Our Birmingham based centre – Bartley is now well and truly open. This is Rockley’s first centre in the West Midlands and as most of Rockley’s office staff are ignorant to the delights of anything north of Southampton, Centre manager and Birmingham born Benn has decided to enlighten us on what Birmingham has to offer and as well as throwing in a few interesting facts!
The facts
- Jane Bunford, the tallest person ever to have lived in the United Kingdom, who reached a height of 7 feet 11 inches (2 m), lived in Bartley Green until her death at her home on 1 April 1922. Her hair also measured 8 feet 1 inch
- Bill Oddie did a lot of his early Birdwatching around the reservoir
- The reservoir is about 0.65 miles long, over 450m wide, and about 60 feet (18 m) deep at the dam. Its surface area is 110 acres (0.45 km2). It holds 2.4million cubic meteres or water.
- The reservoir is constantly fed by the Elan aqueduct which crosses Wales and the Midlands of England, running eastwards from the Elan Valley Reservoirs in Mid Wales to Birmingham's Frankley Reservoir, carrying drinking water for Birmingham.[1] It delivers enormous quantities of water by gravity across the mid-Wales countryside, through north Herefordshire, south Shropshire and into the West Midlands through eleven major river valleys. The aqueduct is 73 miles (117 km) long, down which the water travels at less than two miles per hour (3 km/h), taking one and a half days to get to Birmingham.
- Birmingham has nine miles more canal than Venice
- It's the home of Cadbury chocolate and Cadbury world.
- The home of Beaky Blinders which is filmed in the Black Country
Things to do
There are so many things to do in Birmingham and surround that can be enjoyed by the whole family, but for something a little bit different, why not try sailing in the city - you really don't need to live by the sea to get this opportunity!
- Water activities at Rockley Bartley!
- Cadbury World
- Sealife centre
- Canon Hill Park Wild Life Centre
- Think Tank Museum
- Bull Ring and Grand Central
- NEC, Resorts World, Genting Arena, ICC
- Edgbaston County Cricket Ground
- Birmingham and Aston Villa FC
- Rich in culture, heritage and nature, Birmingham is close to the Clent Hills, The Malverns and Cannock Chase
We welcome everyone to our sailing centre which aims to make watersports accessible to all – from local schools and groups to families within and beyond the Bartley Green area. So why not make Rockley - Bartley top of your ‘places to visit’ list and enjoy the delights of being on the water!