A group of teenage boys were standing around with their feet on their skateboards when I arrived at Lightwoods Park in Bearwood , waiting while their pal rubbed a stick of wax against a concrete edge. The skate park in the distance provides loads of space to practice dropping in to the not-quite-half pipe, but they seemed content doing their own thing. That's the beauty of a place like Lightwoods Park, I thought, as I continued strolling on past the gorgeous mansion house and towards the Grade II-listed bandstand.
There's so much variety in this 12 hectare space, some of it left wide open so you can decide how you want to enjoy it and other parts, like the skate park and the basketball court, there to offer gentle guidance. I stood for a while looking at the designated areas that had been presumably set aside to grow wild, alive with bugs and who-knows-what beneath the wild flowers, grass and the green blooms floating on the pond. The big old oak tree is starting to produce its acorns, like it has done for so many years while Brummies and babs from the Black Country played under its canopy.
Read more: I went day drinking in a Birmingham Wetherspoons and there's a big reason why everyone is happy Sign up for the Brum Food Club free weekly newsletter for updates on what's happening in the city's food and drink scene . The play park is just as tall, with two really high towers like masts on a pirate ship, linked by netting. It's so big and so thrilling that I griped at being far.