River Cole, Warwickshire
The River Cole is a 25-mile river in Warwickshire and Worcestershire. It rises on the lower slopes of Forhill in the latter county, one of the south-western ramparts of the Birmingham Plateau, at Hob Hill, near Wythall; and flows largely north-east across the plateau to enter the River Blythe below Coleshill, shortly before the Blythe meets the Tame. This then joins the Trent,[1] whose waters reach the North Sea via the Humber Estuary. Its source is very near the main watershed of the Midlands: tributaries are few and very short except in the lower reaches, so the Cole is only a small stream.[2]
Geology
Average gradient of the central reaches is 10½ feet in a mile. There is a fast run-off from the drift covered Keuper marl clay [3] which makes up its catchment area, and heavy rain produces sudden floods; in the absence of replenishing side-streams these subside as quickly as they rise. The Cole is normally shallow, except where weirs maintain an artificial depth.[2]
Etymology
Its bears a Celtic name derived from the old British word for hazel.[4] In a charter of AD 972 of Pershore Abbey [5] the river throughout Yardley is 'Colle'. It has since borne several different local names:[2]
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| 972 | Colle |
| 1275 | Maerebroc (Boundary Brook) |
| 1495 | Water of Cowle |
| 1609 | Water of Cole |
| 1649 | Inkford Brook (south of Yardley) |
| 18th century | Hemill, Hay Mill Brook |
| 18th century | Low Brook (south of Yardley) |
| 18th century | Greet Brook |
Description of the course
A southern tributary rises in fields at Hob Hill, its course runs through farm land and is then joined in the vicinity of the aptly named Watery Lane by a northern tributary which rises in Redhill and crosses Kings Norton golf club. The combined river then is bridged by the A435, Alcester Road by the Horse and Jockey Public House. From here it forms the county border through fields to the east of Wythall as far as Whitlock's End. Entering Warwickshire fully, the river then passes under an aqueduct for the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal on Peterbrook Road at Major's Green. Skirting to the west of Shirley and passing the site and former mill pond of Bache Mill, it enters Worcestershire.
Shire Country Park
Crossing Slade Lane at a ford, the 'slade' is the Cole's black silted boggy valley, it begins a journey between Yardley Wood and Small Heath of the Shire Country Park. Firstly passing through Scribers Lane Site of Nature Conservation Interest, a diverse site with mixed broadleaf woodland containing wet flushes and ditches, a disused millrace and a wetland scrape. A leat carries water to the mill race and former mill pond of Tritterford Mill. It is bridged at Highfield Road by what was formerly Titterford wain bridge built in the early 19th century but now replaced by a bridge by which Highfield Road sweeps across the river and up the hill to Christ Church. Due to the construction of the mill pool, Chinn Brook had to be diverted far into the Dingles, flowing at a lesser gradient than the river, until it could join the Cole at the same level.[2] The river then flows through the Dingles where towards Brook Lane is Four Arches Bridge. First recorded in 1822, it formerly linked Webb and Old Brook Lanes. The wain ford alongside and the side approaches have disappeared. When the North Warwickshire Line was being built between 1906/7, its embankment cut off both Webb Lane and Robin Hood Lane and to avoid the cost of two bridges so close together, a single span was placed centrally and the lanes diverted to it. Both fords then went out of use. For two decades the Four Arches Bridge continued to be used, but then Cole Valley Road was built up and thenceforward the bridge led nowhere, and it was allowed to fall into ruin until only the arch courses and piers remained. A local campaign succeeded in achieving its handsome restoration. The race to Sarehole Mill formerly went under Brook Lane in a culvert, but this has been blocked and the line of the race is lost northward. The spillway from race to river is seen to be still there, and the slots for the removable plank weir can be seen.[2] The riverside walk continues as the John Morris Jones Walkway past the site of Robin Hood Lane ford, across Cotterills Meadow which has been Colebank Playing Field since the 1920s until it reaches the Grade II-listed water mill, Sarehole Mill at Hall Green.[6] The Coldbath Brook, a tributary of the Cole, drives the mill which is now a museum and one of the inspirations for J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. The Shire Country Park ranger office is located at Sarehole Mill.
Continuing to Green Lane ford which, like those at Slade and Scribbers Lane, has been concreted and the wooden footbridge is the latest of many, earlier ones have been swept away by sudden torrents. When the meadow below Green Road was opened as part of the riverside walk in the 1960s, the Cole was re-coursed and two weirs topped by step-stones were installed. Next, the river crosses the A3400, Stratford Road, the site of the former 13th-century Greet Mill, whose pool was the ponded river. In 1914 two brick bridges, over the river channel and a flood-race, were replaced by a two-arched brick bridge with a stone balustrade which allowed tramcars to cross the river and go on to Hall Green. The mill went out of use about 1843, was demolished and forgotten.[2]
Between Stratford Road and Formans Road, known in the 14th century as Foulemoreslone and which used the Fole- or Fullford (foul ford)[3] the stretch is known as Blackberry Way, being named after consultation with residents and highly suitable, as this is one of the best blackberry picking sections of The Shire Country Park.[7]
The river is bridged by the A41, Warwick Road at Greet and then continues north, passing under the Grand Union Canal and the Chiltern Main Line railway at Hay Mills close to the Ackers trust outdoor pursuits centre. At this point it regains its role as the border between Worcestershire and Warwickshire.
Kingfisher Country Park
Passing under Hay Mills bridge it crosses the A45 Coventry Road and from here seven miles of the river and the Cole Valley are protected by the Kingfisher Country Park.[8] The river now skirts south-east of Birmingham city centre and enters Warwickshire fully again at Kitt's Green. Passing under the M6 motorway at Chelmsley Wood, the river heads north-east again towards Coleshill, to which it gave its name.
The river has the potential to flood during heavy rain and the Stratford Roads' Greet Mill ford shows how treacherous the river could be after heavy rain as the assizes rolls of 1275 record that, Roger Fullard wishing to cross the water with his cart at the mill of Greet, by the flooding water, he and his horses were drowned.[3] Babbs Mill Lake was created to balance the effect.
References
- ↑ "B&BC BAP - Rivers and Streams Habitat Action Plan". Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country. http://www.wildlifetrust.org.uk/urbanwt/ecorecord/bap/html/rivers.htm. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 The Waters of Yardley John Morris Jones
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Victor Skipp, Medieval Yardley, Phillimore, 1970, p.31. ISBN 0900592079
- ↑ E.Ekwal, Dictionary of English Place Names, 4th edn. 1960 p116
- ↑ H. P. R. Finberg, The Early Charters of the West Midlands, 1961, p117
- ↑ "The Shire Country Park". Birmingham City Council. http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/shirecountrypark. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
- ↑ "Shire Country Park Friends". http://www.shirecountryparkfriends.org.uk/blackberry.htm. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
- ↑ "Kingfisher Country Park". Birmingham City Council. http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/kingfisher. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
Outside inks
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about River Cole, Warwickshire) |
- Location of main source: 52°21’40"N, 1°53’14"W
- Location of confluence with the Blythe: 52°31’5"N, 1°41’20"W
- Watercourses of Yardley - lists many minor tributaries