Walking for Heritage; Digbeth Police Station

This blog posts continues the Walking for Heritage route. The previous post can be read here. 

From the Typhoo Tea Factory, follow the route of the walk (Fazeley St, New Canal St, Meriden St, Coventry St, Allison St, Digbeth High Street]. The police station is on the corner on your left. You will also pass a second ‘art house’ on the way.

The Digbeth police station is a grand building, designed by Henry Stilgoe (the City Surveyor) in 1911. I can’t find much more information about its history, which is a shame. If anyone knows of any then do let me know! This police station is still in use today.

As I was walking down Allison St, I saw the police station (pretty awesomely) reflected in the windows of the building opposite! 

One more pic 

Lifford Lake, King's Norton

A hidden gem! I found it on Google Earth, and then proceeded to hunt it out and find it. And boy, did I find it! This is another wondrous place – it is surrounded by industry (the Lifford household recycling centre is a stone’s throw away) and there are no signs from the road that make it obvious. I found my way there from Lifford Lane – take Tunnel Lane (signposted as the River Rea Heritage Trail), and Lifford Lake is straight up this road. There is a small car parking area, and then the following sign is visible:

The space opens out to reveal a large body of water – this was once a compensation lake for the nearby mill (which you passed as you walked up Tunnel Lane – this is now on private land, but you can see the buildings from the gate, as well as the sandstone folly). Lifford Lake was built in 1815 and is popular for fishing. I took a panoramic photo while I was there.

You can read more about Lifford here.

Pics taken by me, August 24th 2012. They are up on Flickr!