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| Jon and I had picked sunday the 6th of April as the day to start A Coventry Way. It was hoped that by this point spring would have truly sprung, but in fact the day dawned with probably the heaviest snowfall of the winter so far, which actually made it all the more exciting. My friend Martin had decided to join us to, and unusually for such a fair weather person, the snow didn't even put him off! I walked into town and met Jon at Pool Meadow bus station and caught the Birmingham bus from there at about 8.30. We got off at Meriden, just down the hill from the Queen's Head pub and walked back up towards where the path crosses the main road in Meriden, near the Queen's head pub itself. As we wandered up that way Paul turned up to drop Martin off in the car. It was all rather beautiful.... all golden silver sunlight and blue shadows, with a good deal of the wet snow sticking to the branches, making them all look very pretty. The snow definitely made the day all the more interesting, as although perfectly pleasant countryside to walk through, there is nothing outstanding about the scenery around here and i know it quite well anyway, as both Centenary Way and Heart of England Way pass through this part of the world, and I have covered it copiously on bike rides too. We set off from the main road in Meriden and across fields below the tiny hamlet of Alspath, which was once owned by Lady Godiva, but is now a part of Meriden itself. We had views out over modern meriden below us to the right as we made our way to the churchyard of St Lawrence's. |
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The Church tower of St Lawrence in the ancient hamlet of Alspath, |
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Martin and Jon as we set off down the official footpath from the main road in Meriden. |
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A snowy tunnel away from the main road to join field paths to Alspath. |
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Snowy fields and the view out across modern Meriden as we approach St Lawrence's Churchyard. |
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Snow covered twigs and a crisp blue sky. |
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Moat House Farm, a lovely timber framed building in the pretty hamlet of Alspath as we leave the churchyard. |
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Martin and Jon model the old carriage alighting steps outside the churchyard. |
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Odd spring greens with a covering of the cold stuff! |
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The snow is already rapidly melting as we set of across field paths from Alspath. |
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We are not the first to be out enjoying the unseasonal crisp weather! |
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We walked across field paths to cross Back Lane, a favourite cycle route of Martin and I and then across more fields to emerge on the driveway of Hill House Farm on Broad Lane. We took Walsh Lane opposite towards Benton Green and then took to edge of field paths again to Carol Green. |
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A pond - not cold enough to be frozen |
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A strange little bench as we approach the driveway of Hill House Farm off Broad Lane. |
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Hill House Farm, the snow melting fast. |
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Field edge path after Benton Green. |
Snow still sticking to the trees on the shaded side of hedges as we walk along the railway just after Carol Green. |
We join the disused railway line after Carol Green and walk along it all the way to Kenilworth. |
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A glimpse of the Coventry skyline as the disused railway cutting turns into an embankment. |
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Just before crossing Hollis Lane looking from the railway embankment towards Kenilworth, the snow now almost all gone! |
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The walk all the way along the disused railway line was pretty uninspiring really. Until more than half way along it was a cutting and so it was difficult to get views or any sense of where you really were on the map, the only clue being bridges above that carried the various roads and lanes crossing the old line. The snow made the tree lined tunnel prettier, but it was just a straight route march really until we approached the half way point and the track emerged onto an embankment. We got views of the Coventry skyline off to the left and fields to the right in the direction of Kenilworth. We passed the infamous Crackley Woods, gay cruising ground, that has been much cleaned up of late and even the path at this point had been cleared and surfaced all the way along to the main road from Coventry to Kenilworth. We'd decided to turn right at the main road and walk into Kenilworth to get some lunch at one of the pubs on the Old High Street. I was actually quite tired by this point and had managed perfectly well, but wouldn't want to have walked much further on my first walking day of the year. We all had a fish pie which was nothing special. Martin rang Paul and he came to collect himin the car and offered to give Jon and I a lift back as well to save us waiting for the bus back into town. All in all it had been a pleasant walk, the fairly unspectacular scenery made more beautiful by the unexpected snowy conditions. I'm also not used to starting my walking day so early and it was nice to think that when I got back I still had most of the afternoon left. I am looking forward to continuing the walk from the Kenilworth Road to wherever we get! |
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