It’s Friday again so I take the opportunity to get some use from my Bus Pass.
Getting to Lichfield usually starts with a walk, literally, to the bottom of my road and jumping on the 96 which arrives just after the 9:30 watershed. However, today, partly to get a short walk in and partly to buy provisions, I walked to the local shops, a little over half a mile away.
With a few goodies purchased, I walked to the nearest bus stop and awaited the same bus that I would have caught.
At Erdington, I swapped busses picking the X13 to Lichfield which reached the bus station around 11:00.
After a quickie Side Tracked cache at the adjacent train station, I started the Strava app on my phone and set off for a few more caches.
I had almost completed an Adventure Lab (AdLab) series here a while back but the final location was about distance from the rest, so I left it – until today.
On the way to this final location, I picked up another traditional cache (where you have to find a physical container and sign the log within). A short climb to the feature known locally as the Gazebo Brough me to the final location and that series was complete.
Another short walk, brought me to Darnell Park which was constructed as an open space for a new housing estate nearby.
This was home to another AdLAb series with five locations disperses throughout the park.
The first section was along the remains of the Lichfield Canal which was abandoned but is in ht process of being (slowly) rebuilt.
Restoration plans were first voiced in 1975, and since 1990, the Lichfield & Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust have been actively engaged in excavating and rebuilding sections of the canal as they have become available. Major projects have included isolated viaduct over theM6 Toll motorway, ready for when the canal reaches it.
The penultimate location was a purpose build dog agility area aptly named the Bark Park. Like playgrounds build for kid this had a number of items that dogs (and their owner) should enjoy.
After the pooch playground, I had to go to the far end of the park for the final part of the AdLab.
With the caches under my belt, I needed to trek back to where I had entered the park, to catch another bus, this time to Tamworth.
As I exited the park and reached the bus stop, I spied an X66 waiting at traffic lights. Boarding the bus, a young lad spotted my Bandit tee shirt (Bluey’s Dad) and we agreed that Bandit was the best – much better than that Peppa Pig !
Approaching the outskirts of Tamworth, we passed a massive free range pig farm and my Bandit fan buddy remarks on the piggies to his Dad. I was expecting something connected with the aforementioned Peppa but no – “Look Daddy”, she said, “Bacon!”
Arriving in Tamworth, I tried to work out when I could get home by. If my Travelline app was correct, I could get to where my wife and daughter would be having lunch before they had finished munching.
However, that wasn’t to be as my next connection, 76 to Coleshill, was nowhere near where the timetables said that it should be so I had to formulate a plan B – 110 to Sutton, 71 to Castle Bromwich, 94 or 96 home.
Again, the busses let me down with the 71 some twenty minutes late so I ended up walking the last section instead of waiting for the final link.
Passing the chip shop, near to where I had started my journey, this morning, I treated myself to a mini fish and chips which I consumed on the final leg of the final walk.
Walk-wise, I had walked 5.74 miles in four distinct chunks.
The knees were complaining but not too badly.
In the evening, I took a soak in a hot , hot-tub before enjoying a fairly restful nights sleep.
