Just passing through Stechford?
With relatively low accommodation prices and good rail and bus links, Stechford attracts a fair share of people on their way somewhere else. Whether you are here for a weekend or staying a year, you'll be welcome at Stechford Baptist. Turn up on a Sunday morning or evening and introduce yourself. We also run Bible Study groups during the week which are a good way into the church.Key information for people passing through Stechford.
Public Transport has improved in Birmingham over the last few years. There is a good online planner available here which integrates bus and rail services. Trains run every half hour towards Birmingham and towards Coventry from Stechford Station. Note that Birmingham International is the station for the National Exhibition Centre and Birmingham Airport — but it's nowhere near Birmingham, for which you need trains to Birmingham New Street. There is almost no parking at Stechford Station, and parking at Birmingham International is quite expensive.
By car you have to know your way around to avoid traffic. Bordesley Green East is a good route into Birmingham, except at the start or end of Birmingham City football matches, when you can spend up to an hour inching your way past the Blues ground. An alternative route is to go a short distance up the A4040 and along the Alum Rock Road. This takes you through Saltley, and you may want to find a back way when you reach the long hill of shops in Saltley itself. After that you are on 40mph dual carriageway. The fastest way (from Station Road) to the M42 and Birmingham International is along Manor Road and Lea Hall Road to the Meadway, left a few hundred yards and right at Lidl (local people still call it the Mackadown) onto Mackadown lane. Follow this road until you get to Marston Green Station, where you have to go left. Keep on this until you come into fields and hedges, where you go right at a mini-roundabout and then compulsory left along a dual carriageway. At the first roundabout double-back, and the dual carriageway will take you first to Birmingham International Station and then to Birmingham Airport. From here follow the signs to the M42. (Check this on a map before you set off — essentially you are following the railway line).
The M6 going south is quite close. From Stechford Station go down the hill along the A4040 and take the first real right turn (after the roundabout) along Stechford Road. Follow this until it ends in a mini-roundabout, and go straight ahead onto Coleshill Road. Go left at the roundabout which is known as the Clock because of the Clock Garage (it has a small, inconspicuous clock), and this brings you straight down Newport Road to the junction with the M6. This is only southbound — you will drive quite a long way before you can find a place to come off and go northbound. It's great for the M1, and a reasonable alternative for the M42, especially northbound. If you want to go north on the M6, you need to keep on the A4040 down the hill from Stechford Station until you see signs for the M6 along Tyburn Road. This puts you onto the A38, and brings you out at Junction 6 of the M6, known locally as Spaghetti Junction.
Van hire. Action Self Drive on Station Road, just by Iron Lane, have a good range of vehicles and will hire you out a van for half a day (more than enough for switching accommodation at short notice).
Leisure Activities Stechford is great for swimming but not for much else. The Cascades on Station Road has a competition sized pool, and also does a variety of leisure centre activities such as aerobics and multi-gym. There are a wide variety of sports clubs scattered across Birmingham, and more at Sutton Coldfield (for car drivers 20 minutes away).
Libraries Your nearest libraries are Kents Moat, at the Poolway shopping centre on the Meadway, and Glebe Farm. Birmingham Central Library has been described as the 'busiest in Europe', and is very convenient if you work in the city centre.
Shopping. North on the A4040 you find the Fox and Goose, with Somerfields, Aldi, Farmfoods and a variety of smaller shops. South on the A4040 is the Yew Tree, with Woolworths and a selection of smaller shops. Along Bordesley Green East you will find Aldi, and in the other direction the Meadway will take you to Kwiksave at the Poolway shopping centre, and then Lidl, at the Mackadown. You can find an Asda on the A45. Drive to the Swan along the A4040 and go right at the roundabout. Asda is on the first roundabout you come to. Alldays on Station Road is open most of the time.
Eating. Unless you are allergic to curry, you should try the Modubon International on Station Road at least once. Slightly more upmarket than many balti houses, the Modubon serves excellent food at an extremely reasonable price. You might also want to try the Chinese take-away on Station Road by the railway line, and the chip shop nearby. If you are a pizza lover, the nearest Dominos is at the Yew Tree, and delivers fairly reliably within 40 minutes.
Stechford Baptist Church • Victoria Road • Stechford • Birmingham B33 8AH. Map. Stechford is in the Stechford and Yardley North Ward, and is close to Hodge Hill.
