Wildar three

Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Wildar here.

I walked this route as "Wildar one" from Darlaston to Willenhall before following Wildar two back, so there was a comparison to be made immediately. This is an attempt at a "pretty way" but ends up feeling unnecessarily long. The plus point of this route is that it includes Kings Street, the focal point of Darlaston, which has a couple of interesting shops. You also get to walk past St Lawrence's Church, which is a rather splendid building. The route cuts through Rough Hay, which is a predominantly residential area. You then join the Walsall Canal which abounds in wildlife, but sadly also in rubbish. I couldn't decide if the amount footballs in the cut was due to the locals being football mad, or just really bad at it! Or both! No craft go along it, so the water is clear, it's a canal with more potential than it fulfils. The next section follows the busy Willenhall Road until getting to the Robin Hood Pub (a Black Country Ales pub for any of you collectors). There it cut down a footpath across a green area to the rear of the pub garden. According to the map, and Wildar one, the footpath is supposed to emerge out on to Bilston Lane but this actual footpath is fenced off and overgrown. Instead there is an alternative, which this route follows, which comes out through some green iron railings marked "private property". But we've all seen that trick before! The rest of the walk is along residential Birmingham Street and then along the very busy, Walsall Street. I can see what the designer was trying to do, I felt safe throughout and there are plusses to this route, but imagination doesn't buy much round here, and I was actually happier to walk the more direct Wildar two.

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