Heart of England Way

The Heart of England Way runs for 102 miles through the English midlands, from the northern edge of Cannock Chase in Staffordshire, through Warwickshire and a corner of Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, to Bourton-in-the-Water in the Cotswolds (Gloucestershire). Given that its middle section passes right between Birmingham and Coventry, it does not perhaps sound like the most attractive of routes. However it came highly recommended by our daughter and son-in-law, Helen and Tom, and we would support their evaluation! The walking was varied and for the vast majority of the walk you could be in the middle of nowhere; indeed I don't recall walking through anything bigger than pretty "black and white" towns, though we crossed major roads from time to time and there were some good views to the Birmingham conurbation.

We started the walk over a long weekend in early August 2017 (when we were based at the Rugeley Premier Inn) and completed it in a single holiday of just over a week in late August and early September. Unusually for a holiday of this length, we took both cars and stayed at just three hotels (the Balsall Common Premier Inn, Arrow Mill near Alcester and the Manor House Hotel in Moreton-on-Marsh). This led to quite a lot of driving, so it is not an approach that I would necessarily advocate. However it gave us added flexibility and meant that we didn't have to overstretch ourselves in order to get to the next B&B, or to have days when we completed the walk too early in the day. It also meant that we were able to combine the walk with visits to National Trust properties and meals in good restaurants - and we didn't need to carry all our stuff!

The weather was, appropriately for the Heart of England Way, very English! Rain threatened on most days, but we only got really wet on two of them and the fact that it had been rather a damp summer meant that the countryside was greener than is sometimes the case in August and September; this truly was a walk through England's "green and pleasant land". As is so often is the case, we were somewhat embarrassed that so little of the countryside through which we walked was familiar to us.

On this occasion we were able to borrow the 1:25000 Ordnance Survey maps we needed (in order, Explorer sheets 244, 232, 221, 220, 205 and OL45) from Helen and Tom, but in addition we bought the guidebook "The Heart of England Way" by Stephen Cross. This includes both the route, described in short legs, and circular return routes for each leg. We didn't need these on this occasion because we didn't need to get back to our starting points, but they could be very useful on occasions. Do note though that some of the guidebook's start/end points are in the middle of nowhere, with no parking. The route is signposted with signs bearing a tree and Heart of England Way Association has its own website, which describes both the Heart of England Way and the much shorter Arden Way.

The path coincides with the Arden Way near Henley-in-Arden and we also found ourselves on our old friend the Monarch's Way from time to time. At the southern end, the path meets the start of the Cotswold Way (which we walked last year). In addition (and now working from north to south), the path coincides or crosses the Two Saints Way, the Staffordshire Way, the (Warwickshire) Centenary Way, a Coventry Way, the Grand Union Canal Walk, the Diamond Way, the Macmillan Way, the Gloucestershire Way, the Oxfordshire Way, and the Wardens' Way, thus opening up lots of possibilities for future adventures.

For a larger selection of our photographs from the Heart of England Way, click here.

For the detailed description of the first leg, click here.