Walks you can reach from Shirley by train
MapA day hike is just a simple train journey away — plan your next day of green.
Alternatively, view walks directly from Shirley.
Alvechurch to Earlswood (Worcestershire)
8 minutes direct from Shirley.
Hilly north Worcestershire landscape. River Blythe rises near Earlswood Lakes.
Time: 2h30–5h
Warnings: Cars travel fast on twisty road with no pavement; busy A435 dual carriageway crossing.
Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).
Honeybourne to Stratford-upon-Avon (Gloucestershire)
45 minutes direct from Shirley.
Beautiful line through the northern Cotswolds. Trackbed of old railway line, fields, roads through villages and flat greenway. Route follows the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway from 1859, closed for passenger services in 1968-1969, finally closed in 1976. Now a greenway.
Time: 4h–7h30
Warnings: First section still in use for goods traffic; moderately busy road between Pebworth and Long Marston.
Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).
Wood End Circular (Warwickshire)
15 minutes direct from Shirley.
Warwickshire countryside paths, village lanes and river crossing.
Time: 1h
Warnings: Request stop; no shops in Wood End or Tanworth, stock up before arriving.
Walk details: Heart Rail Trails (PDF).
Danzey Circular (Warwickshire)
15 minutes direct from Shirley.
Farmland, woodland and rural lanes.
Time: 1h30
Warnings: Request stop; no facilities on trail, bring provisions.
Walk details: Heart Rail Trails (PDF).
Henley-in-Arden Circular via Henley-in-Arden Guildhall (Warwickshire)
30 minutes direct from Shirley.
Historic high street, farmland, Millennium Way, rural lanes, fields and woodland edges.
Time: 2h30
Warnings: Can be overgrown summer.
Walk details: Heart Rail Trails (PDF).
Stratford-upon-Avon Circular (Warwickshire)
45 minutes direct from Shirley.
Whitlocks End to Birmingham Moor Street (Warwickshire)
3 minutes direct from Shirley.
Towpaths and river banks. Urban walk tracing Birmingham's waterpower heritage from suburbs to city center.
Warnings: Busy roads to cross; low bridges on canal sections.
Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).
Wythall to Longbridge (Worcestershire)
6 minutes direct from Shirley.
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).
Earlswood to Wythall (Warwickshire)
8 minutes direct from Shirley.
Farmland, heathland, woodland, wet meadow, golf-course edge and river crossing.
Time: 1h
Walk details: Heart Rail Trails (PDF).
The Lakes to Earlswood (Warwickshire)
15 minutes direct from Shirley.
Reservoir-side paths and woodland tracks through nature reserve.
Time: 2h
Walk details: Heart Rail Trails (PDF).
Wood End to Dorridge (Warwickshire)
15 minutes direct from Shirley.
Umberslade Estate features a manor house built 1695-1700 and the Umberslade Obelisk constructed in 1749 by the 1st Baron Archer.
Woodland: a fifth under tree cover.
Time: 2h30–5h
Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).
Henley-in-Arden to Stratford-upon-Avon (Warwickshire)
30 minutes direct from Shirley.
Countryside walk across fields and canal towpath; gently hilly and wooded. Walk connects two 12th-century market towns via the 1816 Stratford-upon-Avon Canal, ending at Shakespeare's birthplace.
Waterway: nine tenths along the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal.
Woodland: a quarter under tree cover.
Time: 4h–7h30
Walk details: Walk Midlands (tips, photos and local insights).