The River Blythe flows through the English Midlands from central Warwickshire, through the Borough of Solihull and on to Coleshill in north Warwickshire. It runs along the Meriden Gap in the Midlands Plateau, is fed by the River Cole and is a tributary of the River Tame beside the West Midland Bird Club's Ladywalk reserve. This then joins the River Trent, whose waters reach the North Sea via the Humber Estuary.

thumb|left|[[Malvern & Brueton Park|Brueton Park Lake, formed by the damming of the River Blythe at Solihull]]

The river rises at various sources near Earlswood Lakes, but the principal tributary is listed as Spring Brook (; ). From here it winds north east, skirting Cheswick Green, towards Solihull. Here it passes through a local wildlife park, Malvern and Brueton Park and Nature Reserve, where it briefly splits/outpours for approximately 250 metres to form Brueton Park Lake. From here it meanders east, past several old country houses—Old Berry Hall, Ravenshaw Hall and Eastcote Hall—before turning sharply south towards Barston, which is encircled within a large meander of the river. At Temple Balsall the Cuttle Brook feeds the river, which now arcs north, and again close by Barston. Past Hampton in Arden the river is fed by Shadow Brook, at Diddington Hall. Travelling further north it passes to the east of Coleshill, and is fed by the River Cole, only a few hundred yards before it itself feeds into the River Tame (; ), at Ladywalk Nature Reserve.

thumb|left|Blythe Valley, looking north along the River Blythe near Eastcote

The river is "a particularly fine example of a lowland river on clay" according to its Sites of Special Scientific Interest citation. The SSSI was notified in 1989, and includes a stretch of the river from near its source to the point it joins the River Tame. The Blythe has a wide range of natural geographical features such as riffles, pools, small cliffs and meanders, combined with a high diversity of substrate types ranging from fine silt and clay in the lower reaches to sands and gravels in the upper and middle reaches. The structure of this river is very variable and diverse, and is important as a rare example of such in lowland Britain.

  • Blythe Mill (grade II listed)
  • Blythe Bridge, Coleshill (grade II listed)
  • Duke End Bridge (grade II listed)
  • M6 Toll
  • M6 Motorway (junction 3A)
  • A45 Birmingham Road
  • A452 Kenilworth Road
  • Blythe Viaduct (Birminingham Loop railway line)
  • Hampton in Arden packhorse bridge (grade II* listed and scheduled monument)
  • Barston Ford
  • M42 motorway
  • Henwood Mill
  • Ford Bridge
  • Grand Union Canal
  • A41 Solihull Bypass
  • Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster line
  • M42 motorway
  • M42 motorway
  • A34 road
  • Stratford-upon-Avon Canal

See also

  • River Blyth
  • River Blithe
  • Rivers of the United Kingdom

References

  • River Blythe. Retrieved on 2008-05-24