Walks you can reach from Duddeston by train

Towpath along canal with suburban and greenbelt sections. Nearly 1000 years ago Kings Norton was valued five times higher than Birmingham for taxation; canal junction constructed 1796; area incorporated into Birmingham in 1911.

Waterway: three quarters along the Worcester & Birmingham Canal.

Woodland: a fifth under tree cover.

Time: 2h30–5h

Warnings: Narrow road with fast traffic; dark tunnel to avoid (2.5km Wast Hill Tunnel).

Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).

Ridge walk over North Worcestershire Hills, open hilltops, scrubland, gorse, woods, pastures, motorway bridge crossing, country parks and heathland with bilberry and heather.

Time: 5h

Warnings: Steep descents.

Walk details: the Saturday Walkers Club (tips, local insights and turn-by-turn directions).

Reverse direction: Railwalks (inc. GPX).

A gentle climb through open country on the Monarch’s Way and canal towpath.

Waterway: three fifths along the Worcester & Birmingham Canal.

Time: 3h30–6h30

Walk details: Worcestershire Community Rail Partnership (PDF).

Reverse direction: Railwalks (inc. GPX).

Golf club, heath, woodland and Heart of England Way.

Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.

Time: 5h–10h30

2 lunch spots: the Tame Otter (2h–4h30 in), or the Red Lion (2h–4h30 in)

2 end-of-walk rewards: the Horse and Jockey, or the Turnpike

Warnings: MOD firing range — check access.

Adapted from: the Leicester Ramblers.

Canal towpath (Worcester and Birmingham Canal). Kings Norton was site of a 1642 English Civil War battle.

Waterway: nine tenths along the Worcester & Birmingham Canal.

Time: 2h30–5h

Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).

Canal towpath, urban paths and suburban streets. Walk along the Worcester-Birmingham Canal from city centre to Cadbury's model village.

Waterway: four fifths along the Worcester & Birmingham Canal.

Time: 2h–4h

Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).

Varied suburban and exurban and rural terrain. Connects Sutton Coldfield to historic cathedral city of Lichfield via Anglo-Saxon Shenstone and Roman remains at Wall where Watling Street and Icknield Street met.

Time: 5h–10h

Warnings: Camp Road has high traffic, tight bends and heavy lorries; M6 Toll, A5, A5148 crossings; low-hanging power lines.

Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).

Remarkable survivals (Pelsall and Pelsall North Common). Greenway paths, common land, woodland and field edges. Former mining country with industrial heritage; route follows McClean Way greenway on former South Staffordshire Railway.

Time: 4h–8h

Warnings: Follows a busy road for a sixth of the walk. Barbed wire fencing; complicated road sections with M6 Toll crossing.

Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).

Spectacular views to Birmingham and Worcestershire. Ridge lip with fields, woodlands and lanes. Traces the Midlands Watershed Ridge along the Birmingham Plateau lip; route parallels Roman Icknield Street.

Time: 4h–8h

Warnings: A441 Redditch Road busy; M42 motorway crossing.

Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).

Canal towpaths throughout — rough track, grassy banks, tarmac sections — passing under multiple road and rail and motorway bridges. Follows the Ridgacre Branch Canal, joins the Walsall Canal, and finishes at the canal basin beside the New Art Gallery in Walsall town centre.

Waterway: almost all along the Walsall Canal.

Time: 3h30–6h30

Warnings: One dismantled footbridge requires a small detour via lockgate or road-bridge gap.

Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).

Pastoral yet industrial terrain of north east Worcestershire into Birmingham. Walk traverses the Worcester and Birmingham Canal (1792-1815), featuring 30 locks at Tardebigge Flight.

Waterway: four fifths along the Worcester & Birmingham Canal.

Time: 5h–10h

Warnings: Fast cars on suburban lanes; dual carriageway crossing.

Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).

Rural with woodland, fields and suburban areas. Walk traces River Cole source on Severn-Trent watershed; passes moated medieval farmhouse; passes Shire Country Park.

Time: 2h30–5h

Warnings: Busy main roads; muddy footpath sections.

Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).