River Cole, West Midlands

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This article is about the River Cole in the West Midlands, go to River Cole, Wiltshire for the other river.

Cole
The river in Coleshill
Origin	Kings Norton, West Midlands, and Wythall, Worcestershire 52°21′40″N 1°53′14″W / 52.36111°N 1.88722°W / 52.36111; -1.88722 (River Cole, source)
Mouth	Confluence with the River Blythe at Ladywalk reserve 52°31′5″N 1°41′20″W / 52.51806°N 1.68889°W / 52.51806; -1.68889 (River Cole, mouth)
Basin countries	England
Location	West Midlands

The River Cole is a 27 miles (43 km) river in the English Midlands. It rises in Redhill, near Kings Norton, and also at Hob Hill, near Wythall; South of Birmingham. It flows roughly north east, skirting to the west of Shirley, and passing under an aqueduct for the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal at Major's Green. It is joined by the Chinn Brook at Yardley, and a little further downstream at Moseley is the Grade II Listed water mill, Sarehole Mill.

Further north at Tyseley, and the river passes under the Grand Union Canal and the Chiltern Main Line railway. The river now skirts south east of Birmingham city centre and, passing under the M6 motorway, heads north east again towards Coleshill, to which it gave its name. It joins the River Blythe, of which it is a tributary, near Ladywalk, shortly before the Blythe meets the Tame. This then joins the Trent,^[1] whose waters reach the North Sea via the Humber Estuary.

Eleven kilometres of the river in the Cole Valley is protected by the Kingfisher Country Park.^[2] to the south east of Birmingham and between Small Heath and the M6 motorway at Chelmsley Wood. A further seven kilometres, between Yardley Wood and Small Heath, sit within Shire Country Park.^[3]

The Coldbath Brook, a tributary of the Cole, drives Sarehole Mill, now a museum, which was 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.

The river has the potential to flood during heavy rain and as a result, Babbs Mill Lake was created to balance the effect.

See also

• Rivers of the United Kingdom

References

External links

• Watercourses of Yardley - lists many minor tributaries

Coordinates: 52°27′23″N 1°50′58″W / 52.45639°N 1.84944°W / 52.45639; -1.84944

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