Hockley Heath

This amble was led by Denis Pratt from the Railway Inn, Grange Road, Dorridge, Solihull B93 8QA. The route includes woods, urban, field and canal walking.

A loop of 9 miles / 14.4km from Tanworth-in-Arden through local countryside from The Bell, The Green, Tanworth-in-Arden and led on 30 Jul 2023 by Evan Grant. Landmarks include the Umberslade Gate Pillars, the Umberslade Obelisk, the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Lapworth and a mock windmill also in Lapworth. Many of the paths were overgrown when we walked this route and there were also many awkward and poorly maintained stiles.

There is limited parking behind the pub, but please park out on the street if possible. 

A gentle 4 1/2 mile walk along footpaths and the towpath of the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal, this circuit includes a visit to the Umberslade Obelisk erected in 1749 for the first Lord Archer. You've seen it many times from the M40; now's the chance to get up close and personal!

Walk Description: this walk is approximately 8.5 miles, the elevation varies by some 25 metres with no steep gradients. The walk starts at the Barn Motel on the A3400 (B94 6NX) where there is free car parking.

The walk starts by crossing the A3400 and proceeding down a waymarked track directly opposite the Barn. The track leads to a kissing gate from which a footpath runs through a band of trees, this path bends right into an open field. After some 250 yards turn right down a waymarked footpath which goes across five cultivated fields for about 1/2 mile to a stile in a hedge. Turn half left and proceed diagonally across a meadow to a road. At the road turn left and after 50 yards turn right up a waymarked track, at the end of the track turn left and skirt round three sides of a field keeping the hedge on your left until you see a stile in the hedge on your left. Cross the stile and proceed to a drive past houses to a road.