I have, as regular readers will know, walked to The Griffin and had my good lady retrieve me and drive me home.
The no frills route Goes through Water Orton, Coleshill Parkway, Whitacre Heath, Colin Teal Wood and along between the railway and Shustoke Reservoir. A total of 7.1 miles (give or take).
It has been nearly three months since I last did this walk and I had seen some drone footage of a new road being built in Water Orton courtesy of HS2.
I left the house at around ten past four having arranged to meet up at half six, giving me just under two and a half hours. At my current cruising speed of around three miles per hour would be about right.
The first part went as expected, crossing over the M6 and the M6/M42 link road but as I approached Water Orton along Attleboro Lane I came across a number of ROAD CLOSED signs and there on my left a spanking new road which I knew would connect back to the original road.
On any walk out to Coleshill Parkway, I have a number of milestones in my head. For example, one mile will take me to Ed’s House (Ed used to teach my son drums) whilst I would be at the end of Gypsy Lane after two miles and just turning onto Station Road after three.
The new road finally rejoined it’s former course (without passing Ed’s house) at what is now a T junction.
I wasn’t sure how much extra the new road had added but I could work it out when I got to milestone two.
As well as that new road, a new strip of tarmac had been laid just outside of the playing fields creating a new path.
At the end of Gypsy was, I discovered that the new road had added an extra 0.2 miles of three hundred and fifty yards (300m).
Post walk, I was able to calculate where my new milestones would be …
| Miles | Old Milestone | New Milestone |
| 1 | Ed’s House | Just past start of New road |
| 2 | End of Gypsy Lane | End of Vicarage Lane |
| 3 | Horsey Lane / Station Road | End of cycle/walk way |
| 4 | Old Level Crossing (Hams Hall) | End of riverside walk |
My right knee started to ache but didn’t get any worse. I did notice inclines / decline were easier and less painful.
The weather was warmer than of late with a clear sky resulting in plenty of sunshine.
Luckily, I was able to find shelter to keep me cooler as I made my way past Hams Hall and through Whitacre Heath.
As I approached the railway after Colin Teal wood, I believe that I caught a glimpse of the steam hauled Shakespeare Express making its way back to Derby. It sounded like a steam train and the smoke didn’t fit a diesel.
As I approached the seven mile mark, I was stolling along a feeder stream for the reservoir and was treated to a lovely spring view with plenty of new growth on the trees and a carpet of bluebells.
The final half mile is uphill, through a field (with a well marked path) and into The Griffin’s car park. In all the years that I have been using this path I have never seen anyone else doing so – today I saw four !
Once on the car park tarmac, I stopped my watch noticing that I had covered 7.43 miles (used to be 7.1) in 2:05 an average pace of 16:54 per mile (used to be …. a lot quicker). The legs were fine as I entered and ordered a pint of … water and then an orange juice and lemonade. I’d hit the hard stuff once Sue arrived.