Heart of England Way (7) Barton & Long Marston

Been a while since we ventured on the Heart of England Way. Starting point of the walk is a designated hamlet just south of Bidford. Described as a small but mighty village. Despite having a population of just 80 or so, for the past decade Barton residents have donated a magnificent £50,000 to local charities.There is a traditional country pub called 'The Cottage of Content'. Which I thought was a bit unusual? Just for the record we are walking in a clockwise direction. We are in the County of Warwickshire. Close to Bidford on Avon.

Sadly the weather is decidedly bleak. Whilst not actually raining it is trying very hard. There is rain forecast for later in the afternoon so we might be lucky ?

We are walking walking through part of the Heart of England Forest. Collett's Pond is one of more than 100 ponds in the forest. The pond was created in 2000 and the woodland around it planted in 2007. Ponds play a massive part in the environment and are a fantastic home for all sorts of wildlife. These include; Dragonflies, Bats , Newts and all sorts of Wildfowl. Frogs and Toads are currently coming out of hibernation from the pond bottom. Before long there will be Frogspawn just below the pond surface.

Created in 2003 he Heart of England Forest has embarked on ambitious reforestation efforts, successfully planting over 2 million trees. Local Landowner Felix Dennis was the driving force behind the project. His goal was to establish a sequence of joined up forest in Warwickshire. An area that would serve as essential green corridors for wildlife, and a space for the public to enjoy.

As we approach the village of Dorsington I start to get a strong sense of déjà vu. It isn't very often you see gates like the ones pictured above. Once I saw the Church I knew that this was familiar ground. We walked this part previously in September 2022! The link is posted below , just in case you are interested?

http://peterja-storytellersnight.blogspot.com/2022/09/the-shakespeares-avon-way-bidford-on.html

It's nice to see the Donkey's again though. A scary thought has just occurred to me. We are going to have to pass through the field where we were assaulted by several rampant horses. Not to mention the flooded fields and the Sheep...

Getting through flooded and muddy gateways was a big problem too. Disaster struck when a wooden fence I was clinging to gave way. Thankfully I didn't end up too wet. I did however grab a handful of barbed wire, as I tried to rescue the situation. On a plus side the horses were subdued, happy at the other end of the end of their field.  The Sheep went into a huddle, a bit like the sheep equivalent of Rorkes Drift.    

I was extremely thrilled however to see that my piece of  'Countryside Engineering was still in place. If you can call laying a rusty old gate across a flooded bank engineering? I wonder how many intrepid Ramblers it has served?  Perhaps they will erect a plaque or monument in my honour . People have received awards for far less. Well I can dream at least. Necessity has always been the mother of invention in my book.

I really dislike the metal footbridges like the one pictured above. Particularly when you have walked the best part of 10 miles and struggling to lift your feet. You know about it if you catch your shin too... I'm sure thy are to stop animals like Sheep and Cattle from crossing. My feet are soaked, too many times the water has gone over the boots when I've sunk in a field or puddle. We are on the last part of the walk though , on the home straight you might say.  We have just passed through Bickmarsh. A small hamlet in Worcestershire with a population of around 65. The most famous building is Bickmarsh Hall. According to records it once belonged to the county of Worcestershire.    

Light is beggining to fade as we finish the walk. Just in time too as the promised rain has arrived. This has been a really tough walk once again in rain soaked conditions. In total a distance of 11.5 miles. Hopefully next time conditions will be a little kinder.