Solken one

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I walked this route yesterday travelling southeast from Solihull. A really good walk that gets four stars from me. There are sections of pavement and in some places road walking which requires a bit of care, so definitely not five stars, and for me what saves it from dropping any further than four is the amount of interest on the walk.

I chose this over Solken two as I didn't fancy walking alongside the HS2 construction work, and i'm glad I did. I didn't find any changes in elevation to worry about, and the other route would miss out on Knowle, Temple Balsall and The Pleasance - all with their points of interest.

You leave the urban centre of Solihull behind quite quickly through Malvern Park, and then some pleasant alleyways (photo 1) to Brueton Park. Here the path runs adjacent to the river Blythe and where the muddiest section of the walk is. It was passable when I walked it, but I could imagine in winter or after long spells of rain it would get really muddy.

The path takes you to the footbridge over the M42 (photo 4) and then through a couple of fields before you reach the outskirts of Knowle and some pavement walking. The charming and relatively small centre of Knowle offers a surprisingly large choice of refreshments. I opted for a couple of decent pints of mild at the Ale House on the High Street.

Leaving Knowle you pass by the Parish Church, and then some pavement walking along the Kenilworth Road. There is a small section of road walking (with small verge) at the end before turning left onto another footpath. The route shortly picks up the Kenilworth Road once again for probably the worst bit of road walking of the route along a quarter of a mile stretch with narrow verges (photo 7).

At the end of the road walking you join a footpath which takes you to Temple Balsall. This tiny hamlet is packed with lots of interest. The first thing you pass is the Old Hall which is now host to the Women's Institute who i'm told offer tea and cake meetings to the public on Summer Sunday afternoons. Apparently they would have done so on the day we walked the route, but apparently they don't do it on the day the Knights Templar hold their annual ceremony in the adjoining church - which just happened to be the day we walked it. The ceremony we were told is apparently the oldest surviving ceremony involving the Knights dating back to the 12th century. Photo 8 shows just a few of the Knights attending what looked like a very well choreographed ceremony. A short walk from the Church is the almshouse which itself holds plenty of history dating form the 17th century.

The route then holds approx. three quarters of a mile of road walking along Fen End Rd and requires some care to hop into the verge at times when traffic comes which thankfully wasn't too often. You then turn off down a metalled road towards Balsall Lodge (photo 9) and then across some attractive fields (photo 10) towards Fen End.

A mixture of roads and footpaths through Fen End take you to the Honiley Road and past the Land Rover proofing track. Here the road walking was fairly quiet again. After crossing the busy A4177, the path takes you through Poors Wood and then around Chase Wood to an area on the OS maps in gothic writing known as Park Pale - an earthwork bank which is still visible and it appears to partially enclose Chase Wood to the north and east.

The Park Pale is apparently linked to The Pleasance, a fascinating early 15th century construction by Henry V and for which the earthworks are still visible. Indeed the route takes you across some boards which appear to cross the old moat (photo 14), which still holds water - and it made me wonder how flooded it might get there after heavy rainfall. Shortly after this you approach the impressive ruins of Kenilworth Castle (photo 15) and the town which holds plenty of opportunity for refreshments.

Overall a fascinating walk with plenty of historical interest. It has plenty of stiles, steps, footbridges and gates, all in varying states of repair and some easier to negotiate than others - but nothing difficult. I definitely recommend this route and would do it again, it's just a shame there's a few small sections of road walking which require care.

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