Who knew that Draycote water (our largest local bit of inland water) was so near to Coventry- I certainly didn't. On my last sunny free day I wanted to have an expore so after failing to make sense of my new bike GPS , I dug out an old OS map which i'd been given in exchange for a bike repair. Much to my surprise, little more than a handspan from my house was a big blue blob on the map- Draycote Water. I'm not sure how, but over the last few years I must have cycled past it a million times- which must be quite hard to do as I think its 2 miles long and 1 mile wide- I also later realised that our friends smallholding is just down the road.
Anyway, I'm glad I've finally found it because the ride there and Draycote Water itself is beautiful. The journey there was mostly easy, a short ride through Brandon into Wolston and from there the major part of the ride was on a single track road (coalpit lane) on which I didn't meet a single car or lorry and which had open fields on either side. As the lane had a meandering rise when I looked back I could see Wolston and then Coventry in the far distance- fab.
The only slightly scary bit was when coalpit lane joined with the A45 for a short stretch, its only for about 2 or 3 minutes until the turning for Thurleston, but its was enough. Once at Thurleston, you can see the water from much of the village.
Then its just a short walk past the old windmill and church
Through a farmers field and you're there!
Fantastic and definitely worth the journey.
