One of Birmingham's lesser known parks, and all the better for it, if you ask me! We really are…read moreblessed / spoiled over in the south of the city when it comes to parks - there seems to be one every few hundred yards - from large, countryside-equse open spaces like Warley Woods and the Lickeys, to ornate urban parks like Cannon Hill Park. This place is a little of both - the large open space that dominates it provides a lovely respite from the bustle of Harborne, and the gardens that border it are well kept and a legacy of the park's Victorian roots. A great little park - much recommended!

Queens Park is one of Birmingham's best parks in my opinion, its very secluded and not very known…read moreabout and all the better for it! We don't have many great outdoor spaces in Harborne so its a great place for young children, teenagers and adults too. Its has a great open large space, people come here to play football, tennis (has 2 tennis courts), basketball (has a basketball court). Has a playground area for young children. Very popular with dog walkers, joggers and cyclists. Ive been here day and night and never had any trouble, the gardens are well kept and very pretty in every season. There is 2 car parks available on site which is free, space available for disabled vehicles too. A great little park!

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.

Wythall park is a lovely little gem that's off the beaten track a little. It has a sand pit and…read moreswings, as well as a roundabout. These are all in an enclosed space for little ones to play safely. The older kids are catered for with a zip wire and a tyre swing, as well as a footbal court. There are toilets that are clean and the park is kept clean too, plus there's loads of free parking. It's open all year round too. There isn't anywhere to buy food and drink but it is a great place for a picnic, so bring your own instead. Something worth noting is that it's also a very popular dog walking area so if your children are scared of dogs, just be aware. Most dog owners are great but when we visited there were a coupe of great hulking dogs that took a dislike to each other and both were off their leads. One owner obviously had no control over his dog either. It all ended safely, but there was a lot of baking and snarling, and that was just the owners, and my daughter didn't like it at all.

This is such a good park for kids! It really is lovely and has a cool playground with swings, one…read moreof those roundabout things and even a sandpit! If only I was a kid again. I think that the park is kept well and always seems to be clean and tidy. There are even some toilets in case you get caught short. It is a great park to bring a picnic and the kids on a nice sunny day. It is also a great place to bring dogs and seems to be very popular for dog walkers. This is a really nice park and it is definitely worth a visit if you have kids, dogs or just generally want to view some greenery instead of the city traffic!

I really love this park, It offers FREE parking too, on certain days Run Birmingham offer a free…read morerunning scheme called 'Couch to 5k' a 9 week program free to attend and gives you confidence to meet other fellow runners. Beautiful surrounding, come with kids to feed the wild life duckies in the large pond. Big area to ride your bike too with a number of facilities to park your bike. Kids can also have fun on the pay area too, with swings and a large climb rack. On my daily walks to the park I've even found wild black berries and bamboo being grown in the woodland area. There's a Cadbury Bournville house that has been derelict for quite a few years now, for such a great location I've always hoped that the council would invest money in this great location and maybe convert it into a little café? That would be perfect in my opinion. Have a good day everyone, thanks a bunch for reading

Elmdon park is a mammoth of a park and when I am feeling in need of some nice fresh air and a long…read morewalk I park at the top end by the Land Rover and walk all the way down to the playground section and back again, it usually takes around an hour and it is an enjoyable walk - typical that the hill back to the car park is fairly steep so don't over do it on the walk! Has events during the warmer months and within the last few years I have attended an Easter Egg hunt which took you on a walk around the park searching for letters to receive a creme egg for the kids who took part as well as a fun day where they had some bouncy slides which you had to pay £1-£1.50 to use

You know those amazingly warm and sunny weekends? Well we don't get them too often and when they…read morehappen I get the urge to do something quintessentially English. So last one day recently saw a much needed drive out of Brum and into the countryside. I'm not a National Trust member but I am starting to wonder why? Our visit to Packwood House was fantastic. You can go into the house and even have a tour but we wanted to experience the gardens, herbaceous borders and huge yew topiaries up close. The house is originally 16th century and features several gorgeous blue and gold sun dials - so check your watch against them and see which are still set to GMT. The gardens are beautiful and kept in stunning condition. Mostly they are comprised of some very distinct and large yew topiaries. The highlight has to be walking up the helter skelter style border to reach the top of The Mound which is adorned with a large yew tree. From there you can take in the views, enjoy the cool shade and benefit from some much needed peace. The rest of the gardens are a mix of wild and wonderful plants and the look must change considerably throughout the year. Don't miss out on walking around the back of the house to catch the very unique sun dial monument. A great day out even if you are not a National Trust member - stunning!

Packwood is another National Trust property right on the doorstep and one that makes me so glad…read morethat we got membership for a Chrismas present. The gardens are the usual lovely mixture of more formal with some stunning yew trees to admire, plus the broader park land. The formal area is very children friendly and there's a lovely little raised mound right at the back that's lots of fun to run up. The pak land has a great walk and there's a large pond/small lake with ducks. It's a good place to explore and there's the usual wooded area to wander around too. The National Trust is so much better at welcoming families and Packwood now has so much more to offer children such as outdoor games and family activities during holidays. Picnics are welcome too. There isn't a cafe or restaurant although you can get coffee and snacks from the reception area. The toilets are in the car park.

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.

Kings Heath park is absolutely huge. It's great to have picnics at, go for walks, have colour…read morefights (as my friends and I did ) , walk the dogs and even entertain the kids. Everytime I go there are always various clubs going on which is great to have something to occupy time with! Additionally, it has very quiet areas, especially by the pond , and I usually take work and do it there. It's a great park!

I like Kings Heath park, it's got a lot going for it. First…read moreoff, it's a like a park of two halfs, oh and it's massive. It's like maybe two, three or even four parks in one. You've got the footpath that leads all the way around the park, which is popular with walkers, joggers and cyclists. This path will lead you from one of the three entrances right down to where the park edges alongside the trainline. How many miles this walkway is I don't know, but it's a good walk to take it all in. The path snakes in around the parks water feature which is really quite beautiful and is popular with ducks. There is also a tea room, tennis courts, a bowling green, basketball hoops, and two childrens playgrounds. This is a supreme park with large open grass spaces to boot. Kings Heath park is a great asset to the south of Birmingham and has a great deal to offer visitors.

I'm without a car but close to a railway station so Tudor Grange Park was a great find for me as it…read moreis within easy walking distance of Solihull Train Station. The quickest way to get to it is to go down the station steps and when the lift is in front of you turn LEFT (it's a right turn to the bus station and the shops, past the ticket office) This leads to a public footpath, turn left again and walk for a minute until you reach the main road. Cross at the pelican crossing before the railway bridge and walk into the swimming baths car park, carry on walking alongside the leisure centre and you'll soon be in the park. Last time I went there was some building work going on but it was still easy to negotiate your way round. There's a wide flat expanse of green, ponds with geese etc. and a children's play area that has a good variety of playthings. My children especially like the slide as it is (by their standards) a high one. I've bitten my nails a few times watching a 3 year old climb up it. There's a skate park next to it and in school holidays and at weekends this can get quite busy. I've seen quite a high standard of skaters here and they can attract a wealth of hangers -on. Plenty of stuff to have fun with on a fine day, then just a short walk back to the station and home. I looked it up in the A-Z and it looks as if there are a number of different entrances to it that locals would probably use but I'm just a tourist and come by train!

Not the greatest of parks truth be told and its not a park I go to that often. I guess you could…read moresay this is a park for children who are under the age of nine although there are skateboard ramps for skateboarders out there. The park is right behind Hill Top Library (B70 0RZ) as well as the Hill Top Community Centre. There is a field close by where you can go for a jog or even take your mates along and play football. There are also basketball courts as well so if you do fancy a game basketball, then you might want to go to Hill Top Park. I wouldn't it is a fantastic park but its not the worst. If you are local and have any children, this park is OK for those that want to go on the swings, go on the slides or even climb the monkey bars.