21/04/26 - West Midlands Way - Stage 12 - Kingsbury to Meriden

I Finished Something!

The West Midlands Way - a fifty year old book, charting a route around the West Midlands - comes to an end.

Due to strange logistics, I have been forced to amend the second half of the route - for the life of me, I cannot understand why Ron and Eric, the route planners, missed out Lichfield and Tamworth. Fine towns but more importantly, public transport hubs.

It was Tamworth that I found myself finishing Stage 11 at. No matter how I planned it, I couldn't find decent paths to get to Kingsbury but there is a handy bus.

I've walked this part of the world extensively on the Heart of England Way and the Centenary Way. I have previously pronounced Warwickshire the country's most boring walking county. 

Two out of three ain't bad

Nothing today has prompted me to change my mind. Kingsbury Water Park offers occasional glimpses of bodies of water through the woodland. Shustoke Reservoir is hardly observed from the footpaths that circumvent it. There are endless agricultural fields - devoid of livestock and crops (at this time of year). One pub - The Swan at Whitacre Heath - so "chainy" that it wasn't worth stopping at.

The only chance to see Shustoke Reservoir

Distant views of Birmingham from a field in Warwickshire

The only item of interest on the map is Maxstoke Priory and this is a disappointment. The church is locked up and the remains of the priory - a couple of walls in a poor state of repair - are hidden from view on private land.

Maxstoke Church

Ideally, I would have liked to end things here. There are two miles of road walking to get back to Meriden. A bus would be handy but it only runs on a Wednesday - and then at 10am! Google Maps was checked for likely traffic and/or grass verges. It was safe enough to walk but I needed the Deserter Podcast to keep my spirits up.

Into Meriden - and despite the green, a memorial to the centre of England and a monument to British Cycling, there is no pub at hand. The Bull's Head another quarter of a mile on from the bus stop.

The Actual Centre of England is at Fenny Drayton

An underwhelming end to an interesting experience which started so well.

Walk Details

Distance - 12 Miles

Geocaches - 4

Previous Stages - Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4, Stage 5, Stage 6 (Part 1), Stage 6 (Part 2), Stage 7, Stage 8, Stage 9, Stage 10, Stage 11