Random Ramblings: Easy exercise

England is full of interesting places that are lovely to visit. Some are ancient, littered with remnants of old buildings and walls and when you place your hand on the stones that once were part of our ancestors vibrant communities a strange and wonderful feeling occasionally surges through your body. Perhaps it’s a minute thread that enables part of something within in us to lock on to a life that is now lost or may be it is something else. In many of these sites visitors are left with a deep inner peace which doesn’t appear to be obtainable any where else in the world. These ancient stones pull away the fears and stresses of modern life and seem to energise the whole being … so when I get the opportunity I love to go to these places gently stroll around them and touch the stones and just see if I can feel anything. Only once have I felt a sense of darkness … a deep foreboding as though something dreadful had occurred near to a specific place where I was standing.

Redditch in Worcestershire is an old town. Parts of its history can be found buried in many ancient documents. Much of the town and surrounding areas are fairly new and come under the term ‘New Town’ as they were created as an overspill for the overburdened built up areas of Birmingham. As more and more new properties and roads were added so the innovation took hold and extra trees, bushes, nature walks and so on spread their way through this lovely picturesque area of the county.

One of the places that is a suitable area for all ages to visit is Arrow Valley Park which is almost on the border of Warwickshire. In the middle there is a large shaped lake that is home to a wide variety of fish and birds. The lake has a pathway all around it that is a mile in length – so wherever you choose to start from by the time that you have strolled around it back to the place where you first began your walk then your adventure will have measured one full mile.

There are fishing platforms for those who enjoy the sport, yachts for the sailing community, other varieties of boats, feeding stations for youngsters to throw out small fistfuls of food for the water fowl and wild birds, places to picnic and a beautiful peace garden (pictured below).