round. Apart from the children's play area the park consists of a large area of open space and the banks of the River Rea; which suggests something for everyone. It's still a pretty well-kept secret, as far as Birmingham parks are concerned.

This is one of the best parks in Brum to get up close and personal with the River Rea, which runs…read moredirectly through it. During summer months the river bank is alive with nature and it's a great spot to take the kids to pick wildflowers and mess about in the water. Aside from the river bank it's a fairly standard park. There is a pretty good children's play area with swings and such that is well maintained and safe and there is a small football goal if you want a kickabout - although the sloping nature of the park, and the fact that there is only 1 goal means it isn't great for a 'proper' game. When this place comes into it's own is during a winter snowfall, hence the 4 stars. At the rear of the park, just by the allotments, there is a BMX cycle track that has a fairly decent hill. This makes for an ideal sledging venue that gives a pretty decent run with a few bumps provided by the covered BMX track. Remember this place next time it snows!

Shirley Park is in Shirley, Solihull, close to a shopping area that is becoming more popular with…read morepeople from outside the Shirley area. The park provides relief to the frantic high street and is ideal for a family picnic. There are a wide range of activities in the Park, including pitch and putt, and a range of events through out the summer months. The Donkey Derby is one of my favourites. It is a large outdoor summer fair with lots of animals to interact with I was lucky enough to speak to the parks warden and he told me the Park was originally home to farmland, which was bought up in 1927. At a later stage additional features were introduced which included an ornamental garden and formal walkways. A walk through the woods of the park is especially pleasant in spring when the bluebells produce a vivid array of colours. It is also possible to view wildfowl as the pond is used on a frequent basis by birds and wildlife. Play equipment includes: - Junior & toddler swings, Junior & toddler multi play, Senior & junior mound slide, Talking flowers, Horse springers, reveloution roundabout, play car and crazy mirrors. I grew up in the area as a child and have fond memories of this park, to the extent that I visit it most weeks.

I don't use the term 'hidden gem' often, many because it's such a cliche and rarely true in these…read moredays of vapid overstatement. However, in this case it is literally true. You might never know it exists unless you're a resident of the local patch. I've lived over this side of Birmingham for over ten years and only discovered its existence a few months ago. I found it because I was trying to find Playpod (a soft play area) off the Stratford Road and stumbled upon this park by accident. There's plenty of green space surrounded by trees where you can play football or use the tennis courts if team games aren't you're thing. It's a great place for a picnic too, even though it's surrounded by busy residential streets. The play ground has swings, climbing frames, various slides, those flowers that you can talk into, a roundabout, play car andfunny mirrors. Everything is in pretty good condition too. There's also a skate park and even pitch and putt (though you have to take your own clubs and balls if you want to play.) I don't remember seeing any toilets because for once we didn't need to use them, but I'm sure there must be some nearby. If you want snacks and drinks, the shops on the high street are a few minutes away.

Great place, skate boarding, climbing wall, bmx bike riding, loads of good courses. Friendly atmos…read more Well recomended.

This place is ideal for families or just younge or old adults who like to be active, a lot of…read morepeople bring their skat boards or roller blades and skate on the ramp, which is wacthed by many people and many are welcome to go and wacth, they also have rock climbing for begginers and for the advanced, you can also get food and drinks here and listen to music, it is just full of options.

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I dont remember Cannon Hill park being so beautiful! Visited here recently as part of a food…read morefestival and was taken back by just how lovely the place is! Now my lack of realisation was probably due to the fact I was trying to avoid being bitten by the aggressive ducks that used to roll round the pond like a carte when I was a child.....but i was young.....and about half the size so they seemed a lot more intimidating at the time. I am happy to confirm I walked past them with ease this time around and had more time to enjoy the picturesque surroundings! The park is pretty huge and boasts a nice pond complete with fountain/water feature to impress even the Charlie Dimmock types....swan boats, a theatre, crazy golf and many walkways and paths to enjoy. Perfect for a day out with the kids....or to keep that inner child satisfied. You will find me here a fair bit over the summer I think....get me to the ice cream van...now!

War Memorial Park in Coventry is a wonderful place to relax and enjoy some fresh air. The park is…read morespacious, well-maintained, and perfect for walks, picnics, or just unwinding in nature. There's plenty of open space for kids to play and for adults to stroll peacefully. It's not crowded, even on weekends, which makes it feel calm and welcoming. A great spot for solo time, family outings, or casual meet-ups with friends.

I used to walk round the park when my friend came down from Birming ham…read more They served some nice tea and cakes in the cafe.

Recently took my son to the park and for an ice cream and had a slow walk around the arboretum,…read moremany people don't realise how lucky Walsall is to still have an arbo as there aren't many around these days.

What a beautiful place to take the kids. The boating lake is fun as long as the kids are chilled…read more The play area has lots of things to keep the kids entertained for hours. Walking the dog whilst the kids are at school is like being in heaven at the arbo.

Concrete, outdoor and visible from the road, Kings Norton is a council built skatepark set in the…read morelush expanses of King's Norton park. As it's council built, it's free. About ten years ago or so, English councils suddenly learned how to build skate parks. Luckily , King's Norton was made after this strange enlightenment. There's a decent sized half pipe and a fairly big street course with all manner of funboxes, quarter pipes, roll ins and blocks. I'd but my own level of skateboarding ability at just scraping into intermediary (on the tricks front) and I found that there was plenty there to entertain me, the street part in particular seemed a good size. It wasn't too big, yet was big enough to be a bit challenging - I'd imagine that anyone approaching expert level would be pulling off all manner of exotic tricks with ease. I like the fact it's made of concrete to, nice and fast. I couldn't really find any major flaws with the place. I've only been during the day so it's always been quiet when I've been there but apparently even when it gets busy the atmosphere is still good. The Birmingham skater hardcore seem to skate it all the time, so what more recommendation could you need?

Kings Norton Park is such a chilling place to hang around with friends on a warm summers day…read morewhatever the season may be. It's so wide and full of tranquillity with its beautiful and smoothly running stream wandering through the park right from the skate park that they provide to the conventional playing area. It's the perfect place to light a barbeque either with a small or large group and it's one of those places that you can spend until the early mornings. Perhaps just sitting somewhere in the field, in the skate park or in the playground, each having distances between them. As well as this it's a great place to walk dogs and even rabbits! Yes, I have actually seen someone walk their rabbit in this park. It's somewhere you can create memories and as someone that spent their childhood around this park, I could not say anything doubtful about it.

I went to watch the F1 movie I'm a huge fan of F1 and I took my niece with me who also loves F1 the…read moreperson who directs you were to go sent us to the wrong cinema we were already few minutes late and the movie was playing we assumed it had started so we sat down and watched not realising that we had been sent to the wrong movie and it was half way through already . This ruined the movie for me as we only realised at the end we were sent to the wrong one .

Affectionately referred to by some as 'Stab City' (doesn't take a wild imagination to guess why)…read morethis is a kind of a shell of an entertainment venue. Yes, the Vue cinema is fine and has loads of screens - so whilst it gets busy you can normally see whichever film you want without feeling rammed into the last seats. The restaurants are all chains - and very bland ones at that. There used to be a fairly decent Mexican, but even that has now gone and been replaced by a KFC/Nandos/McDs/delete as appropriate. There's a casino, but I have no interest in that, and there's a bowling alley / amusement arcade which is always rammed with tweens. When it was first built, there was a climbing centre spanning the interior dome of the atrium, and they installed a dry ice slope to sledge down alongside the escalators.. there was also shops to keep people entertained, but slowly and surely these have all closed down. Now it's just a large vacuous space with chain restaurants, a chain cinema, and a gaudy casino skirting the edges. I go to Star City on the very rare occurrence they're showing a film I want to see that isn't on elsewhere, or if I manage to score free tickets via showfilmfirst or a similar offer. Otherwise, there's nothing for me in the entire 'entertainment' establishment.