No Access
Considering I have never read any of her books, it seems strange that this is the second George Eliot themed walk I have completed. With Middlemarch coming in as the second-best book of all time - as voted by Guardian readers over the weekend - maybe this is something to be addressed.
Previously, I've traipsed around South London looking out for where she lived. Today, it's Nuneaton, her birthplace. Apart from being the most populated town in Warwickshire, they don't appear to have much else to shout about. The hospital and a pub named after her. The pub possibly responsible for putting people in the hospital. Strangely open - but with pumping music, so it cannot be a 'spoons - at 10am on a Tuesday.
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| Random St George's flags replacing a flat roof (with dog on) as a warning sign |
The route is from a 1951 guide book. The maps, and associated descriptions, have always presented a challenge to decipher. The theme is where George (Mary Ann Evans) was raised and some of the real locations that became fictional places in her works.
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| The lass herself |
She was born at South Farm on the Arbury Estate - which in the 1950s was open to the public. The map cuts through this estate and even discusses an obelisk next to the farm in celebration. Public access is no longer available, so I have to adapt the route significantly. I do manage to track down the aforementioned obelisk, moved to the one nice part of town, the riverside park.
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| Previously next to South Farm |
Griff House was her childhood home. I would have visited this too, but the public footpaths I need take me away from what is now a Beefeater/Premier Inn. Progress, hey.
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| Closest I get to Arbury Park - inspiration for Cheverel Manor in "Scenes from a Clerical Life" |
My (replanned) route takes me around the northern side of the estate. "Private" signs are in abundance in case I get any ideas. Dull road walking along Astley Road to a proper, ruined castle with connections to Henry VIII.
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| A first glimpse across a pool |
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| Up close - maybe too close, as you will find out. |
Astley Castle, near Nuneaton in Warwickshire, was originally a 13th-century fortified manor house and later the seat of the Grey family. It is closely linked to Lady Jane Grey, the “Nine Days’ Queen”, who was the great-niece of Henry VIII through his sister Mary Tudor. Following Jane Grey’s failed claim to the throne in 1553 and her subsequent execution, the Grey family’s influence declined and the estate eventually passed out of their hands. The castle also has a literary link to George Eliot: it is generally identified as the inspiration for Knebley Abbey in George Eliot’s novella Mr Gilfil's Love Story, part of Scenes of Clerical Life.
There are plentiful information boards, direction arrows and even a sign saying "please respect the residents' privacy". Which leads me to think I can investigate the ruins in a little bit more detail. I get as far as identifying that a modern conversion is housed inside the ruins and it doesn't take long before I am hollered at as to what I am doing. The cleaners are in. This is now a holiday let owned by the Landmark Trust.
And can't cleaners shout when they spy middle-aged ramblers approaching their patch.
I apologise and try to explain the misleading signage that suggests it's open for public access. I am still not entirely sure it isn't.
I beat a hasty retreat to the church next door, having done my research into alabaster effigies and medieval misericord paintings of the apostles.
It's "doors locked".
Back to the walking. The guidebook wants me to head south to Corley and ultimately Allesley. There is little in the way of interest and a lot of it is lane walking. This might have been pleasant in the fifties but a look on Google Maps shows no verge and a lot of traffic.
I can escape North-West, through a damp wheat field with a narrow path (hello wet trousers and socks) and a golf course.
A revisit to a quite bonkers nautically themed pub - the Lord Nelson - which is almost as far as you can get from the sea in England.
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| Gah! I had just dried out |
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| Bass in the Lord Nelson - Good Beer Guide Regular |
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| "Get it at sea, take a ship / I'd christen her 'Victory', she'd make it." |
Walk Details
Distance - 8.25 miles
Geocaches - 8
Walk Inspiration - Fifty Weekend Walks Round Birmingham - Walk 5
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