I had planned on walking to the railway station after work and catching a train to Sutton Coldfield. This would give me a combined distance of around nine miles.
However, checking The Plan, revealed that I only needed eight miles for the day and I’d already clocked up three and a half.
I fired up my route planner (plot-a-route (LINK)) and devised a route. Instead of the train, I would catch a bus from work to the outskirts of Chelmsley Wood then walk via Coleshill to home.
However, looking at the map, I realised that when I was in Coleshill I would only be a couple of miles from The Griffin so I changed the end point. A call to the other half resulted in a promise to meet me at the pub. Game on !
Leaving work, I walked to the nearest bus stop and about five minutes later a 97 arrived. The bus was busy but not packed. A took a seat upstairs and just listened to the radio as we slowly made our way along Bordesley Green and out to Chelmsley Wood.
Around forty five minutes later, I alighted from the omnibus and after donning wooly hat and gloves (it was quite chilly out) started walking towards Coleshill.
Just over a mile later, I entered the town of Coleshill passing my old school.
Half way along the high street (Coventry Road) I turned onto Maxstoke Lane, put on my head-torch and made my way through the churchyard, passing St. Peter and St. Paul church, to emerge onto Blythe Road.
Blythe Road runs from Coleshill to The Griffin but it has a narrow footpath and plenty of traffic so it’s not the best road for walking along.
I put up with it for a little over a half mile until I reached Blyth (no E) Bridge from where I took a little used footpath through what is usually a bit of a swamp but thanks to the cold weather was a bit crisper than usual so I avoided wet feet.
Once through that bit I was in a big field. The footpath cuts across this field but there was no sign of said path on the ground so I made an educated guess as to where I should head aiming slightly to the left so that I could follow the boundary to a gap where I knew the footpath went.
After another half a mile, I was back on tarmac in Shustoke. I followed the unusually named Hollyland before turning right onto Moat House Lane.
Part way down the lane, I saw two lights coming towards me. It was obviously not a car and as we converged, I discovered that I wasn’t the only person, with a torch, out walking. Without seeing each other’s faces we exchanged good evenings and carried on.
I passed the smelly farm then climbed up to where the Heart of England Way crosses the road. Last time I walked along here I continued on the road but tonight I chanced going off-road.
I thought that I could remember where the path went (again not distinct on the ground) but ended up taking a rather circuitous route as shown on the map. I should have taken the green line instead of the squiggle that I did manage.
Not a major problem and once I’d regained my bearings was soon walking through the door of the boozer.
As is often the case, I forgot to stop my watch (Garmin this time instead of the usual Apple Watch) until I’d ordered my pint so my average pace was not as good as it should have been.
An acquaintance arrived a little later, decked out in running gear. He’d run from Coleshill so I wasn’t the only nutter out there (sorry Tarquin).
Daily total 9.36 bringing the weekly total to 13.3 miles.