15/01/2025 - West Midlands Way Stage 4 - Alvechurch to Hagley

Into the Hills for Pub Archaeology 

The Lickeys, Waseley and Clent Hills have always been popular playgrounds for the outdoor enthusiasts of the West Midlands. I have walked them all, many times. But never on the same day. Allow me to pause to massage my aching knees.

1825 feet of ascent. Nearly a mountainful.

A convoluted public transport trip to Alvechurch, where Google Maps lets me down for the first time. Apparently, the 52 bus has one slot that runs different on school days. Three hours after setting off, I am about 15 miles from home at Alvechurch.

The Bittel Reservoirs to get the walk going.

Could be Upper or Lower

I pick up the North Worcestershire Path - which takes me all the way to the end at Hagley. There's a reason why the Duke of Edinburgh award uses it. Although in a rather mild walking county, this route presents a challenge.

Markers to follow - along with the Monarch's Way (of course - its everywhere)

But its beautiful to walk.

The Castle Folly on the Lickey Hills

All of Birmingham behind that bush

Another hill, another Toposcope. Waseley

Time running out on the way to Clent

The Standing Stones on Clent Hills

Looking over the Severn Valley from Clent - where a cloud inversion is forming

With this distance, you would expect refreshment stops. There were at least two cafes, and a couple of very posh gastro-pubs at the end. Along the way, there is the mere tease of the Big Blue Cup of Joy on the OS Map.

The Manchester Inn at Romsley closed down in 2014. To be honest, I thought it was much longer ago than that.

Now a private dwelling - as viewed from the North Worcestershire Path

Details are sketchy both on line and in print. Some review sites praise its lasagna, steak and ale pies and especially the chips. It looks like it sold in 2015 for £185K. Locals were thinking of creating a Community Pub but thieves had broken in and stripped it, rendering it financially nonviable.

A page in "Pub Walks in Worcestershire" adds a little, but at least mentions the beer. Brew XI or M&B Mild.

The most comprehensive details of the Manchester Inn 

With perfect timing for the 192 Bus to Kidderminster, I am not forced to drag my all day hiking disheveled backside into a Gastro Pub. Instead, I ensure the Bathams is still fine in the King and Castle. Reporting my findings to the #31pubsinJanuary.

Pub 13 of #31pubsinjanuary

Fine railway pub - The King and Castle in Kidderminster.

Finer @thebathams pic.twitter.com/QmJNVvjEui

— Mappiman (@Mappiman1) January 15, 2025

Twitter loves the Bathams.

Walk Details

Distance - 14 Miles

Geocaches - 3 and 4 Adventure Lab Caches

Previous Stages - Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3

13/01/25 - The Wyre Forest from Bewdley

For all of the Town's Refreshment Delights

A spare Monday, when the big freeze starts to loosen it's grip. This means mud. Although my Smart Meter wouldn't agree (£50 for a week!), give me the sub zero cold any day.

I'll start in Bewdley for my latest exploration of the Wyre Forest. Along the river bank as far as Trimpley Valley on the other side and then a steep cut up to walk through Pound Green. Nicely meeting the paths of last time out. 

Drop down through Withybed Wood and along Dowles Brook for lunch at Knowles Mill. BYO, as they only provide seating.

Abandoned Railway Bridge at Dowles, North of Bewdley

Forest ride in Withybed Wood

My most frequent lunch spot of the last 12 months

An unusual return to town along Dry Mill Lane and down through Back Hill. This means Bewdley in all its refreshment option glory can be explored;

• Horn and Trumpet - Bathams permanently on
• Real Ale Tavern (RAT) - Black Country Ales for beers you'be never heard of and ciders that offer best bang per buck.
• The George - Spoons have a sale on
• The Mughouse - Timothy Taylors Landlord and the best log fire/chesterfield combo in the world.

Which one gets the Mappiman Dollar?

None - only 12 minutes left on the parking.

Walk Details

Distance - 8 Miles

Walk Inspiration - Country Walking Magazine, Feb 2008, Walk 8

Geocaches - 0

10/01/25 - Honeybourne to Moreton-in-Marsh Rail Trail

Minus 3 all the way to the Prancing Pony

The cold snap offers unexpected advantages to the year-round rambler. The usually treacherous mud in the horse fields is frozen firm, sparing one from the threat of trench foot. On the frost-hardened ground, the ice holds the weight of a 14.5-stone man with just the faintest suggestion of splintering.

But you've got to keep moving.

Officially, I have finished the Rail Trails on the Cotswold Line. But another journey to Worcestershire Parkway for the Student. Who is going for an Interview. For a job. I'm sure there are more courses he could take on, if he really put his mind to it.

I depart at Honeybourne, with half a cup of hot coffee, purchased by the Student. He felt I needed consoling after spending £16.90 for a 30 minute return train journey. I'd already had a go at the hapless ticket seller. He was smiling as he said "It's the Cotswold Line, innit".

At least it's a fine walk - with most paths a repeat from the Heart of England Way.

Its a climb out of the Vale of Evesham onto Dover's Hill. Undulating paths through Chipping Campden, Broad Campden and Blockley before dropping down to the Marsh that gave Moreton is decription.

Here are some photos;

Near the Start - Honeybourne Church

Looking over the Vale of Evesham from Dover's Hill

Cotswold Way Marker pointing towards Chipping Campden

Climbing out of Norcombe Wood Valley near Blockley

With a few villages/towns walked through, there are plenty of refreshment choices. Too early for the 8 Bells Inn and Bakers Arms. Not prepared to risk the Great Western Arms again.

I save myself for Moreton-in-Marsh. Trains back are hourly. I have 45 minutes to enjoy a North Cotswold Brewery Best Bitter in the Bell Inn.

Tolkien's story told in picture form.

Good Beer Regular - and deservedly so

Inspiration

Could be handy in a pub quiz

Walk Details

Distance - 12 Miles

Geocaches 6 and 7 ALC

Previous Cotswold Line Rail Walks - Worcester Parkway - Foregate Street, Foregate Street to Malvern, Worcester Parkway to Pershore, Pershore to Evesham, Evesham to Honeybourne

06/01/25 - London Spiral Stage 17 - Woolwich to Roding Valley

The Great Guinness Shortage

Another Thames crossing on the London Spiral. I have used bridges, ferries and cable cars. Today, I can add feet - taking the deep dystopian plunge into the underworld and using the Woolwich Foot Tunnel. Only slightly worrying that there is an alarm sounding and no one else going subterranean. 

Going Underground

Not that I really wanted to surface. North Woolwich in the freezing rain.

Take me back down

Today's walk vividly demonstrates the essence of what Iain Sinclair's definition of psychogeography. Walking through industrial estates, alongside airport runways and under motorways is not for everyone. Route finding is tricky. Paths appear unexpectedly but also cannot be found to match the map. 

For Iain Sinclair, psychogeography is a way to uncover a city’s hidden soul, focusing on the forgotten, overlooked, and unloved spaces where history lingers. By walking through these neglected areas—abandoned industrial sites, crumbling estates, and disused railway lines—Sinclair reveals the stories and memories embedded in the urban landscape. These places, often dismissed or erased by modern development, serve as a counterpoint to sanitized urban spaces, offering a raw and chaotic glimpse of the city’s true essence.

Through his explorations, Sinclair celebrates the poetry of decay and the persistence of the past, reclaiming the narratives buried beneath the surface. Psychogeography, for him, becomes both a method of discovery and a form of resistance, connecting visible and invisible layers of urban life.

The end of London City airport runway

The River Roding

Most of this walk tries to follow the River Roding. Like many of London rivers, there is a waymarked walk associated. 

Delighted to find waymarkers

Yet this Roding Valley Way is a secret. I can find no official PDF or route map. Just a few blogs and part recordings on the usual tracking sites. Within metres of finding this marker, I manage to get to a dead end of new flats development (is there any other kind) and have to back track.

But getting lost has its own rewards. The diversion takes me to Barking Abbey. A rare bit of cultural history in an unloved part of town.

Ruined first by the Vikings, then Henry VIII

Refreshments? A rich seam for the pub archeology, with every pub passed derelict or turned into temples for different faiths. But there is an outlier in Ilford. And it opens before midday.

The Good Beer Guide Jono's.

How many Irish Pubs in the Bible?

I'm not sure what to make of this. Whilst checking whether open, I am instantly hit with a sign. No one likes signs in pubs. They should remain the last bastions of free living.

Marketing Myth or reality? Surely first come, first served.

Now, I only drink Guinness on St Patricks day. And only then if I am in Cheltenham Racecourse. Yet what else are you meant to drink in an Irish Pub. I chance my arm, but my Brummie accent ruins any chance of being mistaken as a regular.

Tribute it is. The only cask on offer and even then, the pump hidden around the corner away from the keg. Almost as if they are apologising for serving cask.

Decent TBF - Especially for 11:45am on a Monday

A real Good Beer Guide oddity. The guide adds scant info on its inclusion - noting that an occasional second pump sometimes serves Banks Wainwright.

And the locals? On Carling to a man.

Onwards, though a couple of pretty parks (Valentines and Clayhill) before more urban grittiness under the M11.

Flyovers - but at least the paths are signposted now

The destination - Roding Valley Tube Station. Only the most Londoner of Londoners knows which line this is on. A weird loop of the Central Line. 

I'll pick this route back up from Woodford.

Walk Information

Distance - 13 Miles

Start - Woolwich

Finish - Roding Valley Tube

Areas Walked - Barking, Ilford, Woodford

Geocaches - 4

Pubs - 1

Previous Walks - Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4, Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 7, Stage 8, Stage 9, Stage 10, Stage 11, Stage 12, Stage 13, Stage 14, Stage 15, Stage 16