Lictam two

Verified Slow Way

Verified by 100.00% of reviewers

This route starts well along quiet roads and pleasant wide paths between the housing of expanding Lichfield all using the Heart of England Way. Planners of that named route were forced onto the busy A51 Tamworth Road to share a bridge over the even busier A38.

Our escape onto field paths is welcome but the crossing point here is close to the brow of the hill reducing visibility of oncoming traffic so perhaps cross as soon as a pavement appears on the opposite side.

This bridleway is easy pleasant walking on light sandy ground, the crossing of the HS2 route is kept open but well fenced with a sentry box at the gated actual crossing point. The work site is quiet on this Saturday, preparation work has been ongoing for some time but as yet little sign of actual construction.

We leave the diamond route and take Knox's Grave Lane, no sign of the grave only a large hole in the ground where sand has been extracted before we return to a pavement walk alongside the A51.

There are pubs galore in Hopwas but no shops were spotted. (Advert - from Hopwas for an off road route into Tamworth see Alrtam-4 https://beta.slowways.org/Route/Alrtam/9653 ). The road side pavement walk was certainly made much easier by the company, alone it would have been a drag.

A good direct route, with interesting views. The road walking at the Tamworth end is a little monotonous and there are a couple of road crossings that need patience, but those are the only things that rob it of a fifth star.

Ken and I walked this from Lichfield to Tamworth (after walking from Burntwood) on an overcast but mild winter Saturday. The route is fairly easy to follow, Leaving Lichfield City station we head north up Station Road to pick up the Heart of England way, which we follow over the railway bridge and through housing estates and paved paths to reach Tamworth Road. The Heart of England way has helpful signs embedded in the pavement (something I have previously seen on the Welsh coast path) which are useful when following the route through the houses. The route follows the pavement along Tamworth Road, but we cut out a short section of that to explore the Lichfield canal towpath (a restoration project is underway).

After a rather noisy walk along the pavement we cross (with care) and head right following the Heart of England Way along a very straight path which crosses fields, little hills, the HS2 site and Jerry's Lane before we turn left along the charming tree-lined Knox's Grave Lane, which passes between a pig farm and a quarry to emerge back on the A51. The pavement on the south side soon crosses thr road, and from here the walk into Tamworth is simply following the main road, passing three pubs in and around Hopwas, crossing the canal and the river Tame and heading towards the tower blocks, which take a long time to get closer. Eventually the main road heads right across the river at a roundabout where we go straight on along Lichfield Street and Church Street then right down Colehill to the meeting point on George Street (we then continued along George Street and Market Street past the castle to the excellent Old Bank House pub on Silver Street, and in retrospect this might have been a more interesting choice for the final part of the route).

Direct, mostly offroad, very easy to navigate and safe. This route uses the scenic Heart of England Way to deliver you to Knox's Grave Lane which then takes you over the hill to the pavement of the Lichfield Road. A descent through the village of Hopwas crosses the Coventry Canal and then more spectacularly the River Tame. The road follows the north bank of the river into the centre of the town after which it is named: Tamworth.

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