Wheels Around Warwickshire

In perhaps one of the strangest examples of impact ever, I have just had an article about cycling published in the Travel section of the Boar, the student newspaper here at Warwick. The article is all about encouraging students to take to their bicycles and explore the Warwickshire countryside. In it I recommend a few routes, and whilst discussing Meriden, I actually use some of my MA dissertation research.

Let me explain.

As I am sure I have mentioned, for my MA dissertation I did some research into cycling in interwar England as an example of the ways in which health, environment and leisure intersected at that time. In the sources I found a bunch of references to a Cyclist's Memorial in Meriden, and I thought, 'Hey, that's pretty near to Warwick', so I made like the people in this video, and set off on my bike. Turns out the once glorious memorial is now looking a little drab, and I can't say I much fancied Meriden, but the route there was superb (though the wonderfully-named Four Oaks, which, by my count, has at least nine trees). Furthermore, there are a bunch of lovely villages, mostly at the end of long bridle-paths, in the area between Meriden and Coventry: I was quite taken with Fillongley, for some reason. I certainly recommend giving the area a try.

Here's a photo of a cat I saw having a little wander. Not a few minutes later, I heard a young girl calling out the name 'Whiskers', and it is a great regret of mine that I didn't tell her that her cat was fine, and was just having some feline time.

Gotta love that open road.

On a more historical note, the inimitable Bike Blog on theguardian.co.uk recently hosted an article on very, very early cycling culture and a postcard which had been unearthed in the Westminster council archives. It's very short, and worth a look.

: 11 Jan 2012 18:25 |  Tags: Boar Cycling; Impact; University; Warwick |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem