The best dog-friendly hikes and walks around Engine House Pool

The local avian residents collect here to graze and rest. The perfect place to view the lake and see the wildlife up close. There is guidance on what to do with regards to feeding and what to do to e sure the health of the flock.

Nice place, if open got a nice selection of hot/cold food so it’s a good place to rest if the weathers right.

A nice bridge and looks like a nice pub

Bordesley Abbey is rich in history and archaeological evidence. In 1140 a group of Cistercian monks from Garendon Abbey in Leicestershire were granted land in the Arrow Valley by Waleran de Beaumont, Count of Meulan and Earl of Worcester. This enabled the monks to found Bordesley Abbey and turn the Arrow Valley into a place suitable for a monastery. Bordesley means ‘the place where boards were obtained’. Archaeological evidence show that when the monks arrived the Valley was a very marshy and inhospitable place, unsuitable for the building of a large Abbey – so they dug a complex drainage system and diverted the River Arrow. Excavations show that the first buildings were made of wood, but within a few years they replaced it with stone buildings. You can see evidence of how the Abbey changed as you walk around – from the early plain green sandstone to the more ornately decorated later red sandstone. The ‘Night’ stairs are also clearly visible – so called because the monks used these stairs to get into the church for the first service at 2am! We know that the Abbey had about 20 farms or ‘granges’ in Warwickshire and Worcestershire and the sale of its produce – cereals and especially wool – gave the Abbey much of its wealth. But this prosperity, however was not to last. In 1538 Henry VIII dissolved the monastic houses and Bordesley was demolished and the estates sold. The ruins remained buried until JM Woodward (tutor to the Bartleet family) first excavated them in 1864. In 1969 the Bordesley Abbey project team began a programme of excavations. Many of the objects and findings of the excavation can be seen in the Bordesley

If you like sharp pointy bits of metal then oh boy! This is the place for you

Some old pipes but pretty cool

A desk-based heritage assessment for the historic environment was undertaken on behalf of the Environment Agency of Mill Weir (NGR SP 05355 68625) and Five Tunnels Weir (NGR SP 05238 68873), River Arrow, Redditch, Worcestershire (HER ref WSM 46479). Works are proposed at the weirs to enable better passage for fish. The River Arrow forms the northern and eastern boundary of the designated area that protects the Scheduled Ancient Monument of Bordesley Abbey which lies c 600m to the west. The course of the Arrow was altered by the Cistercian monks in the 12th century; its current course is a result of these engineering works. The original date of the weirs is uncertain, but Five Tunnels Weir dates back to at least the 16th century, possibly with medieval origins. It has large stones within its construction which may be of medieval date, although these may have been reused from the Abbey, post- Dissolution. Mill Weir lies just to the south of the point where the tail race from the Abbey's 12th century metalworking mill joins the Arrow. The weir does not date from this time, but is rather thought to be related to Redditch's needle working industry; constructed perhaps in the 18th century and associated with further structural remains that may hint at the site of a lost post-medieval mill.

The Drawbridge pub , good place to stop for refreshments