When I think of the Hagley Road, I think about taxis zipping between fairly narrow lanes en route to Birmingham city centre . Maybe some mid-level stress. Perhaps a bit of swearing.
I don't think of it as being the location of a magical secret garden, peaceful and beautiful, a stone's throw from where hundreds of cars stream along the tarmac. When I popped my head through the pretty, wrought gate into the Shakespeare Garden at Lightwoods Park for the first time, my glasses nearly fell off, so dramatic was my double take. Fat little red apples are starting to blow up on a really healthy looking tree that is throwing shade on beautifully well-kept low topiary shrubs, seemingly trimmed using the air of a ruler.
Behind those, roses are twisting their way up wooden pergolas so beautifully aged that they'd look like a natural occurrence. Read more: I walked through once 'messy' part of Birmingham and didn't have to keep my head down Read more: Excitement as 'opulent' century-old tearooms to reopen in Birmingham years after closure Despite Lightwoods Park being full of people, I was the only person in the Shakespeare Garden. Moreover, I couldn't hear any of the skateboarders, the footballers, the giggling families or the traffic of the Hagley Road.
Photos show the beautiful walled garden of Lightwoods House View gallery That's because a water feature is babbling away right in the centre of some strategically positioned benches. The fountain splashes water into the grated, fairly dee.