BAGINTON WALKERS
2020/2021 Walks
December 2021 Walk
Concluding our 2021 programme, our December ramble took us on pleasant paths and country lanes, linking the interesting villages of Hunningham, Eathorpe (decorated for Christmas) and Wappenbury, never far from the surprisingly full River Leam. Our “year” in fact only commenced in May, when groups like our own were permitted to get together again. Our other walks have started from the varying locations of Binley Woods, Braunston, Leamington, Wellesbourne, Bubbenhall (the most local) and Ufton. The September walk was unfortunately cancelled due to heavy rain – a rare occurrence, we are fairly hardy.
November 2021 Walk
In November, we were treated to an exploration of some of the scenic area around Ufton encompassing woodland, open countryside (in part sadly scarred by HS2 intrusion) and a canal-side walk and coffee stop. We returned to the White Hart to enjoy the expansive view from its grounds and a delicious lunch.
October 2021 Walk
This walk introduced many of us to some hidden delights of the area around Bubbenhall including a field of beautifully clipped lavender, a nature reserve and the country retreat of a wealthy footballer! Following our enjoyable exercise we retreated to The Baginton Oak for a well- deserved lunch.
August 2021 Walk
On Tuesday 10th August we met at The Kings Head, Warwick Rd Wellesbourne, CV35 9LX
July 2021 Walk
On Tuesday 13th July we met at the Newbold Comyn Arms , Newbold Terrace, Leamington Spa CV32 4EU
June 2021 Walk
June’s walk started from The Admiral Nelson, a canal side pub in Braunston, on a lovely sunny day. Having crossed the canal bridge we walked up a steepish path taking us over the canal and the disused track of the old LNWR Weedon to Leamington Spa railway line. This was closed to passenger traffic in 1958, removed in 1963 and is now home to a herd of black cattle. Continuing up the lane we passed Home Farm; luckily the cows in the field were completely unconcerned by our walking by!
Crossing the A45 at the top of the hill we walked down along the edge of a wood which gave some much welcomed shade, although the nettles were not kind to those of our group who were wearing shorts! Uphill again, we passed Berryfields Farms and then took a right turn to take us downhill to Miry Bridge over the River Leam. Although at this point it is little more than a drainage ditch rather than the river we are more used to seeing. Another right turn took us uphill following the Leam past fields of blue linseed flowers. At the top we passed quite swiftly under a rather dilapidated bridge of the old Weedon to Leamington railway line once again.
It was then on to the deserted medieval village of Wolfhamcote, which now consists of only St. Peter’s Church, the Old Rectory and Wolfhamcote Hall. Further along we passed through the medieval village of Braunstonbury, which could only been seen by the undulations in the fields on either side. We soon reached the canal tow path and had a pleasant walk past Braunston Marina and so returned to The Admiral Nelson for a very tasty lunch on the canalside in the sunshine.
May 2021 Walk
After a very long break without our walks due to Covid restrictions, 11 folk met up again in May to resume our monthly village walks. Apart from the pleasure of catching up with old friends, we were all very grateful to this month’s leader, Chris Goodwin, who treated us to the amazing display of bluebells carpeting Willenhall and Binley Woods, a great amenity on our doorstep. A most enjoyable morning reunion celebrated with lunch at The Baginton Oak.
March 2020 Walk
This month’s village walk led by Chris Goodwin started at The Bear in Berkswell where we had booked lunch. The lady who took the booking was fabulous and I explained that there would be dogs with us and was told that this wouldn’t be a problem.
However on the day Mr Grumpy was in charge and when Gayle handed in our menu choices he started questioning who had taken the booking, why they had taken it, where he was going to put us etc, etc. We got the feeling that lunch wasn’t going to be an option – or a good experience. Luckily, when we returned to partake, we ended up being served by the fabulous lady and not Mr Grumpy, who was literally left holding the baby!
Not surprisingly, given the recent weather conditions, the walk was very, very muddy in parts and was spoilt by HS2 works. In 2017, Berkswell had a new high-pressure gas main installed causing chaos and HS2 is now going to cross this new main at a wrong angle so a whole new gas main has to be replaced – fences- digging – drilling and ruining the landscape even further.
Luckily there were sections of hard path and once away from the building works we hit a ridge where the view across Birmingham showed a peak of Lickey Hills and some great childhood memories for Chris. We even passed one lady walking her dog in a rather different manner – driving down a country lane whilst her dog ran behind the car!
Berkswell is a wealthy village and when passing a quite ordinary house towards the end of the walk, we passed a McLaren sports car in a lean-to that had on the number plate “Lamborghini’s and Ferrari’s were just quarter-pounders whereas the McLaren is a Big Mac!”
THE GOOD - The view of the Lickey Hills and company of our walkers
THE BAD - Mr Grumpy at The Bear
THE UGLY - HS2 and the devastation of the countryside
February 2020 Walk
Deciding on a route for our February walk was greatly influenced by recent very muddy experiences and we hoped that a canal and urban option would fit the bill. So 11 of us met at The Greyhound Inn, Hawkesbury Junction, and set off over the bridge near the lock at the junction of the Oxford Canal and the Coventry Canal to follow its towpath.Here we admired the railing at Bridge 10 which displayed an excellent ironwork collage of a large swan in flight accompanied by a fish and 2 kingfishers (the only sign of wildlife). In spite of earlier wind and rain and some littering of small branches the towpath was reasonable as we continued, leaving at the ramp by Bridge 9 to join the Sowe Valley Way. This led to a more challenging patch of rather waterlogged ground and we had to pick our way through the boggy patches to cross a small bridge over a stream and make our way to arrive at the busy Longford Road.
Here we crossed into the oasis of Longford Park, no bog, puddles or other challenges and a tarmacked surface which bridged the rather muddy and fast flowing River Sowe.We resisted the temptations of the benches and the children’s playground as we walked through the park and into a new housing estate to encounter signage named after birds like the avocet, grebe and sandpiper, none of which we witnessed on our way!
We soon joined a path leading to the huge pool at Wyken Slough Nature reserve where we paused on the bridge to watch the swans and other waterfowl, disappointed by our lack of treats. Once across a rather boggy area we rested at a convenient bench to finish our refreshments and then continued on to join a lane which ran alongside pastures and then below the busy M6. Having walked this area some time ago before the motorway sound barriers were installed it was noticeably quieter this time.
We left the peace and quiet of the reserve as we walked under the motorway,along Alderman’s Green Road, over Tusses Bridge and down a narrow cut to reach the Oxford Canal. We followed this back through quiet countryside and past numerous colourful moored narrowboats to Hawkesbury Junction and a tasty lunch at The Greyhound Inn.
January 2020 Walk
The leader had himself been led on a horrendously muddy ramble as part of another group the previous week. He was therefore determined on this day to follow a route as mud free as possible in this very wet winter. Avoiding mud completely proved impossible. Parking in Crackley Lane, our walk took us through the woods and via Hollis Lane and Malthouse Lane to the Kenilworth Castle and Abbey Fields area, where we stopped briefly for elevenses. Even the grass there was extremely soggy. Rain threatened, so we resumed our walk promptly. We first ducked under the road bridge and then followed the path beside the swollen Finham Brook, before joining the track of the old Kenilworth to Berkswell railway back to Crackley Woods.
An incident of note was finding a newly fallen ivy covered tree completely blocking our way at one point. Some of our number eventually found a way round, but the hardiest of us crawled through and under the branches and greenery on all fours. We noted a lot of new houses being built in the Common Lane area but most of this five mile route holds plenty of interest – and is largely on hard surfaces! Wholesome meals were enjoyed at The Oak, with plenty of friendly banter. This included reminiscences of past misdemeanours in our younger days and memories of The Oak in previous guises.
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