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!

This is a lovely and peaceful park, which I enjoy cycling to when I have the time. I like to come…read morehere with a book and some snacks and just chill out under one of the many beautiful trees. It is very green and also has a stream running through the centre of it. There is also a path that goes through the park and so it is easy for those on bikes, those with wheelchairs and those with pushchairs to venture through. It is great for children to come and play in here and I have often seen kids in the summer playing in the stream. There are a couple of benches situated in the park too, although I think that it is great to bring your own blanket and choose your own place to sit in the park. It is a tranquil and pretty place to come and chill out in.

We truly are spoilt and blessed with parks here in this corner of South Brum. You rarely have to…read moretravel more than a mile before you find an enclave of greenery and peace and quiet. Bourneville Park is a small but well-designed and maintained park that has the added bonus of having a stream running through it. There is a kids play area that my son loves and we're often here as it's just a short walk from our house. I rarely let my dogs off the lead in this park as it seems to be a popular park for kids, and so whilst there are no signs saying otherwise, I tend to respect the general feel of the place. That said, it's a good place to walk them round on the lead.

I love this park, it is wonderful. It is so green and luscious. I spent a lot of time here when I…read morewas a child and still visit it now for picnics or just to escape the nearby hustle and bustle of the city. There are lots of trees and it has a large stream snaking through it too, which I used to splash around in as a kid! It is great for cycling through and also for walking your dog or taking your kids here to play. It can get quite busy here in the summer, as you can imagine everyone wants to chill out and sunbathe and enough the nice weather. Occasionally an ice-cream van will pull up near the entrance of the park, which is ideal on sunny days. I think it is a really beautiful park and I would recommend it if you want somewhere to sit and forget city life!

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

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.

This is one of several parks in the area and possibly the least interesting one, but that's not to…read moresay it's not a good park. It's really just a large, open, square grassy area surrounded on three of its four sides by roads. I tend to walk my dogs over there when it's quiet as they can have a good old scarper about. There are three football pitches that dominate the space - two full size and one smaller, kids pitch. During the winter months there are goal posts erected by the council and on Sunday mornings there are usually one or two games going on. In the summer months it becomes extremely popular with students and gets invaded by literally hundreds of people enjoying BBQs, games and drinks. In fairness to those people they generally clean up after themselves and the park doesn't resemble Glastonbury festival the next morning. Recently some gym equipment has been installed in the park and, so far at least, this has remained intact and hasn't been vandalised, which I suppose tells you something about the area. As such it's popular with joggers who break up their runs with a few exercises.

Selly Park is a large, spacious area of parkland, and makes for one of the main University of…read moreBirmingham student hang-outs during the summer months. The park is a very good size, meaning that there's enough room for defacto areas to emerge daily for those wanting to play football or with a Frisbee, and those who just want to sit on the grass and soak up the sun. The park caters for all, being a perfect flat site for joggers and runners to loop around, and there's a well-equipped play park for young children that should keep them entertained for a good while. Recently, there has been some outdoor cross trainer exercise machines installed at various points around the perimeter for those wishing to break up their rigorous exercise regimes with... more exercise. The centre of the park lacks much identity, but large trees line the outside, making it a pleasant location.

With a pretty lake at it's centre, sloping grass verges and wildlife, it's easy to see why the…read moreparents of a prospective student would want their child to live here whilst studying. With many facilities on site such as a bar, restaurant and shop, there's not many reasons for students to leave, apart from to go to lectures of course. The village even has it's own one day music festival each year, the much loved Vale Fest. However, living in such attractive surroundings does not come cheaply, and in such destitute times, the Vale is going to be outside many students' budgets. The onsite Costcutter is also seen by many as being overpriced, which is particularly a problem when the local shops are quite a distance away. In conclusion, though the Vale is not without it's flaws, this is a nice place to live when doing your degree. As long as you can afford it...........

Having been to several other universities (both on open days and to visit friends) and sampled…read morenumerous different examples of university accommodation, I can with some degree of certainty see that the Vale is the nicest setting for student flats in the country. The main blocks of accommodation are all adjacent to, or indeed, actually part of, the Vale, an expansive stretch of park in the middle of the leafy area of Edgbaston (although even here it stands out as an exceptionally beautiful setting). Various trails wind in and out of various wooded areas, and the whole effect is set off by a huge lake, home of many birds, and, if you're lucky, you may get to see swans nesting and eventually having signets at the start of third term. It's a wonderful location, and really shows students apprehensive about Birmingham, possibly due to its reputation in parts as being something of a concrete jungle, that there's most definitely another side to it. The one downside to living on the Vale is that it when it's sunny, it's very hard to resist the temptation to stop working and go outside!

I discovered this just today by accident, by taking a wrong turning. What a nice surprise! I've…read morealways thought that Birmingham is well stocked with good public parks, and it seems that there are even more that I had no idea about. Cotteridge Park is really quiet for an urban park. Considering the fact that it's close to the Pershore Road, there is little by way of traffic noise. It's a great park: really spacious, with tree-lined paths, a car park, a kids' play area, some big open spaces, a skate ramp and some tennis and a basketball court! Who knew?! The only noise that I could hear (other than kids on their way home from school) was the bells from the carillon in Bournville. How very quaint and pleasant :) A train did rattle by while I was there, but other than that it was relative peace and quiet. 'Relative' due to the fact that it was home time from school so there were plenty of kids running around. Which is good. That is what parks are for. I've decided that I now want to live on Franklin Road (the road that backs onto the park)...

Cotteridge Park is a spacious with wide vast amounts of field which is great to walk dogs and hang…read morearound with large groups of friends on a hot sunny day. They also provide a miniature skating area and an abundant play area that consists of many arenas such as a climbing frame, rock climbing facilities, conventional playground swings and much much more! They have also assembled park like pieces of art such as their wick hut that satisfies both children and people of my age! It is definitely a place to be hanging out in the summer and is easy to gain access to as its location is situated between both train stations, Kings Norton and Bournville. Even for a nice little stroll, the area is very tranquil and peaceful.

This small, suburban park was established on 1905 by The Muntz Family, who owned much of the…read moresurrounding land at the time. As there is a primary school at the end of the road the park is always busy before and after school. The main part of the park is a large, open grassy area which is popular with the local kids who play football there almost daily, whatever the weather. There is an enclosed play area with swings, climbing frames, and so on, that is clean and safe. At the bottom of the park is 'The Dell', which in the 1920s was used for outdoor dances and community get togethers. These days the dell is a more of a small nature reserve, with many birds boxes attached to the tree and wild-flowers growing in summer . Dogs are allowed in the park, although most dog owners generally tend to walk their animals in the nearby Selly Park.

I spent a year living directly across Umberslade Road from Muntz Park, and I grew quite attached to…read moreit over time. It may not have the size of the neighbouring Selly Park, and the houses surrounding the park only serve to emphasise this difference in size, but it's a great place to while away the hours. Selly Park can get extremely busy, particularly on sunny summer days, and if you like your relaxing on the grass with a healthy dose of silence, then Muntz Park is a much better bet. It's got a small kids play park that's often used when the local school finishes for the day, and a football pitch which is used on some weekdays by youth teams, but other than that it's mostly empty, making it the perfect place to relax, be it on the grass or on one of the several well maintained benches.