Barnt Green Bimble - West Midlands Day Walk

Top new year's resolutions:

• Get fitter
• Lose weight
• Meet new friends
• See more of the country
• Spend more time getting muddy with hot men*

You can smugly tick all these off your list on my first ODL walk of the year.

Sandwiched between the urban sprawl of Birmingham and the suburban haven (and internationally-acclaimed roundabout collection) of Redditch is a band of beautiful countryside. The area feels surprisingly rural and it would be easy to forget you're only a few miles from the second city if not for the occasional glimpse of a tower block and the distant hum of the motorway!

This is a fairly easy, leisurely walk to ease us all back into the great outdoors after the festive season. Starting in the pleasant commuter village of Barnt Green we will climb steadily onto the Lickey Hills for a view over Birmingham's skyline, then follow the North Worcestershire Path eastwards.

After a break for lunch on Wast Hill we'll walk a short stretch of the Worcester & Birmingham canal towpath before dropping back into Barnt Green for a well-deserved pint (or Dry January equivalent) and going back to the station.

*Hot men subject to availability