Meriden – the traditional centre of England

This easy walk offers the opportunity to visit an historic place and walk through some of the most attractive woodland in the area. Meriden is a pleasant commuter village providing quick access to Coventry and Birmingham along the busy A45. It is rumoured that Lady Godiva, wife of Earl Leofric of Mercia and owner of the village until AD 1066, founded the parish church of St Lawrence. You can see several timber-framed buildings and some moated farmsteads in the village, and it may even be the site of an Iron Age field system.

The settlement claims to be the centre of England, and there is a sandstone pillar-shaped cross on the village green which carries the inscription, ‘This ancient wayside cross has stood in the village for some 500 years and by tradition marks the Centre of England’.

A triumph recalled

Meriden became home to Triumph motorcycles from 1941, after the factory in Coventry was destroyed by fire during World War II. In 1973 workers blockaded the factory to prevent closure, and subsequently formed a co-operative to buy it and market their motorcycles. In turn, Triumph Motorcycles (Meriden) Ltd eventually closed in 1983, and the factory was demolished the following year. The site has since been built over by a housing estate, with road names featuring Triumph motorbike model names. A plaque commemorating the Triumph Motorcycle Factory Meriden stands by Bonneville Close.

An unusual war memorial

The National Cyclists' Memorial, dedicated to all those cyclists who gave their lives in both World Wars, can also be found on Meriden's village green. The memorial was erected with subscriptions from cyclists and cycling clubs and unveiled in May 1921 in the presence of over 20,000 cyclists. It was placed in Meriden to make it easy for cyclists to reach it from anywhere in the country, and is the site of an annual rally and commemorative service every May.

Woodmen of Arden

At 18th-century Forest Hall, to the west of Meriden, there is a piece of ancient turf where the Woodmen of Arden, the oldest archery society in England, holds its meetings. The turf is believed to have been undisturbed since the trees of the Forest of Arden first cast their shade over the archery butts. The society was established in 1785, and its membership is strictly limited to just 82 archers. There is also a horn here, said to have belonged to Robin Hood.

From The Queen’s Head walk up Eaves Green Lane, following the Heart of England Way. Ignore Walsh Lane and continue right on Eaves Green Lane. Go beneath the A45 Birmingham–Coventry road and continue into the hamlet of Eaves Green. Continue ahead at the junction, on Showell Lane.

Pass a mobile home park and bear left through a kissing gate to a path that leads over meadows into Meriden Shafts woodland, via a footbridge and a kissing gate. Continue through another kissing gate and leave at its northeastern end via a further kissing gate. Go left along the track for 50 paces, then turn right into pastureland via a kissing gate. Continue ahead by the hedge-side, across three fields via a gate and a stile, and on to Harvest Hill Lane in Hollyberry End via another stile.

Go left on the lane past Ivy House Farm. The Heart of England Way leaves the route at a sharp left bend, but you stay on the lane. After passing Marlbrook Hall Farm, bear right at the next road junction to follow Becks Lane.

At Becks Barn go right of the drive via a stile to a waymarked path. Two gates lead through to a further kissing gate. Cross the road and the next field to a lane via a gate near two communication masts. Go along the lane, then left over a stile to a footpath to the left of Close Wood. Skirt a pond, and cross two stiles to enter the woodland. Leave Close Wood via another stile, and continue along the path over cultivated land.

Pass left of High Ash Farm and left of a Dutch barn, and descend to a kissing gate by a field gate. Through this bear right, descending a lane past Lodge Green House to the Fillongley road. Cross the road and continue down Lodge Green Lane opposite. Turn right over a stile, and take the path following a line of oak trees across a cultivated field. At the end, go over a stile to the road and turn left along Walsh Lane to a bridge over the A45.

Immediately across the bridge go right through a gate and take the path high above the A45. Go left through a gate into pastureland, heading for a footbridge to the right of a pond. Continue to the next field and a stile at the corner. Ignore the road and bear sharp left through a kissing gate to descend over several fields towards Meriden. Round the footpath crossing the drain at a footbridge and aim for the kissing gate. Go through this onto Old Road, and turn left to return to The Queen’s Head.