River Cole, West Midlands

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

The River Cole is a short river in the English Midlands. It rises in Redhill, near Kings Norton, South of Birmingham. After flowing through Birmingham, it passes 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. It is convert|27|mi|km long. Eleven kilometres of the river in the Cole Valley is protected by the Kingfisher Country Park.

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

At Majors Green, near Shirley, the River flows underneath an Aqueduct of the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal. Nearby, on the banks of this canal, is a Victorian Rubbish Dump. In 1991, when diggers were looking for architects, the remains of a man were found at this site. The man is thought to have died in the 1970s. But despite a nationwide appeal, the remains were never identified.

ee also

* Rivers of the United Kingdom