E2: Kingsbury Water Park to Meriden

After trying to find a way through Kingsbury Water Park that was not flooded I walked across many soggy fields to reach Meriden. 

This morning I made an attempt to reach the Heart of England Way on the eastern side of Kingsbury Water Park. My attempt failed as the path was flooded so I asked at the visitor centre if there was another way through the Park to reach Kingsbury where I could rejoin the Way. They suggested a route around the Model Boat Pool and up the east side of the park beside other areas of water but could not guarentee it would be passible. 

I followed their suggestion, asking dog walkers on the way for information, and did eventually reach the footbridge to Kingsbury. Wading through water was required where the lakes had overflowed or rainwater had collected in low points. Sadly my socks, which I had carefully dried overnight on the heated towel rail, became rather wet.

Rejoining the Heart of England Way I was soon crossing fields, soggy and waterlogged. I crossed many of these in the course of the day and was very pleased whenever a short section of tarmac gave me a relief from the mud. Soon after Kingsbury there was a military rifle range. I had expected it to be in use, although as it was flooded, they must have moved to another range. I could hear gunshots from somewhere in the distance. It made no difference as the path runs around the perimeter of the range.

There were no villages of any note on my route today and unfortunately no cafes or cakes. I had hoped there would be a pleasant walk around a reservoir that I could see on the map. However I was prevented from seeing it in the real world as the path was beside a railway line and the reservoir was hidden behind a bank on the other side of a brown, fast flowing little river.

The other milestone today was the M6 motorway. I knew I was approaching it from the gradually increasing amount of continuous white noise from the traffic. A view of Birmingham was promised from the bridge across it by the guidebook, and indeed in the far distance above the endless cars I could see the high rises of the city.

I arrived in Meriden and my room at an Inn as the sun set below a sky of cloud in a display of smoky orange.