The B5404 is a largely urban road through Tamworth. The number came to the area when a previously unclassified road was given Class II status in the 1940s.
The road turns off the A51 on the western edge of Hopwas and descends to the south, running roughly parallel to the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal which is out-of-sight to the left. The road soon levels out and then reaches a roundabout on the A453; there are also slip roads to and from the eastbound A5 from this roundabout. Before the present A5 was built in the 1990s the B5404 continued ahead along Plantation Lane to meet the original A5 in Mile Oak but this has now been severed.
There's now a multiplex south along the A453, crossing the A5 and meeting the westbound offslip in the process. The B5404 reappears at traffic lights, having taken over the old line of the A5. A spur heads right and presently becomes the westbound onslip but the mainline of the B5404 turns left and heads east along Watling Street. After passing the hospital the original B5404 comes in from the left after which we continue into Fazeley. The Birmingham & Fazeley Canal is crossed, followed by the A4091 at a roundabout.
We continue east and go over the River Tame before meeting the A51 again at traffic lights; that road has gone through Tamworth town centre so perhaps our route is the better one. We then go over the Derby to Birmingham railway line by Wilnecote station and then meet the B5440 at a large roundabout. After running through the centre of Wilnecote we return to the A5 and also merge into the B5080.
