A Walk around Himley and Wombourne

We are staying put today as the weather forecast is not good and we don’t want to be chugging and doing locks in the rain!

Himley Plantation

Old Station Platform at Himley

We had breakfast then set off for a nice long walk.  It was a bit drizzly but not too bad.  We walked up onto the road and down there and then went off into Himley Plantation.  This wood dates from the 18^th Century and was once part of the Estate of the Earl of Dudley, it now belongs to the Woodland Trust.

We walked through there and met a lady with a lovely dog who wanted us to throw his ball for him, when she walked on he kept coming back to us, in the end she put him on a lead. He was a rescue dog and had been badly treated but was so trusting of everyone he meets, we thought if he comes back for a third time, we will keep him, but unfortunately for us we didn’t see him again!  His owner has lived in the area all her life and told us that years ago horse and carts came through the woods so that was why the paths were so wide and apparently there is a story that a headless horsemen rides through the woods.  We looked out for him but I think the rain kept him away today!

Railway Walk Sign

Sandiacre Farm Shop

We carried on and then got onto the South Staffordshire Railway walk and had a walk along there and walked past the old Himley Station.   We visited the nearby Sandiacre Farm Shop which had a great selection of fruit, vegetables and plants and also eggs and Jams and Chutneys.

We then got back on the Railway walk and carried on along there.  We did several caches on the way and found all of them which was good for us!

Church in Wombourne

Eventually we came out into Wombourne village and had a look around there and went for lunch in The Vine pub which was really nice. We walked past the Church, but didn't go in.  We did one more cache in the village then walked back along the road and came to Bratch locks.  We are going up there tomorrow.

There was a cache at the locks and we found that as well, so we got 7 out of 7, a world record for us!

We then walked back along the towpath to the boat.  It did rain on and off all the time we were out, but as we were in the woods a lot of the time, we didn’t get very wet.  It was a really good 5 mile circular walk.

When we got back, it did rain hard so we were lucky.  We are staying here again tonight then off in the morning.