Coventry 1

Walk Details:
Date: 13/11/2004
Total ascent: 4m/ 13ft
Total distance walked: 0.33miles
Walk difficulty: 0/10
Enjoyment rating: 0.5/10
Best bits: Completed at speed!
Worst bits: Completely unremarkable in any way whatsoever
Car Parking: Layby on the B4098 Tamworth Road (SP 304 843) as you enter Warwickshire.

Top Details:
Name: Keresley House
County top number: 21 of 207
Grid reference: SP 30417 84210 MAP
Height above sea level: 167m/547ft
How nice was it?: 0.5/10 for the top, 0.5/10 for the ascent
Description/Notes: One of the two debated highest points in the Unitary Authority of Coventry, the other being Corley Moor

The Walk:

My wife & her sister were off to a craft show at Birmingham NEC, so Jim & I kindly offered to drop them off - the real reason of course was that we could then head off to do the Midlands county tops. What used to be the West Midlands has now split into seven unitary authorities. One of these, Coventry, has two separate highest points of approximately equal height, and the new Sandwell Unitary Authority highest point was also the former West Midlands top. In addition there was a marilyn (Walton Hill) which we fancied bagging. So all in all there were ten tops to capture, but with the short winter daylight we were only really aiming for six.

It was not as auspicious start to the day - we got caught in an hour long traffic jam on the M42. By the time we left the girls at the NEC we had revised our bagging target down to four or five.

Our quest got off to a flying start, as we completed our first top, near Keresley House on the border of Coventry Unitary Authority within 17 minutes of dropping off the girls.

We had planned to create a short circular walk between the county top and the nearest trig point at the village of Corley, but with time pressing so much we simply parked at a layby close to the top and "bagged" it as quickly as possible!

The layby was just across the county boundary into Warwickshire. We walked the few metres back into Coventry past a sign saying Coventry - City of Peace and Reconciliation. A few dozen metres further on we turned right down Hollyfast Lane - the top was an indistinct point in the undistinguished woods to the right of the lane. Job done, we ran back to the car and headed off to the next top.

Bearing in mind Jim's trigoholism, we did stop briefly at the trig point in Corley village - it was on our way anyway. For the record, it's set atop a reservoir on the left hand side of the road to Corley Moor, our next destination.