This walk on Sat 12 Mar was led by Angus and Tracey Mills and started from the Church End Brewery, Ridge Lane, CV10 0RD (Google Maps)
This is a 10 mile circular route through beautiful, undulating Warwickshire farmland. It begins in Ridge Lane and follows The Centenary Way (devised to celebrate one hundred years of Warwickshire County Council) to Over Whitacre, then heads East towards Old Arley before returning to Ridge Lane in a northerly direction via a collection of farms and through rolling countryside.
A map of the route and a link to a GPX file follow below the photos and the route description.
Route Description: head up the brewery drive to the road and turn right walking a short distance to a five bar metal gate on the right; pass through this gate and head down the tarmac drive towards the sewage works skirting around the fence and along a footpath to pick up The Centenary Way. The next 4 miles or so of the walk follows The Centenary Way through Warwickshire farmland, generally, staying high following the contours with lovely views of the surrounding countryside; signage on this section of the route is generally good with a couple exceptions.
A field near Holt Hall Farm being the first of these; at Holt Hall Farm the path continues on a slight diagonal left (downhill away from the building) across an open field to a concealed gap in the hedge. Upon passing through the hedge gap continue ahead staying high. Upon reaching a tarmac drive into Hall Farm signage is plain wrong and misleading; at this point (contrary to signage which leads straight ahead towards a lake) the route continues right away from the farm buildings along the farm drive to a minor road (Sandy Lane). Turn left here heading along Sandy Lane to Nuneaton Road turning left again to St Leonards Church. Walk through the churchyard exiting at the rear and, ignoring the more obvious walked trail, head diagonally right (towards Nuneaton Road) to a hedge gap.
Pass through the hedge gap and follow the path ahead reaching Nuneaton Road. Cross the road and walk a few metres to the left to a footpath on the right. The path heads diagonally across a field heading towards two trees at the opposite side of the field. Pass through the gate alongside the rightmost of the two trees. Arley Wood is visible in the distance – aim for the rightmost edge of the wood doing so by following the path ahead and ignoring a footpath on the right about halfway to the wood. Along the way the path passes two banks of solar panels into an open field with no obvious path; the exit of the field is in the rightmost corner near a bungalow; a metal gate leads to a minor road (Wood Lane).
Turn left and walk along Wood Lane keeping Arley Wood on the right. After about 1km the road bends sharply to the left; the route turns right at this point passing through Ballards Green Farm and Henwood Farm; there is no signage here and the route appears highly unlikely feeling more like a private road passing through a collection of old lorries, cars, wood and other hoarded items. Continue straight passing buildings to the left and right and into a field (the entrance to which appears to be blocked by some vehicles). Follow signage from here to a metal gate at the edge of the wood and continue ahead keeping the wood on the right.
There are options at this point, the easiest of which is to continue along the path to the far edge of the wood where the path to the left is clearly marked. Turn left away from the wood towards the ford at Ansley Mill. Do not cross the ford; instead take a minor path on the right continuing straight towards a junction of multiple footpaths which is in the middle of an open field. At this point it is easiest to stay South of the junction heading instead towards two marker posts; upon arriving at the posts a footbridge is clearly visible on the right.
Continue ahead in the direction of Church End to a gate that passes through a hedge; St Lawrence Church comes into view. Upon passing through the hedge immediately turn left walking North towards Nuneaton Road, crossing the road and continuing ahead through Rye Hills Farm to Birchley Heath Road. Turn left following the road for about 1km where the road turns sharply to the left; leave the road at this point continuing straight ahead along a track towards Ansley Lodge; just before reaching the lodge the path leaves the track on the left continuing in the same direction. After passing through two gates the route re-joins the Centenary Way. Head right at this point retracing the route past the sewage works to the brewery.
Click the Learn more button above to open the map in Outdooractive from where you can download the route to the free Outdooractive app for Android or iOS, or export the route to a GPX file for use in other apps. For more about using Outdooractive, and a list of all our routes with GPS files, see: GPS Routes. A GPX file for this route can also be downloaded from here and a GPX track of our walk on 12 Mar can be downloaded from here.
