2/7/11 - Redditch: Not totally crap shocker

Miles - 5
Caches - 6
Walk Inspiration - Discovery Walks in Worcs - Walk 15

Redditch

Before I start an Internet war of words with Redditcions, my thoughts of this town are shared by the viewers of Channel 4's the Word, who voted it "Most Boring Town in Britain".  I have never been a fan of its endless roundabouts and ringroads that do its best to save you the effort of entering a town that apparently has two pound shops.  Let me clear that up not an upper class £2 shop but 2 x £1 shops.  The swimming pool is heated by the burning of dead bodies.  And coming from Stourport, I am uniquely qualified to spot crap towns.

However, my thoughts could be changed by this beautiful walk and the discovery of some real history.

Drop Ellie off at work at 8am.  It's 1940's weekend on the SVR, so she has to be early again.  The enthusiasts are already outside queuing up in their WW2 clothes and taking photos of the old vehicles.

I drive on to Redditch and park up at a Needle Museum and Forge.  I can see where I will be walking and its pleasantly green looking and the museum demonstrates some unexpected culture and history to the place.

Get Molly out the car and she runs off to leave a deposit.  I am cleaning this up when I see my first fellow humans of the day.

Four lads are stripped the waist, showing tattoos, abs and pecks - looking like members of the rock bank Blink 182 - but out on a visit to a needle museum.  And get this Sonia - They are drinking cans of Heineken. 

Is 8:26am.  Never call me an alcholic again.  I am an amateur in comparison to the good people of Redditch.

I engage in conversation with them, trying to match their coolness.  This proves tricky with a Tesco bag full of dog poo but not impossible, as the photos of todays apparel will testify.  They seem pleasant enough... conversation goes along the lines of

Them - "How you doing mate?"
Me - "Fine Thanks - Nice day..."
Them - "Yeah - out for a walk then?"
Me - "Yeah and a bit of geocaching"
Them - "Oh what's that then?"
Me - "A high tech treasure hunt where we use a GPS to find boxes - Fancy helping me?"

They were a little too far away for me to hear their last reply. 

On with the walk.  This follows the River Arrow down through meadows and under some of those infernal Ring Roads. 

River Arrow - Under the Ring Road

There is a cache trail of mainly 35mm caches.  The hunt for first one I look for is abandoned due to the amount of dog poo bags abandoned at GZ.  Don't get me started on this.  Next one is a wade through waist high nettles.  The vista opens out for a surprising amount of greenery on the way to Arrow Valley Lake.

Not all Ring Roads and Pound Shops.

This leads me to Arrow Valley lake.  This is lovely, with three paths circumventing it - 1) by the Arrow 2) A broad track for runners and 3) one by the lake.  It is stunning and I do learn that although the dog loves swimming, she is no Tom Daley, as she won't launch herself of the various access ramps for fisherman.

Too scary for a doodle to jump off

Not to worry, I engage in a conversation with a older fella who tells me there is a ramp by the Boating Club - which you can see in the distance behind me in the above photo.

She Loves It.

Don't believe they are bird brained - they know where the food is.

I am now retracing my steps but going slightly north of where I started, near Papermill Farm and then discovering the unexpected history of the place.  The map shows there is the remains of an Abbey in the area and sure enough, I soon find it.  I love it when I find Cisterian ruins - this one was built in 1138 and destroyed when Henry VIII wanted a divorce.  I'd settle for the Sky Plus box and the beer fridge.  I've found similar ruins by the Audi Garage at Halesowen and in Sandwell Country Park.

They needed the material for the Kingfisher Centre

There is the first non 35mm cache here and I drop off a TB that is trying to get to Christchurch, New Zealand.  Well, its close to a church.

Final Climb up the hill for an information board, some sweeping views of the valley I have just walked and a clever cache full of earwigs.

That's where I walked.

Drop down into the next bit of history as I walk through the ruins of St Stephens Chapel.  They is little here but the ground works and the tomb stones.  I cannot believe the age of them - and easily the winner of oldest that I have observed.

 

I don't think too many people share my sense of awe at things like this.  This is a testament to John G of Redditch Old town who died nearly 400 years ago.  Incredible.

Answers on the comments to these questions...

Who was on the Throne (ignore my previous blog) when John G died?
What did we do to him (that perhaps we should do to most of them, but not Kate, she's lovely)?

A surprising end to a pleasant walk that is an opinion changer.  Head to the cafe at the museum but they don't have sausage sandwiches - only tea.  Molly keeps a close eye on the lady in the cafe and then refuses to get in the car, as something is missing from her day.  She's not bird brained either.