29/08/25 - Thorney Island Circumnavigation

Intercom Access - "Please state your business"

There is something deeply satisfying about walking the coast of a small island, where navigation could hardly be simpler: just keep the sea on one side and the land on the other.

This week's borrowed dogs - Rocket and Chilli

Thorney Island, in Chichester Harbour, is today's walk. The public are not allowed on the inside of the island, as this is Ministry of Defence land. Happily, the Sussex Border Path runs completely around the exterior.

Thorney Island’s military history begins in the late 1930s, when its flat, open landscape was chosen as the site for an airfield. RAF Thorney Island opened in 1938 and quickly became an important Coastal Command base during the Second World War, with squadrons flying patrols over the Channel and the western approaches to guard against U-boats and enemy aircraft. It remained active through the war and into the Cold War era, hosting transport and search-and-rescue squadrons. In 1976, after nearly four decades of RAF use, the base was handed over to the Army and became home to the Royal Artillery. Today, it remains a Ministry of Defence site, officially closed to the public except for a controlled coastal footpath.

Access to the coastal path requires communication. On the West and East side of the island are "Checkpoint Charlies" where an intercom button is pressed. You need to state your business here, and like the regulars in the Slaughtered Lamb, you are told to "Stick to the Paths".

In the main, that is all there is. A thin path, with salt marshes one side, and military installations on the other. Frequent warning signs, and not always the most expected.

Stick to the Path, Boys

Latest Military Weapon - Brown Tail Moth Caterpillas

Apart from sea views, the major point of interest is the medieval settlement of West Thorney. Most of it is off-limits, but the austere church is right on the coast path and with a sign proclaiming "Church Open", it would be remiss not to explore further.

Doors Open

Sermon of the Day

Norman Font

Once explored - it's splendid isolation for the rest of the circuit. Us, borrowed dogs and the seabirds.

Walk Details

Distance - 7 Miles

Geocaches - 1

Walk Inspiration - Country Walking Magazine, Jan 2009, Walk 4

27/08/25 - Rail Trail - Stourbridge to Cradley Heath

The Heavy Drinking Music Hall Actor

The Wyre Line Rail Trails abruptly stop at Hagley. There are more Rail Trails on the line available, but these don't restart until after the Birmingham Stations. I was able to get a decent countryside ramble from Hagley to Stourbridge, but I can kind of see their thinking. Not much to encourage the walker between Stourbridge and first Lye, then Cradley Heath.

Unless the walker doesn't appreciate the upcycling Henry the Hoovers as plant pots.

Upcycle

Or attention to detail and anatomically accurate graffiti.

The wind blows hard in Wollescote

For the old-school walker - views of the day from Stevens Park would be more appreciated.

The Black Country

Lye is the next station on the line, but we have only just begun walking.  The Dudley Real Ale Trail  suggests the Windsor Castle for the sole stop. Sadly closed down now - but still providing fond memories of my first ever brewery tour, where the lesson learned about "finings" is used to ask sensible questions on all subsequent tours. We cannot even blame demographic changes for the closure. My first visited curry house over the road is also closed.

Standing Proud but sadly closed

Lye Central behind the memorial to Sir Cedric Hardwicke

The Holly Bush bucks the trend. A community boozer that is open from 10am in the morning. Will anyone be in there at 11:01am on a Wednesday?

Plenty.

Under starters orders at 10am in Cemetery Road

I think they were rather surprised to see a new face. No real ale on, which at times can be a relief. Most of the posse on the left hand side, but one solo drinker on his own on the right. In the 30 minutes to took me to drink a Guinness and come to terms with the latest West Ham Meltdown on Sky Sports, the solo fella managed three pints of John Smiths. Impressive dedication, by anyone's book.

Up Thorns Road for Adventure Lab Caching in another Stevens Park before arriving at the top of the hill for Quarry Bank.  The aforementioned trail telling me to visit the Church Tavern, formerly known as the Nailers.

But first - the real church, an impressively huge Victorian edifice.

Christ Church, Quarry Bank

In the field research told me the main item of interest here was the grave of a music hall actor, Charles Godfrey, who died in 1900.

Charles Godfrey (born Paul Lacey, 26 April 1854 – May 1900) was a highly acclaimed English music hall entertainer, remembered as one of the most phenomenally successful artistes of his day. 

A heavy drinker throughout his life, Godfrey’s health suffered, and he died prematurely in May 1900, aged just 46.

Enough clues from the Black Country Society Blog to track down his final resting place.

 

Last Orders

In honour of a fellow drinker, it was over the road to the Nailers – which well and truly hammered the final nail in my coffin when it comes to trusting cask in unknown premises.

The Church Tavern

Let me explain why it won my trust - a good, recent review on www.pubsgalore.com. Untappd showing a rotating list of cask ales, many of which were my favourites. The Real Ale Guide.

Two punters - both on Carling - should have been the counter-warning. Still, I ploughed on, choosing the Burton Bridge Stairway to Heaven over a more LocALE Holden's Golden Glow.

It was dreadful - smelly, cloudy and nasty tasting. 

Would you have taken it back, potentially facing a shooting stars-esque raising of handbags and a "Oooooh" from the Carling Twins?

I simply vowed to always ask for a sample first. 

Like I did the last time this happened.

Walk Details

Distance - 4 Miles

Geocaches - 6

Future Inspiration;

Taking the narrative from the Black Country Society Blogs and turning them into walks

The Dudley Trail - 5 Walks of varying lengths, which appear to have a common start. A section passed in Stevens Park

Previous Stages on the Wyre Valley Line - Worcester to Droitwich, Droitwich to Hartlebury, Hartlebury to Kidderminster, Kidderminster to Hagley, Hagley to Stourbridge

26/08/25 - Sheepwalks with the Ramblers

The Templar Mysteries of Enville

Normally a Ramblers walk, led by an 82 year old with no map and much disregard for the niceties of Public Rights of Way, would not warrant a blog. This is not a missive on "biting your tongue". I wanted to offer advice but realise it is a short step from that to be a walking leader. No, this is more about a little bit of local knowledge passed on from one of the 11 on the walk.

Which was a familiar beauty - the Staffordshire Way, over some rolling hills known as the "Sheepwalks". The views stretching across the West Midlands, where the Netherton flats can be mistaken for a Medieval tower. The English countryside at harvest-time.

The Walk Start - Enville Church

Ancestral Home of the Earls of Stamford - Enville Hall

The poor harvest of 2025

The conversations on route piqued my interest enough to ignore the temptations of The Cat (the best place to experience Enville Ale) in favour of the Church.

The academic world seems to be split on the origins of three graves on the roadside of the Churchyard. 

Three and ancient

Edward Dyas, an amateur historian from Stourbridge, claims they are one of the most significant Templar graves in the country. The rest of the academic world disagrees. His basis? The Templar Cross on the right hand grave that certainly has the most visible markings.

A broken Templar cross on the bottom stone

All very interesting in a warrior monk, Indiana Jones kind of way and certainly adding extra detail to an already fine walk.

And the length of time it would have taken me to enjoy a pint spent perusing the "Doors Open" church.

St Mary’s Church in Enville is a mainly medieval building with origins in the 12th century, though much of its present appearance reflects later additions and restorations. The church retains Norman stonework in its walls, while the tower, a dominant feature of the village, is largely fourteenth century. Inside, there are examples of fifteenth-century woodwork, monuments to the Grey family of Enville Hall, and Victorian stained glass from the nineteenth-century restoration

Nice tiling and stained glass windows. No snob screens.

C19th Font 

Carved Head on the North Wall

Should you be interested in discovering for yourself, use the map below carefully. It's easy to see where the walk leader had us doubling-back in enclosed fields. Less so, where we were off the Public Rights of Way.

Walk Details

Distance - 6 Miles

Geocaches - 0

20/08/25 - Claverdon, Wolverton and Norton Lindsey

Warwickshire's First Community Pub and Churches Aplenty

This is what I love. Finding ancient guidebooks and seeing what has changed and what still exists.

My latest eBay find - a 1951 book called "Fifty Weekend Walks round Birmingham". Walks will be tackled sequentially. Walk 1 is from Hatton. I can ignore the bus route instructions, as I don't have 1s 7d for the bus fare. I can adapt the hand-drawn map for my own needs.

North goes at the top - with little indication of distance

This is a good advert for completing research. The walk itself - through Warwickshire countryside and along rather too many roads (traffic not an issue in 1951) - would have been as dull as ditch water. By carefully reading the walk text and a little bit of googling, I was able to have something to look for at every turn. And there was even time for a spontaneous find.

Claverdon is the first sleepy village. Pinley Abbey was more interesting on the map than on the ground - as there was little to see of a nunnery founded in the reign of Henry I. In 2025, I was forced to concentrate on poorly maintained paths. On the village approach, there is an architectural oddity that looks out of place.

The Stone Building looks like a fortified tower. It was part of a grander building built by Sir Thomas Spencer, whose tomb can be investigated in the church. Once you pass the smithy, with its unusual horse-shoe front door.

Pubs, not the only thing to be converted to flats

The horseshoe fronted old Smithy

The Tomb of Sir Thomas Spencer - 1586

The guide book points out a grave with a wonderfully bleak inscription. Memorialising John Matthews, who lived during the reign of Henry VIII, and gave the land for the church to be built on. It's part of a longer sonnet that starts;

"Altho’ John Matthews under this stone lies rotten,

His deeds and name by us shall never be forgotten"

My book claims the text is still decipherable. The only other reference I can find on the Internet is from a C19th book - Shakespeare's Land - which states the tomb is near the South Porch. A good mooch around, but no success in locating it. The clue "Tomb" - and the fact he is the church benefactor - led me to believe it would have been one of the grander memorials. Maybe the text has deteriorated in the last 50 years.

South Porch, lots of text, sadly indecipherable

Wolverton is a very sleepy hamlet. A manor house and a very simple church, notable for its Norman origins and my observation, the walls are bowing outwards. No gaudy iconography here.

Wolverton Church

I'm back on the wider blog topic at Norton Lindsey. A village that has a pub. First the church, to see a Saxon font that is much older than the mainly Victorian building that houses it. Some fine stained glass windows.

The clock ticks very loudly, somewhat disrupting the internal ambience

Saxon Font - shaft wider than the bowl it supports

God is Love, Love One Another

I knew that the New Inn was Warwickshire's first community owned pub, sharing space with a shop and a cafe. I did not realise it is in the 2025 Good Beer Guide. Unexpected ticks are always the best. Especially when they are open at 2:30pm on a Wednesday afternoon.

As expected from a pub owned by 200 members of the community, the patrons were all locals. Three ladies laughing so hard they had to announce that they hadn't even had a drink. A couple of solo fellas on lout. A rather important looking fella - who I am convinced is the community ring leader - sat at the bar end on a gin and tonic. Further evidence that he is in charge from the Wi-Fi password - "haveagin", all lower case. He might have been responsible for commissioning the pub poem;

A ballard for boarded-up boozers

This lack of cask activity left me slightly concerned that the TV Screen showing the available ales, with a detailed description of each, listed six different choices. I wondered who was the last person to have ordered an Old Hooky.

I had nothing to fear. It was in fine condition.

Old Hooky

Having had my fun, I ensure I return home a hero. Carrot cake from the adjacent shop for Mrs M and the boy.

Walk Details

Distance - 10 miles

Geocaches - 10

Walk Inspiration - Fifty Weekend Walks round Birmingham, Walk 1