Heart of England Way completely mapped!

posted in: Map Improvements, Use The Map | 2

On Sunday I completed a short 4Km stretch around Blockley, the last remaining gap in the OSM map.  Thanks are due to everyone who contributed over the years, collaborating in mapping this long distance route.

The Heart of England Way stretches for some 100 miles through England’s Midlands. This route proves that the Midlands does not justify its image of an industrial wasteland. The Way starts in Staffordshire’s heathlands and forest on Cannock Chase and passes through the small city of Lichfield with its three-spired cathedral known as the “Mother of the Midlands”. It then passes between the industrial giants of Coventry and Birmingham, although with  the peaceful countryside it chooses, you wouldn’t know they were there.  Rural Warwickshire beckons as the Way meanders through the remains of the Forest of Arden. The final part sees it sharing much of its route with the Monarch’s Way as it leapfrogs from one cosy Cotswold village to another. It finally ends up in the tourist honey-pot of Bourton-on-the-Water, where it links with the Cotswold Way.

The most popular Guide to the Way by Richard Sale  has the route going the other way, but describing it this way  reflects more the order in which we mapped it.

Official website here
Best map is of course Lonvia’s Hiking map

2 Responses

  1. Richard Fairhurst

    Impressive! I mapped a very small section of the Heart of England Way the other week (near Bourton-on-the-Hill) but hadn’t realised it was so close to completion.

  2. Mike Westley

    Hi everyone – I am pleased to advise that the official website for Heart of England Way Association has been totally rewritten, and has far more information and news than it once had. It also has details of the most recent GUIDE to the Way – which now includes circular walks along the way, as well as a guide in BOTH DIRECTIONS. Take a look at the site and all its information. Details of how to buy the latest guide can be found at http://www.heartofenglandway.org/the-route/guide-books/

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